A company with scattered information is wasting valuable time and resources. The fix, fortunately, is not too difficult. As you might've guessed from the title of the blog, knowledge base software is the answer, as it can act as the company's collective brain, creating a single source of truth.
This guide looks at the leading knowledge base software available today. We'll examine the key features, benefits, and pricing to help you find the right tool for your team and ultimately, unlock greater productivity.
What to look for in knowledge management software
Finding the right knowledge base software involves looking beyond a simple feature checklist. The market now offers a range of intelligent platforms that integrate deeply into a company's daily operations. The best tools help create, surface, and maintain knowledge.
Intuitive content editor
If creating and updating articles is a chore, your knowledge base will quickly become outdated. The editor should be accessible to everyone on the team, regardless of their technical skill. Look for platforms that offer a clean, easy-to-use interface, whether it's a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) editor or a more developer-friendly Markdown editor. The ability to seamlessly embed rich media like images, videos, diagrams, and code snippets is essential for creating engaging and useful visual how-to guides.
Powerful search functionality
A knowledge base is only valuable if people can find what they need. A modern knowledge base platform should feature a powerful search engine that delivers relevant results quickly. Advanced capabilities, like semantic search, use AI to understand the user's intent behind the query, so they can find answers even if they don't know the exact term to search for.
Team collaboration features
A knowledge base is a living resource that requires continuous input from the entire team. To ensure content quality and accuracy, look for robust team collaboration features. These include real-time co-editing to prevent version conflicts, a detailed version history to track changes, inline commenting for feedback, and structured approval workflows to manage the content lifecycle from draft to publication.
Customization and branding
For customer-facing knowledge bases, maintaining brand consistency is crucial for building trust. The software should allow for customization, including the ability to use a custom domain, and apply brand colors and logos. This ensures the help center feels like a seamless extension of the main company website.
Security and access controls
Not all company information should be accessible to everyone. Protecting sensitive information requires granular access controls. The tool should allow administrators to set specific permissions for viewing, editing, and publishing content based on user roles or departments. For private knowledge bases, features like IP restrictions and Single Sign-On (SSO) provide an additional layer of security.
Analytics and reporting
To keep a knowledge base relevant and effective, it's critical to understand how it's being used. Look for detailed insights and analytics that track key metrics like popular search terms, most-viewed articles, and failed searches. User feedback mechanisms, such as article ratings, also provide direct input on content quality, helping teams identify which articles are helpful and which need improvement.
Seamless integrations
A knowledge base should not become another isolated information silo. The most effective knowledge base tools integrate seamlessly with the other applications your team uses every day. The ideal solution is often part of a unified platform, such as Lark. Knowledge management is woven directly into the communication and collaboration workflows, ensuring information is captured and shared in the context of the work being done.
Top knowledge base software comparison
This table provides a quick overview of the top knowledge base tools, allowing for a swift comparison before diving into the detailed reviews.
Top 10 knowledge base tools in 2025
Here is a detailed look at each of the top knowledge base tools, evaluating their core functionality, strengths, and potential drawbacks.
1. Lark
Best for: Unifying team knowledge, data, and workflows in one platform.
Lark excels as a knowledge management solution by providing a highly customizable centralized hub for all organizational knowledge. Lark Wiki empowers teams to create and collaborate on diverse forms of content—from standard documents and sheets to mind maps—ensuring all types of information are captured in its best format. It also features granular permission controls that safeguards sensitive information.
What makes Lark uniquely powerful is that these knowledge management capabilities are part of an all-in-one collaboration platform. This unified environment makes search much more effective. Lark's search engine understands the context of queries and surfaces relevant information from across the entire platform, including documents, spreadsheets, calendar events, meeting notes, and chats, not just the wiki. This ensures a truly comprehensive and easily discoverable single source of truth.
Key features
Unified knowledge hub: Serves as the single source of truth for all organizational knowledge, from onboarding materials to company policies to project documentation.
Rich content creation: Teams can create and collaborate on a wide variety of formats, including spreadsheets, mind maps, and more, enabling them to create a vast array of content.
Advanced search: A powerful search engine with advanced filters allows users to find any document or piece of information instantly, regardless of where it's located within the platform.
Seamless collaboration: Real-time co-editing of documents, video meetings, threaded conversations, and integrated task management are native to the platform, fostering a natural and efficient flow of work and knowledge sharing.
Granular permissions: Lark offers sophisticated permission controls. Permissions to view, edit, copy, print, or export content can be configured at both the individual user and department levels, providing secure access to sensitive information.
Easy migration: For teams looking to consolidate their existing tools, Lark supports straightforward migration from other platforms like Confluence, Microsoft Word, and Excel, ensuring that existing content is preserved and formatted correctly.
Pros
True all-in-one solution: By consolidating chat, video meetings, docs, sheets, email, and knowledge management, Lark eliminates the constant need for context switching between multiple tools, creating a seamless work environment.
Generous free plan: Lark offers a free forever plan that comes with 11 tools, including a team wiki. The plan supports up to 20 users and includes 100 GB, more than enough for small businesses.
Highly customizable and flexible: Lark's tools enable teams to build custom business systems for everything from sales and project management to HR processes and payroll tracking.
Excellent security: All data transmissions on the platform are protected with industry-leading security and compliance features, ensuring company information remains secure.
Cons
The extensive feature range means new users may need some time to learn, but extensive help resources are available.
Starter plan: Free forever plan that includes Lark Wiki and 10 other collaboration tools for up to 20 users. It also comes with 100GB of storage, 1000 automation runs, AI translations, and more.
Pro plan: $12/user/month (billed annually) for up to 500 users. It includes everything in Starter plus group calling for up to 500 attendees, 15TB of storage, 50,000 automation runs, and more.
Enterprise plan: Contact sales for custom pricing. Supports unlimited users and includes even more automation runs and advanced security, compliance, and management features.
2. Document360
Best for: Dedicated technical documentation and scalable help centers.
Image source: document360.com
Document360 is a powerful, standalone knowledge base software designed with a clear focus on creating and managing both internal and external documentation. It excels in environments that require rigorous content management, such as software documentation, product manuals, and extensive standard operating procedures. Its robust authoring features and version control make it a top choice for teams that prioritize content accuracy and structure.
Key features
Document360 is equipped with a rich feature set tailored for professional documentation. This includes a choice of a Markdown or WYSIWYG editor, advanced versioning with side-by-side comparisons, and robust localization capabilities for multi-language support. Its AI assistant, "Eddy," helps with content creation and powers an intelligent search engine. The platform also provides detailed analytics on user engagement and search trends, along with integrations for popular help desk and chat tools.
Pros
The platform is widely praised for its user-friendly editor, which empowers non-technical users to create well-organized content. It is particularly effective for managing large volumes of documentation, and its ability to integrate with help desk tools like Zendesk and Intercom allows it to fit neatly into existing customer support workflows.
Cons
The search functionality can become less effective as the knowledge base grows.
The editor has some limitations when compared to a dedicated word processor.
Certain advanced features may require an additional purchase.
Pricing
Professional: Quote-based plan for growing teams.
Business: Quote-based plan with advanced features.
Enterprise: Quote-based plan for large-scale, high-security needs.
3. Zendesk
Best for: Businesses already using the Zendesk ecosystem for customer support.
Image source: zendesk.com
Zendesk Guide is the knowledge base component of the broader Zendesk customer service suite. Its greatest strength lies in its native integration with the Zendesk ticketing system, allowing support agents to seamlessly link articles in their replies and leverage the knowledge base to deflect common inquiries. It is primarily designed as a tool to enhance customer self-service and improve agent efficiency within the Zendesk environment.
Key features
Zendesk has invested heavily in AI, offering features like generative AI for content creation, semantic search to better understand user queries, and AI-powered agents (chatbots) that can resolve issues by pulling answers directly from the knowledge base. The platform also provides analytics to identify content gaps based on support ticket trends and supports the creation of distinct help centers for multiple brands.
Pros
The seamless connection between the knowledge base and the ticketing system is a significant advantage for support teams, enabling faster resolution times. The AI capabilities are tailored for customer experience (CX) use cases, such as ticket deflection and automated support, and the analytics provide valuable insights into content performance.
Cons
The content authoring experience can be unintuitive compared to more modern tools.
The native search functionality sometimes fails to surface relevant articles, even with exact keyword matches.
The platform has a steep learning curve, and many advanced features are only available in higher-priced plans.
Pricing
Suite Team: $55 per agent/month (billed annually).
Suite Professional: $115 per agent/month (billed annually).
Suite Enterprise: $169 per agent/month (billed annually).
4. Notion
Best for: Highly flexible and customizable team wikis and internal documentation.
Image source: notion.com
Notion is a uniquely versatile workspace that functions as a hybrid of notes, tasks, wikis, and databases. Its core strength is a "building block" architecture that gives users immense freedom to design and structure their knowledge systems in virtually any way they can imagine. This flexibility has made it a favorite among startups and creative teams for building highly customized internal knowledge bases.
Key features
Notion's key features include its highly flexible pages that can contain nested sub-pages and powerful databases with multiple views (table, list, Kanban, calendar). It supports real-time collaboration, an extensive library of community-driven templates, and "synced blocks" that allow content to be updated across multiple pages simultaneously. Notion AI is also integrated to assist with content generation, summarization, and translation.
Pros
The platform's unparalleled flexibility allows it to be adapted for a vast array of use cases, from simple team wikis to complex project management dashboards and CRMs. Its rich media support and strong collaboration features make it an excellent environment for creating and sharing internal knowledge.
Cons
The platform's high degree of flexibility can create a steep learning curve for new users.
The search functionality is basic and lacks the advanced filtering found in more specialized tools.
It is designed primarily for internal use and lacks native features for public-facing help centers, such as ticket deflection or advanced analytics.
Pricing
Free: Designed for individuals, with a limited block trial for teams.
Plus: $10 per member/month.
Business: $20 per member/month (this plan includes Notion AI).
Enterprise: Custom pricing is available upon request.
5. Confluence
Best for: Technical documentation and project collaboration for teams in the Atlassian ecosystem.
Image source: confluence.com
Confluence is a long-standing leader in the knowledge management space, particularly for technical teams. Its primary advantage is its deep, native integration with other Atlassian products, most notably Jira. This connection allows teams to seamlessly link project documentation, technical specifications, and meeting notes directly to development tasks, making it the default choice for many engineering, IT, and product organizations.
Key features
Confluence is known for its structured page trees, which are ideal for organizing complex documentation hierarchies. It offers a vast library of templates for everything from project plans to troubleshooting articles. Key features include real-time editing, page versioning, powerful macros for adding dynamic content, and collaborative whiteboards for visual brainstorming. The recent addition of Atlassian Intelligence provides AI-powered summarization and search enhancements.
Pros
The integration with Jira is Confluence's standout feature, providing unparalleled context for software development projects. It is exceptionally well-suited for creating and organizing large volumes of structured, long-form documentation. The platform also offers granular permissions and robust security controls, making it a reliable choice for enterprise environments.
Cons
The user interface is sometimes considered less intuitive than more modern alternatives.
The search functionality can struggle to surface relevant information from large knowledge bases.
Performance can slow down as the amount of content and the number of third-party apps increase.
The cost can be high for large teams, and some essential functions require paid add-ons from the marketplace.
Pricing
Free: Available for up to 10 users.
Standard: Starts at $5.16 per user/month.
Premium: Starts at $9.73 per user/month.
Enterprise: Custom pricing is available for large organizations.
6. Guru
Best for: Delivering contextual knowledge directly within existing workflows.
Image source: getguru.com
Guru offers a unique approach to knowledge management by focusing on bringing information directly to users where they are already working. Instead of requiring users to switch to a separate application to find information, Guru uses a browser extension and deep integrations with tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams to surface relevant knowledge proactively. This "in-workflow" delivery model is its core strength and differentiator.
Key features
Guru's standout feature is its browser extension, which allows users to access and capture knowledge on any website. Its AI-powered enterprise search can query connected apps and deliver answers within Slack or Teams. The platform uses a "card-based" format for bite-sized pieces of information and includes a robust content verification workflow that automatically reminds subject matter experts to review and update content, ensuring accuracy. New "Knowledge Agents" can be configured to deliver role-specific answers, tailoring the experience for different departments.
Pros
Guru is highly effective at reducing context switching and improving the productivity of customer-facing teams like sales and support. The verification system is excellent for maintaining a trustworthy and up-to-date knowledge base. The platform is consistently rated as being very easy to use and adopt.
Cons
The search functionality can be overly specific, requiring exact keywords to find the correct information.
Its card-based structure has limited customization options and is not designed for long-form, structured documentation.
Pricing
Starter: Free for up to 3 users.
Builder: $10 per user/month.
Enterprise: Custom pricing is available upon request.
7. Help Scout
Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses looking for a simple, integrated help desk and knowledge base.
Image source: helpscout.com
Help Scout is a customer support platform that includes a user-friendly and effective knowledge base tool called "Docs". The platform is designed for teams that value a personal, human touch in their customer interactions, primarily over email and chat. Its simplicity and ease of use make it an excellent choice for businesses that need a straightforward solution without a steep learning curve.
Key features
Help Scout's Docs feature allows users to build and publish a branded help center quickly, without needing to write any code. The platform includes AI tools to help write and refine articles, and its "Beacon" widget can be embedded on any website to provide contextual self-service and live chat. The reporting dashboard provides valuable insights into what customers are searching for, which articles are performing well, and where content gaps exist.
Pros
The platform is exceptionally easy to set up and maintain, allowing teams to get started in minutes. The seamless integration between Docs and the shared inbox is a major benefit; support agents can easily search for and insert articles directly into their replies. The Beacon widget is a powerful tool for providing contextual help and has been shown to significantly reduce support ticket volume.
Cons
The platform lacks some advanced features found in more comprehensive help desks, such as a formal ticketing system or sophisticated automation.
Its reporting capabilities are less robust than some competitors.
Pricing
Free: Includes up to 100 contacts per month.
Standard: Starts at $25 per month, with usage-based pricing for contacts.
Plus: Starts at $75 per month, with usage-based pricing for contacts.
8. Zoho Desk
Best for: Companies already invested in the Zoho ecosystem of business apps.
Image source: zoho.com
Zoho Desk's knowledge base is a core feature of its comprehensive help desk software, which in turn is part of the extensive Zoho suite of business applications. Its primary advantage comes from its deep and seamless integration with other Zoho products, especially Zoho CRM. For businesses that already run on Zoho, it provides a unified platform for managing customer information and support interactions.
Key features
A standout feature of Zoho Desk is its ability to create and manage distinct, branded knowledge bases for multiple brands from a single account. The platform offers automatic translation of articles into over 50 languages, making it suitable for global support teams. It also provides AI-powered article suggestions to agents within the ticketing interface and includes tools to make help center content SEO-friendly.
Pros
A major benefit is that there are no storage limits on the number of articles that can be created, which is a significant advantage for content-heavy organizations. The tight integration with the broader Zoho ecosystem allows for a 360-degree view of the customer, combining support history with sales and marketing data. The help center is also highly customizable to match company branding.
Cons
The user interface is functional but can feel less modern than some newer tools.
The platform is most effective for companies already using other Zoho applications; its value as a standalone product is less pronounced.
Pricing
Zoho Desk offers a free plan along with several paid tiers, including Standard, Professional, and Enterprise plans, with pricing starting at $20 per agent per month.
9. Nuclino
Best for: Teams seeking a simple, fast, and lightweight internal knowledge base.
Image source: nuclino.com
Nuclino is a unified workspace designed with a philosophy of simplicity and speed. It intentionally avoids the feature bloat of larger platforms, focusing instead on providing the essential tools for knowledge management and team collaboration in a clean, intuitive package. Its minimalist design and frictionless user experience make it an excellent choice for teams that value ease of use and rapid adoption.
Key features
Nuclino's core features include real-time collaborative editing, an exceptionally fast search function, and the ability to visualize content in multiple ways, including a standard list, a Kanban board, and a mind map-style graph view. The platform also includes a built-in AI assistant called Sidekick, which can answer questions based on the content within the knowledge base and assist with writing and summarizing documents.
Pros
The platform has a minimal learning curve, allowing new team members to get up and running almost immediately. Its interface is clean, modern, and free of distractions, which helps users focus on creating and consuming content. Users consistently praise Nuclino for its speed and reliability, from search to real-time document syncing.
Cons
The platform intentionally lacks many of the advanced features found in more complex tools.
It does not include sophisticated analytics, built-in workflow automation, or an extensive integration marketplace.
Pricing
Free: Includes up to 50 items.
Starter: $6 per user/month.
Business: $10 per user/month (this plan includes the Sidekick AI assistant).
10. ProProfs Knowledge Base
Best for: Creating straightforward help sites, manuals, and private knowledge bases with ease.
Image source: proprofskb.com
ProProfs is a user-friendly tool designed to make the process of creating an online knowledge base as simple as possible. It is well-suited for businesses that need to quickly set up either an external help center for customers or an internal knowledge base for employees. Its main selling points are its intuitive, MS Word-like editor and a large library of pre-made templates that streamline the content creation process.
Key features
The platform includes an AI writer to help generate and improve content, over 100 ready-to-use templates, and a powerful search feature with auto-suggest capabilities. It supports role-based permissions for content management, contextual help widgets (like tooltips and popups) that can be embedded on a website, and integrations with popular third-party tools such as Zendesk, Salesforce, and Google Analytics.
Pros
ProProfs is easy to use so it's a great option for non-technical teams that need to create and manage documentation without a steep learning curve. It offers a generous free plan that includes all premium features for up to 25 articles, allowing small teams to get started at no cost. The platform also integrates well with ProProfs' other customer support products, like their Help Desk and Live Chat software, offering a more unified support experience for users of their suite.
Cons
The platform is cloud-only and does not offer a dark mode.
Advanced customization requires knowledge of CSS and HTML.
Some users have reported that final pricing can be higher than expected and have raised concerns about the product's long-term viability.
Pricing
Free: Includes all premium features for up to 25 articles.
Essentials: Starts at $49 per author/month.
How to choose the best knowledge base software for your team
Selecting the best knowledge base software depends entirely on your team's specific needs and goals. A tool that is perfect for a large enterprise's technical documentation team might be a poor fit for a small startup's customer support crew. To make the right choice, consider the following questions.
Assess your audience
Determine who will be using the knowledge base. Is the primary audience internal employees, external customers, or a mix of both? For an external, customer-facing knowledge base, features like SEO optimization, custom branding, and ticket deflection capabilities are paramount. For an internal knowledge base, the focus should be on collaboration features, granular permissions, and integration with internal communication tools.
Evaluate your tech stack
Consider the tools your team already uses every day. Would a standalone knowledge base that integrates with your existing software be the best fit, or would an all-in-one platform that consolidates multiple tools and reduces context switching be more effective?. A deep integration with your help desk, project management software, or chat platform can significantly improve workflow efficiency.
Consider your team's technical skills
Be realistic about your team's ability and willingness to learn a new, complex tool. A highly flexible platform with a steep learning curve may seem powerful, but if it's too difficult for your team to use, it will likely suffer from low adoption and become neglected. Prioritize a tool with an editor and interface that matches your team's comfort level.
Define your content needs
Think about the type of content you will be creating. Will it primarily be simple, text-based articles and FAQs? Or will your team need to create more complex content involving rich media, interactive diagrams, code snippets, or dynamic data visualizations?. Ensure the platform you choose has the authoring capabilities to support your specific content requirements.
Plan for scale
Finally, choose a tool that can grow with your business. Consider how the pricing and feature set will scale as your team expands and your content volume increases. A solution that works well for a team of five might become prohibitively expensive or functionally limited for a team of fifty.
Conclusion
Choosing a knowledge base software that works for you is a strategic decision that goes beyond simply finding a place to store documents. It's about selecting a platform that actively helps your team create, share, and utilize knowledge to work more efficiently. The best solution centralizes all the scattered information while fitting seamlessly into your team's daily operations.
While standalone tools can be effective at documentation, a truly unified platform offers a more holistic solution. By weaving knowledge management directly into communication, collaboration, and data analysis workflows, platforms like Lark eliminate the friction between doing the work and documenting the work. This creates a true single source of truth that grows organically, boosts productivity, and fosters a more informed and connected team.
Frequently asked questions
What's the most reliable knowledge base software for remote teams?
Lark is a great option for remote teams because all the essential features such as chat, meetings, and a knowledge base can be found on a single platform. This streamlines knowledge sharing, workflows, and facilitates seamless real-time collaboration from anywhere.
What is the best free knowledge base software?
Lark and Notion are great for teams on a budget. Lark's free forever plan comes with 100GB and a suite of tools for up to 20 users, more than enough to get small to medium size teams to hit the ground running.
What is the best knowledge base software for customer support?
Lark and Zendesk are top choices if your focus is on customer support. With Lark, you can also create a CRM directly on the platform, which means your knowledge base will live in the same environment.
What's the best knowledge base software for IT companies?
Confluence is often the best choice for IT companies, as its deep integration with Jira and structured page trees are ideal for organizing technical documentation and project plans.
