When I first started using DEVONthink (some eons ago), the Dropbox sync was deemed the most reliable.
Now I’m looking to kill off my Dropbox subscription. Is CloudKit reliable in the current age?
Without stopping Dropbox for the moment, try it.
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There is no way to make an umbrella answer on this. It works well for some; not well for others.
More than 50% of our users use CloudKit and I’d claim that it works for most of them. But no cloud service is absolutely reliable, especially temporary server issues are not uncommon.
Does bonjour work for you. avoids third party cloud service.
I use both Bonjour and iCloud(Cloudkit)
No issues with either sync method
but Bonjour has the limitation that Devonthink has to be active on both devices,
and both devices must be connected on the same wifi network (or wired)
Yes, indeed. For many that is ok. For many it is not.
I used to have problems, and switched forth and back between Dropbox and iCloud but for about two years iCloud has worked well for me and DT sync. I therefore hope they got their problems solved.
I will also have to stop using Dropbox as our Uni IT service no longer wants me to have things on US servers. iCloud will then be a private thing for me. I have also heavily used Apple Notes for one year now, with lots of images in notes and that has worked well, increasing my confidence in iCloud … for the time being 
We still recommend local syncs for speed, reliability, and privacy but remote options are still an option to be thoughtfully considered. And while it has gone through many ups and downs, we have received fewer CloudKit problem reports over the past year or so.
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A sync store on a NAS accessible via WebDAV has the same benefits. In addition, it’s not necessary to keep the devices running at the same time and remote access is an option.
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That is my solution since I tested all sync options. There is a shared folder in my Synology NAS with a WebDAV account only for that and never had any issue.
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CloudKit wasn’t reliable for me in 2024 . Now I only use Bonjour at home and when at work (my devices are usually on different subnets there) I sometimes sync by connecting the devices by wire. It works very well for me.
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I’m using CloudKit for sync between one macOS DT client and DTTG on one iPhone.
99% it’s perfectly fine. I recently had a (minor) issue, where the DTTG would show me some “outdated” versions of a document. this was fixed after triggering sync on the DTTG.
I’ve seen some users argue for using Bonjour for sync — I think it’s probably the best in terms of reliability etc. But I will stick to CloudKit, since I’ve been in many situations, where I have made changes to my databased on my mac, and need to access them on my phone, but my mac is not around. This convenience is a big selling point for me
so yes: CloudKit is perfectly fine.
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And just to drop a marker, this is from the In & Out > Sync Explained section of the built-in Help and manual…
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I want to echo this comment:
A sync store on a NAS accessible via WebDAV has the same benefits. In addition, it’s not necessary to keep the devices running at the same time and remote access is an option.
I still had some issues with CloudKit fairly recently and haven’t had a single problem since moving to using my own NAS via WebDAV. That’s the most reliable method I’ve found.
This is very much a “your mileage may vary” situation but for what it’s worth I’ve not had any CloudKit issues for months now, and assume someone has stopped taking coffee into their server rooms 
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Some of the issues may have been related to infrastructure and distance to data centers. While we don’t say CloudKit is now amazing and “You gotta try it!!”, I think improvements Apple has made have affected it on a positive way.
May I ask how users who use Bonjour for syncing typically structure their workflow?
I personally use CloudKit, which gives me confidence that any document I’ve added to DEVONthink on my Mac will be accessible on my phone when needed. My usual workflow is:
1. Add or update a document in DEVONthink on my Mac.
2. Open DEVONthink To Go on my iPhone.
3. Wait for the sync to complete. (can be done on different networks, mac might be even in completely different location).
4. Search for and access the document.
With Bonjour, however, I assume the workflow looks something like this:
1. Make changes in DEVONthink on the Mac.
2. While still on the same local network, open the DTTG app on the iPhone.
3. Let Bonjour sync the data.
Only after these steps would I be confident that I can leave the Mac behind and still have the latest documents on my phone.
This implies that if I forget to open the app while on the same network—or I’m in a rush—I might later find myself in a situation where I don’t have access to the needed document on my phone.
Is my understanding of how Bonjour sync works correct? Or am I fundamentally missing something?
I think your description is mostly correct. OTOH: I have to open DTTG to make sure all changes made there arrive in DT. Regardless of the sync method, just a limitation of iOS.
And with a VPN, Bonjour might be able to work across networks.
Bonjour doesn’t work over VPN. (Actually, years ago I had one person claim it did but they never responded when I asked to more information.)
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