Apiary vs Docsify vs Swagger UI

Overview

Apiary

Stacks241

Followers325

Votes109

Swagger UI

Stacks2.1K

Followers1.8K

Votes207

GitHub Stars28.3K

Forks9.2K

Docsify

Stacks37

Followers136

Votes0

Apiary vs Docsify vs Swagger UI: What are the differences?

Integration Capabilities: Apiary provides seamless integration with various API lifecycle tools and platforms, making it easier to manage and maintain APIs throughout their lifecycle. On the other hand, Docsify focuses on providing a simple and easy-to-use documentation platform without extensive integration capabilities. Swagger UI also offers integration capabilities but may require more customization for specific use cases.
Customization Options: One of the key differences between the three tools is the level of customization they offer. Apiary allows for a high degree of customization in terms of styling, themes, and layouts, enabling users to create unique and visually appealing API documentation. Docsify provides limited customization options compared to Apiary, while Swagger UI offers more flexibility in terms of UI customization but may require advanced knowledge of Swagger specifications.
Collaboration Features: Apiary excels in providing collaboration features that allow teams to work together on API design, documentation, and testing. It offers real-time editing, commenting, and version control features to facilitate seamless collaboration. In contrast, Docsify and Swagger UI may not have as robust collaboration features, focusing more on individual documentation creation and presentation.
Mock Server Functionality: Apiary offers built-in support for creating and using a mock server for testing APIs without the need for backend implementation. This feature is particularly useful during the early stages of API development when the backend is not fully ready. Docsify and Swagger UI may lack this native mock server functionality, requiring users to rely on external tools for simulating API responses.
Documentation Format: While all three tools support API documentation, they differ in terms of documentation format. Apiary uses API Blueprint as its primary format for documenting APIs, which is a markdown-based language specifically designed for describing RESTful APIs. Docsify supports Markdown files for documentation creation, offering a more straightforward and familiar format. Swagger UI utilizes OpenAPI Specification (formerly known as Swagger Specification) for defining APIs, which provides a standardized way to describe REST APIs in JSON or YAML format.
Learning Curve: When it comes to the learning curve, Apiary may have a steeper learning curve compared to Docsify and Swagger UI due to its robust feature set and advanced capabilities. Docsify is known for its user-friendly interface and simplicity, making it easier for beginners to start creating API documentation. Swagger UI falls somewhere in between, offering a balance between complexity and ease of use for documenting APIs.

In Summary, Apiary, Docsify, and Swagger UI differ in terms of integration capabilities, customization options, collaboration features, mock server functionality, documentation format, and learning curve.

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Advice on Apiary, Swagger UI, Docsify

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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Detailed Comparison

Apiary	Swagger UI	Docsify
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	Docsify generates your documentation website on the fly without generating static html files. Instead, it loads and parses your Markdown files and displays them as a website.
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	No statically built html files;Simple and lightweight (~18kB gzipped);Smart full-text search plugin;Multiple themes;Useful plugin API;Emoji support;Compatible with IE10+;Supports SSR
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 28.3K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 9.2K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 241	Stacks 2.1K	Stacks 37
Followers 325	Followers 1.8K	Followers 136
Votes 109	Votes 207	Votes 0
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	No community feedback yet
Integrations
GitHub	Node.js Git Microsoft Edge Safari Firefox Google Chrome	GitHub

What are some alternatives to Apiary, Swagger UI, Docsify?

Postman

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

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

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

MireDot

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

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

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'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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