# Mintlify vs Fern

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/mintlify-vs-fern/

Every value below is read from Mintlify's and Fern's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Mintlify | Fern |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | The Starter plan, free forever: hosting at a mintlify.site address, a custom domain, the web editor, authentication, an MCP server, the API playground and up to 5 editor seats. AI features are not on Starter; new accounts also get a separate 14-day Pro trial. | 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. |
| Entry paid plan | $540/month billed monthly for Pro ($450/month when billed annually): unlimited editor seats, the AI assistant and automations, preview deployments and admin APIs. Starter is free and Enterprise is custom. | 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. |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly price per account rather than per seat: Starter is free with 5 editor seats, Pro and Enterprise have unlimited editor seats. AI features are metered in credits: Pro includes 10,000 credits a month, overage is $0.01 per credit, an assistant answer costs 25 credits and an automation update 250. Enterprise is custom. | 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. |
| Sites or apps included | Unlimited editor seats on Pro, the entry paid plan (Starter has up to 5). The pricing page does not state a cap on the number of documentation sites. | 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. |
| Self-hostable | Limited — Enterprise plan only; each deployment is a scoped engagement with the account team | Limited — Enterprise plan only |
| SAML single sign-on | Limited — Enterprise plans only; covers sign-in to the Mintlify dashboard | Limited — Enterprise plan only; SAML 2.0 or OIDC sign-in to gated docs |
| 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 | Limited — Displays SDK code samples; the page points to Speakeasy for generating the SDKs themselves | Supported |
| 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 — Pro and Enterprise plans only, billed in credits; not on the free Starter plan | Supported |
| Multiple documentation versions | Supported | Supported |
| SOC 2 | SOC 2 Type 2 report listed among the documents in Mintlify's Trust Center; ISO 27001 appears only as a letter of intent. | 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. |
| GDPR / data residency | The Trust Center lists Amazon Web Services as the cloud infrastructure subprocessor with data location Northern Virginia, and a GDPR Article 27 Verification document. | 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. |

## Where they differ

### What the free plan includes

- Mintlify: The Starter plan, free forever: hosting at a mintlify.site address, a custom domain, the web editor, authentication, an MCP server, the API playground and up to 5 editor seats. AI features are not on Starter; new accounts also get a separate 14-day Pro trial. ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/pricing))
- 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. ([source](https://buildwithfern.com/pricing))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### Entry paid plan

- Mintlify: $540/month billed monthly for Pro ($450/month when billed annually): unlimited editor seats, the AI assistant and automations, preview deployments and admin APIs. Starter is free and Enterprise is custom. ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/pricing))
- 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. ([source](https://buildwithfern.com/pricing))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### Pricing model

- Mintlify: Flat monthly price per account rather than per seat: Starter is free with 5 editor seats, Pro and Enterprise have unlimited editor seats. AI features are metered in credits: Pro includes 10,000 credits a month, overage is $0.01 per credit, an assistant answer costs 25 credits and an automation update 250. Enterprise is custom. ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/pricing))
- 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. ([source](https://buildwithfern.com/pricing))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### Sites or apps included

- Mintlify: Unlimited editor seats on Pro, the entry paid plan (Starter has up to 5). The pricing page does not state a cap on the number of documentation sites. ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/pricing))
- 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. ([source](https://buildwithfern.com/pricing))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### Client SDK generation

- Mintlify: Limited — Displays SDK code samples; the page points to Speakeasy for generating the SDKs themselves ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/docs/api-playground/adding-sdk-examples))
- Fern: Supported ([source](https://buildwithfern.com/sdks))
- Lean: 36% Mintlify / 64% Fern — documented support level. inetGeek's own reading, computed from the two values above by the rules at https://inetgeek.com/methodology/, not a provider claim.

### SOC 2

- Mintlify: SOC 2 Type 2 report listed among the documents in Mintlify's Trust Center; ISO 27001 appears only as a letter of intent. ([source](https://security.mintlify.com))
- 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. ([source](https://buildwithfern.com/trust))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### GDPR / data residency

- Mintlify: The Trust Center lists Amazon Web Services as the cloud infrastructure subprocessor with data location Northern Virginia, and a GDPR Article 27 Verification document. ([source](https://security.mintlify.com))
- 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. ([source](https://buildwithfern.com/privacy-policy))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

## Which should you choose?

Pick Mintlify if A team that wants docs and an API reference built from Markdown, MDX and OpenAPI files in a git repository, with an AI assistant, llms.txt and an MCP server, at a flat price per account rather than per seat. Pro is $540 a month billed monthly with unlimited editors; the free Starter plan allows five.

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.

Consider something else: Mintlify — You want SDKs generated from the same spec. Mintlify shows SDK code samples and points to Speakeasy for the SDKs themselves, where Fern generates them. The AI assistant is a Pro feature and is not on the free plan.

Consider something else: 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.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Mintlify or Fern?**

Mintlify: $540/month billed monthly for Pro ($450/month when billed annually): unlimited editor seats, the AI assistant and automations, preview deployments and admin APIs. Starter is free and Enterprise is custom.
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.

**Should I choose Mintlify or Fern?**

Pick Mintlify if A team that wants docs and an API reference built from Markdown, MDX and OpenAPI files in a git repository, with an AI assistant, llms.txt and an MCP server, at a flat price per account rather than per seat. Pro is $540 a month billed monthly with unlimited editors; the free Starter plan allows five.
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.