Overview
Starlight is the Astro team's answer to Docusaurus and VitePress: a documentation theme and framework that runs as an Astro integration. You create a project from the starlight template (npm create astro@latest -- --template starlight) or add it to an existing Astro site, then write pages in Markdown, MDX or Markdoc under src/content/docs with file-based routing.
It provides sidebar navigation, built-in components such as cards and tabs, a plugin and theme catalogue, and full access to Astro features, including components from other UI frameworks as islands. Because Astro renders to static HTML by default, docs pages ship little JavaScript. Deployment follows Astro's deploy guides, so any static host works.
Starlight's own getting-started guide describes it as beta software with frequent updates, and recommends updating regularly with npx @astrojs/upgrade. Its future is tied to Astro, which Cloudflare acquired in January 2026 with commitments to stay MIT-licensed and host-neutral. For teams comparing docs tools, the main draw is that the same project can hold a marketing site, a blog and the documentation.
Pricing and plans
What it does
- Docs content
- Markdown, MDX and Markdoc pages with file-based routing and frontmatter configuration.
- Navigation
- Configurable sidebar navigation for large docs sets.
- Built-in components
- Cards, tabs and other documentation components.
- Plugins and themes
- Community plugin and theme catalogues.
- Astro underneath
- Use any Astro feature or UI-framework island inside docs.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Static, low-JavaScript output that loads quickly.
- Works inside an existing Astro site, so docs and marketing pages can share one project.
- Maintained by the Astro core team.
Limitations
- Labelled beta software with frequent updates, per its own docs.
- Requires learning Astro for deeper customisation.
- Tied to Astro's release cycle; Astro upgrades may require Starlight upgrades.
Who it suits
Good for
- Open-source and product documentation
- Teams already using Astro
- Docs that need fast static pages
Look elsewhere if
- Teams wanting a React-SPA docs site with deep React customisation (Docusaurus)
- Vue-centred teams (VitePress)
Alternatives to Starlight
Questions
What is Starlight?
A documentation theme and framework built on Astro, maintained by the Astro team.
Is Starlight stable?
Its getting-started guide still calls it beta software with frequent updates, so plan to upgrade regularly.
Starlight or Docusaurus?
Starlight ships lighter static pages on Astro; Docusaurus is a React single-page app with built-in versioning and deep React customisation.
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