Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Natural Docs VS Docusaurus

Compare Natural Docs VS Docusaurus and see what are their differences

Natural Docs logo Natural Docs

Natural Docs is an open-source documentation generator for multiple programming languages.

Docusaurus logo Docusaurus

Easy to maintain open source documentation websites
  • Natural Docs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-02-02
  • Docusaurus Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22

Natural Docs features and specs

  • Readable Comments
    Natural Docs is designed to create natural language documentation from comments, making it easy for developers to write and maintain them.
  • Automatic Linking
    It automatically links documentation elements, like functions and classes, helping users navigate the documentation effortlessly.
  • Wide Language Support
    Natural Docs supports a wide range of programming languages, making it versatile for different projects.
  • Ease of Use
    The tool is relatively easy to set up and use, even for developers who are new to documentation generation.
  • Customization Options
    There are options for customizing the output, allowing developers to tailor the documentation to suit their project's style and needs.

Possible disadvantages of Natural Docs

  • Limited Output Formats
    Natural Docs mainly generates HTML documentation, which might not be suitable for all use cases or integrated documentation setups.
  • Markdown Support
    As of the latest information, it lacks extensive support for Markdown, which is a commonly used format for writing documentation.
  • Initial Learning Curve
    While easy to use, there is an initial learning curve to understand how to properly write comments to generate the desired documentation.
  • Active Maintenance
    The frequency of updates and active maintenance might not be as robust as other more popular documentation tools, potentially leading to slower adoption of new features.
  • Specificity
    While versatile, it might not cater to highly specific documentation needs out of the box without significant customization or workarounds.

Docusaurus features and specs

  • Easy Setup
    Docusaurus offers an easy and quick setup process, making it accessible for users to get started quickly. It provides a template to kickstart documentation projects efficiently.
  • Customizable
    It is highly customizable with options to add custom themes, plugins, and translations, allowing users to tailor their documentation to specific needs and visual styles.
  • React-Based
    Built on React, it enables developers familiar with React to seamlessly create documentation components and extend functionalities using React's ecosystem.
  • Versioning
    Docusaurus supports documentation versioning, making it easier to maintain and access historical versions of documentation for different releases of a project.
  • Extensive Plugin Ecosystem
    Offers a wide array of plugins to enhance functionalities, such as search capabilities, SEO, and integrations with other tools and services.
  • Good Performance
    Optimized for performance, providing fast load times and a smooth user experience for accessing documentation.
  • Active Community
    Docusaurus has an active and supportive community that contributes plugins, themes, and offers help, making it easier to find solutions to common problems.

Possible disadvantages of Docusaurus

  • Steep Learning Curve for Non-React Developers
    Developers not familiar with React may find it challenging to customize or extend Docusaurus documentation due to the React-based nature of the tool.
  • Limited Out-of-the-Box Features
    While highly customizable, the basic setup can feel limited, and users often need to add plugins and custom code to meet their specific requirements.
  • Dependency Management
    Being React-based, it comes with Node.js and NPM dependencies, which may add some overhead for managing and updating dependencies.
  • Static Site Limitations
    As a static site generator, it may be less suitable for dynamic content that requires frequent real-time updates or complex backend integrations.
  • Complex Configuration
    For projects requiring extensive customization, the configuration can become complex and harder to manage, potentially requiring more effort and expertise.

Analysis of Docusaurus

Overall verdict

  • Docusaurus is generally considered a good choice for creating documentation websites, especially for open source projects. Its structured approach, alongside its powerful customization options, makes it suitable for both small and large scale documentation needs.

Why this product is good

  • Docusaurus is a popular open-source project developed by Facebook for creating, deploying, and maintaining open source project websites with ease. It is praised for its simplicity, flexibility, and rich feature set, including built-in support for versioning, localization, search, and theming. It is built on React, which allows developers to extend and customize their documentation site extensively.

Recommended for

    Docusaurus is recommended for developers and project maintainers who need to create and manage comprehensive documentation for open source projects or internal tools. It is particularly valuable for those who prefer a React-based approach and need features like versioning and localization out of the box.

Natural Docs videos

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Docusaurus videos

F8 2019: Using Docusaurus to Create Open Source Websites

More videos:

  • Review - Build and deploy Docusaurus
  • Review - Docusaurus - Docs dan Blog Final

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Natural Docs and Docusaurus)
Documentation
10 10%
90% 90
Tool
100 100%
0% 0
Documentation As A Service & Tools
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Natural Docs and Docusaurus

Natural Docs Reviews

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Docusaurus Reviews

Best Gitbook Alternatives You Need to Try in 2023
In conclusion, there are several alternatives to Gitbook that are available out there. Each one has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and the best choice will depend on your specific needs and project requirements. Consider giving Archbee, Notion, Bookstack, and Docusaurus a try to see which works best for you. Remember, you can choose the right tool to get your...
Source: www.archbee.com
Best 25 Software Documentation Tools 2023
Docusaurus is an open-source documentation tool specifically designed for creating documentation for software projects, with a focus on documentation websites and easy integration with version control systems.
Source: www.uphint.com
19 Best Online Documentation Software & Tools for 2023
Docusaurus is an open-source online documentation tool that is powered by MDX. You can maintain different versions of your documentation so that it is in sync with your project’s stages. You can also translate your docs into a language your end-users prefer by using tools like Git and Crowdin. Furthermore, with Docusaurus, you don’t have to worry about the design and...
10 static site generators to watch in 2021
Built using React, it supports writing content in MDX so that JSX and React components can be embedded into markdown, but also aims to remain easy to learn and use by providing sensible defaults and the ability to override if the developer has need. Recently releasing a major update with Docusaurus 2 beta, many of its principles were inspired by Gatsby but it is more focused...
Source: www.netlify.com
20 Best Web Project Documentation Tools
Save time and focus on your project’s documentation. Simply write docs and blog posts with Markdown and Docusaurus will publish a set of static html files ready to serve.
Source: bashooka.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Docusaurus seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 213 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Natural Docs mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Natural Docs yet. Tracking of Natural Docs recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Docusaurus mentions (213)

  • Create fast, modern API docs using Docusaurus
    Docusaurus is a powerful static site generator built by Meta and designed specifically for documentation websites. It’s React-based, which means you get a lot of flexibility in how you customize your site, and it comes with features that make API documentation much easier to manage:. - Source: dev.to / 11 days ago
  • How we built our docs site
    We looked into a few different providers including GitBook, Docusaurus, Hashnode, Fern and Mintlify. There were various factors in the decision but the TLDR is that while we manage our SDKs with Fern, we chose Mintlify for docs as it had the best writing experience, supported custom React components, and was more affordable for hosting on a custom domain. Both Fern and Mintlify pull from the same single source of... - Source: dev.to / 15 days ago
  • How to Migrate Technical Documentation: Tools, Checklist, and Tips
    Docusaurus is an open-source documentation site generator built by Meta, designed for creating optimized, fast, and customizable websites using React. It supports markdown files, versioning, internationalization (i18n), and integrates well with Git-based workflows. Its React architecture allows for deep customization and dynamic components. Docusaurus is ideal for developer-focused documentation with a need for... - Source: dev.to / 18 days ago
  • Ask HN: Static Site (not blog) Generator?
    I think this is more a question of how you want to create and store your content and templates, like whether they exist as a bunch of Markdown files, database entries, a third-party API, etc. They're typically made to work in some sort of toolchain or ecosystem. For example, if you're working in the React world, Next.js can actually output static HTML pages that work fine without JS... Just use the pages router... - Source: Hacker News / 24 days ago
  • Deploying a static Website with Pulumi
    For this challenge, I've built a simple static website based on Docusaurus for tutorials and blog posts. As I'm not too seasoned with Frontend development, I only made small changes to the template, and added some very simple blog posts and tutorials there. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Natural Docs and Docusaurus, you can also consider the following products

Doxygen - Generate documentation from source code

GitBook - Modern Publishing, Simply taking your books from ideas to finished, polished books.

DocFX - A documentation generation tool for API reference and Markdown files!

NDoc - NDoc generates class library documentation from .

MkDocs - Project documentation with Markdown.

Outline Wiki - A modern team knowledge base for your documentation, support answers, sales process, meeting notes, & more…