GitBook vs Wiki.js

GitBook is a documentation platform for teams creating, reviewing, and publishing branded documentation websites. Content can be written in a block-based visual editor or Markdown, organized through branch-based review, or synchronized with GitHub and GitLab. Published sites support custom domains, responsive layouts, SEO, preview deployments, and site variants. GitBook Agent can surface documentation gaps, draft updates, and review changes, while GitBook Assistant answers questions using documentation and connected sources. Teams can set tiered permissions and restrict documentation to authenticated users. The Free plan is free, includes one user, and limits GitBook Agent to 10 messages per week. Premium is $65 a month billed per site annually, plus $12 per user/month; Ultimate is $249 a month billed per site annually, plus $12 per user/month. Annual billing includes two months free, and a 14-day trial is available. Published documentation traffic is not limited.

Wiki.js is a knowledge base for writing and sharing documentation, available as self-hosted software under the AGPL license. It can run in Docker, Kubernetes, or bare-metal environments on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its editor supports Markdown with live preview, tables, tabsets, diagrams, math, and syntax highlighting for more than 180 languages. Authentication options include OIDC, LDAP, SAML 2.0, and local authentication; permissions can be granted, denied, and inherited across groups and page rules. Edits are attributed, compared, and restorable, and content can synchronize with Git or be pushed to local disk and cloud storage such as S3, Azure, and GCP. In version 3.0 beta, Wiki.js uses Node.js with PostgreSQL, adds real-time collaboration, and exposes user-interface actions as REST endpoints documented with OpenAPI. Stable releases require Node.js 18.x or later and a supported database, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MSSQL, or SQLite3. The self-hosted plan is free forever.