GitBook, without the lock-in.
GitBook deprecated their open source CLI and moved everything behind a SaaS paywall. Sourcey is the opposite: free CLI, static output, deploy anywhere.
Feature by feature.
Same capabilities. No monthly bill. Static HTML you own and deploy yourself.
| GitBook | Sourcey | |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAPI reference | No | Native |
| Rich components | Limited | Yes |
| Static HTML output | No | Yes |
| Zero JS runtime | No | Yes |
| Self-hosted | No | Yes |
| Config format | GUI | TypeScript |
| Git sync | Yes | Yes |
| Dark mode | Yes | Yes |
| Search | Built-in | Built-in |
| Pricing | $65/mo per site + $12/user | Free |
What changed at GitBook.
The open source CLI is dead
GitBook started as an open source CLI that developers loved. It was a Node.js tool that turned markdown into beautiful docs. Then they deprecated it, pushed everyone to their cloud platform, and left the CLI as abandonware. Their own deprecation notice reads: "the CLI is no longer under active development."
The community response was immediate. HonKit was forked to keep the old CLI alive. The Rust team built mdBook as a clean-room reimplementation. On Hacker News, developers called the SaaS transition "rent-seeking for something software runs for near zero marginal costs" and described the CLI as left with "artificial barriers" to force platform adoption.
$65/mo per site, plus per-user fees
GitBook Premium costs $65/month per site plus $12/month per additional user. Need a custom domain? That requires Premium. Multiple products? Each one needs its own site plan. The pricing compounds in two dimensions: more sites and more users.
The jump from free to paid is steep — $0 to $65/month the moment you need a custom domain or a second team member. Ultimate is $249/month per site. For an organization with three products and a five-person team, you're looking at $231/month on Premium before you've written a word. GitBook also charges $25 for auto-translated content, then $0.20 per 1,000 words after 50K.
No self-hosting, no static export
GitBook is SaaS-only. Your content lives on their servers. There's no supported self-hosted deployment and no static HTML export. The rendering engine is technically open source on GitHub, but GitBook explicitly warns that self-hosting means "you become responsible for the reliability of your published site" with no guarantees of compatibility.
This matters for regulated environments — healthcare, finance, government — where data residency and air-gapped deployments aren't optional. It also matters for anyone who's been burned by a SaaS vendor changing terms. Sourcey outputs a dist/ directory of static HTML. Deploy it on anything that serves files.
No OpenAPI support
GitBook does not generate API reference documentation from an OpenAPI spec. If your product has an API, you're writing endpoint docs by hand in their editor, or bolting on a separate tool like Redoc or Swagger UI alongside your GitBook site.
For API-first companies, this is a gap that forces a split experience: guides on GitBook, API reference elsewhere. Sourcey handles both in one site — add an openapi tab in your config, point it at your spec, and the reference docs are generated alongside your markdown guides with shared search and navigation.
One command. Five minutes.
GitBook content is markdown. If you have Git Sync enabled, it's already in a repo.
Get your content out
If Git Sync is on, your markdown is already in GitHub/GitLab. Otherwise, export from GitBook's editor.
Init
Creates the config and detects any OpenAPI specs in the directory.
npx sourcey initSet up navigation
Replaces GitBook's GUI sidebar. Define tabs, groups, and page order in the config.
import { defineConfig } from "sourcey";
export default defineConfig({
name: "Your Docs",
navigation: {
tabs: [
{
tab: "Documentation",
groups: [
{
group: "Getting Started",
pages: ["introduction", "quickstart", "authentication"],
},
{
group: "Guides",
pages: ["webhooks", "sdks", "rate-limits"],
},
],
},
],
},
});Build
Outputs static HTML to dist/. Deploy wherever.
$ npx sourcey build
Sourcey — building documentation site
Pages: 22
Output: dist
Time: 0.9sCommon questions.
Is Sourcey really free?
Yes. Sourcey is open source under MIT. The CLI, the build output, and all features are free. There are no per-site fees, no per-user fees, and no premium tiers that gate functionality.
Can I use my existing GitBook markdown?
GitBook content is standard markdown. Copy your files into a Sourcey project, configure the navigation in sourcey.config.ts, and build. GitBook-specific syntax (like their hint blocks) will need minor adjustments to Sourcey's directive format.
Does Sourcey have a visual editor?
No. Sourcey is a CLI tool. You write markdown in your editor of choice — VS Code, Vim, whatever — and the dev server hot-reloads on every save. If you need a GUI editor, Sourcey isn't the right tool.
Can Sourcey handle API reference docs?
Yes. Add an openapi tab in sourcey.config.ts pointing at your OpenAPI 3.x or Swagger 2.0 spec. Sourcey generates endpoint docs, schema references, and code samples in 10+ languages. GitBook doesn't support this natively.
Is Sourcey harder to set up than GitBook?
Different, not harder. GitBook gives you a GUI and handles hosting. Sourcey gives you a CLI and a config file — you handle hosting by deploying static files. If your team already uses Git and CI/CD, Sourcey fits into your existing workflow. If your team needs a GUI editor, Sourcey isn't the right tool.
Does Sourcey support Git Sync like GitBook?
Sourcey is Git-native by design. Your docs are markdown files in a repo. There's no sync step because the source files are the repo. Push to main, build in CI, deploy. Standard Git workflow.
Own your docs.
Open source. Self-host it, fork it, ship it on your own infrastructure. No account required.
Fork the demo →