Nothing halts productivity like constantly hunting for the right information and answers when you need them. For most organizations, knowledge lives all over the place, buried in docs, scattered across tools or stuck in someone’s brain. The best knowledge base software helps you organize what your team knows, deliver answers at the right moment and keep everything up to date.
There are a lot of options out there, and while many tools offer similar features, the best one for your team should feel like it was built for how you actually work. It should make knowledge easier to create, maintain and find—whether that’s for support agents in a ticket, customers trying to self-serve, or teammates looking for a doc they wrote six months ago.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to make an informed decision. We’ll start with the key features to look for when evaluating tools, break down the main types of knowledge management platforms, and highlight top-rated solutions based on different use cases, from customer support to internal collaboration to personal productivity.
If your goal is to create better, more actionable knowledge for your teams and users, this guide is built to help you get there. Let’s get started.
Features to look for in the best knowledge management software
Choosing the best platform is about finding a solution that empowers your teams and customers with the right answers, right when they need them. When evaluating different solutions, keep an eye out for these practical features that will make your knowledge more impactful.
Powerful and flexible content options
Resolving issues effectively depends on the quality and format of your content. A leading platform should offer more than just static articles to make the knowledge more digestible.
Interactive guides: Look for the ability to create interactive guides in addition to standard articles. This unique format is ideal for breaking down troubleshooting processes, SOPs and step-by-step procedures into easy-to-follow paths.
Rich content creation: The platform should include a user-friendly text and media editor with advanced features like an image editor, internal notes, callouts, drop-downs and checklists to build more engaging content.
Easily integrated at the point of need
The more often knowledge is used, the more powerful it is. The best software providers integrate smoothly into your company’s existing workflows and the tools your teams use every day.
Deep application integration: Find a solution that connects with the core applications your teams rely on, such as communication hubs (like Slack or Microsoft Teams), CRMs or customer service ticketing systems. This way, you can surface relevant knowledge directly within their natural workflow.
Contextual knowledge delivery: Placing knowledge directly in the context where it’s helpful increases the chances people will use it. This can be achieved through browser extensions, embedded widgets on internal sites and applications, or chatbots within your team's primary communication channels.
Workflow automation: Look for integrations that allow your systems to communicate. Leveraging data from one system to automatically suggest relevant documents, personalize information for different roles or streamline steps in a process.
Strong content management and maintenance
Maintaining accurate and up-to-date knowledge is critical. During your search, keep in mind the content management capabilities that will give you control over the entire lifecycle of your content.
Reviews & approvals: The ability to create approval flows with multiple steps and stakeholders ensures content is properly vetted before publishing.
Workflow management: Your platform should provide access and version control, localization for multiple languages if needed, and clear reports on what content needs to be reviewed or updated.
AI that enhances knowledge
The best platforms use AI to streamline how knowledge is created, delivered and maintained, so your teams and customers get faster, more accurate answers.
AI-powered search: Look for AI that improves search accuracy by understanding intent, not just keywords. The right system should help people find what they’re looking for, even if they don’t phrase it perfectly.
Content suggestions: AI should work in the background to suggest helpful content based on the context of a conversation or actions being taken to reduce the time spent hunting for answers.
Generative capabilities: Platforms with GenAI can help your team save time by drafting outlines, summarizing content, or providing answers that follow your brand voice and formatting—ready for review and publishing.
Analytics and Reporting
To better understand your return on investment and keep the solution you selected running smoothly, it’s important to have clear, outcome-based reporting. Having these insights helps promote long-term success.
Standard Dashboards: The solution should include dashboards covering content performance, utilization by audience type, search performance and AI reporting.
Content management reports: Obsolescence and workflow management reports that show the status of your current and upcoming knowledge to keep the creation process streamlined.
Custom reporting: The ability to create customer dashboards and send the data directly to your analytics tool or data warehouse for a more holistic view if needed.
Unmatched Partnership and Support
Beyond features and functionality, the best software provider should feel like a partnership where they’re equally invested in your success. Implementing a new solution can be daunting, so asking for clarity on the implementation process early on will help make sure you go live as quickly as possible.
Full-Service Onboarding: Look for a provider that offers full-service onboarding and a managed process for migrating your current knowledge. There should be clearly defined goals and a plan to accomplish them.
Expertise in your specific use case: Working with a solution that is tailored to your use case means access to more experienced help and let’s you tap into the accumulated best practices the provider has learned from resolving your exact issue with other companies.
Dedicated Success Manager: After onboarding, having a dedicated customer success manager ensures you have a strategic advisor and product expert for ongoing help.
Types of knowledge management software
To help narrow your search for the right knowledge management software, it’s important to understand the different sub-categories. Given the many different types of knowledge a company houses, the software to manage it is not a one-size-fits-all. The good news is that there are a variety of solutions that specialize in the specific use case and goals you’re trying to accomplish.
Whether you’re focused on customer self-service with a help desk, improving internal efficiency, or team collaboration—we’ll help find the right software type that will drive the best results for your company.
Knowledge base software for customer service
Knowledge base software (KB) is designed to organize and deliver answers for customer service. This software functions as the centralized source of company knowledge, including articles, FAQs, how-to guides and troubleshooting manuals. KBs can be used both externally to support customers and internally to empower agents.
Internal knowledge base: This version of knowledge base software is set up to be used exclusively by employees and outsourced teams. The primary goal is to make customer support agents more efficient and consistent by making institutional knowledge easily accessible. A practical internal KB ensures that agents can find the correct answer at the moment of need, often directly within their workflow, to resolve issues quickly.
External knowledge base: Frequently referred to as a help center, a public-facing KB gives customers the option for self-service support, helping them solve more issues on their own. By providing a searchable library of product information, guides and solutions to common problems, companies can reduce the burden on their customer support team and improve customer satisfaction.
Prominent Examples: Stonly, Document360, Zendesk Guides, Salesforce Knowledge
Knowledge collaboration platform
The tribal knowledge of employees is often the most valuable information, but hard to capture formally. Collaboration platforms provide a virtual space for teams to work together, share ideas and build upon each other's knowledge in real-time. Features like flexible page creation, collaborative editing and organized folder systems are central to these platforms, which can significantly break down departmental silos and encourage the sharing of institutional knowledge.
Prominent Examples: Confluence, Guru, Notion
Document management platform (DMP)
While sometimes overlapping with knowledge bases, document management systems house all internal working documents within an organization. They provide a structured environment for storing, tracking, and managing various file types, including contracts, reports and marketing collateral. Key features often include version control, access control and robust search functionalities, ensuring the integrity and security of critical business documents.
Prominent Examples: Microsoft SharePoint, Google Drive
Learning management systems (LMS):
Focused on the delivery and tracking of educational content, learning management systems are a specialized form of knowledge management software. They are used to create, distribute and manage training programs, courses and assessments for employees, partners or customers. By formalizing the learning process, organizations can ensure consistent onboarding processes and track the development of skills across their workforce.
Prominent Examples: Moodle, TalentLMS, Docebo
Top-rated knowledge management software by category
Now that you've narrowed in on the software type that is best for your use case and specific audience, here are our recommendations on which solution is best in its category.
Top-rated knowledge base software for customer-facing
Stonly for high volume of support tickets
Stonly makes it easy for customers to self-serve with step-by-step guides. In addition to standard articles, you can create interactive content that walks users through troubleshooting, processes and how-to tasks, breaking even complex issues into easy-to-follow steps. Stonly also lets you push content exactly where it’s needed, through widgets, banners or tooltips, so customers don’t have to go looking for it. Built-in AI search and chat turn your knowledge base into a true self-service engine, delivering instant, accurate answers in one seamless experience. And when a handoff to support is needed, Stonly integrates with your ticketing system to give agents context and help them resolve issues faster. With a modern, best-in-class look and intuitive UX, Stonly delivers a self-service experience your customers will love and your team will be proud to launch.
Pros of Stonly:
- Deliver knowledge proactively and guide people through any process
- Provide accurate answers with native AI and powerful search
- Measure impact and find opportunities to improve your knowledge
Stonly pricing: Stonly offers custom pricing plans for small businesses and enterprise companies.
Document360 for small companies and start-ups
Document360 offers a solid foundation for building a professional help center. Designed to help small teams organize knowledge quickly, with a clear structure and straightforward tools that make setup and maintenance easy. For team collaboration, you can assign different roles and permissions to contributors and flag articles for review. As companies grow and increase in complexitiy, they may eventually seek platforms that help their knowledge make a bigger impact, with more flexibility in the types or content to make and deeper analytics to drive improvements.
Pros of Document360:
- Content creation tools with support for both WYSIWYG and markdown editors
- Integration with GenAI for search results and a standalone chatbot for customers
- Flexible DIY customization with no-code, HTML or CSS
Document360 pricing: Document360 has 3 different pricing tiers, and more information is available upon request.
Stonly: Best internal knowledge base for customer support
Stonly make knowledge instantly available for each ticket, so agents never need to go looking for it. Support agents can resolve cases quickly and consistently through interactive decision trees that guide them through the correct process. You can deliver guidance directly within an agent’s ticket platform through Stonly’s pre-built integration. Stonly also provides the option to automate actions like filling in ticket fields or triggering macros, all without the agent ever leaving the ticket view. This combination of guided processes and workflow automation is ideal for speeding up handle time and eliminating errors. With Stonly, every agent is equipped to be 100% compliant and consistent.
Pros of Stonly:
- Ensure agents follow the right processes with decision tree style guides
- Automate workflows in different systems, right from the ticket view
- Use AI to surface the right knowledge for agents instantly and generate responses for customers
Stonly Pricing: Stonly offers custom pricing plans for small businesses and enterprise companies.
Confluence: Best internal knowledge collaboration platform
Confluence is Atlassian’s internal wiki built for team collaboration and knowledge sharing. It provides a flexible workspace where teammates can co-create content, give feedback and stay aligned on projects. With features like real-time editing, tagging and robust templates, it’s easy to document and organize evolving knowledge. Confluence also integrates seamlessly with tools like Jira and Trello, making it especially useful for product and engineering teams. It’s a powerful choice for any team that needs a central place to collaborate and keep knowledge up to date.
Pros of Confluence:
- Real-time collaboration with inline comments, tagging and version history
- Deep integrations with the Atlassian suite and popular productivity tools
- Customizable templates for project plans, retrospectives, how-to guides and more
Confluence pricing: Confluence is free for up to 10 users; paid plans start at $5.16/user/month with advanced admin controls and analytics.
Notion: Best personal knowledge management software
Notion is an all-in-one workspace that makes it easy for individuals to organize notes, tasks and knowledge in one place. Its clean interface and drag-and-drop editor let you build custom pages, databases and dashboards tailored to how you think and work. Whether you're journaling, planning a project or capturing ideas, Notion gives you the flexibility to create your own structure. Its powerful mobile app makes it easy to stay organized and access your content on the go. Notion is ideal for anyone looking to build a personalized system for managing their knowledge and daily life.
Pros of Notion:
- Fully customizable pages with support for text, tables, Kanban boards and more
- Seamless syncing across desktop and mobile for access anywhere
- Versatile templates for everything from to-do lists to knowledge hubs
Notion pricing: Notion is free for personal use; paid plans start at $10/month for additional features like premium integrations and unlimited charts/file uploads.
Google Drive: Best document management for teams
Google Drive is a cloud-based storage platform that makes it easy for teams to store, share and collaborate on documents in real time. With built-in tools like Docs, Sheets and Slides, teams can create and edit files simultaneously without version confusion. Drive’s powerful search, folder structure and permission settings help keep everything organized and secure. Its tight integration with Gmail, Calendar and other Google Workspace tools makes it a natural fit for teams already using Google products. Google Drive is ideal for teams that need a simple, reliable way to manage and collaborate on documents together.
Pros of Google Drive:
- Real-time collaboration across Docs, Sheets and Slides
- Granular sharing permissions to control access and visibility
- Smart search powered by Google AI to quickly find files
Google Drive pricing: Free with 15 GB of storage; paid plans through Google Workspace start at $7/user/month for additional storage and admin controls.
Moodle: Best learning management system
Moodle is an open-source learning management system built to support flexible, customizable online education. It’s widely used by schools, universities and organizations to deliver courses, track progress and engage learners at scale. With support for quizzes, assignments, forums and multimedia content, Moodle makes it easy to create interactive learning experiences. Its open-source foundation allows for deep customization to fit specific teaching or training needs. Moodle is a strong choice for institutions and teams looking for a robust, scalable platform to manage learning programs.
Pros of Moodle:
- Support for a wide range of content types and learning activities
- Detailed reporting and learner tracking tools
- Highly customizable with a large library of plugins and integrations
Moodle pricing: Moodle is free and open source; paid hosting and support is available through MoodleCloud.
Comparison of knowledge base management software for customer service
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