# Read the Docs review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> Hosts documentation built from a Git repository

Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA.

Read the Docs builds documentation from a Git repository and hosts it with search, versioning and pull request previews. It works with Sphinx, MkDocs, Docusaurus and other tools. Open source projects use a free, ad-supported community site, and companies use a separate paid Business site.

- **Category:** Docs & Wikis
- **Made by:** Read the Docs, Inc (since 2010)
- **Website:** https://about.readthedocs.com
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want an editor, as it hosts and builds docs written elsewhere.
- **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026

## Pricing

As of Nov 12, 2026, Read the Docs has a free plan, and paid plans start at $50 per month, billed monthly.

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** Read the Docs Community is free for open source projects: public repositories and public documentation, with ad-supported hosting.
- **Free trial:** 30-day free trial on the Business plans; nothing is charged automatically when it ends.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Community | $0 | Free for open source projects. Clones public repositories only, publishes public documentation and shows ads. |
| Basic | $50 per month, billed monthly | Private repositories, 2 concurrent builds, a shared domain, SSO with GitHub and GitLab, 50 redirects and support within 3 business days. |
| Advanced | $150 per month, billed monthly | 4 concurrent builds, 5 custom domains, 250 redirects and 90 days of page and search analytics. Support within 2 business days. |
| Pro | $250 per month, billed monthly | 6 concurrent builds, 15 custom domains, 500 redirects, SSO with Google as well, and 90 days of authentication auditing. Support within 1 business day. |
| Enterprise | $10,000 per year and up | SAML SSO, dedicated builders, advanced audit tracking and a support SLA. |

Read from https://about.readthedocs.com/pricing/ on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Read the Docs before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Free hosting for open source documentation** (Other savings): Open source documentation is always free on Read the Docs Community, supported by ads. Source: https://about.readthedocs.com/pricing/

## Key features

- **Builds from Git:** Connect a Git repository and the service builds the docs automatically, with versioning, search and CDN hosting on every plan.
- **Works with common doc tools:** The site names Sphinx, MkDocs and Docusaurus as supported documentation tools.
- **Pull request previews:** Each pull request gets a live preview build with a visual diff against production.
- **Private docs and access control:** Business plans clone private repositories and can restrict who views the documentation, with SSO through GitHub, GitLab and, on Pro, Google.
- **AI-ready output:** The site lists support for llms.txt, Markdown content negotiation and agent skills.

## Good for

- Open source projects that want free documentation hosting
- Engineering teams that keep docs in Git and want builds and previews handled for them

## Worth knowing

- It hosts and builds docs written with another tool; it is not an editor or a wiki.
- Community and Business are two separate sites (readthedocs.org and readthedocs.com), and the free one is for open source only and shows ads.
- Business plans are capped by concurrent builds, custom domains and redirects; SAML SSO needs Enterprise, from $10,000 per year.
- Annual plans are offered on every paid tier, invoice or purchase order included, but the page does not show their prices.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Read the Docs builds and hosts documentation from a Git repository, free for open-source projects and from $50 a month for private ones. It hosts docs written in another tool rather than being an editor, and its free site is for open source only and shows ads.

- **Value for money: C.** Basic is $50 a month, above the category's middle at $18 and below its dearer quarter at $82.50. Advanced is $150 and Pro $250, and SAML SSO needs Enterprise from $10,000 a year.
- **Free plan and trial: C.** Community is free for open-source projects, with public repos and docs and ads. Business plans have a 30-day trial with nothing charged automatically, but there is no free plan for private docs.
- **Features: C.** Builds from Git, works with Sphinx, MkDocs and Docusaurus, pull-request previews, private docs and access control. It is a host and not an editor or a wiki, and plans cap concurrent builds, domains and redirects.
- **Ease of use: D.** You point it at a repository and add a config file, with a docs tool such as Sphinx or MkDocs behind it. It assumes a developer.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, with GitHub and GitLab sign-in and builds, and the common docs tools. No desktop or phone apps.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Read the Docs's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among docs and wiki tools

- Read the Docs's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 6 of the 86 other docs and wiki tools we grade, and level with 10.
- It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 28 of 86) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
- Its paid plans start at $50 a month, against a middle price of $18.50 for the category: 38 of the 57 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 36 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/docs-wikis

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** The plain part of Read the Docs you could make: documents. What surrounds it you could not. The 3 things listed below take a company, not a weekend. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 70 of the 86 other docs and wiki tools grade higher. It costs $600 a year.

- You could make: Documents: an app builder makes this well.
- You could not: It plugs into other products, GitHub, GitLab and Sphinx among them.
- You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

GitHub, GitLab, Sphinx, MkDocs, Docusaurus, Google

**Tags:** Documents, AI features

## Alternatives

- [GitBook](https://toolgpa.com/tools/gitbook): Documentation platform for product and API docs, synced with Git. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gitbook-vs-read-the-docs)
- [Docusaurus](https://toolgpa.com/tools/docusaurus): Open-source static site generator for documentation. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/docusaurus-vs-read-the-docs)
- [MkDocs](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mkdocs): Static site generator for Markdown project documentation. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mkdocs-vs-read-the-docs)
- [Sphinx](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sphinx): Documentation generator for Python projects and beyond. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/read-the-docs-vs-sphinx)
- [Mintlify](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mintlify): Documentation platform with built-in AI agents. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mintlify-vs-read-the-docs)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026:

- https://about.readthedocs.com/pricing/
- https://about.readthedocs.com/

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/read-the-docs
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).