Open-source Scalar alternative
More than an API reference — a full open-source docs framework that includes one.
The open-source Scalar alternative
Scalar is a great open-source API reference. If you need more than an API reference — full guide and tutorial pages, search across everything, and an AI assistant — Markline is an open-source docs framework that does both, under one site and one nav.
Where Markline goes further
- Docs and API in one site. MDX guides and a generated OpenAPI reference live under the same navigation, with instant client-side routing between them.
- Instant static search across your guides and the API reference — no external service.
- BYOK AI assistant over your content, on your own LLM key.
- Interactive playground on the reference, with multi-language code samples.
- One static build you host anywhere.
Markline vs Scalar
| Markline | Scalar | |
|---|---|---|
| License | Open source (MIT) | Open source |
| Scope | Full docs framework (guides + API) | API reference / client |
| MDX guide pages | ✓ | Limited |
| OpenAPI reference | ✓ | ✓ |
| Interactive playground | ✓ | ✓ |
| Built-in search (guides + API) | ✓ | — |
| BYOK AI assistant | ✓ | — |
| Self-host (static) | ✓ | ✓ |
Both are open source — choose Scalar for a focused API reference, Markline
for a full docs site that includes one. Feature sets change; check each project's
site for current details.
Get started
Quickstart
Point Markline at your MDX docs and openapi.json and ship a static docs +
API site in minutes.