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MkDocs NG and Its Alternatives

How MkDocs NG relates to the other tools that build MkDocs sites.

Since upstream MkDocs 1.x stopped being developed, several projects have offered a way forward for existing MkDocs sites. This page compares them on what matters when you already have a site: whether it keeps building unchanged, and whether your plugins keep running.

Facts on this page were checked on 2026-11-01 against each project's PyPI release history, documentation and source code; see Sources. Projects change quickly, so check their documentation for the current state. If something here is wrong or out of date, please open an issue.

At a glance

	MkDocs NG	MkDocs 1.6	MkDocs 2.0 pre-releases	ProperDocs	Zensical
What it is	Maintained fork of MkDocs 1.x	Last upstream 1.x release	Upstream rewrite	Fork of MkDocs 1.6	New generator by the Material for MkDocs team
Latest release	1.10.0rc1 (2026-11-01)	1.6.1 (2024-08-30)	2.0.dev6 (2026-09-15)	1.6.7 (2026-03-20)	0.0.74 (2026-10-30)
PyPI package	`mkdocs-ng`	`mkdocs`	`mkdocs` (`--pre`)	`properdocs`	`zensical`
Command	`mkdocs`	`mkdocs`	`mkdocs`	`properdocs`	`zensical`
Configuration	`mkdocs.yml`	`mkdocs.yml`	None; refuses to run when `mkdocs.yml` exists	`properdocs.yml`, falls back to `mkdocs.yml`	`mkdocs.yml` or `zensical.toml`
Runs MkDocs plugins	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No; reimplements about 30 popular ones
Runs MkDocs themes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No; its own theme supports Material for MkDocs settings
Python	3.10+	3.8+	3.10+	3.9+	3.11+

Which one should I use?

You have an MkDocs site and want it to keep building unchanged, plugins included: MkDocs NG or ProperDocs. Both run MkDocs plugins and themes. With MkDocs NG the only change is the package name: the mkdocs command, mkdocs.yml, CI scripts and .readthedocs.yaml stay as they are. ProperDocs uses its own properdocs command.
Your site uses Material for MkDocs, and only plugins that Zensical reimplements: Zensical is an option if you're ready to switch to a new generator. Check its plugin support first, since other plugins are ignored.
You're starting new documentation and want the MkDocs plugin ecosystem: MkDocs NG. mkdocs new creates a site to start from.
Staying on MkDocs 1.6.1 keeps working for now, but bugs stay unfixed and it declares support only for Python 3.8 to 3.12.
The MkDocs 2.0 pre-releases can't build existing sites. Avoid installing them with pip install --pre or uv --prerelease allow.

MkDocs 1.6

The last release of upstream MkDocs 1.x is 1.6.1, from August 2024. Sites and plugins built for it keep working, but bugs reported since then stay unfixed, and it declares support for Python 3.8 to 3.12 only. Plugins and themes keep installing it as a dependency, which is why MkDocs NG installs alongside it and takes precedence instead of replacing it. See Plugins, themes and the mkdocs package.

MkDocs 2.0 pre-releases

Upstream MkDocs 2.0 is a rewrite, published as pre-releases of the mkdocs package, so pip install mkdocs still installs 1.6.1 and only pip install --pre mkdocs installs 2.0. As of 2.0.dev6 it builds a directory of Markdown files with a single Jinja template (templates/base.html). It has no configuration file, plugins or themes, and it stops with an error when it finds a mkdocs.yml. Existing sites can't be built with it.

ProperDocs

ProperDocs is a fork of MkDocs 1.6 with its own package, command and configuration file name. It loads plugins and themes written for MkDocs, so existing sites can move to it by running properdocs instead of mkdocs; it also reads mkdocs.yml. Several plugins, including mkdocs-redirects, mkdocs-gen-files, mkdocs-literate-nav, mkdocs-section-index and mkdocs-rss-plugin, now depend on ProperDocs and print a warning suggesting it when run by the mkdocs command. They keep working with MkDocs NG, which turns that warning off.

Zensical

Zensical is a new static site generator from the team behind Material for MkDocs, which is in maintenance mode with critical fixes through 2027-05-05. It reads existing mkdocs.yml files and supports Material for MkDocs settings. It doesn't run MkDocs plugins: it reimplements about 30 popular ones natively and ignores the configuration of the rest. gh-deploy, get-deps and hooks aren't supported, and templates use MiniJinja instead of Jinja. It is a good fit if your site uses Material for MkDocs and only plugins it supports.

MkDocs NG

MkDocs NG continues MkDocs 1.x: same command, same mkdocs.yml, same plugin and theme APIs, so switching is a package change. On top of that it supports current Python versions (3.10 to 3.15), fixes long-standing upstream bugs, and adds features such as llms.txt output for LLMs and coding agents, a stable Python API, and built-in themes that load nothing from CDNs. Every change is tested by building sites with around 30 popular plugins, themes and Markdown extensions. See Switching to MkDocs NG.

Sources

PyPI release history: mkdocs-ng, mkdocs, properdocs, zensical.
MkDocs 2.0: the package description and the source code of 2.0.dev6.
ProperDocs: documentation and the source code of 1.6.7.
Zensical: migrating from MkDocs, MkDocs plugin support.
Material for MkDocs maintenance: upcoming changes.