mdBook vs Docsify

mdBook and Docsify are both open source static site generators. mdBook is written in Rust and Docsify is written in JavaScript.

Property mdBook Docsify
Language Rust JavaScript
Templates Handlebars Markdown, Vue
License MPL-2.0 MIT

mdBook benefits

Create book or documentation from markdown files as with GitBook.

Highlights:

  • Handlebars templates
  • Math equations through MathJax
  • Can be used as a library
  • Runnable Rust code snippet using Rust Playpen

Used by "The Rust Programming Language" book.

Docsify benefits

docsify generates your documentation website on the fly. Unlike GitBook, it does not generate static html files. Instead, it smartly loads and parses your Markdown files and displays them as a website.

Simple and lightweight (~21kB gzipped) No statically built html files Multiple themes