Confluence vs. Notion for Collaboration & Knowledge Management

As the number of remote and hybrid positions has skyrocketed in the last several years to levels never seen before, teams everywhere must face an important question: how do you collaborate and stay aligned with a team that rarely (or never) meets face-to-face?

Countless collaboration tools (also known as groupware) have risen as answers to that question — tools that existed before remote and hybrid work grew to its current status in today’s work environment, but that teams must lean on a little more heavily than before.

Confluence and Notion are two popular collaboration and knowledge management tools that teams can use as a source of truth and a space to develop ideas together. Since these tools serve similar purposes, you may have to make a decision between the two for your team or organization.

So, which one should you choose? The answer may depend on your team’s individual profile and needs, but here is a general comparison of the two tools that may help you make your decision.

What is Confluence?

At its launch in 2004, Confluence was primarily a Wiki solution, but since then, it has grown to become much more. Today, it serves not only as a tool for building a comprehensive knowledge base, but also as a collaborative workspace for teams of all types.

Confluence is popular with developers and IT teams due to its integration with Jira and other widely used development tools, but it’s easy to learn and use and can serve as a source of truth for teams working in any industry.

Want to know more about Confluence? Check out our guide to what Confluence is used for >>

What is Notion?

Notion is a more recent arrival to the collaboration and knowledge management scene. Launched in 2016, it has quickly grown into a popular tool for both businesses and individuals attempting to organize projects and keep team members on the same page.

Like Confluence, Notion has a good following in the developer space, but it’s especially popular with small businesses and individuals looking for a personal note-taking and project organization tool. 

Comparing Confluence and Notion

Although many factors may influence your decision to choose either Confluence or Notion for your own team, three key areas to consider are the usability, features and integrations, and scalability of each tool. 

Usability

Confluence and Notion both offer an easy-to-use interface that is versatile to many types of content. Both also have a selection of templates to help you structure content as you get started.

Confluence’s interface is similar to that of other word processing tools like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, and Confluence offers built-in macros as well as third-party apps that can expand its base functionality and allow you to create different types of content.

Notion’s base content interface is similar to Confluence, but it has a drag-and-drop editor that allows you to rearrange elements of a page quickly. Notion also allows you to write formulas that pull in information from your Notion databases and run calculations or manipulate data, giving it additional flexibility for teams that are ready to do a little extra modification.

The consensus among reviewers of both products on G2 is that the two tools are close to equal on many usability factors, including the content editor, templates, organization, and ease of use. Either one will serve your team well as an easy-to-learn collaboration tool.

Features & Integrations

Both Confluence and Notion have real-time collaboration capabilities and mobile apps, so you can work with your team from anywhere. They also both offer the ability to create personal and team spaces for private or shared content, so they can serve as either a personal organization tool or a collaborative space.

Since Confluence was created by Atlassian, it integrates well with other Atlassian tools such as Jira and Jira Service Desk. If your team already uses other Atlassian tools, Confluence will fit naturally into your workflows.

Even outside of other Atlassian products, Confluence has a large integration selection, including a marketplace where hundreds of new apps (like Gliffy!) are added each year.  

Notion has fewer integrations than Confluence. Some argue that it doesn’t need them because it fulfills the purposes of multiple other tools (for example, the knowledge management use case of Confluence along with the project management use case of Jira). However, if you’re looking for a tool that integrates well with others you already have, Confluence may be more likely to fulfill that need.

Scalability

Large organizations or those looking to scale quickly often choose Confluence because of its reliability and its long-established reputation as a trusted knowledge management tool. Additionally, Confluence has very detailed permission structures and admin roles that allow a more detailed level of control over the spaces across an organization.

Notion does have the ability to support enterprise teams, but the enterprise market is where Confluence really shines. 34% of Confluence reviewers on G2 come from enterprise organizations of over 1,000 employees, while Notion’s percentage of enterprise reviewers is only 4%. 75% of the Fortune 500 use Atlassian products, including Confluence, compared to Notion’s 35%.

Many enterprise teams also consider SharePoint when choosing a knowledge management tool. To learn more about how SharePoint matches up with Confluence, check out our Confluence vs. SharePoint blog >> 

Confluence vs. Notion: Which Should You Choose?

Confluence and Notion are both popular collaboration and information management tools that allow teams to keep projects and initiatives organized. Both offer a space to record and share ideas and keep your team in the loop with the latest updates.

However, for teams already committed to the Atlassian ecosystem, Confluence is the clear choice. Its integration with other Atlassian tools like Jira and Trello make it the best fit for your team’s workflows.

Additionally, large organizations or those looking to scale quickly may also want to look to Confluence to fulfill their collaboration and knowledge management needs.

If you’re part of a software development team and have chosen Confluence as your primary knowledge management tool, make sure you’re getting the most out of Confluence by downloading our free ebook on how to build software documentation your team will actually use.

Finally, if you’ve come to the conclusion that Confluence is the knowledge management that best fits your team’s needs, don’t forget to add Gliffy to your Confluence space. Gliffy allows you to create visuals that align and empower your team directly in Confluence, making it easier than ever to share information and stay connected.

TRY GLIFFY FREE