vioscaleAI
Comparison

Read the Docs vs Starlight

No clear leader: Read the Docs (62.2) and Starlight (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 →Starlight full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Read the Docs62
Starlight62
Score
vioscaleAI score
Read the Docs62 / 100low · 43%
Starlight62 / 100medium · 69%
Pricing
Free tier
Read the Docs✓
Starlight✓
Model
Read the Docscommercial
Starlightopen_source
Price level
Read the Docsmid
Starlightfree
Starting price
Read the Docs$50
Starlight–
Transparent
Read the Docs✓
Starlight✓
Integrations
Count
Read the Docs7
Starlight4
Security
Disclosure policy
Read the Docs✓
Starlight–
Scorecard
Read the Docs7.7
Starlight–
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Read the Docs✓
Starlight–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Read the Docs–
Starlight35
Github stars
Read the Docs8,392
Starlight9,407
Package downloads weekly
Read the Docs–
Starlight1,439,772
Activity
Commits last 30d
Read the Docs66
Starlight69
Release
Cadence days
Read the Docs6
Starlight4
History
Read the Docs20 items
Starlight20 items
License
Spdx
Read the DocsMIT
StarlightMIT
Language
Primary
Read the DocsPython
StarlightTypeScript
Market
Availability
Read the DocsAvailable worldwide
Starlight–
Content
Faq
Read the Docs6 items
Starlight5 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
StarlightStatic-site generator
Engine / language
Read the DocsSphinx, MkDocs, Docusaurus, and others
StarlightAstro
Authoring
Authoring format
Read the DocsMarkdown
Starlight-
API docs
API reference from OpenAPI / code
Read the Docs✓
Starlight-
Content
Multi-version docs
Read the Docs✓
Starlight-
Internationalisation
Read the Docs-
Starlight✓
Discovery
Search
Read the DocsBuilt-in
StarlightBuilt-in
Design
Theming / custom design
Read the Docs-
Starlight✓
Workflow
Edit-in-Git / WYSIWYG round-trip
Read the Docs✓
Starlight-
Deployment
Self-hostable
Read the Docs-
Starlight✓
Official managed host
Read the Docs✓
Starlight✓
Insight
Built-in usage analytics
Read the Docs✓
Starlight-

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

Starlight

A static documentation platform built on Astro with integrated search, multi-language support, code formatting, color theme options, and TypeScript-validated metadata for page organization and discovery.

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 ↗

Starlight

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✓
Starlight✓
CLI
Read the Docs✗
Starlight✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Read the Docs✓
Starlight✗
Self-hosted
Read the Docs✗
Starlight✓

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

Starlight

4 total
  • React
  • Vue
  • Svelte
  • Solid
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Read the Docs or Starlight: 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.