GitBook reviews, pricing, and alternatives (February 2026)

GitBook is a web-based platform designed to facilitate the creation of organized and developer-friendly API documentation, offering features like collaboration, versioning, and integrated endpoint testing. However, its limitations, such as the lack of SDK generation and self-hosted deployment, often lead teams to explore alternatives. Notable alternatives include Fern, which generates both documentation and type-safe SDKs from a single API definition, supporting self-hosted deployment and content-level RBAC, and ReadMe, which offers interactive documentation with flexible branding but requires separate tools for SDKs. Mintlify provides AI-assisted content creation and basic analytics, while Stoplight focuses on API design with built-in documentation and testing features. These alternatives address specific needs like SDK generation, compliance, and a more integrated workflow, which GitBook's SaaS-only model and emphasis on documentation as a standalone artifact do not fully accommodate.