# Just the Docs review (2026): is it any good? > Free Jekyll theme for documentation sites with built-in search Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Just the Docs is a theme for Jekyll, the static site generator, aimed at documentation websites. You write pages in Markdown, and the theme supplies a sidebar navigation, search and layout components. It is distributed under the MIT license and is usually published through GitHub Pages. - **Category:** Docs & Wikis - **Made by:** Patrick Marsceill and the Just the Docs contributors (since 2017) - **Website:** https://just-the-docs.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a web editor, because content is edited as files in a repository. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Just the Docs is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** Free to use under the MIT license; there are no paid plans. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Open source | $0 | The full theme under an MIT license, installed as a Jekyll gem or from the project's site template. | Read from https://just-the-docs.com on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Just the Docs before buying. ## Key features - **Jekyll theme:** Adds a documentation layout to Jekyll sites, with pages written in Markdown, Liquid templates or HTML. - **Navigation and search:** Main navigation, child pages, breadcrumbs and in-page navigation, plus built-in search across the site. - **Components:** The docs list ready-made UI components such as buttons, labels, tables, callouts and code blocks with line numbers. - **Customization:** Colors, layout and other parts of the theme can be changed through configuration and utilities. - **Site template:** A template repository creates a starter site that can be published through GitHub Pages and Actions. ## Good for - Developers who already write docs in Markdown and publish on GitHub Pages - Open-source projects that need a free documentation site - Teams happy to maintain a Jekyll setup ## Worth knowing - It is a theme, not a hosted service: you build and publish the site yourself with Jekyll. - There is no web editor or comment system; content is edited as files in a repository. - Changes published through GitHub Pages can take up to 10 minutes to appear, according to its docs. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Just the Docs is a free Jekyll theme that turns Markdown files into a documentation site with a sidebar and search. But it's a theme, not a service: there's no editor, no comments, and someone has to run Jekyll and publish the site. - **Value for money: C.** $0 under the MIT license, but you build and publish the site yourself with Jekyll, so it counts as ordinary value rather than a free app. - **Free plan and trial: B.** Free with no paid plans, and one person could build and host a site on it using GitHub Pages. - **Features: C.** Navigation, search and layout components for a docs site. It does that job fully but it's a smaller job: no web editor and no comment system. - **Ease of use: D.** No store rating on record. You work in files in a repository and run Jekyll, so it needs a command line. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web only: it produces a static site. Four integrations are named, all of them build and hosting tools. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Just the Docs's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among docs and wiki tools - Just the Docs's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 6 of the 86 other docs and wiki tools we grade, and level with 10. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 41 of 86) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Just the Docs has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/docs-wikis ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Just the Docs is free, so making your own would save you nothing. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 70 of the 86 other docs and wiki tools grade higher. - You could make: Markdown, documents and wiki: an app builder makes these well. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Jekyll, GitHub Pages, GitHub Actions, Netlify **Tags:** Open source, Markdown, Documents, Wiki ## Alternatives - [Docusaurus](https://toolgpa.com/tools/docusaurus): Open-source static site generator for documentation. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/docusaurus-vs-just-the-docs) - [MkDocs](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mkdocs): Static site generator for Markdown project documentation. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/just-the-docs-vs-mkdocs) - [VitePress](https://toolgpa.com/tools/vitepress): Markdown-to-docs static site generator built on Vite and Vue. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/just-the-docs-vs-vitepress) - [Docsify](https://toolgpa.com/tools/docsify): Documentation site generator that loads Markdown in the browser. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/docsify-vs-just-the-docs) - [Sphinx](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sphinx): Documentation generator for Python projects and beyond. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/just-the-docs-vs-sphinx) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://just-the-docs.com - https://github.com/just-the-docs/just-the-docs Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/just-the-docs Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).