diff --git a/doc/source/plugin.rst b/doc/source/plugin.rst
index 29653a65d8..2622c22e2b 100644
--- a/doc/source/plugin.rst
+++ b/doc/source/plugin.rst
@@ -55,6 +55,37 @@ something like the following::
   tempest.test_plugins =
       plugin_name = module.path:PluginClass
 
+Standalone Plugin vs In-repo Plugin
+-----------------------------------
+
+Since all that's required for a plugin to be detected by tempest is a valid
+setuptools entry point in the proper namespace there is no difference from the
+tempest perspective on either creating a separate python package to
+house the plugin or adding the code to an existing python project. However,
+there are tradeoffs to consider when deciding which approach to take when
+creating a new plugin.
+
+If you create a separate python project for your plugin this makes a lot of
+things much easier. Firstly it makes packaging and versioning much simpler, you
+can easily decouple the requirements for the plugin from the requirements for
+the other project. It lets you version the plugin independently and maintain a
+single version of the test code across project release boundaries (see the
+`Branchless Tempest Spec`_ for more details on this). It also greatly
+simplifies the install time story for external users. Instead of having to
+install the right version of a project in the same python namespace as tempest
+they simply need to pip install the plugin in that namespace. It also means
+that users don't have to worry about inadvertently installing a tempest plugin
+when they install another package.
+
+.. _Branchless Tempest Spec: http://specs.openstack.org/openstack/qa-specs/specs/tempest/implemented/branchless-tempest.html
+
+The sole advantage to integrating a plugin into an existing python project is
+that it enables you to land code changes at the same time you land test changes
+in the plugin. This reduces some of the burden on contributors by not having
+to land 2 changes to add a new API feature and then test it and doing it as a
+single combined commit.
+
+
 Plugin Class
 ============