Stoplight Elements vs TypeDoc

Stoplight Elements is a free, open-source set of embeddable web components for building interactive API documentation from OpenAPI documents. It adds customizable left navigation and a three-column layout, while an embedded console lets readers try requests and inspect responses within the documentation. Elements supports OpenAPI, including version 3.1, and JSON Schema. It provides code samples in Curl, Python, Ruby, and Java, and its Stoplight-flavored Markdown supports tabs, callouts, and embedded JSON examples. The components require no build steps and can be used with any framework or HTML project. Documentation can be hosted anywhere, including S3 or GitHub. Elements can point to an OpenAPI document or a Stoplight Workspace and can work with any OpenAPI editor. The listed plan costs nothing and includes OpenAPI 3.1 support, an interactive API console, embedding into an existing CMS, and hosting anywhere. Compared with Elements DevPortal, the product page does not list multiple API listings, mocking, Markdown articles, branch version selection, or search. Stoplight identifies SmartBear as its parent company.

TypeDoc is a free TypeScript documentation generator that turns source comments into HTML pages or a JSON model. It builds from project exports and follows re-exports, allowing members declared elsewhere to appear in documentation. TSDoc and JSDoc tags are extracted, Markdown is accepted in comments, and fenced code blocks receive Shiki syntax highlighting. HTML and JSON are built in; Markdown output needs a plugin such as typedoc-plugin-markdown. A default theme is included, while plugins can add themes, alter conversion and symbol organization, or change display. Custom CSS and JavaScript can further adjust generated pages. Configuration can come from an options file, package.json, or tsconfig.json. TypeDoc runs on Node.js, uses the TypeScript compiler, and supports the current Node.js LTS or newer. For npm monorepos, the packages entry-point strategy can combine package documentation into one site. The project is Apache-2.0 licensed. Documentation warns that global installation can separate plugins and themes from the intended TypeDoc installation.