Our take
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 instances — not a paid Docs middle tile (the page we fetched prints only Free and Enterprise). Pick ReadMe if aPI teams who will stay on Starter at $0 (1 project, 1 published version, custom domain) while they merge a first Suggested
hosted API Reference desk
Best for
Fern An API reference you start at a public $
ReadMe API docs plus an edit queue you start at $0
Free plan
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
ReadMe $0 · / month. Free for everyone. 1 project. 1 published version. Custom domain, bi-directional sync, interactive API reference, usage metrics, Markdown editor, themes. Ask AI is a $150 / month add-on
Lowest paid
Fern Not published by the vendor
ReadMe Pro $250/mo yearly
Coding agent
Fern Ask Fern / MCP
ReadMe
Runs where
Fern Hosted
ReadMe Hosted
Watch out
Fern There is no public Docs Pro $
ReadMe Starter is 1 project and 1 published version
Last checked
Fern 2026-10-23 · buildwithfern.com/pricing.md
ReadMe 2026-10-23 · readme.com/pricing
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 instances — not a paid Docs middle tile (the page we fetched prints only Free and Enterprise).
Read the Fern pageaPI teams who will stay on Starter at $0 (1 project, 1 published version, custom domain) while they merge a first Suggested Edit, then buy Pro at $250 / month billed annually when they need Changelog, Recipes, branching, and teammates.
Read the ReadMe page