GitBook is one of the stronger choices for teams that treat documentation as part of the product rather than as a static collection of pages. Its biggest advantage is the combination of a polished visual editor with Git-based workflows. Developers can work through GitHub or GitLab while non-technical contributors use the browser editor, which makes cross-functional documentation considerably easier to maintain. GitBook's API and integration platform further extend that workflow.

The current AI functionality is a major differentiator. AI search, GitBook Agent, AI Assistant, AI Insights, MCP support, and LLM-oriented publishing features make the platform increasingly useful for both human readers and AI agents. The built-in analytics also help documentation teams understand traffic, searches, feedback, and knowledge gaps.

The main drawbacks are pricing and platform limitations. Premium and Ultimate combine a per-site fee with per-user charges, which can become expensive as teams grow. GitBook is also primarily browser-based, and editing isn't supported from smartphones. Some reviewers have reported occasional performance issues, formatting inconsistencies, and limitations in customization or search.

Overall, GitBook is particularly well suited to software companies, developer-tool businesses, API providers, startups, and technical teams that want polished documentation without giving up Git workflows. It is less compelling for organizations needing highly specialized desktop publishing, complex XML-based authoring, or a fully offline documentation environment.