Nextra vs Starlight (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Nextra and Starlight share a 2.6 GPA, both are free, so the choice depends on which features you need.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick Nextra if
- Fits if your site already runs on Next.js
- Works for a docs site or blog written in MDX
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you're not on Next.js, as the tool is tied to it
- Skip it if you want a hosted editor, since there are no accounts or comments
- Watch out: you deploy and host the site yourself
- Watch out: version 4 was a major release, and versions 3 and 2 keep their own docs
Pick Starlight if
- Fits if you already use Astro and want docs in the same project
- Works for multilingual docs written as Markdown files
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't want to use a command line, as projects start from it
- Skip it if you're not on Astro, since the site is tied to that framework
- Watch out: there's no hosted editor, accounts or comments
- Watch out: you build and host the static site yourself
How we grade them
| 2.6GPANextraGood | 2.6GPAStarlightGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and open source under the MIT License; you pay only for the hosting. A program anyone can download and run is graded as free and substantial. | AFree and open source under the MIT License; you pay only for the hosting. A program anyone can download and run is graded as free and substantial. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no plan or cap. The only cost is wherever you host the output. | AFree outright, with no plan or cap. The only cost is wherever you host the output. |
| Features | CMDX pages, docs and blog themes, Pagefind search, syntax highlighting and static export. No editor, accounts or comments. | CSite search, Markdown, Markdoc and MDX, translations and components. It stops at building a static site, with no editor or comments. |
| Ease of use | DIt's a developer tool run from the command line with files you write yourself. No store rating on record. | DIt's a developer tool run from the command line with files you write yourself. No store rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb output only, with Next.js, MDX, Pagefind, Shiki, Tailwind and Mermaid. No app or hosted service. | CWeb output only, with Astro, Pagefind, Algolia DocSearch and React, Vue, Svelte and Solid links. No app or hosted service. |
| Best for | docs sites and blogs on Next.js | docs sites built on Astro |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Nextra and Starlight. How we grade
Price against what you get
Nextra has no paid plan and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Starlight has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other docs and wiki tools on the chart, none scores higher than Nextra for less, and none scores higher than Starlight for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceMarkdownTemplatesDocuments
At a glance
| Nextra | Starlight | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free and open source under the MIT License; you pay only for wherever you host the output. | Free and open source under the MIT License; you pay only for wherever you host the output. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Nextra (Shu Ding and contributors) | Astro contributors |
| Price read from | github.com | github.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Nextra
- It is a developer tool tied to Next.js: you write files and run the framework's build.
- There is no hosted editor, user accounts or comments; you deploy and host the site yourself.
- Version 4 was a major release, and the site keeps separate docs for versions 3 and 2.
Starlight
- It is a developer tool: you create a project from the command line and write pages as files.
- There is no hosted editor, user accounts or comments; you build and host the static site yourself.
- It requires an Astro project, so the site is tied to that framework.
Key features
Nextra
- Markdown and MDX pages
- Content lives in page.mdx files, with _meta.js files controlling navigation. Markdown links and images are converted to Next.js components.
- Docs and blog themes
- A docs theme with navbar, footer and layout components, plus a separate blog theme with posts, tags and an RSS route.
- Search with Pagefind
- The guides cover a search engine setup that uses Pagefind as a dev dependency, and an Ask AI page.
- Syntax highlighting
- Highlighting is done at build time with Shiki, with Twoslash support for TypeScript.
- Internationalization and static export
- Pages for other languages are added as files, and the guides document Next.js static exports and i18n.
Starlight
- Built-in site search
- Sites include full-text search powered by Pagefind by default; Algolia DocSearch is documented as an alternative.
- Markdown, Markdoc and MDX
- Pages can be written in any of the three formats, with frontmatter validated with TypeScript types.
- Internationalization
- Multilingual docs are supported, and the interface itself is translated into a list of languages shown on the site.
- Built-in components
- Cards, asides, tabs, steps, file trees, badges and icons can be used in pages, and components can be overridden.
- Astro integrations and UI frameworks
- Extend the site with Astro integrations, or add components from React, Vue, Svelte, Solid and others.
Plans
Nextra
Open source$0
Free under the MIT License. You build the site with Next.js and host it yourself.
Starlight
Open source$0
Free under the MIT License. You build the site with Astro and host the output yourself.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Nextra or Starlight?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Nextra and Starlight are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Nextra or Starlight?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Nextra and Starlight have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.