Confluence vs GitBook
We give Confluence a 4.0 GPA and GitBook a 3.0, out of 4.0. Confluence grades higher on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Confluence
Team wiki and docs workspace from Atlassian, tied to Jira
GitBook
Documentation platform for product and API docs, synced with Git
How we grade them
| 4.0GPAConfluenceExcellent | 3.0GPAGitBookVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AStandard is $6.70 a user a month for the first 100 users, about half what paid plans in this category usually start at, and it comes with 250 GB, page permissions and guests. Mind the pricing page: the $5.42 it shows first is an average for a 300-user team. | CEssential is $65 a site a month on yearly billing, plus $12 for each user, and guests and read-only members cost the same as everyone else. Docs tools here typically start around $13. Docs behind a login, AI Assistant Chat and site sections wait on Ultimate at $249. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree for up to 10 users, with pages, spaces, databases, templates and 2 GB of file storage. A small team could stay here for good. You don't get space or page permission settings, though, so you can't lock a page down. | BOne user gets unlimited basic sites with unlimited traffic, GitHub or GitLab sync and API playgrounds, free for good. Plenty for a solo project. But it's one user only, with no custom domain and no AI Assistant, and the Agent stops at 10 messages a week. |
| Features | APages in spaces with a page tree, live editing by several people, comments and version history. Then whiteboards linked to Jira, databases you can lay out as tables, cards or boards, rule-based automation, and Rovo AI search and chat on paid plans. That's the whole wiki job. | AA block editor with change requests and reviews, two-way Git Sync on every plan, hosted docs sites, interactive API playgrounds built from OpenAPI files, and an AI Assistant that answers readers' questions. Every site also gets llms.txt files and its own MCP server. |
| Ease of use | A4.6 from about 3,700 App Store ratings. It's cloud software you sign up for, and Standard and Premium have a 7-day trial that asks for no payment information. Templates mean you rarely start a page from nothing. | BNo app rating on record, so a B is our ceiling. It's hosted, so there's no server to look after, and you can write in the visual editor or stay in Git. Working out the bill, with sites, users and AI credits all counted separately, is the fiddly bit. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, iPhone and Android, with Jira, Jira Service Management, Trello, Loom, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, GitHub and Figma connected. There's no desktop app on record, so at a computer it's the browser. | BIt's a web app, with no desktop or phone apps listed. It connects to GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Linear, Okta and Auth0, and there's an API. |
| Best for | team wikis that sit next to Jira | product and API docs that live alongside your code |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Confluence and GitBook. How we grade
Where they differ
- Confluence starts at $6.70 per user / month, billed monthly (first 100 users). GitBook starts at $65 per site / month, billed annually, plus $12 per user / month.
- Only Confluence lists iOS and Android apps.
- Confluence also covers databases, wiki, whiteboard and templates.
- GitBook also covers AI search, Markdown and AI agents.
At a glance
| Confluence | GitBook | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $6.70 per user / month, billed monthly (first 100 users) | $65 per site / month, billed annually, plus $12 per user / month |
| Free plan | Free plan for up to 10 users: pages, spaces, databases and templates, 2 GB of file storage, 3 active whiteboards per user and 50 automation steps a month. No space or page permission settings. | Free plan for one user: unlimited basic sites with unlimited traffic, the visual editor, GitHub or GitLab sync, API playgrounds and preview deployments. No custom domain or AI Assistant, and GitBook Agent is capped at 10 messages a week. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Standard or Premium; no payment information required | 14-day free trial with every feature unlocked; starts on inviting a collaborator, publishing a site or enabling a paid feature |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Atlassian | GitBook Inc. |
| Price read from | atlassian.com | gitbook.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Confluence
- Teams that run Jira and want documentation linked to their issues
- Company wikis and intranets organized into spaces per team or project
- Small teams: the Free plan covers up to 10 users
GitBook
- Public product and API documentation for software companies
- Teams that want docs reviewed and merged in a Git workflow
- Open source projects, which can apply for the free Community plan
Worth knowing
Confluence
- The Free plan stops at 10 users and 2 GB of storage and has no space or page permission settings.
- The pricing page's default prices ($5.42 Standard, $10.44 Premium) are per-user averages for a 300-user team; the first 100 users cost $6.70 or $13.20 each.
- Enforced SSO and SCIM need a separate Atlassian Guard Standard subscription on every plan except Enterprise, which is sold on annual contracts only.
- The self-managed Data Center edition reaches end of life on March 28, 2029, when its subscriptions expire and it becomes read-only.
GitBook
- Paid plans combine a per-site fee with $12 per user / month, and guests and read-only members cost the same as other members.
- AI answers and translations use credits: Essential includes 2,000 a month and Ultimate 10,000, at 20 per relevant answer. Extra packs start at $47.50 a month for 5,000.
- The Free plan covers a single user and leaves out custom domains, the AI Assistant and real-time collaboration.
- SAML SSO is limited to Enterprise; AI Assistant Chat, adaptive content and authenticated access need Ultimate at $249 per site / month.
Key features
Confluence
- Pages and spaces
- Pages hold project plans, meeting notes and policies, and are grouped into spaces with a page tree. Several people can edit at once, with inline and page comments and version history.
- Whiteboards
- Freeform canvases for brainstorming and diagrams, with built-in links to Jira. Free allows 3 active whiteboards per user, Standard 10, and Premium and Enterprise have no limit.
- Databases
- Structured collections that gather information from Jira and other apps and can be laid out as tables, cards or boards.
- Rovo AI
- Rovo Search, Chat and Agents come with paid plans and are metered in monthly credits: 25 per user on Standard, 70 on Premium and 150 on Enterprise.
- Automation
- Rule-based automation with templates and a low-code builder. Monthly allowances run from 50 steps per subscription on Free to 500 steps per user on Enterprise.
- Permissions and external sharing
- Paid plans add space and page permissions, view-only public links, anonymous access and up to 5 free guests per paid user, each limited to a single space.
GitBook
- Block-based editor
- A visual editor built from blocks, including custom ones. Added users collaborate through change requests and content reviews before edits are published.
- Git Sync
- Two-way sync with GitHub or GitLab lets a team branch, review and merge documentation like a pull request. It is included on every plan, the Free one too.
- Published docs sites
- Sites get unlimited traffic and preview deployments on every plan. Custom domains, branding and redirects start on Essential; sections and site groups need Ultimate.
- AI Assistant, paid for in credits
- On Essential, AI Assistant Ask gives readers short answers in the search box. Ultimate adds Assistant Chat, a sidebar that can draw on connected sources. Each relevant answer uses 20 AI credits.
- GitBook Agent
- Writes, edits and updates documentation and flags content that no longer matches the product. Free accounts are limited to 10 messages a week.
- API docs and LLM-ready output
- OpenAPI specifications become interactive API playgrounds. Every site also gets llms.txt files, Markdown versions of pages and its own MCP server.
Plans
Confluence
Free$0
Up to 10 users on one site with 2 GB of file storage, 3 active whiteboards per user and community support.
Standard$6.70
per user / month, billed monthly (first 100 users)
250 GB of storage, page permissions, guests, public links and 25 Rovo credits per user. Annual billing is $680 a year for up to 10 users.
Premium$13.20
per user / month, billed monthly (first 100 users)
Unlimited storage and whiteboards, analytics, company hub, 24/7 critical-issue support and a 99.9% uptime SLA. $1,300 a year for up to 10 users.
EnterpriseCustom
Annual contracts through sales: Atlassian Guard Standard included, up to 150 sites, Atlassian Analytics and a 99.95% uptime SLA.
GitBook
Free$0
For individuals: 1 user, block-based editor, GitHub or GitLab sync, interactive API playgrounds, preview deployments and LLM optimizations.
Essential$65
per site / month, billed annually, plus $12 per user / month
Team collaboration, a custom domain, advanced branding, analytics, user feedback, redirects and 2,000 AI credits a month for AI Assistant Ask. $79 a site billed monthly.
Ultimate$249
per site / month, billed annually, plus $12 per user / month
10,000 AI credits a month, AI Assistant Chat, AI insights, adaptive content, authenticated access, site sections and channels for Slack, Linear and GitHub. $299 billed monthly.
EnterpriseCustom
SAML SSO, migration service, custom integrations, dedicated support, custom contracts and invoicing, and Git Sync IP allowlisting.
Ways to pay less
Confluence
- Annual discount
Save up to 17% with annual billing
The pricing page's billing toggle states a saving of up to 17% on annual plans. Annual prices are set by user tier: Standard is $680 a year and Premium $1,300 a year for up to 10 users.
- Nonprofit
75% off for eligible nonprofits
Atlassian's licensing page offers Confluence Cloud at 75% off to eligible Community customers: registered nonprofits and social enterprises, verified through Goodstack.
- Education
75% off for academic institutions
Academic licenses give eligible schools, colleges and affiliated research institutes 75% off the list price of Confluence Standard, Premium and Enterprise.
- Education
75% off Classroom licenses
Eligible college students, graduate students and teachers using Confluence for classroom or learning activities get 75% off Standard and Premium.
GitBook
- Annual discount
2 months free with annual billing
Billed annually, Essential is $65 and Ultimate $249 a site a month, against $79 and $299 billed monthly; users are $12 against $15. Annual plans are paid up front and not refunded mid-term.
- Nonprofit
Free Community plan for non-profits
Eligible non-profit organizations can apply for the free Community plan, which includes all Ultimate plan features except SAML SSO.
- Education
Free Community plan for education groups
Education-related groups such as student, lab or course groups can apply for the Community plan. Schools, colleges and universities themselves are excluded.
- Other savings
Free Community plan for open source
Open source organizations that need to collaborate beyond the Free plan can apply for the Community plan at no cost, with all Ultimate features except SAML SSO.
