MkDocs vs Sphinx
Estimated time to read: 1 minute
In the landscape of libraries for generating automatic documentation and static sites, we cannot fail to mention Sphinx, which perhaps represented the Python standard until a few years ago.
You can already find a reference to Sphinx and its features within this article.
In this section, instead, we will schematically compare the characteristics of Sphinx and MkDocs to highlight the strengths of both.
| MkDocs | Sphinx | |
|---|---|---|
Supported Formats | Markdown | reStructuredText (rST) but with the myst-parser extension supports Markdown |
Startup | Easy with the command poetry run mkdocs . | Simple with the command sphinx-quickstart |
Configuration | Utilizes a YAML file mkdocs.yml | Utilizes a Python file conf.py |
Layout | Elegant and appealing, also navigable | Somewhat dated. The Read the Docs theme is iconic |
Build | Provides a local server to fully test the site. Convenient command poetry run mkdocs serve | Generates the site build but the user must then test it in their browser. This is done with make html |
Extensions | There are many but not all are maintained | There are many extensions but the community is less active compared to MkDocs |
Customization | Infinite possibilities thanks to CSS integration and available themes | Decidedly less customizable |
Third-party Integration | Integration with Confluence with this extension | Integration with Confluence with this extension |