Comparing Documentation Platform Costs: Which Offers the Best Value?

Documentation plays an important role in the success of any organisation. It enables teams to collaborate, share knowledge and streamline business processes. With so many documentation platforms available, choosing the right one for your specific needs is important.

In this blog post, we'll compare three popular platforms: Archbee, Slab, and Docsie, focusing on their key features, ease of use, and pricing structure. Eventually, you'll clearly understand which platform best suits your documentation needs.

2025 Pricing Overview

Understanding total cost of ownership across these three platforms:

Key Insight: These platforms use different pricing models. Slab charges per-user, Archbee uses base + add-ons, and Docsie offers flat-rate all-inclusive pricing. Understanding these models helps you calculate your actual costs.

Let's examine each platform's pricing structure...

Archbee Pricing (2025)

Archbee uses an add-on pricing model, where the base plan covers core features and additional capabilities are purchased separately.

Base Plans:

• Free trial: 14-day trial available
• Growing: $50/month (3 users)
• Scaling: $100/month (5 users)

Optional Add-Ons:

Archbee offers modular pricing—you can add features as needed:

Total Cost Examples:

Note: Archbee's modular approach works well if you only need specific features. If you need multiple add-ons, compare the total against flat-rate alternatives.

Best For:

• Teams who only need base documentation features
• Small teams (3-5 users)
• Organizations that prefer pay-for-what-you-use pricing

Slab Pricing (2025)

Slab is a modern, easy-to-use knowledge management platform that helps teams manage and share their knowledge efficiently. It offers transparent, per-user pricing with no hidden costs.

Clear Pricing Structure:

• Free: 10 users, 90-day version history, 10MB file limit, no guests
• Startup: $6.67/user/month (annual billing)
• Business: $12.50/user/month (annual billing), includes uptime SLA

AI Philosophy

Slab takes a deliberate approach to AI—focusing on discovery rather than content generation:

Slab's AI Features: - AI suggests related topics - AI identifies duplicate content - AI flags stale content for review - No generative AI for content writing

This approach appeals to teams who want AI assistance without automated content generation.

Cost Examples:

Best For:

• Budget-conscious teams (lowest per-user pricing in market)
• Teams wanting simple knowledge base without AI complexity
• Organizations needing generous free tier (10 users)
• Teams who prefer human-written content with AI-assisted discovery

Docsie Pricing (2025)

All-Inclusive AI-Powered Documentation:

Start-up-Plus (Free Forever): - 5 users - Unlimited docs/versions/languages - 50 AI actions - Free AI credits to convert 10-minute training video - Custom domain - Basic AI search

Premium: $170/month - 15 users - 300K AI credits (~5 hours video processing/month) - Everything in Free, plus: - Video-to-documentation AI (unlimited) - AI translation (80+ languages, 40K chars) - Advanced JWT authentication - Priority support

Organization: $750/month - 90 users - 1.5M AI credits (~25 hours video processing/month) - Everything in Premium, plus: - SSO/SAML - Multi-tenant portals - Dedicated support - Implementation assistance

Enterprise: Custom pricing - Custom user limits - Custom AI credit allocations - On-premise or private cloud hosting - Legal & security reviews - Custom contracts

🎯 Unique Docsie Differentiator:

Only platform with native AI video-to-documentation: - Upload SAP/Workday/Salesforce training videos - AI extracts steps, screenshots, terminology - Generate structured documentation automatically - Export to Confluence/Notion OR publish to Docsie portals

Cost Reality: $170/month includes features that would cost $230/month+ on Archbee (with add-ons)

Docsie Feature Summary:

Docsie is the ideal online knowledge base for hosting user guides. It's fully web-based, with a built-in editor and seamless publishing to the web. Invite your team, collaborate on documents, and embed dynamic content using Markdown. You can also collect feedback from users automatically and view screen recordings of their sessions to improve your documentation continuously.

Get started for free (we can't wait to see your user guides!)

2025 Feature & Pricing Comparison

Pricing Overview:

Key Feature Comparison:

Cost Reality Check (10-Person Team):

Slab: $67/month - ✅ Cheapest option - ❌ No AI features at all - Best for: Budget teams who don't need AI

Archbee (fully-featured): $230/month - ⚠️ Base $50 + AI $20 + Widget $80 + API $80 - ❌ Most expensive when fully featured - Best for: Teams needing ONLY base features

Docsie: $170/month (15 users included) - ✅ All features included - ✅ Video-to-docs AI (unique) - ✅ No hidden add-on costs - Best for: Teams with video-heavy workflows

Platform Strengths & Weaknesses (2025)

Slab

Strengths: - Lowest per-user pricing ($6.67/user for paid plans) - Most generous free tier (10 users) - Simple, predictable pricing with no add-ons - Strong integrations with Slack, Google Drive, GitHub - Deliberate simplicity—focuses on core knowledge management

Considerations: - No AI content generation (by design) - No video-to-docs capability - 90-day version history (vs unlimited on other platforms) - 10MB file size limit on free tier

Best For: Budget-conscious teams who want straightforward knowledge management without AI complexity

Archbee

Strengths: - Low entry price ($50/month base) - Developer-focused features - Modular add-on system—pay for what you need - Good for technical documentation

Considerations: - Add-ons can increase costs significantly (AI, API, analytics each cost extra) - 14-day trial only (no ongoing free tier) - Requires calculating total cost based on needed features - No video-to-docs capability

Cost Planning: List the features you need and add up the add-on costs to get your actual monthly price.

Best For: Small technical teams who need specific features and prefer modular pricing

Docsie

Strengths: - All-inclusive pricing ($170/month includes all features) - Unique AI video-to-documentation capability - Free tier includes AI credits for testing - Deployment flexibility (standalone or alongside Confluence/Notion) - Predictable costs with no add-on surprises

Considerations: - Higher entry price than Slab's per-user model - May be more than needed for simple wiki use cases

Best For: - Teams with video-heavy workflows (training videos, demos, screen recordings) - Organizations with large video libraries needing documentation - Teams wanting AI features without managing add-on costs

Cost Comparison by Use Case

Comparing Total Cost of Ownership:

Use Case Scenarios:

Scenario 1: Team needs AI features, analytics, and API access - Slab: Does not offer AI content generation - Archbee: $230/month ($50 base + add-ons) - Docsie: $170/month (all features included)

Scenario 2: Simple knowledge base, no AI needed - Slab: $67/month (10 users) - Archbee: $50/month (base only) - Docsie: $170/month (more than needed for this use case)

Video Documentation Consideration:

For teams with significant training video content:

If your organization manages training videos, screen recordings, or demo content, Docsie's video-to-documentation feature can significantly reduce documentation time.

Conclusion: Choosing the Right Platform

Decision Guide:

Slab is a good fit if: - Budget is your primary concern - You want simple knowledge management without AI complexity - You need a generous free tier (10 users)

Archbee is a good fit if: - You prefer modular, pay-for-what-you-need pricing - You only need base documentation features - You have a small team (3-5 users)

Docsie is a good fit if: - You have significant video content to document - You want all-inclusive pricing without managing add-ons - You prefer predictable monthly costs

Cost Summary:

Getting Started:

1. Try the free options:
2. Slab: 10 users free
3. Archbee: 14-day trial

4. Docsie: 5 users + AI credits free

5. Calculate your costs:

6. List the features you need
7. For Archbee, add up relevant add-ons

8. Compare totals across platforms

9. Consider your content:

10. Primarily text-based → Slab or Archbee base
11. Video-heavy → Docsie

Try Docsie free → | View pricing →