Side by side
Helpable vs Sphinx
Both stand on knowledge base software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APIWeb
Helpable combines customer-facing help content, AI answers, and live chat in one service. The free tier is limited, so compare its answer and team-member allowances with your support volume.
Visit Helpable
Free plan APILinuxMac+3
Sphinx offers a broad documentation toolset, from multiple output formats and cross-project links to themes and extensions. It is free, but Markdown authors must install MyST-Parser separately.
Visit SphinxThe facts
| Helpable | Sphinx | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Web | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Solo: $25 a month | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Sphinx |
| Website | gethelpable.com | sphinx-doc.org |
| On knowledge base software | #33 of 138 | #37 of 138 |
Helpable: what it does well
- Free plan includes 30 Calli answers each month.
- Calli answers from published articles and links sources.
- Supports 50+ languages with hreflang handling.
- Widget can be embedded with one script tag.
- Paid trial lasts seven days without a credit card.
What to know first
- Free plan is limited to 30 monthly answers and 15 articles.
- Free plan includes one team member and Helpable branding.
- Extra 1,000 answers cost $29 on any plan.
Sphinx: what it does well
- Builds HTML, LaTeX for PDF, ePub and other formats
- Links references across projects
- Autodoc includes module docstrings
- Supports themes and extensions
- Full-text search is available
What to know first
- MyST Markdown requires a separate parser
- Web Support has limited adoption and development
Alternatives to Helpable Alternatives to Sphinx The whole list