Mintlify is a developer-docs platform with a free plan and AI features metered in credits on Pro. Ellie Docs is built for your product's help centre, written from your code, with a changelog and API reference from the same repo. Here's how the two compare.
Mintlify is developer docs with AI metered in credits. Ellie Docs drafts your help centre, changelog and API reference from code.
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your readers are your product's users rather than developers, you want AI updates on every merged PR without counting credits, or $450 a month is more than a help centre, changelog and API reference should cost you.
your docs are mainly for developers and you want an API playground, you need preview deployments (Pro) or self-hosting (Enterprise), or you'd like a free plan that already includes your own domain and an MCP server. If you're under two years old and have raised under $2M, Mintlify offers six months of Pro free.
Mintlify details from mintlify.com, checked 1 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Mintlify's free plan is a strong developer-docs setup: custom domain, web editor, API playground, Git sync, search and an MCP server, with 5 editor seats. Ellie Docs is aimed at the people using your product. It drafts the help centre from your code with screenshots of your logged-in app, and adds a changelog and API reference from the same repo.
Mintlify's AI features are on Pro only, metered in credits: 10,000 a month, with an Assistant answer costing 25 credits and an automated docs update 250. That's roughly 400 answers or 40 automated updates a month before $0.01-a-credit overage. Ellie Docs plans include a set number of AI answers, from 500 on Starter to 10,000 on Scale, and updates on every merged PR from Starter up.
Mintlify's writing agent and Automations update the docs you keep in Git. Ellie Docs reads the code, runs your app in a sandbox and captures screenshots from your real logged-in screens, then re-captures them when the UI changes.
Mintlify supports a changelog as a page type in your docs. Ellie Docs drafts the entries from merged PRs and publishes them as a page, an RSS/JSON feed and an in-app widget. On Growth it publishes an API reference from your OpenAPI spec, or derives one from your code if you don't have a spec.
Like for like: AI answers for readers plus docs updated from code changes, on your own domain. Billed annually.
Your own domain, no badge, 500 AI answers a month, updates on every merged PR, changelog with in-app widget, unlimited editors.
Everything in Starter, plus 3 projects, the API reference and 2,000 AI answers a month.
10,000 AI credits a month (about 400 answers or 40 automated updates), unlimited seats, preview deployments and AI translations. $540 billed monthly.
Point Ellie Docs at your published Mintlify site during setup and every page comes across as a draft. You don't have to move everything at once: you can keep developer docs where they are and run your product help centre on Ellie Docs.
Ellie Docs publishes an API reference on Growth and above, from your OpenAPI spec or derived from your code. If an interactive playground for developers is the main thing you need, Mintlify includes one on its free plan.
No. Each plan includes a monthly allowance, from 50 answers on Free to 10,000 on Scale. If you reach it we ask you to upgrade rather than send a surprise bill.
No. Ellie drafts updates from merged PRs and flags stale articles, but you approve every change before readers see it.
Connect a repo and read the first draft of your help centre. Free plan, no card.
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