Read the Docs vs Swagger UI: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this documentation, we will compare the key differences between Read the Docs and Swagger UI. Both Read the Docs and Swagger UI are popular tools used for documenting and testing APIs. However, they have some distinct features that set them apart from each other.

1. User Interface:

   • Read the Docs: Read the Docs provides a simple and clean user interface that focuses more on the content of the documentation. It allows users to easily navigate through different sections and pages.
   • Swagger UI: Swagger UI, on the other hand, offers a more interactive and visually appealing user interface. It provides a live API documentation experience where users can directly interact with the API endpoints.

2. Documentation Format:

   • Read the Docs: Read the Docs primarily focuses on providing traditional text-based documentation. It allows for a detailed explanation of API endpoints, request/response examples, and code snippets.
   • Swagger UI: Swagger UI utilizes the OpenAPI Specification (formerly known as Swagger) to generate documentation. It focuses on API contract-first development, where the documentation is generated based on the API specification file.

3. API Testing Capabilities:

   • Read the Docs: Read the Docs does not inherently provide API testing capabilities. It is more focused on providing comprehensive and easy-to-understand documentation.
   • Swagger UI: Swagger UI offers built-in API testing functionality. Users can directly send requests to the API endpoints and view the responses within the Swagger UI interface.

4. Third-Party Integrations:

   • Read the Docs: Read the Docs offers integration with version control systems like GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab, making it easier to automatically build and deploy documentation whenever there is a change in the codebase.
   • Swagger UI: Swagger UI can be integrated with various development tools and frameworks such as Spring Boot, Node.js, and Django. It allows developers to generate API documentation from their codebase effortlessly.

5. Customization Options:

   • Read the Docs: Read the Docs provides limited customization options in terms of visual styling. It focuses more on consistency and readability by using a standardized theme.
   • Swagger UI: Swagger UI offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to customize the look and feel of the documentation according to their branding and design preferences.

6. API Security Documentation:

   • Read the Docs: Read the Docs does not have built-in support for documenting API security mechanisms such as authentication and authorization.
   • Swagger UI: Swagger UI includes support for documenting API security schemes such as API keys, OAuth, and JWT authentication. It allows developers to describe and test the authentication mechanisms directly within the documentation.

In summary, Read the Docs provides a simple and text-focused documentation experience, while Swagger UI offers a visually appealing interface with live API testing capabilities. Read the Docs is suitable for detailed textual documentation, while Swagger UI is best suited for API-first development and interactive documentation.