Blume: Pricing, Features & Best Use Cases

Our take: Choose Blume if your team keeps docs as Markdown or MDX in Git and wants a free, open-source Astro-based site that also serves llms.txt, Markdown mirrors and an MCP server to AI agents.

Main limitation: It is a CLI framework you host yourself, with no web editor, and its AI features need your own model provider.

By the AI Tool Atlas editors. Based on the vendor's official documentation; we have not tested this product hands-on. What “documented overview” means

Who should use Blume

Choose Blume if your team keeps docs as Markdown or MDX in Git and wants a free, open-source Astro-based site that also serves llms.txt, Markdown mirrors and an MCP server to AI agents. Based on the vendor's documentation, not on a hands-on test.

Best for: Developer teams shipping docs sites from Markdown

Also a good fit for

Open-source projects wanting agent-friendly documentation

Consider another tool if requires Node.js tooling and command-line use; no hosted editor

Or if

Agent features like translate and migrate rely on external coding agent CLIs (Codex or Claude Code)
Server-side Markdown content negotiation only on Vercel and Cloudflare builds

Blume pricing and usage limits

Prices checked Sep 29, 2026 on the official US pricing page. Official pricing ↗ Prices and limits change often.

The official Blume pricing page as we saw it. useblume.dev, captured Oct 1, 2026

Free access and trial conditions

Free under the MIT license, forever, with unlimited editors, pages and traffic.

None needed.

Paid plans: what changes as you upgrade

Blume (open source) cli

Free source (opens in a new tab)

Monthly

For: Any docs site, any team size

Limits

No seat, usage or credit caps

Includes

Local search
OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, GraphQL references

2 more

MCP server and llms.txt
blume translate and eject

API included

Usage caps, credits and extra costs

Your host (static hosting often free) and your model provider for the assistant (about $1.90 per 1,000 answers, vendor estimate) and generated narration.

Not applicable.

What is Blume, and how does it work?

Blume is a free, open-source documentation framework built on Astro and Vite. You drop Markdown or MDX files in a folder and run the blume CLI to get a static docs site with inferred navigation, local search, theming, Open Graph images, i18n in 30+ languages, a changelog timeline and interactive OpenAPI, AsyncAPI and GraphQL references. It is designed for both human readers and AI agents: every page has a Markdown twin at its .md URL, the build emits llms.txt and llms-full.txt, a JSON API is exposed, and an optional MCP server lets coding agents search and read the docs. The CLI also includes agent-driven commands such as eval, translate and migrate from Mintlify, Fumadocs, Docusaurus, Starlight or Nextra.

Blume's official site: how the product presents itself. useblume.dev, captured Oct 1, 2026

What you provide and what you get back

What you give Blume and what comes back, from its documentation

You provide

Markdown/MDX files
OpenAPI, AsyncAPI or GraphQL specs
Optional model provider key

You get back

Static docs site
llms.txt and llms-full.txt
Markdown mirrors and JSON API
MCP server

Where you can use it

Platforms: Desktop
Account: Not required
Runtime: Astro + Vite, Node.js CLI
Content: Markdown, MDX
API references: OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, GraphQL
i18n: 30+ languages via blume translate

Where Blume is most useful

Scenarios are worked out by our editors from the documentation; the actual result depends on your input and plan.

Publishing product or API documentation from a Markdown folder

Who: Developer-tool teams
You provide: Folder of Markdown/MDX files
Expected result: Docs site with inferred navigation and local search after npx blume init
Plan needed: Free
Limitation: Needs Node.js and a CLI workflow source (opens in a new tab)

Making docs readable by coding agents via llms.txt and MCP

Who: Teams serving AI coding agents
You provide: Existing docs
Expected result: llms.txt, Markdown twin of every page and an MCP server
Plan needed: Free
Limitation: Content negotiation only on Vercel and Cloudflare builds source (opens in a new tab)

Rendering interactive API references from OpenAPI or GraphQL specs

Who: API owners
You provide: OpenAPI, AsyncAPI or GraphQL spec
Expected result: Interactive API reference pages
Plan needed: Free
Limitation: Spec must be maintained in the repo source (opens in a new tab)

What Blume does, and where it stops

Feature overview on the official site. useblume.dev, captured Oct 1, 2026

Zero-config setup with npx blume init and navigation inferred from files

Creates a docs site from a folder with one command and infers navigation from files Start without configuration

Access: npx blume initLimit: Requires Node.js source (opens in a new tab)

Markdown twin of every page plus llms.txt and llms-full.txt

Publishes a Markdown twin of every page plus llms.txt and llms-full.txt Let LLMs read your docs cleanly

Access: Built inLimit: Server-side negotiation only on Vercel/Cloudflare source (opens in a new tab)

Opt-in MCP server and in-page AI assistant

Offers an opt-in MCP server and in-page assistant on your chosen model Let agents and readers query docs

Access: Opt-inLimit: You pay your model provider source (opens in a new tab)

Interactive OpenAPI, AsyncAPI and GraphQL playgrounds

Renders interactive OpenAPI, AsyncAPI and GraphQL references Try endpoints inside the docs

Access: Built inLimit: Depends on spec quality source (opens in a new tab)

Blume pros and cons

Reasons to choose Blume

Free and open source with no hosted service required Zero license cost at any scale documented source (opens in a new tab)
Local search works in dev and production Search works without external service documented source (opens in a new tab)
Can eject to a standalone Astro app No lock-in to the framework documented source (opens in a new tab)
MIT-licensed with unlimited editors, pages and traffic and no seat limits A docs team of any size pays $0 for the tool itself, only for hosting and any AI model provider. documented source (opens in a new tab)
blume validate, audit and eval commands run in CI Broken docs can be caught in a pull request pipeline without a paid service. documented source (opens in a new tab)

Check before paying for Blume

Requires Node.js tooling and command-line use; no hosted editor Non-developers cannot edit in a browser documented source (opens in a new tab)
Agent features like translate and migrate rely on external coding agent CLIs (Codex or Claude Code) Needs a separate agent subscription documented source (opens in a new tab)
Server-side Markdown content negotiation only on Vercel and Cloudflare builds Some agent features need specific hosts documented source (opens in a new tab)
No hosted version: blume build outputs a site you deploy to your own host You must pick and operate a host (Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages or a Node server) yourself. documented source (opens in a new tab)
No built-in analytics dashboard; analytics come from your own provider by adapter Tracking page views needs a separate analytics account such as Cloudflare Web Analytics. documented source (opens in a new tab)

How to use Blume for building a documentation site

Set up Blume

Install Node.js and open your docs repository
Run npx blume init
Add Markdown or MDX pages to the folder

Example: building a documentation site

Run the blume dev command to preview locally
Add an OpenAPI file to render the API reference
Run blume validate to catch broken links
Deploy the build to Cloudflare or GitHub Pages

Review and export the result

Open a page URL with .md appended to confirm the Markdown twin
Check /llms.txt exists on the deployed site

Blume integrations and API

Plan comparison on the official pricing page. useblume.dev, captured Oct 1, 2026

Native integrations and export formats

Export: Markdown, llms.txt, JSON API

API access and separate billing

Blume has no public API in its official documentation. JSON API and MCP server exposed by the built site API documentation ↗

Privacy, data use and commercial rights

Summarized from the vendor's current policies; this is not legal advice and a vendor's badge is not an independent audit.

How your inputs and outputs are handled

Runs on your own host; content goes to a model provider only if you enable the assistant or translation.

Commercial use and plan restrictions

MIT license

Best Blume alternatives for different needs

"Better suited" is based on documented features and pricing, not on a head-to-head test.

Cursor: better suited to

GitHub Copilot: better suited to

Replit: better suited to

Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf): better suited to

Alternatives
Alternative	Pricing	Limitation
Cursor	—	—	Compare
GitHub Copilot	—	—	Compare
Replit	—	—	Compare
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)	—	—	Compare

Explore Blume further

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Blume FAQ

Is Blume really free?

Yes, it is MIT licensed with no plans, seats or credits; you pay only your host and any model provider. source (opens in a new tab)

How do I start a Blume docs site?

Run npx blume init in your repository and add Markdown or MDX files. source (opens in a new tab)

Does Blume include an MCP server?

Yes, an MCP server that lets coding agents search and read your docs; on Cloudflare Workers' free plan it covers up to 100,000 requests a day. source (opens in a new tab)

When would Mintlify suit me better?

If you want a browser editor, fully hosted docs, or private docs with SSO, SCIM and RBAC. source (opens in a new tab)

Can I leave Blume later?

Yes, blume eject converts the project to a standalone Astro app. source (opens in a new tab)

Sources and review methodology

Official sources and verification dates

Blume — the open-source docs framework for humans and agents homepage · checked Oct 1, 2026
Introduction - Blume homepage · checked Oct 1, 2026
Overview - Blume (CLI) homepage · checked Oct 1, 2026

Not verified: Privacy policy; Changelog.

How we documented and maintain this page

Every fact about Blume above comes from the 3 official pages listed here, last compared on Sep 29, 2026; we have not run Blume ourselves, so it has no editorial score. How we check and re-check pages.

Article updated Oct 10, 2026; prices checked Sep 29, 2026. Outbound links to vendors are plain links; we do not earn commissions. How we review · Report an error