SharePoint vs Confluence
Enterprise knowledge management, team collaboration, and content platform comparison for 2026.
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Enterprise knowledge management, team collaboration, and content platform comparison for 2026.
SharePoint (Microsoft) and Confluence (Atlassian) are both enterprise collaboration and knowledge management platforms. SharePoint is the stronger choice for Microsoft 365 organizations needing document management, compliance, and intranet. Confluence is stronger for development teams built on Jira and Bitbucket. This guide covers head-to-head features, security, compliance, pricing, and migration.
By Errin O'Connor, Founder & Chief AI Architect, EPC Group
The definitive enterprise comparison for knowledge management, collaboration, and content platforms in 2026.
SharePoint and Confluence are top platforms for managing enterprise content and knowledge. SharePoint has over 200 million monthly active users in Microsoft 365. It serves as the main system for enterprise content management.
Confluence, on the other hand, has around 75,000 customer organizations. It leads in the developer wiki and Atlassian ecosystem.
EPC Group has experience in enterprise SharePoint consulting since 1997. We have completed hundreds of SharePoint deployments, migrations, and governance projects. Our assessments focus on key criteria that enterprise decision-makers value:
Are you selecting a platform for a new deployment? Are you considering a migration from Confluence to SharePoint? Or perhaps you are consolidating your content management tools? This guide provides the objective comparison you need.
A detailed breakdown of core capabilities across both platforms as of 2026.
| Feature | SharePoint | Confluence |
|---|---|---|
| Content Management | Full enterprise CMS: document libraries, lists, pages, news, metadata | Wiki-style pages, blogs, spaces, labels |
| Document Management | Version control, check-in/out, metadata columns, content types, records management | Page versioning, attachments, no native document management |
| Real-time Co-authoring | Native with Word, Excel, PowerPoint via Office Online | Real-time page editing with multiple users |
| Search | Microsoft Search across entire M365 ecosystem, AI-powered ranking, custom verticals | Confluence search + Atlassian product search, CQL queries |
| Page Templates | Modern page templates, site templates, custom content types | Space templates, page templates, global templates, blueprints |
| Permissions & Access | Granular permissions: site, library, folder, item level; Azure AD groups | Space, page, and restriction-based permissions; Atlassian Access |
| Workflow Automation | Power Automate (hundreds of connectors), SharePoint Designer (legacy) | Automation rules (basic), Jira automation, third-party apps |
| Custom Development | SharePoint Framework (SPFx), Power Apps, Power Automate, Microsoft Graph | Atlassian Forge, Connect framework, REST API |
| App Marketplace | Microsoft 365 App Store + Power Platform solutions | Atlassian Marketplace: 3,000+ apps |
| Intranet Capabilities | Full intranet platform: hub sites, communication sites, Viva Connections | Basic intranet via spaces (limited design control) |
| Mobile Experience | SharePoint mobile app + Teams mobile + OneDrive mobile | Confluence mobile app |
| Integration Depth | Native with Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, Power BI, Dynamics 365, Viva | Native with Jira, Trello, Bitbucket, Opsgenie, Statuspage |
| AI Features | Copilot for SharePoint, AI-powered search, content suggestions | Atlassian Intelligence for summaries and writing assistance |
| Storage per User | 1 TB per user + 10 GB per license pool (M365 plans) | Varies: 250 GB (Standard), unlimited (Premium) |
For organizations in regulated industries, compliance and data governance capabilities are decisive factors.
Total cost of ownership includes licensing, storage, integrations, and administrative overhead.
Included with Microsoft 365 plans
1 TB storage per org + 10 GB/user, SharePoint sites and pages
SharePoint + Teams + OneDrive + Exchange + web Office apps
Everything above + desktop Office apps, webinar hosting
Full compliance suite: DLP, eDiscovery, retention, Information Barriers
Advanced compliance, analytics, Copilot add-on eligible, Teams Phone
Key advantage: SharePoint is bundled with Microsoft 365. Organizations already using Microsoft 365 get SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, and Office apps in a single license.
Standalone wiki & collaboration platform
Up to 10 users, 2 GB storage, community support
250 GB storage, user permissions, audit logs (90 days)
Unlimited storage, analytics, IP allowlisting, sandbox, 24/7 support
Unlimited sites, Atlassian Guard Premium, data residency, 99.95% SLA
Note: Confluence is a standalone product. Organizations must have separate subscriptions for the following services:
Where SharePoint provides clear enterprise value over Confluence.
Native integration with Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Power BI. Every SharePoint document library is automatically accessible in Teams. Co-author documents in real time without leaving the platform.
Build custom business apps with Power Apps, automate document workflows with Power Automate, and embed Power BI dashboards in SharePoint pages. No-code/low-code development that Confluence cannot match.
400+ compliance certifications including HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2, and GDPR. Built-in DLP, eDiscovery, records management, retention policies, and sensitivity labels through Microsoft Purview.
Full enterprise intranet capabilities with hub sites, communication sites, news digests, Viva Connections, and organizational-level broadcasting. Confluence offers basic spaces but no comparable intranet framework.
Unified search across SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, and the entire Microsoft 365 ecosystem. AI-powered relevance, custom verticals, bookmarks, and Q&A. Confluence search is limited to Atlassian products.
Full document management with version history, check-in/out, content types, metadata columns, records management, and disposition workflows. Confluence is a wiki, not a document management system.
Where Confluence provides differentiated value.
Deep native integration with Jira (issue tracking), Bitbucket (code repos), Trello (project boards), Opsgenie (incident management), and Statuspage. If your engineering team lives in Atlassian, Confluence is a natural fit.
Purpose-built for technical documentation with code blocks, macros, page trees, and space hierarchies. Confluence has been the de facto developer wiki for 20+ years, and the editing experience reflects that heritage.
Confluence page editor is widely praised for its simplicity. Drag-and-drop macros, inline comments, status labels, and decision logs make it easy for non-technical users to create structured documentation.
3,000+ apps in the Atlassian Marketplace including draw.io, Gliffy, Scroll Versions, and ScriptRunner. Many apps are purpose-built for engineering documentation workflows.
Works equally well with AWS, Google Cloud, and non-Microsoft toolchains. Organizations running on Google Workspace or Linux-based environments find Confluence integrates more naturally.
Built-in automation rules for page publishing workflows, notifications, and Jira-Confluence sync. Lightweight automation without requiring a separate platform like Power Automate.
EPC Group has successfully migrated organizations with thousands to hundreds of thousands of Confluence pages to SharePoint Online. Our approach ensures:
Inventory all Confluence spaces, pages, macros, and attachments. Identify stale content, active pages, and critical documentation.
Design the SharePoint information architecture: sites, document libraries, page layouts, navigation, and metadata schema. Map Confluence labels to SharePoint managed metadata and content types.
Migrate pages, attachments, and embedded content using proven migration tools. Convert Confluence macros to SharePoint web parts.
Role-based training for content editors, readers, and administrators. Quick-start guides for SharePoint modern pages.
For enterprise organizations, SharePoint is a comprehensive platform. It includes:
This all comes in one package with Microsoft 365. Organizations already using Microsoft 365 do not need extra licensing.
Confluence is the better choice for engineering-focused organizations using the Atlassian stack. This includes tools like Jira, Bitbucket, and Trello. It is also perfect for small development teams needing a dedicated wiki. Furthermore, it works well for companies that mainly use Google Workspace or AWS.
The bottom line: If your organization uses Microsoft 365, SharePoint offers significantly more value than Confluence at no extra cost.
When choosing between the two in a non-Microsoft setting, think about your main needs:
Expert answers to common enterprise questions about SharePoint and Confluence.
For enterprises using Microsoft 365, SharePoint is typically the stronger choice because it provides unified identity management via Azure AD, native integration with Teams, Outlook, and Office apps, plus enterprise-grade compliance features (HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2). Confluence excels for Atlassian-centric organizations that need deep Jira integration and a purpose-built developer wiki experience.
SharePoint Online is included in all Microsoft 365 business and enterprise plans, starting at $6/user/month (Business Basic) up to $57/user/month (E5). Confluence Cloud pricing is Free for up to 10 users, Standard at $6.05/user/month, and Premium at $11.55/user/month. For organizations already paying for Microsoft 365, SharePoint is included at zero additional cost. Confluence requires a separate subscription on top of any existing Microsoft licensing.
Yes. SharePoint can replace Confluence for wikis, knowledge bases, documentation, team collaboration, and content management. SharePoint also adds capabilities Confluence does not offer natively, including enterprise content management, records management, Power Platform integration for workflow automation, and deep integration with Microsoft Teams for real-time collaboration on documents.
Migration from Confluence to SharePoint involves exporting Confluence spaces and pages, mapping space structures to SharePoint sites and document libraries, migrating page content and attachments, preserving metadata and permissions, and redirecting URLs. EPC Group provides end-to-end Confluence-to-SharePoint migration services including content restructuring, metadata mapping, and user training for organizations of all sizes.
SharePoint offers Microsoft Search, which provides a unified search experience across SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, and the entire Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It includes AI-powered relevance ranking, custom verticals, result types, and Microsoft Graph-powered recommendations. Confluence search is limited to Confluence content and Atlassian products. For organizations using Microsoft 365, SharePoint search is significantly more powerful and far-reaching.
Confluence has traditionally been favored for developer documentation due to its native Jira integration, code block formatting, and wiki-style page hierarchy. However, SharePoint has closed this gap significantly with modern pages, code web parts, integration with Azure DevOps, and the ability to embed GitHub repositories. For teams heavily using Jira, Confluence offers tighter developer workflow integration. For all other scenarios, SharePoint provides more enterprise value.
SharePoint offers deeper enterprise customization through the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) for custom web parts, Power Apps for no-code/low-code applications, Power Automate for workflow automation, and Microsoft Graph API for programmatic access. Confluence offers Atlassian Forge and Connect frameworks for app development, plus 3,000+ marketplace apps. SharePoint customization tends to be more enterprise-oriented; Confluence customization is more developer-wiki focused.
Migration timelines vary by content volume and complexity. A mid-size migration (500-5,000 pages) typically takes 4-8 weeks including planning, content mapping, migration execution, testing, and user training. Large enterprise migrations (10,000-100,000+ pages) may take 3-6 months. EPC Group has migrated Confluence environments with over 50,000 pages to SharePoint, maintaining full content fidelity and metadata preservation.
Schedule a free consultation with EPC Group's SharePoint and content management experts. We help enterprises evaluate, deploy, and migrate SharePoint and Confluence environments.
Enterprise SharePoint implementations, migrations, governance, and intranet design from certified Microsoft consultants.
Optimize your SharePoint document libraries with metadata, content types, version control, and records management strategies.
Design secure, manageable SharePoint permission structures with Azure AD groups, inheritance, and least-privilege access.
Continue exploring sharepoint insights and services
SharePoint (Microsoft) and Confluence (Atlassian) are both tools for enterprise collaboration and knowledge management.
SharePoint is ideal for Microsoft 365 organizations that need:
On the other hand, Confluence is better for development teams that use Jira and Bitbucket.
SharePoint adds several enterprise capabilities that Confluence does not offer natively.
EPC Group runs Confluence-to-SharePoint migrations. The process involves five steps.
If your organization uses Microsoft 365, choose SharePoint — it is included in E3/E5 and provides deeper compliance, document management, and Copilot AI integration.
Choose Confluence if your team relies on Jira and Bitbucket and needs a wiki designed for developers. Many enterprises use both tools:
If you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber, SharePoint is included at no extra cost.
In contrast, Confluence has two pricing tiers:
Additionally, there are separate costs for Jira, Jira Service Management, and other Atlassian tools.
Total Atlassian stack cost often exceeds the marginal cost of adding SharePoint to an existing M365 subscription.
Yes, EPC Group migrates Confluence spaces to SharePoint sites. We handle the entire process, which includes:
The main challenge in migration is Confluence's macro-heavy page content. Complex macros need manual conversion to SharePoint web parts.
Yes, SharePoint modern pages function like wiki-style pages. They support rich text content, embedded images, linked files, and web parts for dynamic content.
SharePoint also offers a built-in Wiki page template. This template is ideal for creating knowledge base-style content.
The page editing experience differs from Confluence, but both tools serve similar functional purposes.
Talk to a SharePoint architect about your platform decision or Confluence migration project. Call (888) 381-9725 or request a 30-minute discovery call.
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