Docusaurus

What is Docusaurus?

Docusaurus is an open source static site generator for documentation websites, built with React and MDX. It is maintained by Meta Open Source and turns Markdown files into a fast documentation site with versioning, search and internationalisation. The problem it solves is documentation infrastructure: teams write content in Markdown and get navigation, sidebars, versioned docs, a blog and SEO-friendly static pages without assembling a front-end stack.

Key features

• Markdown and MDX. Pages are written in Markdown, with MDX support for embedding React components and interactive examples.
• Documentation layout. Sidebars, a docs table of contents, previous and next links and a searchable site are generated from the content structure.
• Versioning. Each product release can have its own documentation version, so older guides stay online.
• Internationalisation. The same site can serve multiple languages with translated docs and UI strings.
• Blog and pages. A blog plugin and standalone pages make it possible to run docs, release notes and a marketing site together.
• Static output. Every route is generated as static HTML, which helps with crawlability, page speed and simple hosting.
• React customisation. The theme and components can be extended with React and plugins without forking the whole project.

Who is Docusaurus for?

Developer relations, documentation and engineering teams that maintain product docs, API guides or open source documentation. It suits projects that want a documentation site in a Git repository, teams that release frequently and need versioned docs, and organisations that want static hosting without a CMS. It is also a good fit for open source projects that want a maintained, customisable docs stack.

Use cases

• Publishing product documentation with a version for each release.
• Creating an open source project site with guides, API reference and a blog.
• Translating documentation into several languages.
• Embedding interactive React examples inside guides.
• Replacing an outdated docs site with a static, searchable one.

Pricing

Docusaurus is free and open source under the MIT licence. There is no paid plan from the project, and the site can be hosted on GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages or any static host. Costs depend only on the hosting and services you choose. See the official Docusaurus documentation.

Getting started

1. Install Node.js, then create a project with the official starter.
2. Start the development server and open the local URL.
3. Add Markdown files under the docs directory and configure the sidebar.
4. Build the static site and deploy the output to your host.

npx create-docusaurus@latest my-website classic
cd my-website
npx docusaurus start

Alternatives

• Mintlify is a hosted documentation platform with a docs editor and AI features.
• ReadMe combines API documentation, guides and developer hubs.
• Astro is a content-focused static site framework with a docs-friendly setup.

FAQ

Is Docusaurus free?

Yes. Docusaurus is open source under the MIT licence, with no paid plan from the project. You only pay for hosting or any third-party services you add.

What is Docusaurus used for?

Docusaurus is used to build documentation websites from Markdown and MDX. It adds navigation, versioning, search, internationalisation and a blog.

Docusaurus vs Mintlify?

Docusaurus is a self-hosted open source static site generator that lives in your repository. Mintlify is a hosted documentation platform with an editor and managed features. Docusaurus gives more control and no platform fee, while Mintlify reduces setup and hosting work.

Does Docusaurus support versioned docs?

Yes. Docusaurus can keep multiple documentation versions, which is useful when several product releases are supported at once.

Can I use React components in Docusaurus?

Yes. MDX support lets you import and render React components inside documentation pages.