# GitBook vs Sphinx

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Sphinx

| Attribute | GitBook | Sphinx |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 55.6 (74% (medium)) | 68.9 (71% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 2 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 68,751 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 7,989 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 15,422,418 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | GitBook is a documentation and knowledge management platform for technical teams. It provides visual and markdown editing tools, AI-powered search and content assistance, Git integration for documentation-as-code workflows, and features for publishing API references, help centers, and internal knowledge bases. | Converts reStructuredText and Markdown into multiple output formats including HTML, PDF, and ePub, with support for automatic API documentation, customizable themes, and internationalization. |
| features.capabilities | `{"i18n":true,"kind":"hosted_platform","engine":"TypeScript/Node.js","search":"built_in","git_sync":true,"analytics":true,"authoring":"markdown","themeable":true,"versioning":true,"api_reference":true,"self_hostable":true,"hosted_offering":true}` | `{"i18n":true,"kind":"static_generator","engine":"Python","themeable":true,"api_reference":true,"self_hostable":true,"hosted_offering":false}` |
| integrations.count | 9 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitLab"},{"name":"Ahrefs"},{"name":"Okta"},{"name":"SAML"},{"name":"Intercom"},{"name":"kapa.ai"},{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"Salesforce"}]` | - |
| language.primary | - | Python |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Personal","summary":"Free","description":"For open source developers publishing public documentation","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Plus","description":"For teams collaborating on public-facing documentation","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","description":"For advanced documentation needs including visitor authentication and internal knowledge bases","contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free tier plus subscription plans; specific pricing not publicly disclosed","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.gitbook.com/blog/pricing-update-september-2022","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:27:55.931Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://www.sphinx-doc.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:27:10.554Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 1 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.1.0","date":"2025-12-31T15:08:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.1.0rc2","date":"2025-12-27T03:17:14Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v9.1.0rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.1.0rc1","date":"2025-12-19T23:30:08Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v9.1.0rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.4","date":"2025-12-04T07:46:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.3","date":"2025-12-04T01:46:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.2","date":"2025-12-03T23:03:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.1","date":"2025-12-01T16:43:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.0","date":"2025-11-30T12:41:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.0rc4","date":"2025-11-30T06:18:15Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v9.0.0rc4"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.0rc3","date":"2025-11-30T03:03:03Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v9.0.0rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.0rc2","date":"2025-11-29T02:44:03Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v9.0.0rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v9.0.0rc1","date":"2025-11-28T00:47:08Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v9.0.0rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v8.2.3","date":"2025-03-02T22:31:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v8.2.2","date":"2025-03-02T21:01:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v8.2.1","date":"2025-02-21T23:29:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v8.2.0","date":"2025-02-18T19:52:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v8.2.0rc2","date":"2025-02-18T00:39:02Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v8.2.0rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v8.2.0rc1","date":"2025-02-16T05:41:49Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v8.2.0rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v8.1.3","date":"2024-10-13T20:26:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/releases/tag/v8.1.2","date":"2024-10-12T18:44:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.1.2"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 5.5 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=sphinx&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Documentation Tools)

| Capability | GitBook | Sphinx |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Tool kind | Hosted platform | Static-site generator |
| Engine / language | TypeScript/Node.js | Python |
| **Authoring** |  |  |
| Authoring format | Markdown | - |
| **API docs** |  |  |
| API reference from OpenAPI / code | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Content** |  |  |
| Multi-version docs | ✓ | - |
| Internationalisation | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Discovery** |  |  |
| Search | Built-in | - |
| **Design** |  |  |
| Theming / custom design | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Workflow** |  |  |
| Edit-in-Git / WYSIWYG round-trip | ✓ | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Self-hostable | ✓ | ✓ |
| Official managed host | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Built-in usage analytics | ✓ | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:55:47.357Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*