The Outline Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Outline in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Outline
The Insider’s Guide
Fast team knowledge base and wiki, cloud-hosted or self-hosted
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among docs and wiki tools, read from Outline’s own pages.
Made by General Outline, Inc. · checked Oct 5, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02Insider tipsWhat most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
- 03What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 04What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 05Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 06The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 07Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Outline’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Outline’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 5, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.8
GPA, above 34 of the 51 other docs and wiki tools we grade
Outline is a knowledge base and wiki for teams, built around a Markdown-friendly editor with real-time collaboration, comments and search that can answer questions with AI. Its source code is public, so it can be run on your own infrastructure as well as on Outline's cloud. Cloud pricing is a flat monthly fee per team-size tier rather than a charge per user.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Outline, taken from its own pages and our grades.
No app rating on record, but the cloud version needs nothing set up: sign in and write, with Markdown and slash commands in the editor.
- 1
Best for a Markdown-friendly team wiki at a flat price
Outline is a team wiki with a Markdown editor, real-time editing and AI answers in search, and the cloud version is a flat $10 a month for up to 10 people.
- 2
Paid plans start at $10 a month for each person
As its pricing page puts it: $10 per month for a team of 1 to 10 members (cloud-hosted).
- 3
There is a free plan
The self-hosted Community Edition costs $0, with limited features and no support. The cloud-hosted version has no free plan, only a 30-day trial.
- 4
It runs on 3 platforms
Web, macOS and Windows.
- 5
Markdown-friendly editor
The editor supports Markdown, slash commands and interactive embeds. Documents and their version history are unlimited on every tier, including the free Community Edition.
- 6
Real-time collaboration
Several people can edit a document at the same time, and comments, threads and @mentions keep the discussion attached to the text.
- 7
Search and AI answers
Search covers the whole workspace, and questions about your documents get direct AI answers. AI answers are in every cloud tier but need a paid license when self-hosting.
- 8
A 2.8 GPA, above 34 of 51
That is against the other docs and wiki tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Outline you would be making a search engine with an AI model behind it. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Outline at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $10 per month for a team of 1 to 10 members (cloud-hosted)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- First 30 days free on the cloud version; the workspace then turns read-only until a payment method is added
- Runs on
- Web, macOS, Windows
- Made by
- General Outline, Inc., since 2020
- Category
- Docs & Wikis
- Our grade
- 2.8 GPA, good
The report card
Best for a Markdown-friendly team wiki at a flat price
Outline is a team wiki with a Markdown editor, real-time editing and AI answers in search, and the cloud version is a flat $10 a month for up to 10 people. There's no free cloud plan: after 30 days the workspace turns read-only until you pay. The 11th member moves the bill to $79, teams over 200 need a quote, and there are no mobile apps.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B | $10 a month for the whole team, up to 10 members, with SSO, AI answers, the API and the audit log all in. Split ten ways that's a dollar a head, where rivals here charge from $6.30 each. The cliff is sharp, mind: the 11th member takes you to $79. |
| Free plan and trial | C | The hosted version has no free plan. You get 30 days, then the workspace turns read-only until you add a payment method. Free means running the Community Edition on your own server, and that leaves out AI answers, guest users, SAML and the audit log. |
| Features | B | It covers the whole wiki job: a Markdown editor with slash commands and embeds, live co-editing with comments and threads, workspace search with AI answers, groups and permissions, public sharing on your own domain, and unlimited documents and version history on every tier. |
| Ease of use | B | No app rating on record, but the cloud version needs nothing set up: sign in and write, with Markdown and slash commands in the editor. Self-hosting is the other road, and that one wants a server administrator. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web plus desktop apps for macOS and Windows, with more than 20 integrations including Slack, Figma, GitHub, GitLab and Zapier, and an API with webhooks on every tier. No mobile apps are listed at all. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Outline is for
- Fits if you're a team of up to 10, since cloud hosting is a flat $10 a month
- Works for teams that want to host the wiki on their own server
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you want a free hosted plan, because the cloud version turns read-only after its 30-day trial
- Pricey if you're a team of 11, as that one extra member moves you from $10 to $79 a month
- Not for you if you read docs on your phone a lot, since no mobile apps are listed
- Tight if you self-host for free, as the Community Edition has no AI answers, guest users, SAML or audit log
- Watch out: paid self-hosted licenses need at least 10 users, Enterprise 100, and cloud teams over 200 need a quote
Good to know
Good for
- Teams that want a fast, Markdown-friendly internal wiki
- Organizations that need to host their knowledge base themselves
- Small teams: cloud hosting is a flat $10 a month for up to 10 members
Worth knowing
- The cloud version has no free plan: after the 30-day trial the workspace is read-only until a payment method is added.
- Cloud pricing goes by team-size tier, so an 11th member moves a team from $10 to $79 a month, and teams over 200 need a quote.
- The free Community Edition lacks AI answers, guest users, SAML 2.0 and the audit log; paid self-hosted licenses need at least 10 users.
- The download page offers desktop apps for macOS and Windows only; no mobile apps are listed.
Part 02 · Tips
Insider tips
What most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
7
Things most people miss, each from its own help pages
The things about Outline that are easy to miss until they cost you: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches at renewal or when you leave. Each one is from Outline’s own pages, linked beside it.
Read on Oct 17, 2026. Read from Outline's help guide (billing, users and roles, search and AI answers, navigation and export pages) and its pricing page on 17 October 2026. Not tried out: these tips are what its own pages say.
- 1
Pay less
Viewers and guests each take a seat, so publish read-only docs by link
Outline's billing page says every person who can sign in counts towards your team size, admins, editors, viewers and guests alike. There's no cheaper reader seat. If lots of people only need to read, share those docs or collections with a public link and they won't push you up a tier.
docs.getoutline.com - 2
Setting
Suspend people who leave, or you keep paying for them
Removing someone in your sign-in provider only logs them out next time. It doesn't free their seat. Suspending them under Settings → Users does, and keeps everything they wrote. Deleting is the other option, but it's permanent and their docs end up credited to "Unknown".
docs.getoutline.com - 3
Setting
AI answers stay off until an admin switches them on
Search only answers questions once an admin turns on AI Answers under Settings → AI. Indexing takes a couple of minutes. The help page says your workspace data is never used for AI training, answers only draw on docs the person asking can see, and drafts are left out.
docs.getoutline.com - 4
Shortcut
Press Cmd+K for the command menu and ? for every shortcut
Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows) opens a menu that searches your docs and runs most actions, so you rarely need the mouse. Type ? to see the full list of shortcuts and Markdown you can type. Cmd+. hides the sidebar when you want the page to yourself.
docs.getoutline.com - 5
Renewal
On a yearly plan, crossing a size tier adds a pro-rated charge
Pay yearly and add enough people to move up a tier, and the billing page says the difference is charged pro rata on your next monthly cycle. Switching between monthly and yearly isn't a button, either. You have to ask Outline's support to do it.
docs.getoutline.com - 6
Leaving
Cancelling leaves a read-only workspace, kept for at least a year
Admins cancel from Settings → Billing, and only there, not by email. It takes effect at the end of the term. After that people can still sign in, read, search and export, but not edit. Data is kept for at least a year, and Settings → Details only offers a full delete once you've cancelled.
docs.getoutline.com - 7
Leaving
Export the whole workspace, private collections included, in one go
Admins can go to Settings → Export and download every collection as Markdown, HTML or JSON, with private collections ticked in for a full backup. JSON is the one to pick for moving to another Outline. There's no PDF for a whole collection, only for single docs.
docs.getoutline.com
Part 03 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$10
A month to start, for each person. There is a free plan too
Outline has a free plan. Paid plans start at $10 per month for a team of 1 to 10 members (cloud-hosted).
Free means running the Community Edition on your own server, and that leaves out AI answers, guest users, SAML and the audit log.
Community Edition
$0
Self-hosted on your own server: unlimited docs, real-time editing, SSO, integrations and the API, with no AI answers, guest users or support.
Cloud, 1–10 members
$10
per month for the whole team; annual pricing available
Hosted by Outline with every cloud feature: AI question answering, SSO, templates, groups and permissions, API and webhooks, and a security audit log.
Cloud, 11–100 members
$79
per month for the whole team; annual pricing available
The same features as the smaller tier. A team moves to this tier automatically once it has more than 10 members.
Cloud, 101–200 members
$249
per month for the whole team; annual pricing available
The same features for 101 to 200 members. Larger cloud teams are asked to contact Outline for pricing.
On-Premises Business
$4
per user / month, billed annually, 10-user minimum
Self-hosted license that adds AI question answering, guest users, SAML 2.0, extra security controls, a Confluence importer and the audit log.
On-Premises Enterprise
$5
per user / month, billed annually, 100-user minimum
Everything in On-Premises Business, plus removal of Outline branding and a support contract.
The free plan
The self-hosted Community Edition costs $0, with limited features and no support. The cloud-hosted version has no free plan, only a 30-day trial.
Trying it first
First 30 days free on the cloud version; the workspace then turns read-only until a payment method is added
Read from getoutline.com on Oct 5, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Nonprofit
30% off for non-profits
Outline's pricing FAQ offers non-profits a 30% discount on request, and says it will sponsor accounts for non-profits working directly on climate change.
Stated on getoutline.comEducation
30% off for educational institutions
The same pricing FAQ extends the 30% discount to educational institutions that contact Outline.
Stated on getoutline.com
Part 04 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
3
Places it runs: Web, macOS and Windows
Fast team knowledge base and wiki, cloud-hosted or self-hosted. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, public API, real-time collaboration, AI search, Markdown, wiki.
- Markdown-friendly editor
- The editor supports Markdown, slash commands and interactive embeds. Documents and their version history are unlimited on every tier, including the free Community Edition.
- Real-time collaboration
- Several people can edit a document at the same time, and comments, threads and @mentions keep the discussion attached to the text.
- Search and AI answers
- Search covers the whole workspace, and questions about your documents get direct AI answers. AI answers are in every cloud tier but need a paid license when self-hosting.
- Permissions and public sharing
- Read and write permissions, user groups and guest users control access. Documents can be shared publicly by link, with your own brand colors, logo and domain.
- Self-hosting
- Outline can run on your own infrastructure, either as the free Community Edition or with a paid Business or Enterprise license that adds features such as SAML 2.0.
- Integrations and API
- More than 20 integrations cover tools such as Slack, Figma, GitHub, GitLab and Zapier, and an API with webhooks is included on every tier.
Where it runs
- Web
- macOS
- Windows
What it works with
- Slack
- Figma
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Linear
- Zapier
- Make
- Google Analytics
Who makes Outline
Outline is made by General Outline, Inc., which grew out of an open-source project. It earns money from monthly plans for its hosted service and from paid licences for running Outline on a customer's own servers; a limited self-hosted edition is free.
- Founded
- 2020getoutline.com
- Based
- New York City (its footer reads "Built in NYC")getoutline.com
- Ownership
- Privately held. Privately held: its About page says the company is bootstrapped, profitable and not reliant on outside capital, and its pages name no parent company.getoutline.com
- Funding
- Bootstrapped: its About page says the company is profitable and not reliant on outside capital to survive. It names no investors.getoutline.com
- Lately
- WebMCP support · Sep 9, 2026
- Open Knowledge Format export · Sep 4, 2026
- Import web pages, emails, PDFs, and TextBundle archives · Aug 5, 2026
- Multi-select · Aug 4, 2026
Read on Oct 18, 2026 from the company’s own pages and from news reports. What is not stated there is left out.
Part 05 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
34/51
Other docs and wiki tools it is graded above
Outline's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 34 of the 51 other docs and wiki tools we grade, and level with 8.
It stands best on ease of use (B, above 32 of 51) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 4).
Its paid plans start at $10 a month for each person, against a middle price of $16.50 for the category: 17 of the 41 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4. 4 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 52 docs and wiki tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Outline’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 29 of 51
- CFree plan and trialAbove 4 of 51
- BFeaturesAbove 21 of 51
- BEase of useAbove 32 of 51
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 10 of 51
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 47 docs and wiki tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Outline is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Outline you would be making a search engine with an AI model behind it. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 34 of the 51 other docs and wiki tools we grade. It costs $120 a year. Outline is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could make
- Wiki and Markdown: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A search engine with an AI model behind it.
- A real app for macOS and Windows. Something home-made would be a web page.
- Several people working in it at the same moment.
- It plugs into other products, Slack, Figma and GitHub among them, and has an API.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on and roles and permissions.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Outline’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 06 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Confluence, Notion, Slab, Nuclino and BookStack
The 5 tools Outline is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 3.0GPA
Confluence
Free plan · from $6.70/mo
Team wiki and docs workspace from Atlassian, tied to Jira.
- Only Outline lists macOS and Windows apps.
- Only Confluence lists iOS and Android apps.
- Outline is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 3.2GPA
Notion
Free plan · from $10/mo
Workspace for docs, wikis, databases and projects with built-in AI.
- Only Notion lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Notion lists a browser extension.
- Outline is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 2.8GPA
Slab
Free plan · from $6.67/mo
Knowledge base and team wiki with search across connected tools.
- Only Slab lists a browser extension.
- Outline is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Outline also covers Markdown.
- 3.0GPA
Nuclino
Free plan · from $6/mo
Lightweight team wiki with docs, boards and whiteboards.
- Only Nuclino lists Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- Outline is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Outline also covers AI search and Markdown.
- 2.8GPA
BookStack
Free plan · from £450/yr
Free self-hosted wiki organized into books, chapters and pages.
- Only Outline lists macOS and Windows apps.
- Outline also covers AI search.
- BookStack also covers templates and diagrams.
Part 07 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
16
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Outline free?
Outline has a free plan. The self-hosted Community Edition costs $0, with limited features and no support.
How much does Outline cost?
Outline lists 6 plans. Community Edition: $0.
What platforms does Outline work on?
Outline is available on Web, macOS and Windows.
Does Outline offer any discounts?
Outline publicly lists the following: 30% off for non-profits; 30% off for educational institutions.
Does Outline have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. Outline is listed for Web, macOS and Windows.
Does Outline have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. Outline is listed for Web, macOS and Windows.
Is Outline open source?
Yes. Outline is open source, according to its own site.
Does Outline have an API?
Yes. Outline offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Outline integrate with?
Outline's listing names Slack, Figma, GitHub, GitLab, Linear, Zapier, Make and Google Analytics.
Does Outline have a student discount?
30% off for educational institutions. The same pricing FAQ extends the 30% discount to educational institutions that contact Outline.
Does Outline have a free trial?
Yes. First 30 days free on the cloud version; the workspace then turns read-only until a payment method is added.
Who makes Outline?
Outline is made by General Outline, Inc. Privately held: its About page says the company is bootstrapped, profitable and not reliant on outside capital, and its pages name no parent company.
What are the alternatives to Outline?
The closest alternatives to Outline in our directory are Confluence, Notion, Slab, Nuclino and BookStack.
How does Outline compare with other docs and wiki tools?
Outline's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 34 of the 51 other docs and wiki tools we grade, and level with 8.
Is Outline good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Outline B for value for money. Its paid plans start at $10 a month for each person, against a middle price of $16.50 for the category: 17 of the 41 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Outline?
To replace Outline you would be making a search engine with an AI model behind it.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Outline’s own pages on Oct 5, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Outline's own pages on 5 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-10-02.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by General Outline, Inc. Prices change, so check getoutline.com before you buy.
Part 08 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Outline, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/outline
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Outline: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 5, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/outline
Know someone choosing between docs and wiki tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/outline/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
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- ONLYOFFICE Insider's GuideOpen-source office suite for documents, sheets, slides and PDFs3.4 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Outline’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Outline is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by General Outline, Inc. Prices and plans change: check getoutline.com before you buy.