Developer documentation platforms, compared
Each provider is profiled from its own pricing and documentation pages, with the source recorded against every figure. They differ less on price than on what they do with an API spec: some render a reference, some also generate SDKs, some serve llms.txt or an MCP server for AI tools. Those are read as sourced yes, limited or no on each provider page, beside the plan prices.
Developer documentation platforms
| Provider | Entry paid plan | Free plan | How it is priced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archbee | Growing starts at $80 per month on annual billing: unlimited readers and project spaces, public/private portals, custom domain and branding, GitHub integration and API documentation. Scaling starts at $350 per month on annual billing. Extra team members are charged. | A 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Archbee also lists a free Growing plan for open-source software, and 50% discounts for non-profits and startups. | Per plan, by team members (contributors); readers are unlimited and free. Spaces are unlimited on every plan, plans differ in features such as versioning, review system and SSO, and AI is an add-on with a monthly token allowance and overage at $1.2 per 1M tokens. |
| Bump.sh | $50/month for Basic: 10 API docs, 5 MCP tools, a custom domain and CLI and GitHub integration. Pro is $120/month. | A 14-day free trial of the platform on sign-up, no credit card required. Without an account, the CLI's bump preview command creates a temporary documentation with a unique URL, valid for 30 minutes. | A flat monthly fee per plan with caps on API docs, internal users, external guests and MCP tools: Basic $50, Pro $120, Custom by contact. Plans are billed monthly or annually, by credit card. |
| Fern | No priced paid plan is listed for Fern Docs: Enterprise is quoted by sales (Custom, 'Tailored pricing terms'). The only priced plan is Free at $0. | The Free docs plan: 10 team members, 1,000 pages, 250 AI credits and 2,000 page generations a month, a custom domain and subpath, API explorer and web editor, Ask Fern, Fern Agent, MCP server, and version and product switching. | Docs come in two plans: Free at $0 with caps (10 team members, 1,000 pages, 250 AI credits and 2,000 page generations a month) and a custom-priced Enterprise plan that lifts them. No self-serve paid tier is listed. AI features draw on a monthly credit allowance. |
| Fumadocs | No paid plan is listed: fumadocs.dev shows no plans or prices and presents Fumadocs as an open-source project powered by its community. | The framework is open source and free to adopt; no hosting is included, you deploy and run your own app on the hosting of your underlying React framework. The AI chat model is likewise not provided. | No pricing model: the framework is open source and the site lists no plans, tiers or prices; the homepage shows a Sponsors section and a contributors list. |
| GitBook | Essential is $65 per site per month when billed annually, plus $12 per user per month for additional team members; Ultimate is $249 per site per month. The page shows annual-billing figures in its default view. | The Free plan for individuals: one user, unlimited page views, Git Sync with GitHub or GitLab, OpenAPI-based API docs with a playground, a docs MCP server and llms.txt. A custom domain and the AI Assistant Ask feature are not included. | Priced per published site (Free, Essential, Ultimate, Enterprise) plus $12 per user per month on the paid plans; Enterprise is custom. Page views are never metered. AI features draw on monthly AI credits (Essential includes $20, Ultimate $100), extra credit bundles are sold separately and usage auto-pauses when credits run out. |
| Mintlify | $540/month billed monthly for Pro ($450/month when billed annually): unlimited editor seats, the AI assistant and automations, preview deployments and admin APIs. Starter is free and Enterprise is custom. | The Starter plan, free forever: hosting at a mintlify.site address, a custom domain, the web editor, authentication, an MCP server, the API playground and up to 5 editor seats. AI features are not on Starter; new accounts also get a separate 14-day Pro trial. | Flat monthly price per account rather than per seat: Starter is free with 5 editor seats, Pro and Enterprise have unlimited editor seats. AI features are metered in credits: Pro includes 10,000 credits a month, overage is $0.01 per credit, an assistant answer costs 25 credits and an automation update 250. Enterprise is custom. |
| ReadMe | $250/month for Pro, shown with 'Billed annually' and no monthly-billed price: teammates, multiplayer editing, branching and reviews, private docs, a landing page and custom MDX components, with 5 admins. Starter is free; Enterprise is contact-us, annual billing only. | The Starter plan, free for everyone: one project, one admin and one published version, with a custom domain, bi-directional Git sync, an interactive API reference, usage metrics, a Markdown editor, themes, AI Dropdown, LLMs.txt and an MCP server. Ask AI is a paid add-on. | Per-project plans: Starter is free, Pro is $250/month billed annually, Enterprise is custom with annual billing only. Pro includes 5 admins and charges $20 for each additional admin. Add-ons are priced separately: Ask AI at $150/month and extended request history and logs at $100/month. |
| Redocly | Pro is $249 per month billed annually as $2,988 a year: 3 projects, unlimited seats, readers and Git contributors. The page states annual billing is two months free compared with monthly; its default view shows annual figures only. Extra projects are $390 a year each. | A 30-day free trial of Pro with no credit card, inviting the whole team from day one; the trial can be switched to Scale at any time. | One flat price per plan, not per person: unlimited seats, readers and Git contributors on every plan. Plans differ in projects included (Pro 3, Scale 10, Enterprise unlimited) and in features; extra projects cost $39 a month or $390 a year each. AI features are included in beta under usage limits. |
| Scalar | Pro is $150/month ($125/month billed yearly): 5 editor seats, up to 15 APIs, 1 SDK up to 100 endpoints, custom domains, Git Sync, Markdown and MDX, hosted MCP servers. Business is $600/month. | The Free plan costs $0 with no credit card: hosted OpenAPI docs, built-in API client, landing pages, up to 3 APIs, 1 SDK up to 25 endpoints, 50 Agent Scalar credits and 1 editor seat. Publishing a Docs site needs a paid plan after the 7-day trial every new team gets. | Priced per plan by APIs published, SDK size (endpoints in the OpenAPI document) and editor seats: Free 3 APIs and 1 seat, Pro 15 APIs and 5 seats, Business 25 APIs and 10 seats, Enterprise custom. Each plan includes 1 SDK; extra SDKs are $150/month each up to 100 endpoints or $600/month each for 101-250. Billed monthly or yearly. |
| Stoplight | Basic is $56/month billed monthly ($44/month billed annually): 3 users included, then $14 per additional user per month ($11 billed annually), unlimited projects, 14-day free trial. | Not documented | A flat workspace price per plan (Basic, Startup, Pro Team, Enterprise) with a set number of users included, then a per-additional-user monthly fee. Every user who can log in counts, including Viewers and Guests; anonymous readers of public docs do not. |
Which to consider
A team that wants a block-editor documentation portal for product and API docs, with unlimited readers and project spaces, GitHub sync and OpenAPI import, from $80 a month billed annually.
A team that wants an API documentation portal with an automatic changelog from OpenAPI and AsyncAPI files and MCP server hosting, at $50 a month for Basic, with customer data hosted in Europe.
A team that wants one API definition to produce both a docs site and client SDKs, with llms.txt, an MCP server and an AI assistant on the free plan, which covers 10 team members and 1,000 pages.
A team that already builds in React or Next.js and wants to own its documentation site: Fumadocs is an open-source framework you deploy yourself, with an OpenAPI reference and playground, llms.txt and MCP integrations, and no paid plan.
A team that wants a collaborative editor with two-way Git sync and an OpenAPI reference, priced per published site: Essential is $65 per site per month billed annually plus $12 per additional user, and the free plan covers one user.
A team that wants docs and an API reference built from Markdown, MDX and OpenAPI files in a git repository, with an AI assistant, llms.txt and an MCP server, at a flat price per account rather than per seat. Pro is $540 a month billed monthly with unlimited editors; the free Starter plan allows five.
A team publishing an interactive API reference beside guides from an OpenAPI file, with two-way Git sync, a free Starter plan for one project and one admin, and unlimited versions on Pro.
An API reference built from OpenAPI, GraphQL or AsyncAPI descriptions with Git workflows, at one flat price with unlimited seats and readers: Pro is $249 a month billed annually for three projects, with a 30-day trial.
A team that wants OpenAPI-driven docs, an API client, SDK generation and MCP servers from one toolchain with an MIT-licensed core. Pro is $150 a month for 15 APIs and 5 editor seats.
A team designing APIs visually in a Git-based workspace, with an OpenAPI editor, hosted interactive docs and mock servers, at $56 a month for Basic with three users included.
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