6 best knowledge management tools compared - how to choose

1. Confluence

Benefits

• Centralises information: Confluence makes it easy to create spaces with dedicated pages and sub-pages. Because it’s easy to structure and access content, it’s ideal for knowledge bases, wikis, and documentation.
  
  
• Integration with Atlassian Tools: Confluence seamlessly integrates with other tools like Jira, BitBucket, and Trello, helping you track tickets, tasks, and project progress in one handy place.
  
  
• Endlessly customisable: From diagrams and Google Analytics to advanced design tools like Content Formatting Macros, you’ll find an integration on the Atlassian Marketplace.
  
  
• AI-powered content: Atlassian Intelligence (Atlassian’s AI tool), can summarise Confluence pages, create definitions for jargon, and answer questions, helping users understand and process information quicker.

Drawbacks

• Learning curve: Creating a page is easy, but mastering Confluence can take a little time. You can fast track your learning with our guide to getting the most out of your Confluence.
  
  
• Time-consuming to build from scratch: Building new pages to meet specific needs takes time and effort. Thankfully, there are plenty of Confluence templates available to get you started.

Is Confluence right for your team?

2. Trello

Benefits

• Visual organisation: Trello is incredibly visual, with each kanban-style board holding different lists that contain individual cards. This makes it ideal for tracking project updates and information.
  
  
• Drag-and-drop interface: Reorganising Trello boards is quick and easy - all you have to do is drag a list or card to its new position.
  
  
• Integration support: Trello integrates with many other platforms such as Google Drive, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, helping you to keep information in one place. There are even a range of third-party integrations, called Trello Power-Ups, to extend Trello’s features.

Drawbacks

• Limited complexity: While Trello is great for simple project management and knowledge organisation, large organisations will struggle to organise their information effectively in a board.
  
  
• Customisation constraints: Some users may find its customisation options limited compared to other knowledge management tools. This is especially true when creating an engaging single source of truth.

Is Trello right for your team?

3. monday.com

Benefits

• Attach documents to tasks: If you’re tracking a project in monday.com, you can easily tag tasks (known as “items”) with specific workdocs, keeping relevant information in the right place.
  
  
• AI integration: monday.com’s AI assistant can build custom templates from just a few words, summarise your content, or dynamically add tags to a document.
  
• Third-party app support: Thanks to its expansive marketplace, monday.com has an app for just about anything. If you want to simplify decision-making, take a look at Priority Pro.

Drawbacks

• Not designed for complex documentation: Workdocs are documents and not pages, which means customisation is limited. They’re ideal for noting information, but don’t work well for creating a wiki, knowledge base, or anything similar.
  
  
• Hard-to-find workdocs: Due to monday.com’s limited search tool, finding docs can be a chore.

Is monday.com right for your team?

4. Google Workspace

Benefits

• Easy to learn: Google’s tools are intuitive and very user-friendly. Users familiar with Microsoft’s tools will find the transition incredibly straightforward.
  
  
• Everything’s in one place: Google Drive holds files from all Google apps across your workspace, which can save you time when searching.

Drawbacks

• Limited search: Google Drive’s search results depend on whether a document title is descriptive. If documents aren’t properly tagged or categorised, users will struggle to find the information through search alone.
  
  
• Lack of structure: Google Drive can often spiral out of control if users aren’t vigilant, making finding information overwhelming. Without clear guidelines or templates, important files can be lost.
  
  
• No professional front: Google Drive’s filing system may be suitable for organising files internally, but it’s not a professional way of sharing information with customers and could impact your brand reputation.

Is Google Workspace right for your team?

5. Notion

Benefits

• Incredibly flexible: Notion’s highly customisable structure gives you a blank canvas to create and organise your workspace however you want.
  
  
• Large templates library: From kanban boards to issue trackers (and everything in between), Notion has over 10,000 templates that help you set your pages up quicker.
  
  
• Use it anywhere: Notion is available in web browsers, via desktop apps (for Windows and Mac), and on mobile devices (iOS and Android). You can access your workspace anytime, anywhere.

Drawbacks

• Time-consuming to build from scratch: If you need to build custom pages for your team, these can be fiddly and may need dedicated resources.
  
  
• Steep learning curve: Notion’s extensive range of features will require time and effort to learn, especially for users new to the tool.
  
  
• Limited visual customisation: Notion’s pages are functional but there aren’t many tools or apps that provide engaging, interactive page elements that can be useful for company intranets and knowledge bases.

Is Notion right for your team?

6. Evernote

Benefits

• Use it anywhere: Evernote’s lightweight app works across Mac, Windows, Android, and iPhone, so you can jot down notes on-the-go.
  
  
• AI-powered tools: Evernote’s search and cleanup functions get an AI boost, making it easier to find what you need and keep your workspace free from clutter.
  
  
• Document scanning: Store printed documents and written notes alongside your digital files, so you never lose them.

Drawbacks

• Difficult to scale: Because everything is stored in notebooks, Evernote isn’t ideal for larger, enterprise-scale organisations.
  
  
• Limited formatting options: While Evernote’s features are perfect for note-taking, the lack of advanced formatting tools means it isn’t suitable for building knowledge bases and documentation.

Is Evernote right for your team?

The bottom line