Fern vs Stoplight
Fern and Stoplight are both API & developer docs tools. Fern is aimed at developers, while Stoplight is aimed at developers and enterprise. Both have a free plan.
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium · $56 |
| Starting price | Not published | $56/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | 14 days |
| Built for | Developers | Developers, Enterprise |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | US · 2022 | US · 2015 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Fern if
API-first companies.
- Saves SDK engineering
- Idiomatic code
- Docs included
Look elsewhere if: Small internal APIs.
Choose Stoplight if
API-first organizations.
- Design-first workflow
- Spectral linting
- Mocking
Look elsewhere if: Small projects.
Fern vs Stoplight pricing
Fern
- Free$010 team members, 1,000 pages, custom domain
- EnterpriseCustomSSO, SCIM, RBAC, self-hosting, SLA
Stoplight
- Free$01 user, 1 project
- Basic$56/mo$44/mo billed annually; 3 users, unlimited projects
- Startup$147/mo$113/mo billed annually; 8 users
- Pro Team$453/mo$362/mo billed annually; 15 users, up to 20 teams
- EnterpriseCustom
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
Stoplight · Key features
- Visual API design
- Mock servers
- Style guides (Spectral)
- Hosted docs
- Git sync
- Governance
Cons
- Pricey tiers
- SmartBear integration changes
- UI heavier
Fern vs Stoplight: FAQ
Do Fern and Stoplight have a free plan?
Yes, both Fern and Stoplight have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.