Apiary vs Swagger for API docs

Short answer:
If you want a modern, widely adopted standard, Swagger/OpenAPI is usually the better choice. Apiary is more of an API design-and-documentation platform, but it’s less common today than it used to be.

Quick comparison

Swagger / OpenAPI

• Standardized format: OpenAPI is the industry standard for REST API specs.
• Ecosystem: Huge tool support for docs, client generation, testing, mock servers, and governance.
• Adoption: Very widely used across teams and companies.
• Best for:
  • documenting REST APIs
  • generating SDKs
  • contract-first development
  • integrating with CI/CD and tooling

Apiary

• Design-first focus: Good for writing API docs/specs in a more human-friendly way.
• Mocking and collaboration: Strong for early API design reviews and sharing with stakeholders.
• API Blueprint support: Historically centered around API Blueprint.
• Best for:
  • collaborative API design
  • prototyping documentation before implementation
  • teams already using Apiary workflows

Which should you choose?

• Choose Swagger/OpenAPI if you want:
  • the most future-proof option
  • broad tooling support
  • better integration with modern API workflows
• Choose Apiary if you specifically want:
  • Apiary’s collaboration workflow
  • API Blueprint-based documentation
  • a platform for early-stage API design

My recommendation

For most new projects: use OpenAPI/Swagger.

If you want, I can also give you a feature-by-feature table or help you decide based on your specific API stack.