Sphinx vs Starlight
No clear leader: Sphinx (64.0) 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.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for documentation tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
Sphinx
Converts reStructuredText and Markdown into multiple output formats including HTML, PDF, and ePub, with support for automatic API documentation, customizable themes, and internationalization.
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.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
Sphinx
- Jupyter
Starlight
- React
- Vue
- Svelte
- Solid
Sphinx 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.