Both Confluence and SharePoint have been around for a long time and have gained a large number of users. Even though Atlassian is a younger company than Microsoft, both have won the trust of many businesses, big and small. Both platforms are made to help businesses keep track of their knowledge and work together internally. Many of their features are the same. Both have other problems that are easy to see. Since 2004, Confluence has been on the market, and it now has more than 60,000 customers all over the world. It works best for medium-sized businesses and teams that make software. Confluence doesn’t have as many features as SharePoint, but it makes up for it with a clean, easy-to-use interface. It has a learning curve, but it’s much easier for new users to figure out how to use it.
One of the best things about Confluence is that it works well with other Atlassian products like Jira and Trello. This makes it easy to manage projects and write about them at the same time. Keep in mind, though, that each tool in the Atlassian suite has a separate cost per user, which can quickly add up on your monthly bill. SharePoint has been around for more than 20 years, and more than 190 million people use it all over the world. It is especially popular with big businesses.
SharePoint has a wide range of features, including some that Confluence doesn’t have, like the ability to change things visually and more advanced version management. It has all the features of a full intranet platform. The learning curve is steep for these extra features, which is a shame. Before deciding to switch to SharePoint because it’s “more powerful,” make sure your team will actually use all of its extra features. One of the best things about SharePoint is that it works well with Office 365 and OneDrive. All of your company’s documents can be found in one place so that everyone on your team can use them without confusion or problems with different versions. SharePoint is included in the price of MS Office 365, which makes it a much cheaper subscription than Confluence.
Confluence vs SharePoint: Price
Comparing the prices of SharePoint and Confluence, you can see that Confluence has recently raised its prices. For example, if you have ten employees, it will cost you $10 a month, but if you add five more, it will cost you $50 a month. On the other hand, SharePoint’s plan 1 for desktop users costs $5 per person. Also, the cost for one user is $7 if you choose SharePoint online. To add, Confluence has a free trial that lets ten users create as many wiki pages as they want. On the other hand, there are no free trial plans for SharePoint. Also, if you want to add more SharePoint features, you have to pay more.
Confluence vs SharePoint: Comparison Table
Feature | Confluence | SharePoint |
---|---|---|
Purpose | Team collaboration and knowledge sharing platform | Document management and collaboration platform |
Content Creation | Rich text editor with collaborative editing capabilities | Rich text editor with collaborative editing capabilities |
Document Management | Basic document management features | Robust document management features |
Team Collaboration | Offers extensive collaboration features and workflows | Offers collaboration features but with fewer options |
Knowledge Base | Well-suited for creating and organizing knowledge bases | Supports knowledge base functionality but less focused |
Customization | Limited customization options and templates | Extensive customization options and templates |
Integration | Integrates well with Atlassian tools (Jira, Trello, etc.) | Integrates well with Microsoft Office and other tools |
User Interface | Modern and user-friendly interface | Familiar Microsoft Office-like interface |
Search Capabilities | Powerful search functionality with advanced filters | Robust search capabilities with customizable options |
Workflow | Limited workflow capabilities | Advanced workflow management and automation |
Pricing | Offers various pricing plans and cloud-based deployment | Part of Microsoft 365 suite with different licensing |
Mobile Apps | Provides mobile apps for iOS and Android | Provides mobile apps for iOS and Android |
Official link | Visit Website | Visit Website |
Confluence vs SharePoint User interface
Both Confluence and SharePoint have different user interfaces that fit the needs and preferences of different types of users. Confluence has a modern interface that is easy to use and focuses on making things simple. It has a clean, simple, and visually appealing layout that makes it easy for users to find their way around and work together on content. With a rich text editor and the ability to edit content together, Confluence’s interface encourages users to work together on content creation and editing.
On the other hand, SharePoint’s interface is more like Microsoft Office, which is good for people who are used to using Microsoft products. It has a ribbon-style menu and toolbar, which people are used to seeing in programs like Word and Excel. SharePoint has a wide range of features that give users a strong platform for managing documents and working together. Its goal is to give users a familiar place where they can easily organize, store, and share documents.
Confluence vs SharePoint Search Experience
SharePoint uses deep indexing to make the content of Microsoft Office documents searchable. The overall search experience in SharePoint depends a lot on how the administrator sets it up. If the search settings aren’t set up correctly, end users may have a hard time finding what they’re looking for. Confluence looks for content in six different file types and uses links and folders to get around. It’s important to know that neither SharePoint nor Confluence searches video or audio files for spoken words.
Confluence vs SharePoint Customer Support
Both Confluence and SharePoint have ways for users to get help with their questions and problems through customer support. Confluence has a number of ways for customers to get help, like by phone or email. This makes it easy for users to get help from the support team. Confluence also has a large knowledge base and a lot of documentation that covers a wide range of topics. This gives users a way to help themselves find answers to common questions and fix common problems.
Since SharePoint is part of the Microsoft ecosystem, it can take advantage of Microsoft’s strong customer support system. Users can get help with SharePoint through a number of ways, such as by phone, email, or online chat. Microsoft also provides users with a lot of documentation, forums, and community support where they can get help from other users and ask for advice. Microsoft also releases regular updates and bug fixes and patches to make sure the platform is stable and fix any problems that have been reported.
Confluence: Pros and Cons
Pros
- User-friendly interface and intuitive navigation.
- Extensive collaboration features and workflows.
- Well-suited for creating and organizing knowledge bases.
- Offers various customer support options.
- Integrates well with other Atlassian tools.
Cons
- Limited customization options and templates.
- Basic document management features compared to SharePoint.
- Limited workflow capabilities.
- Pricing may be higher for certain plans.
- Less focused on document management compared to SharePoint.
SharePoint: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Robust document management and collaboration platform.
- Extensive customization options and templates.
- Strong integration with Microsoft Office and other tools.
- Advanced workflow management and automation capabilities.
- Part of the Microsoft 365 suite with different licensing options.
Cons
- User interface may be less user-friendly for non-Microsoft users.
- Learning curve for users unfamiliar with the Microsoft Office ecosystem.
- Limited collaboration features compared to Confluence.
- Pricing structure and licensing options can be complex.
- Limited out-of-the-box knowledge base functionality.
Which one should you consider?
Confluence is a platform for teams to work together and share information. It has an easy-to-use interface and can be used to create and organize knowledge bases. It has a lot of tools for working together and different ways to help customers. On the other hand, SharePoint is a platform for managing documents and working together that looks and works like Microsoft Office. It has powerful document management features, advanced customization options, and the full customer support infrastructure of Microsoft. Choosing between Confluence and SharePoint depends on what you need, what you like, and how well you know the interfaces and ecosystems of each.
FAQs
When you compare Confluence to SharePoint, you can see that both are good tools for teams and businesses as a whole. Most of the time, development teams do better with Confluence, while people who need to customize their software do better with SharePoint.
Why you might like Confluence better than SharePoint: Getting started with Confluence is easier than with SharePoint, and new users don’t have to learn a lot. Confluence’s interface is easier to use and makes more sense. Jira and other products from Atlassian work well with Confluence.