Our take
Pick Docusaurus if docs teams who will stay on the MIT generator at $0 while they open a first docs page, then add their own host (GitHub Pages / Netlify / any static host) — not a paid docs SaaS unless they want hosted auth / seats. Pick Fern if aPI teams who will stay on Docs Free at $0/mo (10 members, 1,000 pages) while they open a first API Reference, then Enterprise custom when they need SSO / multiple docs
local docs-site generator
hosted API Reference desk
Best for
Docusaurus A docs page you start at a public $
Fern An API reference you start at a public $
Free plan
Docusaurus $0 · npm @docusaurus/core. Generate a static site from Markdown / MDX. Host it yourself
Fern $0 · /mo (Free forever). 10 team members. 1,000 pages. 250 AI credits / month. 2,000 page generations / month. Custom domain and subpath. Guides, API references, changelogs. API explorer and web editor. Ask Fern, Fern Agent, and MCP. Version and product switching
Lowest paid
Docusaurus Not published by the vendor
Fern Not published by the vendor
Coding agent
Docusaurus
Fern Ask Fern / MCP
Runs where
Docusaurus Hosted
Fern Hosted
Watch out
Docusaurus You host the build
Fern There is no public Docs Pro $
Last checked
Docusaurus 2026-10-23 · github.com/facebook/docusaurus
Fern 2026-10-23 · buildwithfern.com/pricing.md
docs teams who will stay on the MIT generator at $0 while they open a first docs page, then add their own host (GitHub Pages / Netlify / any static host) — not a paid docs SaaS unless they want hosted auth / seats.
Read the Docusaurus pageaPI teams who will stay on Docs Free at $0/mo (10 members, 1,000 pages) while they open a first API Reference, then Enterprise custom when they need SSO / multiple docs instances — not a paid Docs middle tile (the page we fetched prints only Free and Enterprise).
Read the Fern page