An open source static site generator for building and maintaining documentation and project websites with Markdown/MDX, React, versioning, and i18n.
66.1k stars10k forksMITlast commit Actively maintained
15 self-hosted ReadMe alternatives
ReadMe is a SaaS platform for creating, hosting, and maintaining API documentation and developer hubs. It provides interactive API references, guides and tutorials, changelogs, code examples/SDK links, and analytics for monitoring developer experience.
Alternatives to ReadMe
#2
Outline is a fast, collaborative knowledge base for teams, featuring markdown docs, real-time editing, AI-powered search, and Slack integrations.
40.3k stars3.5k forkslast commit Actively maintained
#3
MkDocs is a Python-based static documentation site generator that builds searchable HTML docs from Markdown using a simple YAML configuration and themes/plugins.
22.4k stars2.6k forksBSD-2-Clauselast commit Slowing down
#4
Open-source collaborative documentation and wiki platform with real-time editing, offline sync, export features and flexible self-hosting options.
16.8k stars620 forksMITlast commit Actively maintained
Open source architecture documentation tool to model and document domains, services, events, and schemas for event-driven and microservice systems.
2.8k stars272 forkslast commit Actively maintained
#6
Documize is a self-hosted knowledge base and documentation platform for internal and external docs, offering spaces, labels, search, and enterprise-friendly authentication.
2.4k stars239 forksAGPL-3.0last commit Actively maintained
#7
Gitit is a wiki engine that stores pages in a git-compatible repo, uses Pandoc for markup, and runs on Happstack.
2.3k stars232 forksGPL-2.0last commit Actively maintained
#8
Enterprise-grade open-source wiki platform for knowledge management, intranets and web applications.
1.3k stars661 forksLGPL-2.1last commit Actively maintained
#9
Open-source server for hosting multiple static documentation projects with versioning, CLI upload, tagging and built-in search.
902 stars55 forksMITlast commit Actively maintained
#10
Open-source, Markdown-based flat-file CMS for documentation, knowledge bases, manuals and eBook generation with plugins, themes and AI-assisted editing.
615 stars76 forksMITlast commit Actively maintained
#11
Go-based flat-file wiki that stores content as Markdown with built-in search, version history, and access control, without an external database.
614 stars52 forksGPL-3.0last commit Actively maintained
Lightweight filesystem wiki engine using Git for history and Mycomarkup for content, suited for personal wikis, digital gardens and small teams.
379 stars27 forksAGPL-3.0last commit Slowing down
#13
Perl-based wiki engine focused on high-quality publishing, bookbuilding, EPUB/PDF output, Git and flat-file backends, and multi-database support.
219 stars30 forkslast commit Actively maintained
#14
Web app and API server that publishes Markdown notes as websites and exposes REST APIs for programmatic access, with Obsidian-flavored Markdown and full-text search.
180 stars3 forksMITlast commit Likely dormant
#15
Modern, lightweight static wiki and documentation site generator using Markdown and Next.js with TypeScript-configurable navigation and themes.
108 stars14 forksMITlast commit Actively maintained
What replacing ReadMe actually involves
Every option on this page is open source and free to run on your own hardware, so you own the data and there is no subscription to cancel. 12 of 15 shipped a commit in the last six months. Licences in this list: MIT, BSD-2-Clause, AGPL-3.0, GPL-2.0, LGPL-2.1. In exchange you take on hosting, backups and updates yourself.
Browse everything in Documentation Portals & Static Publishing.
