Is Nuclino or Starlight better?

Neither clearly leads. Nuclino starts at Free and Starlight at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Nuclino or Starlight?

Nuclino starts at Free and Starlight at Free.

Does Nuclino or Starlight run on more platforms?

Nuclino runs on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android. Starlight runs on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.

Can I use Nuclino for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Nuclino best used for?

Nuclino is most often used for a small company that wants internal process notes searchable without running a wiki platform, teams that need to see how internal documents relate to each other rather than filing them in folders, organisations that must keep internal knowledge hosted inside the european union, replacing scattered shared documents where search, not layout, is the actual problem. Of those, a small company that wants internal process notes searchable without running a wiki platform and teams that need to see how internal documents relate to each other rather than filing them in folders are not what Starlight is typically brought in for.

What can Nuclino do that Starlight cannot?

Nuclino covers Item graph, Multiple collection views, Real time editing, Instant search. Starlight covers File based routing, Pagefind search, Internationalisation, Component overrides.

Documentation · head to head

Nuclino vs Starlight

Nuclino

Documentation

Fast team wiki with list, board and graph views of the same content

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Starlight

Documentation

Documentation site framework built on Astro that ships no JavaScript to the reader by default

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Nuclino there is no publishing layer, so a public help centre or versioned product documentation cannot live here and has to be maintained in a second tool.; Starlight there is no editing interface, so every correction requires a git client, a Node install and a CI run, which puts documentation changes out of reach for anyone who does not already work in a repository.
They diverge on capability: Nuclino covers Item graph, Starlight covers File based routing.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nuclino and Starlight actually diverge.

Attributes where Nuclino and Starlight differ
Attribute	Nuclino	Starlight
Pricing model	Per user per month	Open source, no licence fee
Platforms	Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android	Web, macOS, Windows, Linux

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 Nuclino

Item graph
Multiple collection views
Real time editing
Instant search
Version history
EU hosting

Only in Starlight

File based routing
Pagefind search
Internationalisation
Component overrides
Zero client JavaScript
Expressive Code blocks
Auto generated sidebar

What people use each for

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

Nuclino

A small company that wants internal process notes searchable without running a wiki platformnot Starlight
Teams that need to see how internal documents relate to each other rather than filing them in foldersnot Starlight
Organisations that must keep internal knowledge hosted inside the European Unionnot Starlight
Replacing scattered shared documents where search, not layout, is the actual problemnot Starlight

Starlight

A developer tool whose docs live in the same repository as the code and are reviewed in the same pull requestnot Nuclino
A team that already runs Astro for its marketing site and wants one build pipeline for bothnot Nuclino
Documentation that must be served from a CDN or an air gapped static host with no search backendnot Nuclino
A multilingual open source project that needs per locale content trees and untranslated page fallbacknot Nuclino

Where each one falls short

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

Nuclino

There is no publishing layer, so a public help centre or versioned product documentation cannot live here and has to be maintained in a second tool.
The free plan is capped at roughly fifty items, which a real team passes within weeks, making it a trial rather than a usable tier.
Per user pricing means occasional readers who open a document twice a month cost the same as the writers who maintain it.
The editor is intentionally limited, with no databases, relations or page-level templates, so structured content such as a request register needs a different product.
Export options are limited to Markdown and PDF per item, so moving a large workspace elsewhere is a bulk conversion job rather than a supported migration.

Starlight

There is no editing interface, so every correction requires a git client, a Node install and a CI run, which puts documentation changes out of reach for anyone who does not already work in a repository.
Starlight versions track Astro versions, so an Astro major release becomes a documentation site migration on someone else timeline rather than yours.
Pagefind builds the whole search index at compile time, so build duration and index size grow with page count and large documentation sets pay for it on every deploy.
There is no analytics, no feedback widget and no page level rating built in, so measuring which pages fail readers means wiring a third party script yourself.
Component overrides are limited to the slots the theme exposes, and anything outside those slots means forking the theme and inheriting the merge burden on every upgrade.

Pricing, plan by plan

Nuclino

Free

FreeFree
- Around 50 items in total
- Limited storage
- Core editing and search
Starter$6/month
- Per user per month
- Unlimited items and version history
- Larger file uploads
Business$12/month
- Per user per month
- Single sign-on and admin controls
- Private workspaces and audit features

Starlight

Free

Open sourceFree
- MIT licence
- All features included
- Self hosted on any static host

Which should you pick?

Choose Nuclino if

You need item graph.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android.
You also want multiple collection views.

Nuclino review

Choose Starlight if

You need file based routing.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.
You also want pagefind search.

Starlight review

Questions people ask

Is Nuclino or Starlight better?: Neither clearly leads. Nuclino starts at Free and Starlight at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nuclino or Starlight?: Nuclino starts at Free and Starlight at Free.
Does Nuclino or Starlight run on more platforms?: Nuclino runs on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android. Starlight runs on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.
Can I use Nuclino for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Nuclino best used for?: Nuclino is most often used for a small company that wants internal process notes searchable without running a wiki platform, teams that need to see how internal documents relate to each other rather than filing them in folders, organisations that must keep internal knowledge hosted inside the european union, replacing scattered shared documents where search, not layout, is the actual problem. Of those, a small company that wants internal process notes searchable without running a wiki platform and teams that need to see how internal documents relate to each other rather than filing them in folders are not what Starlight is typically brought in for.
What can Nuclino do that Starlight cannot?: Nuclino covers Item graph, Multiple collection views, Real time editing, Instant search. Starlight covers File based routing, Pagefind search, Internationalisation, Component overrides.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Nuclino: Can Nuclino publish a public documentation site?

No. Individual items can be shared by link, but there is no branded, versioned public site.

Starlight: Can a non technical writer publish a page without help?

No. There is no content management interface. Every change is a commit, a pull request and a build.

Nuclino: Where is the data stored?

In the European Union, by a company registered in Germany, which is usually the reason procurement shortlists it.

Starlight: Do I need to know Astro to use it?

Not for basic use. Markdown files and a config file are enough until you want custom components, at which point Astro knowledge becomes mandatory.

Nuclino: Does it handle translated content?

No. There is no locale model, so translations would be separate items kept in sync by hand.

Starlight: Is search included or do I pay for it?

Included and free. Pagefind builds a static index at compile time. Algolia DocSearch is optional if you want hosted search instead.

Starlight: What happens when Astro releases a major version?

Starlight follows it, and your site needs a migration. Read the upgrade guide before pinning a version for a long lived project.

Starlight: Can I self host with no external services?

Yes. The output is static HTML, CSS and a search index. Nothing calls out at runtime unless you add it.

Nuclino vs Starlight

Nuclino

Starlight

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Nuclino

Only in Starlight

What people use each for

Nuclino

Starlight

Where each one falls short

Nuclino

Starlight

Pricing, plan by plan

Nuclino

Starlight

Which should you pick?

Choose Nuclino if

Choose Starlight if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Nuclino

More on Starlight

Keep looking

Other head to heads