Side by side
Natural Docs vs Scaladoc
Both stand on documentation generators. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan LinuxMacWindows
Natural Docs offers a free way to generate navigable HTML documentation from code comments and text files. Its language coverage, local viewing, and AGPL terms are key considerations.
Visit Natural Docs Free plan LinuxMacWeb+1
Scaladoc turns code comments into structured Scala documentation and supports both API references and static sites. For complex projects, sbt is described as the easier generation route.
Visit ScaladocThe facts
| Natural Docs | Scaladoc | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Linux, Mac, Windows | Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | naturaldocs.org | docs.scala-lang.org |
| On documentation generators | #9 of 37 | #13 of 37 |
Natural Docs: what it does well
- Free plan listed as free
- Supports API reference generation and HTML output
- Configured for 25 languages and extendable
- Generated documentation works from a local hard drive
- Can read Javadoc and Microsoft XML comments for some languages
What to know first
- Output format is HTML
- AGPL source-availability terms apply to certain uses
- Runs as a command-line application
Scaladoc: what it does well
- Generates HTML API documentation
- Supports Markdown in Scala 3 and legacy Wikidoc
- Can inherit comments from superclasses and traits
- Accepts Scala source, TASTy, and JAR files
What to know first
- Search by method and field type is still in development
- Direct command-line use is harder for complex projects
Alternatives to Natural Docs Alternatives to Scaladoc The whole list