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Documentation · head to head

Antora vs Paligo

Antora logo

Antora

Documentation

Static site generator that assembles versioned AsciiDoc documentation from many git repositories

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Paligo logo

Paligo

Documentation

Component content management system for technical documentation, licensed per author seat

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Antora has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Antora content must be AsciiDoc, so an existing markdown documentation set has to be converted before you can evaluate the tool properly.; Paligo the Business plan starts at $15,000/year for only two authors, which is a high price floor compared with help-centre or wiki tools and prices out small documentation teams
  • They diverge on capability: Antora covers Multi-repository sourcing, Paligo covers Topic-based reuse.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Antora and Paligo actually diverge.

Attributes where Antora and Paligo differ
AttributeAntoraPaligo
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer author seat per year
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsSelf-hosted, Static hosting, CI pipelinesWeb

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Documentation).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Antora

  • Multi-repository sourcing
  • Version handling
  • AsciiDoc
  • Cross-component references
  • Separate UI bundle
  • Content reuse

Only in Paligo

  • Topic-based reuse
  • Multi-channel publishing
  • Translation management
  • Review and workflow
  • Nexus Portal and Answers

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Antora

  • Publishing one documentation site from several product repositories owned by different teamsnot Paligo
  • Maintaining documentation for three or more supported releases without copying directoriesnot Paligo
  • Enterprise documentation teams that already write in AsciiDoc and need version-aware cross-referencesnot Paligo
  • Keeping documentation in the same repository and pull request as the code change it describesnot Paligo

Paligo

  • A technical publications team producing large, interlinked manuals that need to be translated into several languages without maintaining separate copies per languagenot Antora
  • A regulated industry documentation team (medical device, industrial equipment) needing structured review and approval workflownot Antora
  • An engineering documentation team consolidating content that was previously duplicated across a wiki, a PDF generator and a help sitenot Antora
  • A company whose translation costs are high enough that reuse-driven token savings on AI translation justify the CCMS licence costnot Antora

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Antora

  • Content must be AsciiDoc, so an existing markdown documentation set has to be converted before you can evaluate the tool properly.
  • The component, version and module model must be understood before anything builds, and the first working site typically takes days rather than the afternoon a markdown generator needs.
  • Theming means building a separate UI bundle with Handlebars templates and its own pipeline, which is a front-end project most documentation teams are not staffed for.
  • There is no search included, so every deployment adds either a Lunr extension with its own index size limits or a paid hosted search service.
  • Builds fetch from every configured repository, so large multi-component sites become slow and depend on git availability during every documentation build.

Paligo

  • The Business plan starts at $15,000/year for only two authors, which is a high price floor compared with help-centre or wiki tools and prices out small documentation teams
  • Topic-based, structured authoring has a real learning curve for writers used to free-form documents or Markdown, and onboarding time should be budgeted separately from the licence
  • Nexus Portal and Nexus Answers are separate paid products, so a buyer wanting hosted delivery or AI answers on top of authoring should expect additional annual cost beyond the base plan
  • Storage is capped per author (10 GB on Business) with additional storage or authors priced as add-ons, so a growing team's costs are not fully captured by the headline per-author price
  • Unlimited languages are only included on the Enterprise plan; Business is capped at two languages, which limits it for teams with more than a couple of target markets
  • Migrating an existing large documentation set into Paligo's structured content model is a real project, not a data import, and that migration cost sits outside the subscription price

Pricing, plan by plan

Antora

Free
  • AntoraFree
    • Mozilla Public Licence 2.0
    • Unlimited components and versions
    • No hosting or seat costs

Paligo

On request
  • Business$15000/year
    • 2 authors included
    • 2 languages
    • 10 GB storage per author
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 8 authors included
    • Unlimited languages
    • SSO and advanced permissions

Which should you pick?

Choose Antora if

  • You need multi-repository sourcing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Self-hosted, Static hosting, CI pipelines.
  • You also want version handling.
Antora review

Choose Paligo if

  • You need topic-based reuse.
  • You also want multi-channel publishing.
Paligo review

Questions people ask

Is Antora or Paligo better?
Neither clearly leads. Antora starts at Free and Paligo at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Antora or Paligo?
Antora has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Antora and On request for Paligo.
Does Antora or Paligo run on more platforms?
Antora runs on Self-hosted, Static hosting, CI pipelines. Paligo runs on Web.
Can I use Antora for free?
Yes. Antora has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Paligo starts at On request.
What is Antora best used for?
Antora is most often used for publishing one documentation site from several product repositories owned by different teams, maintaining documentation for three or more supported releases without copying directories, enterprise documentation teams that already write in asciidoc and need version-aware cross-references, keeping documentation in the same repository and pull request as the code change it describes. Of those, publishing one documentation site from several product repositories owned by different teams and maintaining documentation for three or more supported releases without copying directories are not what Paligo is typically brought in for.
What can Antora do that Paligo cannot?
Antora covers Multi-repository sourcing, Version handling, AsciiDoc, Cross-component references. Paligo covers Topic-based reuse, Multi-channel publishing, Translation management, Review and workflow.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Antora: Can I use markdown with Antora?

Not as the primary format. Antora is an AsciiDoc pipeline, and treating markdown as a first-class input means a different tool.

Paligo: Is there a free tier?

No, Paligo has no published free plan; pricing starts at $15,000/year for the Business plan.

Antora: Is it worth it for a single product with one version?

Usually not. The model pays off when you have several repositories or several supported versions; below that a simpler generator will do the same job with far less setup.

Paligo: Are Nexus Portal and Nexus Answers included in the base licence?

No, they are separate products priced from $5,000/year and $6,000/year respectively.

Antora: How does versioning actually work?

Each branch or tag of a source repository becomes a version of that component. You publish a new version by branching, not by copying a directory.

Paligo: How is AI translation priced?

Through prepaid, non-expiring token packages (5M, 10M or 20M tokens) rather than a per-seat fee.

Antora: Who maintains it?

OpenDevise, the group behind Asciidoctor, under the Mozilla Public Licence. Paid consulting and custom UI work are available from them separately.

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