Workspaces can be either public or private. The software service is only available in English.

A number of businesses and corporations use PBworks to create private wikis for employees; one case study described a legal firm which had transitioned to PBworks as a document management system in order to cut their IT costs. Clients also use PBworks as a host for internal documents, including CafePress.com, Capgemini, Deloitte, the Financial Times, Kiva, and Wideload Games while educational groups who are known to use PBworks include DePaul University, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, the University of Toronto, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Wayne State University.

PBworks was founded by David Weekly, Ramit Sethi, and Nathan Schmidt in 2005 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.