Member Avatar for Dani

I'm looking for some alternatives to Swagger UI that I can use with my API's swagger file to generate our official documentation.

So far I've been looking at Apiary and ReDoc.

Does anyone have any favorites? Which are the most intuitive for api documentation?

Ideally I'd be looking for one with a built-in console.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 1 Reply
  • 3K Views
  • 2 Weeks Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by pankaj_patel

Dani AI

Generated

If your must-have is a built-in console, a quick reality check on the tools you mentioned: the open-source ReDoc renderer does not include a Try It panel; that capability lives in Redocly’s commercial API Reference, which adds an interactive console and code samples. (redocly.com)

Two solid, self-hostable alternatives with a native console are RapiDoc and Stoplight Elements. RapiDoc is a single web component; drop it into any page and set allow-try="true" to enable request execution. Elements is similarly easy to embed and includes a Try It console with OpenAPI 3.1 support. (rapidocweb.com)

Quick start (static HTML with your OpenAPI file), which you can host behind your docs site or CDN:

<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <script type="module" src="https://unpkg.com/rapidoc/dist/rapidoc-min.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <rapi-doc spec-url="/openapi.yaml" allow-try="true" show-header="true"></rapi-doc>
  </body>
</html>

Tip: any in-browser console will hit your API from the user’s browser, so you will need CORS enabled (or a proxy) for cross-origin requests; Redocly documents this clearly for their console, but the same constraint applies to all of these UIs. (redocly.com)

If you prefer hosted platforms with a polished console, ReadMe turns an OpenAPI file into interactive docs with authenticated requests, and Scalar’s API Reference provides a modern embedded UI with an optional proxy to bypass CORS when needed. (docs.readme.com)

And +1 to on Postman: it is excellent for testing and can publish auto-synced docs, but the interactivity is via the Run in Postman button (opening requests in Postman) rather than an in-page console. (learning.postman.com)

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.