Confluence vs SharePoint: Which to Use for Knowledge Management?

You need a knowledge management platform for your policies, procedures, and other knowledge resources. And you need your employees and/or customers to be able to reference those resources at any time.

And, let me guess, you are considering Confluence and SharePoint because they both do everything. Okay, maybe they don’t do everything, but they have multiple project management features.

And it makes sense. Both Confluence and SharePoint are big market names with thousands of users.

So, which one is the right fit to help your company manage your knowledge?

Working for ScreenSteps — a knowledge transfer solution company — I’ve spent a lot of time researching and comparing different knowledge management software solutions. Because of that, I’ve gained insight into what works and doesn’t work with knowledge management software.

Admittedly, ScreenSteps is a competitor of Confluence and SharePoint in the knowledge management sector. Despite being competitors, my goal is to provide you with the facts so that you can make the best decision for your company.

After all, sometimes the right answer is Confluence. Other times it is SharePoint. And sometimes it is ScreenSteps. 😉 It depends on your company, your goals, and the outcomes you want to achieve.

Below, you will find an honest comparison of Confluence and SharePoint. At the end of the article, I provide tips on when each software option is best for different situations.

What is Confluence?

Confluence is one of the Atlassian software applications. The cloud-based software is primarily a collaboration and project management tool.

The company self-proclaims it is a “single source of truth for all your work in progress.” Its main focus is to provide employees with a space for collaboration, which is why its knowledge transfer approach is a corporate wiki.

A corporate wiki is a website that allows multiple contributors. It’s like Wikipedia except it isspecific to your company.

Confluence allows you to create spaces for different teams or departments.

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is a document management system. The cloud-based software works as a document repository or document library in that you store and share information in the system.

Because SharePoint is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, this typically means you are uploading PowerPoints, Word docs, Excel files, and PDF files to your SharePoint site.

SharePoint is information-centric in that the primary goal is that you upload or create documents within its folders. While employees with permissions can access the documents, making those guides accessible is not the primary focus.

Sometimes companies use SharePoint as an intranet.

🔎 Related: SharePoint vs ScreenSteps: What are the Differences?

Features table: Confluence vs. SharePoint

For a quick overview of what Confluence and SharePoint offer, review the features table below. The table provides a bulleted list to help you compare the different tools and services each application offers.

Who is Confluence a good fit for?

If you find your company in any of these positions, Atlassian Confluence may be the best knowledge management solution for your company.

• Small-to-medium sized businesses
• Your focus is on collaboration or project management
• Intuitive, easier learning curve
• Easier to organize and navigate your articles
• You don’t have complex procedures

Who is SharePoint a good fit for?

If your company relates to these situations, Microsoft SharePoint may be the best choice for your organization’s knowledge management software.

• You already have Microsoft 365 for business
• You don’t have additional budget for knowledge management software (and already have Microsoft 365)
• You just need a cloud-based location to store your resources
• Customization is important to you

When to choose an alternate software

While Confluence and SharePoint are both powerful tools, knowledge management is neither of their fortes.

Many businesses try to use Confluence and SharePoint because they are using other applications in the Atlassian or Microsoft portfolio. It is an inexpensive solution to use what they already have. However, the cost is the operations. Knowledge management is an afterthought or secondary tool for Confluence and SharePoint.

When it comes to a knowledge management system, both Confluence and SharePoint are more of a knowledge depository. They emphasize collecting information, but not sharing it. They allow you to collect and create your digital guides, but that doesn’t translate to supporting your employees handle tasks on the job.

Also, they focus on aligning your to-do list with your teammates.

Instead, you want a true knowledge base that focuses its technology on not just collecting knowledge from your employees, but also SHARING that knowledge with the intent of helping employees DO something.

Here’s a quick list of situations where you would be better off using an alternative software — like a knowledge base — to Confluence or SharePoint:

• Your end-users need to frequently use your articles to perform tasks or read information
• You can’t afford mistakes
• You need end-users to have quick access to digital guides
• You need end-users to easily be able to scan instructions
• You have complex procedures, decision trees, and troubleshooting guides

🔎 Related: 5 Ways ScreenSteps Helps With Knowledge Management

Do more than collect information — help end-users DO something

Both Confluence and SharePoint have a variety of positive tools that can support a business. However, a true knowledge base software will serve your business better if your goal is to make your knowledge accessible, findable, followable, and scannable.

ScreenSteps is a knowledge base software and training solutions company. Our primary focus is to help companies clearly document their digital guides so that they can handle procedures and tasks on their own without needing additional support.

Our secondary focus is leveraging those guides to onboard and train employees faster while helping them improve performance and achieve proficiency quicker.

With ScreenSteps, you can create 4X the documents in ¼ of the time, end-users can find the guide they need in as few as two clicks, and you can onboard new hires in 30 days or less.

Watch our pre-recorded demos to see ScreenSteps in action. This collection of short videos shows how ScreenSteps’ features work. That way you can compare how ScreenSteps handles knowledge management to Confluence and SharePoint.