Outline vs Tettra

Outline and Tettra are both team wikis with AI question-answering, but Outline's open-source, self-hostable nature and flat per-team-size pricing…

Best for Outline: Teams that want the option to self-host on their own infrastructure, need public document sharing with a custom domain, or fit cleanly into Outline's flat per-team-size pricing brackets (1-10, 11-100, or 101-200 members).
Best for Tettra: Teams that want an AI bot (Kai) that also searches Slack conversations, not just wiki docs, and a formal subject-matter-expert verification workflow to keep content accurate, and that are comfortable with per-user pricing above a 10-user minimum.

At a Glance

 OutlineTettra
Primary categoryKnowledge BaseKnowledge Base
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumsubscription (per-user)
Starting priceFree (self-hosted, open source) or $10/month for the hosted Starter cloud plan$8/user/month (Scaling plan, minimum 10 users)
Free planNot documentedNot documented
Free trialYesYes
PlatformsWebWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesYes
Public APIYesYes

Key Differences

Self-hosting option

Outline: Outline is open source and can be self-hosted on a team's own infrastructure in addition to the cloud-hosted plans.

Tettra: Tettra's facts describe access only via a web app (app.tettra.co), with no self-hosting option mentioned.

Self-hosting matters for teams with data-residency or infrastructure-control requirements.

Permanent free plan vs. trial-only

Outline: Outline's pricing model is Freemium, with a 30-day free trial for the cloud-hosted version.

Tettra: Tettra's pricing model is explicitly 'Free Trial' — a 30-day trial with no permanent free plan afterward, and its Scaling plan requires a 10-user minimum.

A permanent free tier lets very small teams use the product indefinitely at no cost; a trial-only model does not.

Pricing structure by team size

Outline: Outline prices in three flat tiers by member-count bracket: Starter $10/month (1-10 members), Team $79/month (11-100), Business $249/month (101-200).

Tettra: Tettra prices per user at $8/user/month with a 10-user minimum, so cost scales roughly linearly with headcount ($80/month minimum).

Flat tiered pricing (Outline) can be cheaper for teams near the top of a bracket, while per-user pricing (Tettra) scales predictably but linearly.

AI bot search scope

Outline: Outline's AI question answering searches and answers based on the workspace's own documents.

Tettra: Tettra's Kai AI bot answers teammate questions by searching both Tettra content and Slack conversations, and connects directly to Slack channels and DMs.

Teams whose institutional knowledge lives partly in Slack threads benefit from an AI bot that can search that history too.

Formal content verification workflow

Outline: Outline's facts don't describe a formal subject-matter-expert verification process.

Tettra: Tettra has an explicit verification workflow where subject matter experts verify accuracy, identify gaps, and approve edits.

A structured verification workflow helps larger teams keep a growing wiki accurate over time.

Feature-by-Feature

Deployment & Hosting

FeatureOutlineTettra
Self-hosted / open-source optionAvailableUnavailable
Cloud-hosted optionAvailableAvailable
Free trialAvailableAvailable
Permanent free planNot documentedUnavailable

AI & Knowledge Features

FeatureOutlineTettra
AI question answeringAvailableAvailable
AI bot searches Slack conversationsNot documentedAvailable
Verification / fact-checking workflowNot documentedAvailable
Import from Google Docs / Notion / PDFNot documentedAvailable

Pricing & Plans

FeatureOutlineTettra
Entry priceAvailableAvailable
Pricing structureAvailableAvailable
Enterprise / custom tierAvailableAvailable

Collaboration & Sharing

FeatureOutlineTettra
Public sharing with custom domain/white-labelAvailableNot documented
Slack integrationAvailableAvailable
API accessAvailableAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Outline

Self-hosted (open source) — Free N/A
Starter — $10/month Monthly
Team — $79/month Monthly
Business — $249/month Monthly
Enterprise — Custom (contact sales) Custom

Tettra

Scaling — $8/user/month monthly or annual (20 percent discount annually), minimum 10 users
Enterprise — Custom annual (quoted), minimum 50 users

Pros & Cons

Outline

Pros

  • Open-source codebase allows free, fully controlled self-hosting
  • Fast, keyboard-driven editor built specifically for engineering and product teams
  • Markdown compatibility makes content portable and developer-friendly
  • Bootstrapped, profitable company with a long track record of stability
  • Clean, focused feature set compared to broader all-in-one workspace tools

Cons

  • Fewer all-in-one features (databases, project management) than tools like Notion
  • Self-hosting requires technical setup and ongoing maintenance
  • Cloud pricing is per-plan-tier based on team size, which can jump significantly as headcount grows
  • Smaller integration ecosystem than larger enterprise wiki platforms
  • Advanced permission and audit features are reserved for higher-priced plans

Tettra

Pros

  • Deep, genuinely useful Slack and Microsoft Teams integration with an AI Q and A bot
  • Simple, predictable per-user pricing on the Scaling plan
  • Content verification workflows help prevent documentation from going stale
  • Fast to set up compared to heavier enterprise wiki platforms
  • 30-day free trial with no credit card required

Cons

  • Minimum of 10 users on the Scaling plan makes it less economical for very small teams
  • Enterprise plan requires a minimum of 50 users, pricing itself out of mid-size deployments wanting SSO
  • Feature set is more limited than large-scale enterprise knowledge platforms
  • Customization and formatting options are simpler than dedicated documentation tools

Use Cases

Choose Outline: Teams that want the option to self-host on their own infrastructure, need public document sharing with a custom domain, or fit cleanly into Outline's flat per-team-size pricing brackets (1-10, 11-100, or 101-200 members).
Choose Tettra: Teams that want an AI bot (Kai) that also searches Slack conversations, not just wiki docs, and a formal subject-matter-expert verification workflow to keep content accurate, and that are comfortable with per-user pricing above a 10-user minimum.
Need both: Organizations weighing self-hosting against a fully managed SaaS wiki, or wanting Slack-conversation search alongside document search, may need to trial both before deciding, since the two tools' core mechanics — hosting model, pricing structure, AI scope — differ rather than overlap.

Outline

  • Engineering documentation — Engineering teams maintain runbooks, architecture docs, and onboarding guides in searchable, version-controlled collections.
  • Company-wide internal wiki — Organizations centralize policies, meeting notes, and cross-team knowledge in a single searchable workspace.
  • Self-hosted knowledge base for data-sensitive teams — Teams with strict data residency or compliance requirements self-host Outline on their own infrastructure instead of using a third-party cloud service.

Tettra

  • Reducing repetitive Slack questions — Teams use Tettra's AI bot to automatically answer common employee questions inside Slack instead of repeating answers manually.
  • Employee onboarding documentation — New hires reference a centralized Tettra knowledge base for onboarding guides, policies, and how-to content.
  • Cross-team process documentation — Engineering, support, and sales teams document internal processes and keep them verified and current using Tettra's review workflows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Outline be self-hosted?

Yes, Outline is open source and can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure instead of using the cloud-hosted plans.

Does Tettra have a permanent free plan?

No — only a 30-day free trial with no credit card required; no free tier is available afterward.

How is Outline priced?

Starter is $10/month (1-10 members), Team is $79/month (11-100 members), and Business is $249/month (101-200 members), with custom pricing above 200.

How is Tettra priced?

The Scaling plan is $8/user/month with a 10-user minimum; Enterprise is custom-priced.

What does Tettra's Kai AI bot do?

It answers teammate questions inside Tettra or Slack by searching the knowledge base content.

Does Outline have AI features?

Yes, it supports asking questions about your documents to get direct AI answers.

Read the full Outline review · Read the full Tettra review