Fern vs Scalar
Fern and Scalar are both API & developer docs tools aimed at developers. Both have a free plan.
| Pricing | Freemium | Open source · $150 |
| Starting price | Not published | $150/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | 7 days |
| Built for | Developers | Developers |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | US · 2022 | DE · 2023 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Fern if
API-first companies.
- Saves SDK engineering
- Idiomatic code
- Docs included
Look elsewhere if: Small internal APIs.
Choose Scalar if
Developers wanting modern free API docs.
- Beautiful UI
- Open source
- Free
Look elsewhere if: Enterprise portals.
Fern vs Scalar pricing
Fern
- Free$010 team members, 1,000 pages, custom domain
- EnterpriseCustomSSO, SCIM, RBAC, self-hosting, SLA
Scalar
- Free$0Up to 3 APIs, 1 editor seat, 1 SDK up to 25 endpoints
- Pro$150/mo$125/mo billed yearly; 5 seats, 15 APIs
- Business$600/mo$500/mo billed yearly; SSO, 10 seats, 25 APIs
- EnterpriseCustomSLAs and migration services
Fern · Key features
- SDK generation (TS, Python, Java, Go)
- Docs generation
- API definition
- CI publishing
- Versioning
- Examples
Cons
- Enterprise pricing is custom
- Spec quality required
- Vendor dependence
Scalar · Key features
- Modern API reference
- API client
- Framework integrations
- Hosted docs
- Open source
- Themes
Cons
- Younger
- Fewer enterprise features
- Smaller community
Fern vs Scalar: FAQ
Do Fern and Scalar have a free plan?
Yes, both Fern and Scalar have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.