Comparisons
How Vellum differs from LaRecipe, the other package that serves Markdown documentation from inside a Laravel app.
LaRecipe
LaRecipe is the closest alternative to Vellum. It is also a Laravel package that serves Markdown from resources/docs at /docs. It dates from 2018 and is still maintained. The table compares both packages as of September 2026.
| Vellum | LaRecipe | |
|---|---|---|
| Rendering | Compiled once by vellum:build |
Parsed on each request, with an optional cache |
| Markdown | CommonMark and GitHub Flavored Markdown | Parsedown Extra |
| Sidebar | Your folder structure, ordered by meta.json or frontmatter |
A hand-written index.md per version |
| Access control | Per page or folder: signed-in readers or a named gate, hidden pages return 404 | The whole site, behind a guard or your own middleware |
| Search | Built in, in the browser, filtered per reader. Laravel Scout optional | Algolia, or a built-in index of h2 and h3 headings |
| Static export | Yes | No |
| Front end | Alpine.js, compiled assets included | Vue |
| Dark mode | Built in | A separate package |
| Components | ::: directives and Blade components |
Blade, and Vue components through asset packages |
| Requirements | PHP 8.4, Laravel 11 to 13 | PHP 7.1 or later, Laravel 5.4 to 13 |
Choose LaRecipe if you are on an older PHP or Laravel version, or if you want one of its add-on packages for Swagger, right-to-left layouts, reader feedback or Disqus comments.
Choose Vellum if some pages should only be visible to certain readers, if you also want a static copy of the docs, or if you want broken links caught before a deploy.
Outside Laravel
If your product is not a Laravel app, use a documentation framework built for its stack, such as Fumadocs for Next.js or VitePress for a standalone static site. Vellum's layout is based on Fumadocs, and the credits list what it borrows.