Gitbook

What is gitbook

GitBook is a cloud-based documentation platform designed to help teams write, manage, and publish knowledge bases and product documentation. It combines a WYSIWYG editor with structured content models, permissions, search, and publishing features so documents can be created collaboratively and delivered to internal users or public audiences. GitBook targets product teams, developer platforms, customer success, and engineering teams who need a single, versioned place for technical and support documentation.

The platform stores content as structured pages and supports hierarchical organization, page templates, and built-in search indexing. It also includes access controls, SSO, and audit features that make it suitable for both public-facing documentation and private internal knowledge bases. For teams that need enterprise controls, GitBook extends core capabilities with integrations, compliance options, and custom branding.

GitBook emphasizes fast authoring and reader experience: editors get inline formatting, embeds, and code blocks while readers get a responsive, searchable site optimized for navigation and discovery. The product is intended to reduce documentation fragmentation by replacing scattered Markdown files, wikis, and ad-hoc knowledge stores with a single, discoverable platform.

Gitbook features

What does gitbook do?

GitBook provides a collaborative documentation workspace where teams create, organize, and publish content. It offers a live editor for page creation, structured content models (pages, sections, and metadata), and a hierarchical sidebar for navigating complex documentation sets. Authors can use rich text formatting, code blocks with syntax highlighting, and media embeds to create clear technical docs and guides.

The platform includes access control and team management so you can set read/write permissions per space or page, enable single sign-on (SSO) for corporate users, and configure role-based access for contributors. Version history and page-level activity make it easy to track edits, revert changes, and audit documentation updates over time. GitBook also supports commenting, mentions, and basic review workflows to coordinate writing across distributed teams.

Search and discovery are built into the product: GitBook indexes page content, titles, and metadata to provide fast, relevance-ranked search results across spaces. Additional features include site themes and custom domains for public docs, embedding options, granular analytics, and export options to PDF or static HTML. The combination of authoring, publishing, and governance features positions GitBook as a single source of truth for product and support documentation.

Gitbook pricing

GitBook offers these pricing plans:

• Free Plan: $0/month for basic personal and small-team usage with limited collaborators and public or private spaces
• Team: $8/month per user billed annually (or $10/month per user billed monthly) with team collaboration features, permissions, and increased integrations
• Business: $18/month per user billed annually (or $20/month per user billed monthly) with enhanced security, SSO, and analytics
• Enterprise: Custom pricing with advanced compliance, dedicated support, custom SLAs, and on-premises or private cloud options

Check GitBook's current pricing for the latest rates and enterprise options.

How much is gitbook per month

GitBook starts at $8/month per user when billed annually for the Team plan; monthly billing is typically higher (for example, around $10/month per user for Team). Team and Business tiers are priced per user with discounts for annual commitments, while Enterprise is quoted based on scale and requirements.

Monthly billing is useful for short-term projects or trial periods, but annual billing reduces per-user cost and is commonly used by teams planning sustained documentation work. For large teams the Enterprise arrangement can alter monthly equivalent cost depending on negotiated features like SSO, SCIM provisioning, and advanced support.

How much is gitbook per year

GitBook costs $96/year per user for the Team plan when billed annually at $8/month per user. The Business plan billed annually is $216/year per user when priced at $18/month per user. Enterprise pricing is provided on request and can include volume discounts for large seat counts or multi-year commitments.

Annual billing typically locks in a lower per-user rate and is recommended for teams that plan to maintain documentation long term. Review the GitBook pricing tiers to compare current annual vs monthly options and any promotional offers.

How much is gitbook in general

GitBook pricing ranges from $0 (free) to $18+/month per user. Small teams and individuals can start with the Free Plan for basic authoring and public docs; most growing teams move to Team or Business tiers as they require advanced permissions, SSO, and analytics. Enterprise buyers should expect custom quotes that account for seat count, compliance needs, and integration work.

When budgeting for documentation you should include not just seat costs but also implementation and ongoing maintenance: onboarding time, migration of existing docs, integration with source control, and any costs for single sign-on or directory provisioning.

What is gitbook used for

GitBook is used as the central documentation system for product documentation, developer portals, and internal knowledge bases. Product teams publish user guides, API references, and release notes; engineering teams keep architecture docs and runbooks; support and customer success teams store troubleshooting steps and standard operating procedures. The platform’s publishing features make it suitable for both private internal documentation and public-facing help centers.

Teams use GitBook to consolidate fragmented documentation sources (Markdown repos, legacy wikis, and scattered PDFs) into a single, searchable workspace. This reduces duplication, improves discoverability, and creates consistent templates for onboarding and support documentation. The structured navigation and metadata also help non-technical authors contribute without managing raw Git repositories.

GitBook is often selected for developer-facing docs because of its support for code blocks, versioned docs, and integrations with Git-based workflows. It’s also used by HR and operations teams to maintain internal policies and onboarding materials where access control and auditing are important.

Pros and cons of gitbook

Pros:

• Collaborative editing and structured authoring with a readable, modern editor make writing and maintaining docs straightforward for teams.
• Built-in search and hierarchical navigation improve reader experience and reduce time to information for internal and external audiences.
• Enterprise features like SSO, SCIM, audit logs, and custom domains provide governance and compliance for larger organizations.

Cons:

• Per-user pricing can become expensive for large distributed teams compared with self-hosted open source alternatives, especially when many users only need read access.
• While GitBook provides export and import options, migrations from complex legacy wikis or large Markdown repositories may require planning and manual cleanup.
• Advanced customization (complex theming or feature extensions) is more limited compared to fully self-hosted documentation frameworks where you control the rendering pipeline.

Operational trade-offs should be evaluated: GitBook reduces the burden of hosting and search infrastructure but introduces recurring seat costs. For teams that value managed search, integrated editing, and corporate access controls, the gains often outweigh the per-user fees.

Gitbook free trial

GitBook typically offers a free tier and trial periods for paid plans so teams can test collaboration, permissions, and publishing capabilities before committing. The Free Plan supports small teams and public documentation, which is often sufficient to evaluate core authoring and search features without an immediate upgrade. Paid tiers usually include a trial window or a money-back period for early-stage evaluation.

During a trial, evaluate content import from existing sources, the fidelity of formatting for code samples and tables, permission granularity, and integrations with tools you rely on (SSO provider, Slack, GitHub/GitLab). Testing search relevance and analytics on sample content is also useful to validate how easily your users will find documentation.

If enterprise features like SAML, SCIM provisioning, dedicated support, or custom SLAs are required, request a demo or pilot from GitBook’s sales team to validate those capabilities against your compliance and operational requirements. The GitBook pricing page links to enterprise contact options for tailored trials.

Is gitbook free

Yes, GitBook offers a Free Plan that provides basic documentation capabilities at no charge. The Free Plan covers core authoring, a public or private workspace (within usage limits), and basic collaboration tools, making it suitable for individuals and very small teams. For features like advanced access controls, SSO, and audit logs, teams will need to upgrade to a paid plan.

Gitbook API

GitBook exposes APIs and integration points so organizations can automate content workflows, sync content with repositories, and extend documentation programmatically. The platform provides RESTful endpoints for creating and updating content, managing spaces and users, and retrieving metadata. Webhooks are available to notify external systems about changes to pages or spaces, enabling CI/CD workflows for documentation.

For identity and provisioning, GitBook supports SCIM for automated user provisioning and integrates with SAML/SSO providers used by large organizations. Integrations with GitHub and GitLab help link Git workflows and issue trackers to documentation updates, and native Slack integrations enable notifications for edits, comments, or publishing events.

Developers commonly use the API to: automate publishing pipelines, import Markdown or structured content from external sources, generate site snapshots for archive and backup, and synchronize user and group membership with corporate directories. For detailed reference and endpoint examples, consult the GitBook API documentation which includes authentication, rate limits, and sample requests.

10 Gitbook alternatives

Paid alternatives to gitbook

• Notion — All-in-one workspace that combines notes, docs, and simple databases; strong for collaborative internal docs and lightweight knowledge bases with flexible templates and databases.
• Confluence — Enterprise-grade wiki from Atlassian with deep integration into Jira and developer workflows; well-suited for large organizations needing project and documentation cohesion.
• Read the Docs — Hosted documentation service focused on technical project documentation built from Sphinx/Markdown, with versioning and search geared to developer docs.
• Help Scout Docs — Knowledge base solution that ties documentation directly to customer support workflows and knowledge base analytics for support teams.
• Document360 — Knowledge base platform with category management, versioning, and analytics aimed at product and customer support documentation.
• Zendesk Guide — Documentation and help center solution integrated with Zendesk’s support ticketing system for customer-facing knowledge bases.

Open source alternatives to gitbook

• Docusaurus — Open source static site generator from Facebook optimized for technical documentation and versioned docs, using Markdown and React for customization.
• MkDocs — Python-based static site generator for project documentation; simple Markdown workflow and a variety of themes and plugins.
• Hugo — Fast static site generator with broad theming options; used widely to create documentation sites where full control of build and hosting is required.
• BookStack — Self-hosted wiki platform with a simple UI and structured book/chapters/pages model; suitable for internal docs with full hosting control.
• GitBook (legacy open-source) — The original GitBook CLI and generator (community-maintained) can be used to produce static documentation sites if you prefer a self-hosted workflow.

Frequently asked questions about Gitbook

What is GitBook used for?

GitBook is used for creating and publishing documentation and knowledge bases. Teams rely on it to host product guides, API docs, internal runbooks, and help centers. It centralizes content, provides search, and offers permissions and publishing controls suitable for both internal and public documentation.

Does GitBook integrate with GitHub?

Yes, GitBook integrates with GitHub. The integration allows teams to sync content, reference repositories, and link issue or PR workflows to documentation updates. It can also be used to pull content from Git repositories or trigger updates via webhooks.

How much does GitBook cost per user?

GitBook starts at $8/month per user on the Team plan billed annually, with higher tiers for Business and Enterprise that include advanced security and support. Monthly billing is available at a higher per-user rate and Enterprise pricing is custom based on scale and features.

Is there a free version of GitBook?

Yes, GitBook offers a Free Plan that provides basic authoring and publication features at no cost, suitable for individuals and very small teams. The Free Plan has limits on advanced features and seat counts, so larger teams typically upgrade to paid tiers for SSO and enhanced controls.

Can GitBook be used as a developer portal?

Yes, GitBook can be used as a developer portal. It supports code blocks, syntax highlighting, versioned pages, and integrations with code repositories which are common requirements for developer-facing documentation and API references. You can structure docs by versions and expose them via a public site or a restricted developer portal.

Does GitBook support single sign-on (SSO)?

Yes, GitBook supports SSO on paid plans. Business and Enterprise tiers commonly provide SAML-based SSO, SCIM provisioning for user management, and directory integrations to simplify onboarding and enforce corporate access policies.

Can I export documentation from GitBook?

Yes, GitBook allows exports of content. You can export pages or whole spaces to formats like PDF and static HTML for archiving or offline distribution; API-based exports are also possible for automated backups or migrations.

How secure is GitBook?

GitBook provides enterprise-grade security features. The platform offers encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access controls, SSO, SCIM, and audit logs on higher tiers; Enterprise plans add options for dedicated instances and compliance reviews. For full security posture and certifications, consult GitBook’s security documentation.

Does GitBook have an API for automation?

Yes, GitBook provides an API and webhooks for automation. The API enables programmatic creation and updating of content, management of spaces and users, and retrieval of metadata; webhooks notify external systems of content changes to support CI/CD documentation workflows.

How do I migrate existing docs to GitBook?

Migration to GitBook is usually done via import tools and APIs. You can import Markdown files, static HTML, or use the API to create pages programmatically; many teams run a staged migration, convert legacy formats, and validate formatting and links before switching the canonical docs to GitBook.

gitbook careers

GitBook maintains a product-focused company profile and hires across engineering, product management, design, and customer-facing roles. Positions often emphasize experience building developer tools, content platforms, or collaborative SaaS products. Candidates with a background in documentation tooling, developer experience, or cloud services are frequently sought.

Hiring at GitBook typically includes technical interviews, product pairing exercises for engineering roles, and culture-fit conversations focused on collaboration and customer empathy. For current openings and application guidance, check the company’s careers page or LinkedIn profile to see up-to-date job listings.

gitbook affiliate

GitBook occasionally runs partner programs and has referral or partner arrangements for agencies and platform integrators that help customers implement the product. Affiliates and partners typically get resources for onboarding customers, technical enablement, and co-marketing opportunities tied to enterprise sales.

If you represent a consultancy or platform reseller, contact GitBook’s partnerships or sales team to discuss affiliate terms, referral commissions, or partnership tiers. Enterprise partnership often involves technical onboarding and dedicated support for large migrations.

Where to find gitbook reviews

You can find user reviews and product comparisons on software directory sites like G2 and Capterra, which aggregate ratings for ease of use, support, and feature completeness. These review platforms include comments from product and engineering teams that describe real-world experiences with migration, editor usability, and customer support.

Additionally, case studies and customer stories published by GitBook demonstrate usage patterns and ROI examples. For technical validation, look for developer community threads and GitHub issues discussing integrations, API usage, and migration tips.