# Scalar vs Mintlify

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

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

## At a glance

| Criterion | Scalar | Mintlify |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | The Free plan costs $0 with no credit card: hosted OpenAPI docs, built-in API client, landing pages, up to 3 APIs, 1 SDK up to 25 endpoints, 50 Agent Scalar credits and 1 editor seat. Publishing a Docs site needs a paid plan after the 7-day trial every new team gets. | 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. |
| Entry paid plan | Pro is $150/month ($125/month billed yearly): 5 editor seats, up to 15 APIs, 1 SDK up to 100 endpoints, custom domains, Git Sync, Markdown and MDX, hosted MCP servers. Business is $600/month. | $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. |
| Pricing model | Priced per plan by APIs published, SDK size (endpoints in the OpenAPI document) and editor seats: Free 3 APIs and 1 seat, Pro 15 APIs and 5 seats, Business 25 APIs and 10 seats, Enterprise custom. Each plan includes 1 SDK; extra SDKs are $150/month each up to 100 endpoints or $600/month each for 101-250. Billed monthly or yearly. | 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. |
| Sites or apps included | Pro, the entry paid plan, allows up to 15 APIs and 5 editor seats; Free allows 3 APIs and 1 editor seat, Business 25 APIs and 10 seats. | 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. |
| Self-hostable | Limited — MIT-licensed core only; no page says the hosted Docs platform itself can be self-hosted. | Limited — Enterprise plan only; each deployment is a scoped engagement with the account team |
| SAML single sign-on | Supported — Business and Enterprise plans; not on Free or Pro. | Limited — Enterprise plans only; covers sign-in to the Mintlify dashboard |
| 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 — Displays SDK code samples; the page points to Speakeasy for generating the SDKs themselves |
| 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 — Pro and Enterprise plans only, billed in credits; not on the free Starter plan |
| Multiple documentation versions | Supported — Docs plan table lists versions from Pro upward, not on Free. | Supported |
| SOC 2 | SOC 2 Type 1 report received for controls relevant to security; no Type 2 stated. GDPR privacy rights are described, no data-residency region is stated. | SOC 2 Type 2 report listed among the documents in Mintlify's Trust Center; ISO 27001 appears only as a letter of intent. |

## Where they differ

### What the free plan includes

- Scalar: The Free plan costs $0 with no credit card: hosted OpenAPI docs, built-in API client, landing pages, up to 3 APIs, 1 SDK up to 25 endpoints, 50 Agent Scalar credits and 1 editor seat. Publishing a Docs site needs a paid plan after the 7-day trial every new team gets. ([source](https://scalar.com/pricing))
- 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))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### Entry paid plan

- Scalar: Pro is $150/month ($125/month billed yearly): 5 editor seats, up to 15 APIs, 1 SDK up to 100 endpoints, custom domains, Git Sync, Markdown and MDX, hosted MCP servers. Business is $600/month. ([source](https://scalar.com/pricing))
- 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))
- Lean: 78% Scalar / 22% Mintlify — inversely proportional to the documented price. inetGeek's own reading, computed from the two values above by the rules at https://inetgeek.com/methodology/, not a provider claim.

### Pricing model

- Scalar: Priced per plan by APIs published, SDK size (endpoints in the OpenAPI document) and editor seats: Free 3 APIs and 1 seat, Pro 15 APIs and 5 seats, Business 25 APIs and 10 seats, Enterprise custom. Each plan includes 1 SDK; extra SDKs are $150/month each up to 100 endpoints or $600/month each for 101-250. Billed monthly or yearly. ([source](https://scalar.com/pricing))
- 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))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### Sites or apps included

- Scalar: Pro, the entry paid plan, allows up to 15 APIs and 5 editor seats; Free allows 3 APIs and 1 editor seat, Business 25 APIs and 10 seats. ([source](https://scalar.com/pricing))
- 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))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

### Client SDK generation

- Scalar: Supported ([source](https://scalar.com/products/sdk-generator))
- 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))
- Lean: 64% Scalar / 36% Mintlify — 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.

### SAML single sign-on

- Scalar: Supported — Business and Enterprise plans; not on Free or Pro. ([source](https://scalar.com/pricing))
- Mintlify: Limited — Enterprise plans only; covers sign-in to the Mintlify dashboard ([source](https://www.mintlify.com/docs/dashboard/sso))
- Lean: 64% Scalar / 36% Mintlify — 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

- Scalar: SOC 2 Type 1 report received for controls relevant to security; no Type 2 stated. GDPR privacy rights are described, no data-residency region is stated. ([source](https://scalar.com/security))
- 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))
- Lean: none. No documented basis to lean either way on this criterion.

## Which should you choose?

Pick Scalar if A team that wants OpenAPI-driven docs, an API client, SDK generation and MCP servers from one toolchain with an MIT-licensed core. Pro is $150 a month for 15 APIs and 5 editor seats.

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.

Consider something else: Scalar — You need SAML SSO, which starts at Business, or a SOC 2 Type II report, where Scalar states a Type 1. Publishing a docs site needs a paid plan after the 7-day trial, so the free plan is not a way to host docs.

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.

## 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.

- 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: Scalar or Mintlify?**

Scalar: Pro is $150/month ($125/month billed yearly): 5 editor seats, up to 15 APIs, 1 SDK up to 100 endpoints, custom domains, Git Sync, Markdown and MDX, hosted MCP servers. Business is $600/month.
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.

**Should I choose Scalar or Mintlify?**

Pick Scalar if A team that wants OpenAPI-driven docs, an API client, SDK generation and MCP servers from one toolchain with an MIT-licensed core. Pro is $150 a month for 15 APIs and 5 editor seats.
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.