This post is a straight up copy and paste from an email newsletter I get from Peter Gruenbaum of SDK Bridge. I am a big supporter of API service providers like SDK Bridge, who has been doing API documentation the entire time I’ve been the API Evangelist. Peter isn’t looking to be the next big startup, he’s just operating a successful API service that addresses one of the biggest problems API providers face–documentation. Some of my readers might not be aware these types of services exist, which is why I’m copy / pasting this, and helping spread the good word.
People often ask me what the best tool for API documentation is. There is no simple answer to this question. It depends a lot on what your API looks like, who your developers are, and what kind of support you can give your content system. This is a quick newsletter to pass on a review of free and open source API documentation tools that you might consider using.
Also, there’s a 60% off sale on our Udemy courses for you newsletter readers for the first 10 students to sign up:
API Documentation 1: JSON and XML for Technical Writers: $10 (normally $25) API Documentation 2: REST for Technical Writers: $16 (normally $40) API Documentation 3: The Art of API Documentation: $10 (normally $25) Coding for Writers 1: Basic Programming: $18 (normally $45)
- Peter Gruenbaum, President, SDK Bridge
Free and Open Source API Documentation Tools Diána Lakatos has written an excellent description of several free and open source tools that can read the standard API definition formats OpenAPI, RAML, and API Blueprint. In addition, she covers API documentation tools that require non-standard formats, and general purpose open source documentation tools that can be used for API documentation that you may want to consider.
She provides screenshots and links to demos for each of these tools. If you want a quick overview of the tools, scroll to the bottom to read the summary table. You can find the article here: Free and Open Source API Documentation Tools.
