# Mintlify vs Fumadocs

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

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

## At a glance

| Criterion | Mintlify | Fumadocs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Always free |
| 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 framework is open source and free to adopt; no hosting is included, you deploy and run your own app on the hosting of your underlying React framework. The AI chat model is likewise not provided. |
| 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 paid plan is listed: fumadocs.dev shows no plans or prices and presents Fumadocs as an open-source project powered by its community. |
| 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. | No pricing model: the framework is open source and the site lists no plans, tiers or prices; the homepage shows a Sponsors section and a contributors list. |
| Self-hostable | Limited — Enterprise plan only; each deployment is a scoped engagement with the account team | Supported |
| 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 | Limited — Generates example request code in several languages; no SDK generation is described |
| 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 | Limited — Installable AI chat UI; Fumadocs supplies no model, you bring your own |
| Multiple documentation versions | Supported | Supported |

## Where they differ

### Kind of free offer

- Mintlify: Free tier ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/pricing))
- Fumadocs: Always free ([source](https://www.fumadocs.dev/docs/comparisons))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### 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))
- Fumadocs: The framework is open source and free to adopt; no hosting is included, you deploy and run your own app on the hosting of your underlying React framework. The AI chat model is likewise not provided. ([source](https://www.fumadocs.dev/docs/deploying))
- 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))
- Fumadocs: No paid plan is listed: fumadocs.dev shows no plans or prices and presents Fumadocs as an open-source project powered by its community. ([source](https://www.fumadocs.dev/))
- 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))
- Fumadocs: No pricing model: the framework is open source and the site lists no plans, tiers or prices; the homepage shows a Sponsors section and a contributors list. ([source](https://www.fumadocs.dev/))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### Built-in AI assistant over the docs

- Mintlify: Supported — Pro and Enterprise plans only, billed in credits; not on the free Starter plan ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/docs/assistant/index))
- Fumadocs: Limited — Installable AI chat UI; Fumadocs supplies no model, you bring your own ([source](https://www.fumadocs.dev/docs/integrations/llms))
- Lean: 64% Mintlify / 36% Fumadocs — 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.

### Self-hostable

- Mintlify: Limited — Enterprise plan only; each deployment is a scoped engagement with the account team ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/docs/deploy/self-host))
- Fumadocs: Supported ([source](https://www.fumadocs.dev/docs/deploying))
- Lean: 36% Mintlify / 64% Fumadocs — 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.

## 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 Fumadocs if A team that already builds in React or Next.js and wants to own its documentation site: Fumadocs is an open-source framework you deploy yourself, with an OpenAPI reference and playground, llms.txt and MCP integrations, and no paid plan.

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: Fumadocs — You want someone to host and run it. Fumadocs sells no hosting, so deploying and keeping the site up is your work, SDK generation is not described, and its AI assistant needs a model you supply.

## Documented by only one

One side documents these and the other does not. An absence is a missing source, not a stated "no" — except where a line says the other page was READ on a date and does not mention it, which is a sourced observation and the only one-sided case this site leans on.

- 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.
- SAML single sign-on: Mintlify: Limited — Enterprise plans only; covers sign-in to the Mintlify dashboard
- 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.
- 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.

## Questions this comparison answers

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

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.
Fumadocs: No paid plan is listed: fumadocs.dev shows no plans or prices and presents Fumadocs as an open-source project powered by its community.

**Should I choose Mintlify or Fumadocs?**

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 Fumadocs if A team that already builds in React or Next.js and wants to own its documentation site: Fumadocs is an open-source framework you deploy yourself, with an OpenAPI reference and playground, llms.txt and MCP integrations, and no paid plan.