#3 in API DevelopmentUpdated 2026-08

Fern

by Fern · Docs, SDKs and a CLI generated from your API spec

72.5 — BenchRank score out of 100

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Pricing page

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Overview

Fern generates a documentation site, client SDKs and a CLI from an API specification, with support for OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, gRPC and GraphQL. Docs are managed as code in Git, published via the fern CLI, and served as Markdown with an auto-generated llms.txt, AI chat and an MCP server. Paid plans add version and product switching, visitor authentication, translation and self-hosting.

Best for: Teams with an OpenAPI-style spec who want hosted docs, generated SDKs and a CLI from one source
Pricing: Free Hobby plan, then Team at $150/month, with Enterprise priced on request; the page advertises a 25% saving for yearly billing but does not show the yearly figure.
Runs on: WebmacOSSelf-hostedCLI

Strengths and trade-offs

Strengths

Docs, SDKs and CLI generated from one API spec
Docs-as-code: versioned in Git, reviewed in pull requests
Ships llms.txt, AI search and an MCP server for docs
Supports OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, gRPC and GraphQL specs

Trade-offs

Free Hobby plan is capped at 2 members and one docs site
Next paid step is $150/month; no tier in between
SSO, RBAC, self-hosting and localisation need Enterprise
AI use is metered: 250 credits on Hobby, 1,000 on Team

Pricing

Published plans from Fern’s own pricing page, in USD. Usage charges and add-ons may apply on top.

Fern pricing tiers, monthly rates in USD
Plan	Monthly	Includes
Hobby	Freeper month	2 team members, 250 AI credits Custom domain and password-protected docs Guides, API references and changelogs API explorer and web editor
Team	$150per month	Everything in Hobby, plus 5 team members 1,000 AI credits Version and product switching Custom subpath and PDF exports
Enterprise	Contact sales	Visitor authentication (JWT, SSO) and RBAC Translated content and self-hosting Dedicated Slack and Teams channel Custom MSA, SOC 2 Type II report, migration services

How this score is made up

Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.

MCP support: 60 out of 100
API quality: 35 out of 100
Documentation: 100 out of 100
Agent friendliness: 92 out of 100
Pricing transparency: 85 out of 100
Changelog: 80 out of 100
Marketing site structure: 75 out of 100
Operational trust: 75 out of 100

Measured, but not part of the score

Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.

Openness: 85 out of 100
Maintenance: 100 out of 100

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