Compared
Notula and GitBook
These two are less alike than the names suggest. GitBook's job is the published site. Notula's job is the writing and reviewing that happens before there is one.
What GitBook is better at
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It publishes
A hosted documentation site with navigation, search, versions and a reader experience somebody designed. Notula has no published output at all. If what you need is a docs site, Notula does not replace GitBook.
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Search and navigation for readers
Built in, and good. Notula's search is for the person editing, inside the application.
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Versioned public documentation
Multiple published versions of the same docs for different releases.
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It runs itself
Hosting, TLS, a domain, uptime. Notula is a desktop application and does none of that.
What Notula is better at
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Comment threads on a passage
The review loop happens in the document, and the threads are committed in the repository beside it rather than held in a service.
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Every document, not the published ones
Specs, RFCs, ADRs and runbooks that will never be on a public site still need writing and reviewing. That is most of what a team writes.
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No sync and no service
GitBook keeps its own copy in step with your repository. Notula edits the working tree directly and commits, so there is only ever one copy.
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Free, and no seats
The app is free with no account. Everyone who can clone the repository can already use it.
Side by side
| Capability | GitBook | Notula |
|---|---|---|
| Publishes a documentation website | — | |
| Reader search and navigation | — | |
| Versioned public docs | — | |
| Hosted, nothing to run | — | |
| Comment threads committed to the repository | — | |
| Works on every document, not only published ones | — | |
| No second copy, no sync | — | |
| Works offline | — | |
| Free with no seats | — |
Both columns are filled in, including the rows Notula loses. A table where one column is ticks all the way down is an advert, and the first four rows of this one are things the other tool does and Notula does not.
Which one to use
Use GitBook when
You are shipping public documentation and you need it to be a website. Use GitBook. Notula does not compete for that and the two can sit in the same repository.
Use Notula when
The writing and the reviewing are the problem, most of the documents are internal, and the published site is either somebody else's job or not a thing yet.
Try it against a real repository
Free, with no account and no server. Open a repository you already have and the documents in it are a tree in about a second.
Apple silicon and Windows x64 above. Intel and Arm builds, and what to do if Windows blocks the installer.