vioscaleAI
Comparison

Read the Docs vs Sphinx

No clear leader: Sphinx (64.0) and Read the Docs (62.2) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Read the Docs full profile →Sphinx full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Read the Docs62
Sphinx64
Score
vioscaleAI score
Read the Docs62 / 100low · 43%
Sphinx64 / 100high · 77%
Pricing
Free tier
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx✓
Model
Read the Docscommercial
Sphinxopen_source
Price level
Read the Docsmid
Sphinxfree
Starting price
Read the Docs$50
Sphinx–
Transparent
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx✓
Integrations
Count
Read the Docs7
Sphinx1
Security
Disclosure policy
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx–
Scorecard
Read the Docs7.7
Sphinx5.4
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Read the Docs–
Sphinx68,751
Github stars
Read the Docs8,392
Sphinx8,061
Package downloads weekly
Read the Docs–
Sphinx15,422,418
Activity
Commits last 30d
Read the Docs66
Sphinx1
Release
Cadence days
Read the Docs6
Sphinx1
History
Read the Docs20 items
Sphinx20 items
License
Spdx
Read the DocsMIT
Sphinx–
Language
Primary
Read the DocsPython
SphinxPython
Market
Availability
Read the DocsAvailable worldwide
Sphinx–
Content
Faq
Read the Docs6 items
Sphinx4 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for documentation tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Tool kind
Read the DocsHosted build service
SphinxStatic-site generator
Engine / language
Read the DocsSphinx, MkDocs, Docusaurus, and others
SphinxPython
Authoring
Authoring format
Read the DocsMarkdown
SphinxreStructuredText
API docs
API reference from OpenAPI / code
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx✓
Content
Multi-version docs
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx✓
Internationalisation
Read the Docs-
Sphinx✓
Discovery
Search
Read the DocsBuilt-in
SphinxBuilt-in
Design
Theming / custom design
Read the Docs-
Sphinx✓
Workflow
Edit-in-Git / WYSIWYG round-trip
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx-
Deployment
Self-hostable
Read the Docs-
Sphinx✓
Official managed host
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx✗
Insight
Built-in usage analytics
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Read the Docs

A hosting service for software documentation that allows projects to build, version, and publish their documentation automatically

Independently observed

Sphinx

Converts reStructuredText and Markdown into multiple output formats including HTML, PDF, and ePub, with support for automatic API documentation, customizable themes, and internationalization.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Read the Docs

from $50/moHybridFree tier30-day trial

Free for open source. Paid plans from $50/month for commercial projects. 30-day free trial available.

  • Read the Docs CommunityFree
    • Clone public repositories
    • Public documentation
    • Ads-supported hosting
  • Basic$50/month, billed monthly or annually
    • 2 concurrent builds
    • Shared domain
    • SSO with GitHub and GitLab
    • 50 redirects
    • 3 business day support
    • +5 more
  • Advanced$150/month, billed monthly or annually
    • 4 concurrent builds
    • 5 custom domains
    • 250 redirects
    • 2 business day support
    • Automatic builds
    • +4 more
  • Pro$250/month, billed monthly or annually
    • 6 concurrent builds
    • 15 custom domains
    • SSO with Google
    • 500 redirects
    • 1 business day support
    • +5 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • SAML SSO
    • Dedicated builders
    • Advanced audit tracking
    • Support SLA
as of verify ↗

Sphinx

Open source
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx✗
CLI
Read the Docs✗
Sphinx✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Read the Docs✓
Sphinx✗
Self-hosted
Read the Docs✗
Sphinx✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Read the Docs

7 total
  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • Bitbucket
  • Google
  • Sphinx
  • MkDocs
  • Docusaurus
Independently observed

Sphinx

1 total
  • Jupyter
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Read the Docs or Sphinx: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.