Fern vs ReadMe
OCT 2026 auditA comparison of Fern and ReadMe built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Fern if…
A team that wants one API definition to produce both a docs site and client SDKs, with llms.txt, an MCP server and an AI assistant on the free plan, which covers 10 team members and 1,000 pages.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose ReadMe if…
A team publishing an interactive API reference beside guides from an OpenAPI file, with two-way Git sync, a free Starter plan for one project and one admin, and unlimited versions on Pro.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Fern: You need a paid plan between free and custom. Fern Docs lists a free plan and an Enterprise plan quoted by sales and nothing priced in between, and SSO and self-hosting are Enterprise-only.
- ReadMe: You want a monthly-billed plan or generated SDKs. Pro is $250 a month shown as billed annually with no monthly price on the page, and ReadMe says it generates no full client SDK. The full Ask AI is a $150 a month add-on.
Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Fern alternatives · ReadMe alternatives
7 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Fern 0
ReadMe 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Fern | ReadMe |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | The Free docs plan: 10 team members, 1,000 pages, 250 AI credits and 2,000 page generations a month, a custom domain and subpath, API explorer and web editor, Ask Fern, Fern Agent, MCP server, and version and product switching. | The Starter plan, free for everyone: one project, one admin and one published version, with a custom domain, bi-directional Git sync, an interactive API reference, usage metrics, a Markdown editor, themes, AI Dropdown, LLMs.txt and an MCP server. Ask AI is a paid add-on. |
| Entry paid plan | No priced paid plan is listed for Fern Docs: Enterprise is quoted by sales (Custom, 'Tailored pricing terms'). The only priced plan is Free at $0. | $250/month for Pro, shown with 'Billed annually' and no monthly-billed price: teammates, multiplayer editing, branching and reviews, private docs, a landing page and custom MDX components, with 5 admins. Starter is free; Enterprise is contact-us, annual billing only. |
| Pricing model | Docs come in two plans: Free at $0 with caps (10 team members, 1,000 pages, 250 AI credits and 2,000 page generations a month) and a custom-priced Enterprise plan that lifts them. No self-serve paid tier is listed. AI features draw on a monthly credit allowance. | Per-project plans: Starter is free, Pro is $250/month billed annually, Enterprise is custom with annual billing only. Pro includes 5 admins and charges $20 for each additional admin. Add-ons are priced separately: Ask AI at $150/month and extended request history and logs at $100/month. |
| Limits | ||
| Sites or apps included | One docs site on the Free plan; Enterprise is custom and adds multiple repos and docs instances. The pricing page lists no plan between the two. | One project on Pro, the entry paid plan, with 5 admins and $20 for each additional admin. Starter also has one project and one admin; Enterprise offers multiple combined projects. |
| Auth | ||
| SAML single sign-on | Limited — Enterprise plan only; SAML 2.0 or OIDC sign-in to gated docs | Limited — Enterprise plan only; covers teammate sign-in to ReadMe |
| Documentation | ||
| Docs as code in a git repository | Supported | Supported |
| API reference from an OpenAPI spec | Supported | Supported |
| Interactive API playground | Supported | Supported |
| Client SDK generation | Supported | Limited — Docs say it generates no full client SDK; it shows code samples plus an optional Node api option |
| llms.txt and markdown for AI tools | Supported | Supported |
| MCP server for the docs or API | Supported | Supported |
| Built-in AI assistant over the docs | Supported | Supported — Ask AI Lite is built into Pro; the full Ask AI is a $150/month add-on on any plan |
| Multiple documentation versions | Supported | Supported — Starter publishes 1 version; Pro and Enterprise unlimited |
| Compliance | ||
| SOC 2 | Trust center lists SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and CCPA, with a SOC 2 Type II Report among the documents available through a request-access form. | SOC 2 Type II is listed under Compliance on ReadMe's Trust Center, alongside GDPR, HIPAA and WCAG 2.1, with a SOC 2 Type II report among its resources. |
| GDPR / data residency | Fern's privacy policy says personal information is stored and/or processed in the United States, or where Fern or its partners, affiliates and third-party providers maintain facilities. | API request and key data is stored in an Amazon Web Services facility in Virginia (USA); ReadMe's security FAQ names no other region. |
Where they differ.
What the free plan includes
- Fern
- The Free docs plan: 10 team members, 1,000 pages, 250 AI credits and 2,000 page generations a month, a custom domain and subpath, API explorer and web editor, Ask Fern, Fern Agent, MCP server, and version and product switching.
- ReadMe
- The Starter plan, free for everyone: one project, one admin and one published version, with a custom domain, bi-directional Git sync, an interactive API reference, usage metrics, a Markdown editor, themes, AI Dropdown, LLMs.txt and an MCP server. Ask AI is a paid add-on.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing | Fern ↗
“10 team members 1,000 pages 250 AI credits per month 2,000 page generations per month Custom domain and subpath Guides, API references, and changelogs API explorer and web editor Ask Fern, Fern Agent, and MCP server Version and product switching”
Read 2026-10-25 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Pricing · ReadMe ↗
“Starter $ 0 /month Free for everyone Get started Custom domain Bi-directional Sync Interactive API reference Usage metrics Markdown editor Customizable themes Included AI features AI Dropdown LLMs.txt MCP Server Ask AI ($150/mo) ADD-ON [...] Projects 1 project 1 project Custom [...] Published versions 1 version Unlimited Unlimited [...] Admins 1 5 · $20/additional admin Custom”
Read 2026-10-25 · official pricing · Report a correction
Entry paid plan
- Fern
- No priced paid plan is listed for Fern Docs: Enterprise is quoted by sales (Custom, 'Tailored pricing terms'). The only priced plan is Free at $0.
- ReadMe
- $250/month for Pro, shown with 'Billed annually' and no monthly-billed price: teammates, multiplayer editing, branching and reviews, private docs, a landing page and custom MDX components, with 5 admins. Starter is free; Enterprise is contact-us, annual billing only.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing | Fern ↗
“Enterprise Custom Tailored pricing terms For organizations with governance, scale, and security requirements Book a demo”
Read 2026-10-25 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Pricing · ReadMe ↗
“Pro Popular $ 250 /month Billed annually Start free trial All Starter features, plus: Restless (+4,000 credits) NEW Invite teammates Multiplayer editing Branching and reviews Notifications Private docs Landing page”
Read 2026-10-25 · official pricing · Report a correction
Pricing model
- Fern
- Docs come in two plans: Free at $0 with caps (10 team members, 1,000 pages, 250 AI credits and 2,000 page generations a month) and a custom-priced Enterprise plan that lifts them. No self-serve paid tier is listed. AI features draw on a monthly credit allowance.
- ReadMe
- Per-project plans: Starter is free, Pro is $250/month billed annually, Enterprise is custom with annual billing only. Pro includes 5 admins and charges $20 for each additional admin. Add-ons are priced separately: Ask AI at $150/month and extended request history and logs at $100/month.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing | Fern ↗
“Free $ 0 /mo Free forever For developers and teams shipping production docs Start for free 10 team members 1,000 pages 250 AI credits per month 2,000 page generations per month [...] Enterprise Custom Tailored pricing terms”
Read 2026-10-25 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Pricing · ReadMe ↗
“Annual billing only [...] Admins 1 5 · $20/additional admin Custom [...] Ask AI ($150/mo) ADD-ON [...] Extended history & logs $100/month $100/month $100/month”
Read 2026-10-25 · official pricing · Report a correction
Sites or apps included
- Fern
- One docs site on the Free plan; Enterprise is custom and adds multiple repos and docs instances. The pricing page lists no plan between the two.
- ReadMe
- One project on Pro, the entry paid plan, with 5 admins and $20 for each additional admin. Starter also has one project and one admin; Enterprise offers multiple combined projects.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing | Fern ↗
“Publishing # of sites 1 Custom Pages 1,000 Custom [...] Multiple repos and docs instances”
Read 2026-10-25 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Pricing · ReadMe ↗
“Projects 1 project 1 project Custom [...] Admins 1 5 · $20/additional admin Custom [...] Multiple combined projects”
Read 2026-10-25 · official pricing · Report a correction
Client SDK generation
- Fern
- Supported
- ReadMe
- Limited — Docs say it generates no full client SDK; it shows code samples plus an optional Node api option
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fern SDKs: Client libraries for developers and agents. ↗
“Select languages to generate We support TypeScript, Python, Go, Java, Ruby, C#, PHP, Swift & Rust.”
Read 2026-10-25 · official site · Report a correction
- Migrate from Fern ↗
“ReadMe creates interactive API Reference content from OpenAPI definitions and doesn't generate a full client SDK library”
Read 2026-10-25 · official docs · Report a correction
SOC 2
- Fern
- Trust center lists SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and CCPA, with a SOC 2 Type II Report among the documents available through a request-access form.
- ReadMe
- SOC 2 Type II is listed under Compliance on ReadMe's Trust Center, alongside GDPR, HIPAA and WCAG 2.1, with a SOC 2 Type II report among its resources.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Trust center | Fern ↗
“SOC 2 Type II GDPR CCPA Request access [...] Documents SOC 2 Type II Report”
Read 2026-10-25 · official site · Report a correction
- ReadMe's Trust Center ↗
“Compliance SOC 2 Type II GDPR HIPAA WCAG 2.1 [...] Reports ReadMe - SOC 2 Type II”
Read 2026-10-25 · official site · Report a correction
GDPR / data residency
- Fern
- Fern's privacy policy says personal information is stored and/or processed in the United States, or where Fern or its partners, affiliates and third-party providers maintain facilities.
- ReadMe
- API request and key data is stored in an Amazon Web Services facility in Virginia (USA); ReadMe's security FAQ names no other region.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Privacy policy | Fern ↗
“The personal information we collect is stored and/or processed in United States, or where we or our partners, affiliates, and third-party providers maintain facilities.”
Read 2026-10-25 · official site · Report a correction
- Security ↗
“API request and key data is stored indefinitely in an Amazon Web Services (AWS) facility in Virginia (USA).”
Read 2026-10-25 · official docs · Report a correction
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Fern or ReadMe?
Fern: No priced paid plan is listed for Fern Docs: Enterprise is quoted by sales (Custom, 'Tailored pricing terms'). The only priced plan is Free at $0.
ReadMe: $250/month for Pro, shown with 'Billed annually' and no monthly-billed price: teammates, multiplayer editing, branching and reviews, private docs, a landing page and custom MDX components, with 5 admins. Starter is free; Enterprise is contact-us, annual billing only.
Should I choose Fern or ReadMe?
Pick Fern if A team that wants one API definition to produce both a docs site and client SDKs, with llms.txt, an MCP server and an AI assistant on the free plan, which covers 10 team members and 1,000 pages.
Pick ReadMe if A team publishing an interactive API reference beside guides from an OpenAPI file, with two-way Git sync, a free Starter plan for one project and one admin, and unlimited versions on Pro.
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