Archbee vs HelpDocs

Archbee

• Software companies publishing product and API documentation
• Teams that keep docs in Git but want a hosted portal
• Docs with many readers and few writers, since readers are free

HelpDocs

• Support teams that want to buy a help center without a sales call
• Products that need help content embedded inside the app
• Early-stage startups, which can apply for 50% off for two years

Archbee

• There is no free plan: once the 14-day trial ends, a paid plan is required.
• Plans include 5 team members; each extra contributor costs $5 to $12 a month depending on the plan and billing period.
• Q&A, insights, the app widget, public API access and PDF export are add-ons on Growing and Scaling, each $80 a month on annual billing.
• SAML and OIDC SSO, AI-assisted translations and the Intercom and Zendesk integrations are Enterprise only.

HelpDocs

• There is no free plan: after the 14-day trial the cheapest plan is $99 a month billed annually, or $129 billed monthly.
• Plans include 5, 15 or 25 editors. Only Harvest lists extra editors, at $25 each per month.
• Sprout is limited to 3 languages and 10 machine translations a month, and has no audit trail, advanced permissioning or SSO.
• Analytics history covers 90 days on Sprout, 180 days on Bloom and 365 days on Harvest.

Archbee

Editor with branches and drafts

A multiplayer editor with drafts and native branches lets writers change content in isolation, have it reviewed and merge it when ready, with or without a Git workflow.

Docs-as-code sync

Markdown or MDX kept in GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket can be built into a docs site, and OpenAPI or Swagger files generate API documentation, on every plan.

Published portals

Spaces can be public or private and published to a custom domain hosted by Archbee. Password protection is on every plan; guest accounts, magic links and JWT start on Scaling.

Reusable content

Variables and reusable snippets update everywhere when changed, and version and space links connect multi-version and multi-product docs. These start on the Scaling plan.

AI add-on

Ask AI answers reader questions from the documentation and Write Assist helps draft content. It is a paid add-on on Growing and Scaling with a monthly token allowance.

Desktop apps and export

Archbee runs in any modern browser and offers macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Content can be exported as Markdown or as rendered PDF files.

HelpDocs

Editor with reusable content

Clips are reusable blocks that update in every article they sit in, and Variables store a value such as a product name once so a change reaches every mention.

HelpDocs AI

AI credits pay for drafting and rewriting articles, generating meta descriptions, alt text and search tags, and Ask AI answers. Bloom adds AI style enforcement.

Lighthouse widget

An embeddable help widget lets customers find answers from the knowledge base inside a website or product, and is set up without writing code.

Connections to AI tools and Slack

An MCP server connects Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other clients to the knowledge base, a Slack app brings articles into a workspace, and a REST API returns JSON.

Multilingual knowledge bases

Articles are translated by machine or by hand. Sprout covers 3 languages, Bloom 20 and Harvest unlimited, each with a monthly allowance of machine translations.

Permissions and governance

Advanced permissioning and an audit trail start on Bloom. Single sign-on, IP restriction and custom HTTP headers come with Harvest.

Archbee

• Growing$80

  per month, billed annually ($100 billed monthly)

  5 team members included, then $5 each a month ($6 on monthly billing): unlimited readers and spaces, a custom domain, GitHub sync and API documentation.

• Scaling$350

  per month, billed annually ($400 billed monthly)

  5 members included, then $10 each ($12 on monthly billing): adds a review system, reusable variables, versioning, localization, custom CSS and guest accounts.

• EnterpriseCustom

  All add-ons included, plus multiple organizations, AI-assisted translations, SAML and OIDC SSO, invoicing and a customer success manager.

HelpDocs

• Sprout$99

  per month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly)

  5 editors, 1,000 AI credits a month, 3 languages, unlimited viewers, the Lighthouse widget and custom CSS and JavaScript.

• Bloom$239

  per month, billed annually ($299 billed monthly)

  15 editors and 5,000 AI credits, adding advanced permissioning, an audit trail, embedded SSO (JWT), 20 languages and custom HTML templates.

• Harvest$399

  per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)

  25 editors and 10,000 AI credits, adding SSO with anonymous mode, IP restriction, unlimited languages and 2 additional domains.

Archbee

• Annual discount

  Lower prices with annual billing

  Growing is $80 a month billed annually against $100 billed monthly, and Scaling is $350 against $400. Extra members and add-ons also cost less on annual billing.

• Startups

  50% off for 2 years for startups

  The Startup Program gives early-stage companies a 50% discount on any plan for 2 years, on application.

• Nonprofit

  50% off for non-profits

  The pricing FAQ lists a 50% discount for non-profit organizations.

• Education

  50% off for educational use

  The same FAQ lists a 50% discount for educational purposes.

• Other savings

  Free Growing plan for open source

  Open source software projects are offered the Growing plan free of charge.

HelpDocs

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with annual billing

  The pricing page marks annual billing as saving 20%: Sprout is $99 a month instead of $129, Bloom $239 instead of $299 and Harvest $399 instead of $499.

• Startups

  Greenhouse: 50% off for two years

  Startups under 3 years old with 5 or fewer employees can apply for 50% off Sprout, Bloom or Harvest for 24 months, plus 3,000 bonus AI credits.