Docusaurus Documentation Site Generator: Build Professional Docs in 2026

Docusaurus is an open-source static site generator built by Meta (Facebook) specifically for documentation websites. It is used by React, Babel, Jest, Redux, Ionic, and thousands of SaaS companies to power their documentation, API references, and knowledge bases. Docusaurus converts Markdown and MDX files into a fast, SEO-optimized, accessible documentation website with search, versioning, internationalization, and a built-in blog system. It is free, open-source, and deployable to any static host (Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages). This guide covers the complete setup from installation to production deployment with real code examples, plugin development, and monetization strategies.

Why Docusaurus in 2026

The documentation site generator market has several options. Here is how Docusaurus compares.

Tool	Built With	Markdown	Versioning	i18n	Search	Blog	Cost
Docusaurus	React/MDX	MDX (Markdown + JSX)	Yes (built-in)	Yes (60+ locales)	Algolia/local	Yes	Free
MkDocs Material	Python	Markdown	Yes (mike)	Yes (i18n)	Native (lunr)	Plugin	Free
VitePress	Vue/MDX	Markdown	No	Yes	Native (minisearch)	No	Free
GitBook	Proprietary	Markdown	Yes	Yes	Native	No	Free (public) / $8.25/user/mo
Read the Docs	Python	reStructuredText/MD	Yes	Yes	Native	No	Free (public) / $50/mo
Sphinx	Python	reStructuredText	Yes	Yes	Native	No	Free
Docsify	JS (runtime)	Markdown	No	Yes	Native	Plugin	Free
Astro Starlight	Astro	MDX	No	Yes	Pagefind	Yes	Free

Docusaurus wins for projects that need: React-based customization, MDX (embed React components in Markdown), built-in versioning, internationalization, and a blog alongside docs. It is the most feature-complete documentation generator.

Who Uses Docusaurus

Company/Project	Documentation URL	Daily Visitors (est.)
React	react.dev	500K+
Babel	babeljs.io	50K+
Jest	jestjs.io	30K+
Redux	redux.js.org	20K+
Ionic Framework	ionicframework.com/docs	40K+
Supabase	supabase.com/docs	15K+
Fastify	fastify.dev	5K+
CrowdStrike Falcon	(internal docs)	N/A

Step 1: Installation and Project Setup

1.1 Prerequisites

Node.js 18+ (20+ recommended)
npm, yarn, or pnpm
Basic knowledge of Markdown and optionally React

# Check Node.js version
node --version
# v20.x.x or later recommended

# Install pnpm (recommended for Docusaurus)
npm install -g pnpm

1.2 Create a New Docusaurus Site

# Scaffold a new Docusaurus project
npx create-docusaurus@latest my-docs classic

# Or with TypeScript
npx create-docusaurus@latest my-docs classic --typescript

cd my-docs
npm install

1.3 Project Structure

my-docs/
├── blog/                    # Blog posts (Markdown)
│   └── 2026-10-06-welcome.md
├── docs/                    # Documentation pages
│   ├── intro.md
│   ├── tutorial-basics/
│   │   ├── _category_.json
│   │   ├── create-a-page.md
│   │   └── create-a-document.md
│   └── tutorial-extras/
├── src/                     # Custom React components and pages
│   ├── components/
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── custom.css
│   └── pages/
│       ├── index.tsx        # Home page
│       └── index.module.css
├── static/                  # Static assets (images, favicons)
│   └── img/
├── docusaurus.config.ts     # Main configuration
├── sidebars.ts              # Sidebar navigation config
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json

1.4 Start the Dev Server

npm run start
# or
npm run start -- --port 3000

# Output:
# [INFO] Docusaurus version: 3.8
# [SUCCESS] Docusaurus website: 3000
# [INFO] Open URL in browser: http://localhost:3000

Your documentation site is now live at http://localhost:3000. Hot module replacement (HMR) updates the page when you edit any Markdown or React file.

1.5 Build for Production

npm run build

# Output:
# [INFO] Docusaurus version: 3.8
# [SUCCESS] Docusaurus website: 3000
# [INFO] Build assets:
# - main route: /
# - docs route: /docs/*
# - blog route: /blog/*
# [SUCCESS] Website will be built in /build directory

The static site is generated in the build/ directory. Deploy this to any static host.

1.6 Preview the Production Build

npm run serve
# Serves the build/ directory on http://localhost:3000

Step 2: Configuration

2.1 Main Config File

Edit docusaurus.config.ts:

import { themes as prismThemes } from "prism-react-renderer";
import type { Config } from "@docusaurus/types";
import type * as Preset from "@docusaurus/preset-classic";

const config: Config = {
  title: "My SaaS Docs",
  tagline: "Documentation for My SaaS",
  favicon: "img/favicon.ico",

  // Set the production url of your online site
  url: "https://docs.mysaas.com",
  // Set the /<baseUrl>/ pathname under which your site is served
  baseUrl: "/",

  // GitHub pages deployment config
  // organizationName: "your-org",
  // projectName: "my-docs",
  // deploymentBranch: "gh-pages",
  // trailingSlash: false,

  onBrokenLinks: "throw",
  onBrokenMarkdownLinks: "warn",

  // Even if you don't use i18n, you can use this field
  i18n: {
    defaultLocale: "en",
    locales: ["en", "zh", "ja"],
  },

  presets: [
    [
      "classic",
      {
        docs: {
          sidebarPath: "./sidebars.ts",
          editUrl: "https://github.com/my-org/my-docs/tree/main",
        },
        blog: {
          showReadingTime: true,
          readingTime: ({ content }) =>
            Math.ceil(content.split(/\s+/).length / 200),
        },
        theme: {
          customCss: "./src/css/custom.css",
        },
      } satisfies Preset.ThemeConfig,
    ] satisfies Preset.Options,
  ],

  themeConfig: {
    image: "img/social-card.png",
    navbar: {
      title: "My SaaS",
      logo: { alt: "Logo", src: "img/logo.svg" },
      items: [
        { to: "/docs/intro", label: "Docs", position: "left" },
        { to: "/blog", label: "Blog", position: "left" },
        {
          href: "https://github.com/my-org/my-saas",
          label: "GitHub",
          position: "right",
        },
      ],
    },
    footer: {
      style: "dark",
      links: [
        {
          title: "Docs",
          items: [
            { label: "Getting Started", to: "/docs/intro" },
            { label: "API Reference", to: "/docs/api" },
          ],
        },
        {
          title: "Community",
          items: [
            { label: "Discord", href: "https://discord.gg/my-saas" },
            { label: "Twitter", href: "https://twitter.com/mysaas" },
          ],
        },
        {
          title: "More",
          items: [
            { label: "Blog", to: "/blog" },
            { label: "GitHub", href: "https://github.com/my-org/my-saas" },
          ],
        },
      ],
      copyright: `Copyright © ${new Date().getFullYear()} My SaaS. Built with Docusaurus.`,
    },
    prism: {
      theme: prismThemes.github,
      darkTheme: prismThemes.dracula,
    },
    algolia: {
      appId: "YOUR_APP_ID",
      apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
      indexName: "mysaas",
      contextualSearch: true,
    },
  } satisfies Preset.ThemeConfig,
};

export default config;

2.2 Sidebar Configuration

Edit sidebars.ts:

import type { SidebarsConfig } from "@docusaurus/plugin-content-docs";

const sidebars: SidebarsConfig = {
  // By default, Docusaurus generates a sidebar from the docs folder structure
  tutorialSidebar: [{ type: "autogenerated", dirName: "." }],

  // Or define a custom sidebar
  customSidebar: [
    "intro",
    {
      type: "category",
      label: "Getting Started",
      items: ["getting-started/installation", "getting-started/quick-start"],
    },
    {
      type: "category",
      label: "Guides",
      items: [
        "guides/authentication",
        "guides/database",
        "guides/deployment",
        "guides/troubleshooting",
      ],
    },
    {
      type: "category",
      label: "API Reference",
      items: [
        {
          type: "category",
          label: "REST API",
          items: ["api/rest/overview", "api/rest/endpoints", "api/rest/errors"],
        },
        {
          type: "category",
          label: "SDKs",
          items: ["api/sdks/javascript", "api/sdks/python"],
        },
      ],
    },
    {
      type: "category",
      label: "FAQ",
      items: ["faq/general", "faq/billing", "faq/security"],
    },
  ],
};

export default sidebars;

2.3 Category Metadata

Create _category_.json in any docs subfolder:

{
  "label": "Getting Started",
  "position": 2,
  "link": {
    "type": "generated-index",
    "description": "Everything you need to get started with My SaaS"
  }
}

Step 3: Writing Documentation with MDX

MDX is Markdown with JSX. You can embed React components inside Markdown files.

3.1 Basic Markdown

---
sidebar_position: 1
title: Introduction
description: Learn what My SaaS is and how it can help your business.
slug: /intro
---

# Introduction

My SaaS is a platform that helps you...

## Features

- **Fast**: Sub-100ms response times
- **Scalable**: Handles millions of requests
- **Secure**: SOC 2 Type II certified

## Quick Start

\`\`\`bash
npm install @mysaas/sdk
\`\`\`

\`\`\`javascript
import { MySaaS } from "@mysaas/sdk";

const client = new MySaaS({ apiKey: "your-key" });
const result = await client.getData();
\`\`\`

> **Note:** You need an API key to use the SDK. [Get one here](/docs/getting-started/api-keys).

3.2 MDX with React Components

---
title: Pricing
description: Pricing plans and features comparison.
---

import PricingTable from "@site/src/components/PricingTable";
import Callout from "@site/src/components/Callout";

<Callout type="info">
  All plans include a 14-day free trial. No credit card required.
</Callout>

# Pricing

Choose the plan that fits your needs:

<PricingTable />

| Plan | Price | Requests | Storage | Support |
|------|-------|----------|---------|---------|
| Free | $0 | 10K/mo | 1GB | Community |
| Pro | $29/mo | 1M/mo | 50GB | Email |
| Team | $99/mo | 10M/mo | 500GB | Priority |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited | Unlimited | Dedicated |

<Callout type="warning">
  The Free plan is rate-limited to 100 requests per minute.
</Callout>

3.3 Create the React Components

// src/components/PricingTable.tsx
import React from "react";

const plans = [
  { name: "Free", price: "$0", requests: "10K/mo", storage: "1GB", color: "gray" },
  { name: "Pro", price: "$29/mo", requests: "1M/mo", storage: "50GB", color: "blue" },
  { name: "Team", price: "$99/mo", requests: "10M/mo", storage: "500GB", color: "purple" },
];

export default function PricingTable() {
  return (
    <div className="grid grid-cols-3 gap-4">
      {plans.map((plan) => (
        <div key={plan.name} className="card">
          <h3>{plan.name}</h3>
          <p className="text-2xl font-bold">{plan.price}</p>
          <ul>
            <li>{plan.requests} requests</li>
            <li>{plan.storage} storage</li>
          </ul>
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}

// src/components/Callout.tsx
import React from "react";

export default function Callout({ type = "info", children }) {
  const colors = {
    info: "blue",
    warning: "yellow",
    danger: "red",
    success: "green",
  };
  return (
    <div className={`callout callout-${colors[type]}`}>
      {children}
    </div>
  );
}

3.4 Docs Frontmatter Options

Field	Type	Default	Description
`title`	string	From H1	Page title
`description`	string	First paragraph	SEO description
`slug`	string	From filename	URL path
`sidebar_position`	number	From filename	Order in sidebar
`sidebar_label`	string	From title	Sidebar label
`sidebar_class`	string	—	CSS class for sidebar item
`sidebar_custom_props`	object	—	Custom props for sidebar
`displayed_sidebar`	string	—	Which sidebar to show
`tags`	array	[]	Tags for the page
`image`	string	—	Social card image
`keywords`	array	[]	SEO keywords
`draft`	boolean	false	Exclude from production
`unlisted`	boolean	false	Exclude from search and sitemap

Step 4: Versioning Documentation

Docusaurus has built-in support for documentation versioning. This is critical for SaaS products that evolve.

4.1 Create a Version

# Cut a new version (saves current docs/ as a snapshot)
npm run docusaurus docs:version 1.0.0

# Output:
# docs
# └── 1.0.0
#     └── intro.md
#     └── getting-started
# └── current
#     └── intro.md (working copy, not versioned)

4.2 Version Configuration

Edit docusaurus.config.ts:

docs: {
  sidebarPath: "./sidebars.ts",
  editUrl: "https://github.com/my-org/my-docs/tree/main",
  versions: {
    current: {
      label: "Next (Unreleased)",
      badge: true,
    },
    "1.0.0": {
      label: "v1.0",
      badge: true,
    },
  },
  lastVersion: "1.0.0", // default version shown
},

4.3 Version Display

Users see a version dropdown in the navbar. They can switch between versions. Each version has its own sidebar and pages. Old versions are read-only (no edit URL).

4.4 Version Management

Action	Command
Create new version	`npm run docusaurus docs:version 2.0.0`
List versions	`ls versioned_docs/`
Delete a version	`rm -rf versioned_docs/version-1.0.0 versioned_sidebars/version-1.0.0-sidebars.json` then update `versions` config
Rename a version	Update label in config

Step 5: Internationalization (i18n)

Docusaurus supports 60+ locales out of the box.

5.1 Configure i18n

In docusaurus.config.ts:

i18n: {
  defaultLocale: "en",
  locales: ["en", "zh", "ja", "de", "fr"],
  localeConfigs: {
    en: { label: "English", direction: "ltr" },
    zh: { label: "简体中文", direction: "ltr" },
    ja: { label: "日本語", direction: "ltr" },
    de: { label: "Deutsch", direction: "ltr" },
    fr: { label: "Français", direction: "ltr" },
  },
},

5.2 Translate Content

Create translated versions of docs:

i18n/
├── en/
│   ├── docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/
│   │   └── current/  (or copy of docs/)
│   │       └── intro.md
│   └── docusaurus-plugin-content-blog/
│       └── 2026-10-06-welcome.md
├── zh/
│   ├── docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/
│   │   └── current/
│   │       └── intro.md (translated)
│   └── code.json  (UI strings translated)
└── ja/

5.3 Start in a Specific Locale

# Start dev server in Chinese
npm run start -- --locale zh

# Build all locales
npm run build

# Build only Chinese
npm run build -- --locale zh

5.4 Translation Workflow with Crowdin

For community translations, use Crowdin:

Create a project at crowdin.com
Install @docusaurus/plugin-ideal-image and docusaurus-plugin-crowdin
Configure the plugin with your Crowdin project ID
Translators work in Crowdin's web editor
Sync translations via CLI: crowdin upload sources / crowdin download translations

Step 6: Search Integration

6.1 Algolia DocSearch (Free for Open Source)

Apply at docsearch.algolia.com
If approved, Algolia crawls your site and provides search for free
Add to config:

themeConfig: {
  algolia: {
    appId: "YOUR_APP_ID",
    apiKey: "YOUR_SEARCH_API_KEY",
    indexName: "mysaas",
    contextualSearch: true,
    // Optional: Replace placeholders in search results
    replaceSearchResultPathname: (pathname) =>
      pathname.replace("/docs/", "/guide/"),
  },
},

6.2 Local Search (No External Service)

For privacy-focused or small sites, use local search:

npm install @easyops-cn/docusaurus-search-local

// docusaurus.config.ts
themes: [
  [
    require.resolve("@easyops-cn/docusaurus-search-local"),
    {
      hashed: true,
      language: ["en", "zh"],
      indexDocs: true,
      indexBlog: true,
      indexPages: true,
      docsRouteBasePath: "docs",
      blogRouteBasePath: "blog",
    },
  ],
],

This generates a search index at build time. Search works offline, no server needed.

6.3 Search Comparison

Feature	Algolia DocSearch	Local Search Plugin
Cost	Free (OSS) / $1+ (commercial)	Free
Indexing	Algolia servers (always fresh)	Build time (static)
Speed	~50ms (CDN)	~100ms (local)
Offline	No	Yes
Multi-language	Yes	Yes
Setup difficulty	Medium (apply, wait)	Low (install plugin)

Step 7: Plugins and Themes

7.1 Official Plugins

Plugin	Purpose	Install
`@docusaurus/plugin-content-docs`	Documentation pages	Built-in
`@docusaurus/plugin-content-blog`	Blog	Built-in
`@docusaurus/plugin-content-pages`	Standalone pages	Built-in
`@docusaurus/plugin-sitemap`	XML sitemap	Built-in
`@docusaurus/plugin-google-analytics`	GA tracking	Built-in
`@docusaurus/plugin-google-tag-manager`	GTM	Built-in
`@docusaurus/plugin-ideal-image`	Lazy-loaded responsive images	`npm install @docusaurus/plugin-ideal-image`
`@docusaurus/plugin-pwa`	Progressive Web App	`npm install @docusaurus/plugin-pwa`
`@docusaurus/plugin-client-redirects`	URL redirects	`npm install @docusaurus/plugin-client-redirects`
`@docusaurus/plugin-ideal-image`	Image optimization	Built-in

7.2 Community Plugins

Plugin	Purpose
`docusaurus-plugin-redoc`	OpenAPI documentation
`docusaurus-plugin-remark-npm2yarn`	npm/yarn/pnpm tabs
`docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs`	OpenAPI spec rendering
`docusaurus-plugin-sass`	Sass/SCSS support
`docusaurus-plugin-typedoc`	TypeScript API docs from TypeDoc
`docusaurus-plugin-matomo`	Matomo analytics
`docusaurus-plugin-image-zoom`	Image zoom on click

7.3 Custom Plugin Example

// plugins/remark-plugin.ts
import { Plugin } from "@docusaurus/types";

const plugin: Plugin = {
  name: "docusaurus-remark-callout",
  async contentLoaded({ contentActions }) {
    // Register remark plugin
  },
  async markdownProcessor({ content }) {
    // Transform Markdown AST
    return content.replace(/:::warning/g, '> ⚠️ **Warning:**');
  },
};

export default plugin;

7.4 Theme Customization

Customize the look and feel in src/css/custom.css:

:root {
  --ifm-color-primary: #2563eb;
  --ifm-color-primary-dark: #1d4ed8;
  --ifm-color-primary-darker: #1e40af;
  --ifm-color-primary-darkest: #1e3a8a;
  --ifm-color-primary-light: #3b82f6;
  --ifm-color-primary-lighter: #60a5fa;
  --ifm-color-primary-lightest: #93c5fd;
  --ifm-code-font-size: 95%;
  --ifm-font-size-base: 16px;
  --ifm-line-height-base: 1.6;
  --ifm-heading-font-weight: 700;
  --ifm-navbar-height: 64px;
  --ifm-navbar-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08);
}

[data-theme="dark"] {
  --ifm-color-primary: #3b82f6;
  --ifm-color-primary-dark: #2563eb;
  --ifm-background-color: #0d1117;
  --ifm-background-surface-color: #161b22;
  --ifm-navbar-background-color: #161b22;
  --ifm-font-color-base: #e6edf3;
}

/* Custom callout styles */
.callout {
  padding: 1rem 1.5rem;
  border-radius: 8px;
  margin: 1.5rem 0;
}

.callout-blue {
  background: #dbeafe;
  border-left: 4px solid #3b82f6;
}

[data-theme="dark"] .callout-blue {
  background: #1e3a5f;
}

Step 8: Blog System

Docusaurus includes a built-in blog system. Each post is a Markdown file in blog/.

8.1 Create a Blog Post

---
title: "Welcome to My SaaS Blog"
date: 2026-10-06
author: "Siyuan"
description: "Our first blog post about launching My SaaS."
tags: ["announcement", "launch"]
---

# Welcome to My SaaS Blog

Today we're launching My SaaS...

![Launch day](./launch-day.jpg)

We built My SaaS to solve...

8.2 Blog Frontmatter

Field	Type	Description
`title`	string	Post title
`date`	YYYY-MM-DD	Publish date (determines order)
`author`	string/object	Author name or { name, title, url, image_url }
`description`	string	SEO description
`tags`	array	Tags
`slug`	string	URL slug
`image`	string	Social card image
`draft`	boolean	Exclude from production
`unlisted`	boolean	Hidden from listing but accessible
`hide_table_of_contents`	boolean	Hide TOC

8.3 Blog Configuration

blog: {
  path: "blog",
  routeBasePath: "blog",
  include: ["*.md", "*.mdx"],
  postsPerPage: 10,
  blogSidebarCount: "ALL", // or number
  blogTitle: "My SaaS Blog",
  showReadingTime: true,
  feedOptions: {
    type: ["rss", "atom"],
    title: "My SaaS Blog",
    description: "Latest news and tutorials",
    copyright: `© ${new Date().getFullYear()} My SaaS`,
  },
  sortPosts: "descending",
},

This generates RSS and Atom feeds at /blog/rss.xml and /blog/atom.xml.

Step 9: Deployment

9.1 Deploy to Vercel

Push your Docusaurus repo to GitHub
Go to vercel.com → New Project
Import your repo
Framework: Vercel auto-detects Docusaurus
Build command: npm run build
Output directory: build
Click Deploy

Vercel auto-deploys on every push to main. Custom domains are free with SSL.

9.2 Deploy to GitHub Pages

# Configure docusaurus.config.ts
# organizationName: "your-org",
# projectName: "my-docs",
# url: "https://your-org.github.io",
# baseUrl: "/my-docs/",
# deploymentBranch: "gh-pages",

# Deploy
npm run deploy

# Or with GitHub Actions:
# .github/workflows/deploy.yml

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy Docusaurus to GitHub Pages
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
permissions:
  contents: read
  pages: write
  id-token: write
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: npm
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
        with:
          path: build
  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment:
      name: github-pages
    steps:
      - uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4

9.3 Deploy to Cloudflare Pages

Push to GitHub
Go to Cloudflare Dashboard → Pages → Create project
Connect GitHub repo
Build command: npm run build
Build output: build
Click Deploy

9.4 Deployment Comparison

Host	Free Tier	Custom Domain	SSL	Build Time	Bandwidth
Vercel	Yes (100GB)	Yes (free)	Yes	~30 sec	100GB/mo
GitHub Pages	Yes (unlimited public)	Yes (free)	Yes	~60 sec	100GB/mo
Cloudflare Pages	Yes (unlimited)	Yes (free)	Yes	~20 sec	Unlimited
Netlify	Yes (100GB)	Yes (free)	Yes	~30 sec	100GB/mo

Step 10: SEO and Analytics

10.1 SEO Optimization

Docusaurus is SEO-optimized by default:

Server-side rendered (SSG) for fast initial load
Automatic sitemap.xml generation
Per-page title and description from frontmatter
Open Graph and Twitter Card meta tags
Canonical URLs
Structured data (JSON-LD) via plugins

Add structured data:

// src/plugins/structured-data.ts
export function generateDocStructuredData(page) {
  return {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "TechArticle",
    headline: page.title,
    description: page.description,
    author: { "@type": "Organization", name: "My SaaS" },
    datePublished: page.date,
    dateModified: page.lastUpdated,
  };
}

10.2 Google Analytics

themeConfig: {
  gtag: {
    trackingID: "G-XXXXXXXXXX",
    anonymizeIP: true,
  },
},

10.3 Google Tag Manager

themeConfig: {
  gtm: {
    containerId: "GTM-XXXXXXX",
  },
},

Step 11: Monetizing Docusaurus Skills

Method	Effort	Income Potential	Time to First $
Build docs for SaaS companies	Medium	$1,000-5,000/project	1-4 weeks
Create and sell Docusaurus themes	High	$200-2,000/month	2-6 months
Write Docusaurus tutorials	Medium	$200-1,000/article	1-2 weeks
Docusaurus consulting	Medium	$75-200/hour	2-4 weeks
Open source docs for hire	Medium	$2,000-10,000/project	2-6 weeks

Freelance Documentation Services

A practical side hustle: offer documentation services to SaaS companies.

Target: SaaS companies with poor or no documentation
Offer: "I will build your complete documentation site with Docusaurus — $1,999"
Deliverable: Docusaurus site, 20-30 pages of docs, search, versioning, deployment
Time: 2-3 weeks part-time
Tools: Docusaurus + Algolia + Vercel
Upsell: Ongoing docs maintenance ($300-500/month)

Platforms to find clients: Upwork, Contra, direct outreach to SaaS companies with bad docs.

Action Checklist

Common Pitfalls and Solutions

Pitfall	Impact	Solution
Broken links in production	404 errors, bad SEO	Set `onBrokenLinks: "throw"` in config
Large images slowing build	Slow builds, poor UX	Use `@docusaurus/plugin-ideal-image`
No versioning	Old docs inaccessible	Set up versioning from day one
No search	Users can't find content	Add Algolia or local search
Too many plugins	Slow build, complexity	Only install plugins you need
Not setting `url` and `baseUrl`	Broken assets in production	Set these before deploying
Not using MDX features	Missed interactivity	Learn MDX and use React components
No i18n planning	Hard to add later	Plan locales from the start

Final Word

Docusaurus is the best open-source documentation site generator for teams that need professional docs, versioning, search, i18n, and a blog — all in one. It is free, built by Meta, and used by React, Babel, Jest, and thousands of SaaS companies. The setup takes 1-2 hours: install the CLI, scaffold a project, configure the sidebar, write your first page in Markdown or MDX, customize the theme, add search, and deploy to Vercel or GitHub Pages. The built-in versioning lets you maintain docs for multiple product versions simultaneously, and the i18n system supports 60+ languages. For side hustles, Docusaurus skills are monetizable: SaaS companies pay $1,000-5,000 for a complete documentation site, and ongoing maintenance retainerers add $300-500/month. Start with the free template, customize it for your project or a client, and deploy to Vercel for free hosting with a custom domain.

More guides: bsynet.cc