diff --git a/pdoc/__init__.py b/pdoc/__init__.py
index eb1ecaf2..9dc515f7 100644
--- a/pdoc/__init__.py
+++ b/pdoc/__init__.py
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ def _render_template(template_name, **kwargs):
         config.update((var, getattr(config_module, var, None))
                       for var in config_module.__dict__
                       if var not in MAKO_INTERNALS)
-    known_keys = set(config) | {'module', 'modules', 'http_server', 'external_links'}  # deprecated
+    known_keys = set(config) | {'module', 'modules', 'http_server',
+                                'html_index', 'external_links'}  # deprecated
     invalid_keys = {k: v for k, v in kwargs.items() if k not in known_keys}
     if invalid_keys:
         warn('Unknown configuration variables (not in config.mako): {}'.format(invalid_keys))
diff --git a/pdoc/cli.py b/pdoc/cli.py
index 149d1117..3c26bb73 100755
--- a/pdoc/cli.py
+++ b/pdoc/cli.py
@@ -82,6 +82,11 @@
     help="The directory to output generated HTML/markdown files to "
          "(default: ./html for --html).",
 )
+aa(
+    "--html-index",
+    action="store_true",
+    help="Make a top-level index.html listing all the documented packages."
+)
 aa(
     "--html-no-source",
     action="store_true",
@@ -288,19 +293,22 @@ def module_path(m: pdoc.Module, ext: str):
     return path.join(args.output_dir, *re.sub(r'\.html$', ext, m.url()).split('/'))
 
 
-def _quit_if_exists(m: pdoc.Module, ext: str):
+def _quit_if_file_exists(pth):
     if args.force:
         return
+    if path.lexists(pth):
+        print("File '%s' already exists. Delete it, or run with --force" % pth,
+              file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
 
+def _quit_if_module_exists(m: pdoc.Module, ext: str):
     paths = [module_path(m, ext)]
     if m.is_package:  # If package, make sure the dir doesn't exist either
         paths.append(path.dirname(paths[0]))
 
     for pth in paths:
-        if path.lexists(pth):
-            print("File '%s' already exists. Delete it, or run with --force" % pth,
-                  file=sys.stderr)
-            sys.exit(1)
+        _quit_if_file_exists(pth)
 
 
 def write_files(m: pdoc.Module, ext: str, **kwargs):
@@ -477,16 +485,36 @@ def docfilter(obj, _filters=args.filter.strip().split(',')):
 
     for module in modules:
         if args.html:
-            _quit_if_exists(module, ext='.html')
-            write_files(module, ext='.html', **template_config)
+            _quit_if_module_exists(module, ext='.html')
+            write_files(module, ext='.html', html_index=args.html_index, **template_config)
         elif args.output_dir:  # Generate text files
-            _quit_if_exists(module, ext='.md')
+            _quit_if_module_exists(module, ext='.md')
             write_files(module, ext='.md', **template_config)
         else:
             sys.stdout.write(module.text(**template_config))
             # Two blank lines between two modules' texts
             sys.stdout.write(os.linesep * (1 + 2 * int(module != modules[-1])))
 
+    if args.html and args.html_index:
+        # Add the root index.html at the top level.
+        index_file = path.join(args.output_dir, 'index.html')
+        _quit_if_file_exists(index_file)
+        # The template expects `modules` to be Tuples of (name, docstring).
+        module_tuples = sorted((module.name, module.docstring)
+                               for module in modules)
+        index_text = pdoc._render_template('/html.mako',
+                                           modules=module_tuples,
+                                           **template_config)
+        try:
+            with open(index_file, 'w+', encoding='utf-8') as w:
+                w.write(index_text)
+        except Exception:
+            try:
+                os.unlink(index_file)
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+            raise
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main(parser.parse_args())
diff --git a/pdoc/templates/html.mako b/pdoc/templates/html.mako
index ef0ce266..95591694 100644
--- a/pdoc/templates/html.mako
+++ b/pdoc/templates/html.mako
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@
   </%def>
 
   <header>
-  % if http_server:
+  % if http_server or html_index:
     <nav class="http-server-breadcrumbs">
       <a href="/">All packages</a>
       <% parts = module.name.split('.')[:-1] %>
diff --git a/pdoc/test/__init__.py b/pdoc/test/__init__.py
index 80453c45..ef993a1e 100644
--- a/pdoc/test/__init__.py
+++ b/pdoc/test/__init__.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from io import StringIO
 from itertools import chain
 from random import randint
+from shutil import rmtree
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 from time import sleep
 from unittest.mock import patch
@@ -216,6 +217,28 @@ def test_html_ref_links(self):
                 ],
             )
 
+    def test_html_index(self):
+        with chdir(TESTS_BASEDIR):
+            # Given the --html-index option
+            with run_html('--html-index',
+                          EXAMPLE_MODULE + '/module.py', EXAMPLE_MODULE + '/subpkg2'):
+                # Should have 'index.html' in addition to the normal output
+                self._basic_html_assertions(
+                    ['index.html', 'module.html', 'subpkg2',
+                     'subpkg2/index.html', 'subpkg2/module.html'])
+                # 'index.html' should be the Python module list
+                with open('index.html') as f:
+                    contents = f.read()
+                    self.assertIn('Python module list', contents)
+                # 'module.html' should have link to 'All packages'
+                with open('module.html') as f:
+                    contents = f.read()
+                    self.assertIn('All packages', contents)
+                # 'subpkg2/index.html' should have link to 'All packages'
+                with open('subpkg2/index.html') as f:
+                    contents = f.read()
+                    self.assertIn('All packages', contents)
+
     def test_html_no_source(self):
         with self.assertWarns(DeprecationWarning),\
                 run_html(EXAMPLE_MODULE, html_no_source=None):
@@ -234,6 +257,22 @@ def test_force(self):
                 self.assertEqual(returncode, 0)
                 self.assertEqual(stderr.getvalue(), '')
 
+    def test_force_with_html_index(self):
+        with run_html('--html-index', EXAMPLE_MODULE):
+            # Remove everything but index.html ensure it's failing because of index.html
+            rmtree(EXAMPLE_MODULE)
+            with redirect_streams() as (stdout, stderr):
+                returncode = run('--html-index',
+                                 EXAMPLE_MODULE, _check=False, html=None, output_dir=os.getcwd())
+                self.assertNotEqual(returncode, 0)
+                self.assertNotEqual(stderr.getvalue(), '')
+
+            with redirect_streams() as (stdout, stderr):
+                returncode = run('--html-index',
+                                 EXAMPLE_MODULE, html=None, force=None, output_dir=os.getcwd())
+                self.assertEqual(returncode, 0)
+                self.assertEqual(stderr.getvalue(), '')
+
     def test_external_links(self):
         with run_html(EXAMPLE_MODULE):
             self._basic_html_assertions()