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  5. Apiary vs Swagger UI

Apiary vs Swagger UI

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Apiary
Apiary
Stacks241
Followers325
Votes109
Swagger UI
Swagger UI
Stacks2.1K
Followers1.8K
Votes207
GitHub Stars28.3K
Forks9.2K

Apiary vs Swagger UI: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this section, we will discuss the key differences between Apiary and Swagger UI.

  1. Data Format Support: One key difference is the data format support. Apiary primarily uses API Blueprint, which is a markdown-based format, to define APIs. On the other hand, Swagger UI uses the OpenAPI Specification (formerly known as Swagger), which is a widely adopted specification format that allows defining APIs in JSON or YAML. So, while Apiary is limited to API Blueprint, Swagger UI offers more flexibility in terms of data format.

  2. User Interface: Another significant difference lies in the user interface. Apiary provides a more structured and user-friendly interface, allowing users to document and design APIs with ease. It offers a visually appealing layout, auto-generated documentation, and powerful collaboration features. In contrast, Swagger UI focuses more on displaying API documentation in a machine-readable format. Its interface is less visually appealing and may require some technical accuracy when defining APIs.

  3. Testing and Mocking: Apiary stands out from Swagger UI in terms of testing and mocking capabilities. Apiary provides built-in tools for testing and mocking APIs, allowing users to simulate API responses and develop their APIs more efficiently. Swagger UI, on the other hand, primarily focuses on generating interactive API documentation and lacks the integrated testing and mocking functionalities offered by Apiary.

  4. Code Generation: When it comes to code generation, Swagger UI has an advantage over Apiary. Swagger UI allows users to generate client SDKs, server stubs, and other code artifacts based on the defined API specification. It provides code generation options in various programming languages, making it easier for developers to implement the API in their preferred language. Apiary, on the other hand, does not offer built-in code generation capabilities.

  5. Integration and Ecosystem: Both Apiary and Swagger UI have their own ecosystems and integration capabilities. However, Swagger UI, being based on the OpenAPI Specification, has a broader ecosystem and wider adoption in the API community. There are various third-party tools, libraries, and frameworks available that support OpenAPI, making it easier to integrate and build upon the Swagger UI documentation. Apiary, being a proprietary format, has a smaller ecosystem in comparison.

  6. Pricing and Licensing: The final difference is in terms of pricing and licensing. Apiary offers both free and paid plans, with various features and usage limits. The details of the pricing plans can be found on the Apiary website. On the other hand, Swagger UI is an open-source project that is available for free under the Apache License 2.0. This makes Swagger UI more accessible and cost-effective for individuals or organizations with budget constraints.

In summary, Apiary and Swagger UI differ in terms of data format support, user interface, testing and mocking capabilities, code generation capabilities, integration and ecosystem, as well as pricing and licensing. Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, so the choice depends on the specific requirements and preferences of the users.

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Advice on Apiary, Swagger UI

StackShare
StackShare

May 1, 2019

Needs advice

From a StackShare Community member: "I just started working for a start-up and we are in desperate need of better documentation for our API. Currently our API docs is in a README.md file. We are evaluating Postman and Swagger UI. Since there are many options and I was wondering what other StackSharers would recommend?"

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

Apiary
Apiary
Swagger UI
Swagger UI

It takes more than a simple HTML page to thrill your API users. The right tools take weeks of development. Weeks that apiary.io saves.

Swagger UI is a dependency-free collection of HTML, Javascript, and CSS assets that dynamically generate beautiful documentation and sandbox from a Swagger-compliant API

Documentation- Organized around resources, code samples with syntax highlight, easy to explore.;Inspector- Users can make API calls through apiary.io, we show them how they differ from documentation.;Community- Opensource your API documentation on GitHub. The right channel between developers on both side of the API.;Always Tested [closed alpha]- The documentation is always watching your real API and tells you whenever it gets out of sync.;Server Mock- The fastest way to static API prototype—just ‘document’ your future API and it’s up. 2 minutes to Hello World.;GitHub Integration- Store the API Blueprint in your repository, everything gets updated as soon as you commit a new version.;I/O Validation- Add a JSON Schema to the API Blueprint and the proxy will help your API users understand implementation of data structures better.;Customization [closed alpha]- The documentation and tools can be seamlessly placed on your website and gray-labeled so the friction is close to none.
The UI works in any development environment, be it locally or in the web;Allow end developers to effortlessly interact and try out every single operation your API exposes for easy consumption;Quickly find and work with resources and endpoints with neatly categorized documentation;Cater to every possible scenario with Swagger UI working in all major browsers
Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
28.3K
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
9.2K
Stacks
241
Stacks
2.1K
Followers
325
Followers
1.8K
Votes
109
Votes
207
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 29
    Easy to use
  • 19
    Free to use
  • 12
    Traffic inspector
  • 11
    Free
  • 10
    Collaboration
Pros
  • 49
    Open Source
  • 34
    Can execute api calls from the documentation
  • 29
    Free to use
  • 19
    Customizable
  • 14
    Easy to implement in .Net
Cons
  • 3
    Need to learn YAML and RAML
  • 2
    Documentation doesn't look that good
  • 1
    Does not support hypermedia
  • 1
    Doesn't generate code snippets in different languages
  • 1
    You don’t actually get in-line error highlighting
Integrations
GitHub
GitHub
Node.js
Node.js
Git
Git
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge
Safari
Safari
Firefox
Firefox
Google Chrome
Google Chrome

What are some alternatives to Apiary, Swagger UI?

Postman

Postman

It is the only complete API development environment, used by nearly five million developers and more than 100,000 companies worldwide.

ReadMe.io

ReadMe.io

It is an easy-to-use tool to help you build out documentation! Each documentation site that you publish is a project where there is space for documentation, interactive API reference guides, a changelog, and much more.

Docusaurus

Docusaurus

Docusaurus is a project for easily building, deploying, and maintaining open source project websites.

Read the Docs

Read the Docs

It hosts documentation, making it fully searchable and easy to find. You can import your docs using any major version control system, including Mercurial, Git, Subversion, and Bazaar.

Gelato.io

Gelato.io

Gelato.io is a SaaS tool for creating API documentation and developer portals.

MireDot

MireDot

Generate REST documentation directly from your Java source code. This ensures always up-to-date and accurate documentation with minimal effort.

Gitbook

Gitbook

It is a modern documentation platform where teams can document everything from products, to APIs and internal knowledge-bases. It is a place to think and track ideas for you & your team.

Slate

Slate

Slate helps you create beautiful API documentation. Think of it as an intelligent, responsive documentation template for your API.

jsdoc

jsdoc

JSDoc 3 is an API documentation generator for JavaScript, similar to JavaDoc or PHPDoc. You add documentation comments directly to your source code, right along side the code itself. The JSDoc Tool will scan your source code, and generate a complete HTML documentation website for you.

Ardoq

Ardoq

Ardoq's out of the box visualizations are automatically created in real-time. All changes and relationships are visualized simultaneously and are context sensitive. With Ardoq, you can see your documentation in the perspectives that best suit your needs.

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