Documentation · head to head
Fumadocs vs Slab
Fumadocs
Documentation
Documentation framework for Next.js that treats the docs site as an application rather than a static export
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Slab
Documentation
Internal knowledge base for teams, organised by topic rather than folders, with search across connected tools
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Fumadocs it is a library rather than a finished theme, so the initial setup is meaningfully longer than a generator that ships a working site from one command.; Slab it is built for internal knowledge, so public product documentation on a custom domain with versioning is outside what the product does.
- They diverge on capability: Fumadocs covers Next.js App Router native, Slab covers Topics instead of folders.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Fumadocs and Slab actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Fumadocs
- Next.js App Router native
- Multiple content sources
- OpenAPI page generation
- Built in search
- Headless and styled layers
- Type safe frontmatter
- Code and content colocation
Only in Slab
- Topics instead of folders
- Unified search
- Post verification
- Quill editor
- Permissions
- Free tier for small teams
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Fumadocs
- Documentation that must sit behind login and show different content to different customer plansnot Slab
- A Next.js product team that wants docs to deploy in the same pipeline as the applicationnot Slab
- API reference pages generated from an OpenAPI document alongside hand written guides in one navigation treenot Slab
- A design system site where the component documentation must render the live components from the same codebasenot Slab
Slab
- Building an employee handbook and onboarding path that new starters can actually findnot Fumadocs
- Replacing a folder-based wiki where nobody agrees which folder a document belongs innot Fumadocs
- Companies whose knowledge is already spread across Drive, Slack and GitHub and needs one search boxnot Fumadocs
- Documenting process and decisions for teams that do not want a project management tool attachednot Fumadocs
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Fumadocs
- It is a library rather than a finished theme, so the initial setup is meaningfully longer than a generator that ships a working site from one command.
- Maintenance is concentrated in a very small group, so an unresponsive week is a blocked upgrade and there is no support contract to escalate to.
- It only targets Next.js, so adopting it commits the documentation to that framework and a later migration means rewriting the site rather than swapping a theme.
- Breaking changes have arrived across minor versions during rapid development, so pinning versions and reading migration notes is a recurring cost rather than a one off.
- Running docs inside the application means docs traffic hits your application infrastructure and shares its failure modes, where a separate static site would have stayed up.
Slab
- It is built for internal knowledge, so public product documentation on a custom domain with versioning is outside what the product does.
- There is no docs-as-code workflow, no git synchronisation and no markdown files on disk, so engineering-owned technical documentation ends up somewhere else anyway.
- Hierarchy is shallow by design, and organisations that genuinely need deep nested structure find topics an awkward substitute rather than an improvement.
- There is no offline mode, so a knowledge base that includes incident runbooks is unavailable during exactly the incident where the network is the problem.
- Pricing is per user per month, so organisations where most staff only read a handbook twice a year still pay a seat for each of them.
Pricing, plan by plan
Fumadocs
Free- Open sourceFree
- MIT licence
- All packages included
- Self hosted or deployed with your Next.js application
Slab
Free- FreeFree
- Up to ten users
- Unlimited posts
- Core integrations
- Slab$undefined/month
- Priced per user per month with annual billing
- Unlimited users and history
- Full integration set and unified search
Which should you pick?
Choose Fumadocs if
- You need next.js app router native.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.
- You also want multiple content sources.
Choose Slab if
- You need topics instead of folders.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want unified search.
Questions people ask
- Is Fumadocs or Slab better?
- Neither clearly leads. Fumadocs starts at Free and Slab at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Fumadocs or Slab?
- Fumadocs starts at Free and Slab at Free.
- Does Fumadocs or Slab run on more platforms?
- Fumadocs runs on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux. Slab runs on Web.
- Can I use Fumadocs for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Fumadocs best used for?
- Fumadocs is most often used for documentation that must sit behind login and show different content to different customer plans, a next.js product team that wants docs to deploy in the same pipeline as the application, api reference pages generated from an openapi document alongside hand written guides in one navigation tree, a design system site where the component documentation must render the live components from the same codebase. Of those, documentation that must sit behind login and show different content to different customer plans and a next.js product team that wants docs to deploy in the same pipeline as the application are not what Slab is typically brought in for.
- What can Fumadocs do that Slab cannot?
- Fumadocs covers Next.js App Router native, Multiple content sources, OpenAPI page generation, Built in search. Slab covers Topics instead of folders, Unified search, Post verification, Quill editor.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Fumadocs: Can I put documentation behind authentication?
Yes. Pages are Next.js server components, so the same session and authorisation checks the rest of the application uses apply.
Slab: Can I publish documentation publicly with Slab?
Posts can be shared by link, but it is not a product documentation platform. There is no custom domain publishing, versioning or API reference tooling.
Fumadocs: Does it work outside Next.js?
No. The UI layer depends on the Next.js App Router.
Slab: What does the free plan actually cover?
Up to ten users with unlimited posts and core integrations. It is a real free tier rather than a trial, and it is enough for a small company handbook.
Fumadocs: Can it generate pages from an OpenAPI spec?
Yes, including operation pages, schema rendering and an interactive request playground.
Slab: How does it compare with a general workspace tool?
Slab does less on purpose. There are no databases, boards or task views, which makes it faster to write in and much harder to turn into an unmaintained sprawl.
Fumadocs: Who maintains it and is that a risk?
A very small maintainer group. For a long lived commercial documentation set, treat the low bus factor as a real risk and budget for owning a fork.
Slab: Does search really cover other tools?
Yes, connected sources are indexed and appear in results. That integration is the main reason to choose it, so verify your specific tools are supported before committing.
Fumadocs: Do I still need a separate docs deployment?
No, and avoiding one is the main reason to choose it. The cost is that docs share your application uptime.
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