Introduction
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"Knowledge management," is more than just a buzzword. Businesses need viable knowledge base tools in order for their teams to perform their jobs effectively.
And knowledge-sharing isn't just an internal requirement. Sixty-three percent of customers will look through a company's online resource before contacting a support agent.
Choosing the right cloud-base knowledge base is a crucial part of any information architecture — whether you're a startup, small business or corporate enterprise.
This comprehensive guide will help you to understand the various types of knowledge base software, so you can choose the best solution for your team.
TLDR; Best Knowledge Base Software
Jump to any tool on our list to get started.
- Scribe
- Help Scout
- Document360
- Helpjuice
- Zendesk
- Notion
- Guru
- Confluence
- Zoho Desk
- Bloomfire
- Intellum
- Nuclino
- MangoApps
- Slite
- HappyFox
What is knowledge base software?
A knowledge base solution (also known as an external or internal wiki) is a self-service resource that enables companies to document, store and share information about:
- Your product and services.
- Processes and standard operating procedures.
- Troubleshooting issues.
- Frequently asked questions.
The knowledge base content is often referred to as a "knowledge base article." This is the specific documentation designed to answer questions or outline a process.
Usually, this documentation should include illustrations or annotated screenshots, and links to any relevant resources.
The purpose of a knowledge base solution is to enable employees and customers to resolve issues on their own. This will reduce ticket count, improve productivity and overall enhance the software user experience.
Types of knowledge base software
There are different types of knowledge bases for different needs, divided into two major categories: the external and internal knowledge base.
Internal knowledge base
An internal knowledge base is a resource built for employees to access information about the company and how to do their jobs.
An enterprise-grade solution might be limited to an on-premise intranet, or an SSO-based software as-a-service (SaaS) solution (often called a cloud-base knowledge base).
An internal knowledge base or wiki software will usually include the following documentation:
Company policies
An enterprise company will make sure to capture all relevant business value documentation in its knowledge base. This includes:
- Employee handbooks and benefits information.
- Industry regulations.
- Corporate policies.
- Company values.
This point here is to provide proactive support for your teams, answering common questions, introducing them to internal policies, and collating vital information by category.
Standard operating procedures
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are step-by-step instructions on how to complete internal processes accurately and efficiently.
Create a folder for each department, then categorize processes based on their importance and difficulty.
Process documentation will likely make up the majority of the content in your internal knowledge base.
Project documentation
A knowledge base is also an excellent internal collaboration tool.
Create content in a templatized knowledge base article in order to capture your project stakeholders, milestones and KPIs.
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Link your knowledge base to your project management software to quickly launch and manage workflows.
External knowledge base
An external knowledge base type, also called a help center, is a customer-facing open source site.
The purpose here is to create an excellent software user experience through a self-service portal.
You might also pair this with a community forum or web widget chatbot to support an omnichannel customer experience.
Here are the most common knowledge base articles in an external help center.
User manual
A user manual is a customer-facing document designed to walk users through how to set up and use a product or answer common questions.
The contents of the user manual might vary depending on the software, product or service. But you can expect to see step-by-step instructions with a visual element, product information, and support team contact information.
Troubleshooting guide
A troubleshooting guide (or troubleshoot guide) is a vital part of any self-service knowledge base.
Create a solution article as proactive support for any frequent issue or customer query. Internally monitor engagement with these pages so that you can create content to meet ongoing needs.
An example of a troubleshoot tip could be on how to undo an action, or reset your account.
FAQ pages
This is the place to list answers to each customer query by relevance and regularity. It's one of the best ways to save time for knowledge base self-service.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) should be easy to access from your homepage. Add your content as questions evolve to keep up with proactive support.
We recommend responding to the same questions in simple, easy-to-understand language. Use bullet points and make sure to link relevant knowledge.
Product education
Product education is one of the best ways to showcase business value. It should include everything you want a user to know about your tool or service. For example:
- An instruction manual or installation guide.
- Product documentation like feature or new product release notes.
- Billing information, like if you have a free plan, subscription pay plan or free trial.
- A video tutorial or product demo.
Self-service content with a powerful navigation menu offers proactive support, improving the customer experience and enabling faster ticket response times.
Top 12 knowledge base software of 2024
1. Scribe
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G2 rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars.
Capterra rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Best for: Proactive support and content management for teams
Overview:
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Scribe is an AI-powered process documentation and knowledge-sharing solution that creates step-by-step guides.
This easy-to-use browser extension and desktop app captures any process. But instead of having to record and transcribe video, Scribe creates a visual guide complete with text, links and annotated screenshots.
Scribe's Pages feature allows you to combine guides to organize your knowledge, build wikis and save time.
Scribe features:
Scribe offers a free plan that meets several knowledge management needs, like:
- Scribe captures any process on Chrome, Edge or your desktop.
- 100+ easy-to use page templates and searchable content.
- Scribe sidekick, which walks users through a process step-by-step.
- It immediately creates visual step-by-step guides complete with descriptions and visual elements.
- You can easily set role permissions to authorize access levels for team members and clients.
- Share links, embed, or export guides in seconds.
Scribe is a startup that recently raised its series B. The growing company is promoting a different way to work and making knowledge base management easier than ever.
2. Help Scout
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Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Best for: Unified Customer support, help widget and help desk software
Overview:
Help Scout is a popular help desk software that improves customer service by helping teams quickly construct an internal wiki and external knowledge base.
The customer service platform also provides Beacon, a chatbot web widget that quickly responds to tickets, sorts responses by category and links users with the support team.
Helpscout features:
- A shared inbox so you can easily crowdsource and offer quick customer support.
- Automated workflows.
- The web widget chatbot.
- Customized reporting.
The solution is great for an enterprise company or small business looking to support employee and customer needs. It offers a 15-day free trial if you're interested in learning more.
3. Document360
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Capterra rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Best for: Self-host knowledge bases and content categorization
Overview:
Document360 is AI-powered knowledge management solution that offers a public-facing self-service knowledge base and wiki software.
Customize your plan with extensive add-ons to create a unique experience for your software users.
Document360 features
These online knowledge bases include:
- A powerful search engine and navigation menu.
- Top-level category sorting.
- Folder management and wikis.
- An included workspace.
4. HelpJuice
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G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Best for: Content discoverability and format options
Overview:
HelpJuice streamlines knowledge management, making it easier for team members and customers alike.
Helpjuice is focused on creating a positive user experience, so you can build folders and add your content based on your unique information architecture.
Helpjuice features:
- Advanced customizations with source code access.
- Internal collaboration tools and comments.
- Role permissions and assignments.
- Version tracking.
- Reporting analytics dashboard.
Use this knowledge management system to manage projects and share relevant in formation. Helpjuice offers feature flexibility across pricing tiers for easy scalability as your company grows.
5. Zendesk
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G2 rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars.
Capterra rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Best for: Sales and customer support
Overview:
Zendesk is a service and sales communication platform that centralizes organizational knowledge.
The comprehensive tool manages your entire sales funnel, ensuring a seamless transition through the customer lifecycle.
While not a new product, Zendesk is a modern solution that's adaptable to your team and information architecture.
Zendesk features:
- Full-fledged ticketing system and customizable help center.
- Call-tracking and reporting.
- Standard chatbots.
- Pre-built dashboard.
- User-friendly statistics.
Zendesk is a popular solution with robust features. However, it may be expensive for small businesses and startups with basic requirements.
6. Notion
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G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Capterra rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Best for: Content management and knowledge base articles
Overview:
Notion is a highly adaptable application that can serve as a database, notepad, project management system or collaborative technical writer environment.
Its versatility makes it a feasible alternative for developing an internal knowledge base, although it lacks several functionalities required for customer-facing knowledge base systems.
Notion features:
- Various internal collaboration tools and team space.
- Easy-to-use templates and format options.
- Easily share documents and article drafts.
Despite its flexibility, using Notion efficiently can have a longer learning curve. However, when learned effectively, your knowledge base's arrangement and labeling will be fully in your hands, allowing you to personalize it to your exact needs.
7. Guru
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G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Capterra rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Best for: Customer-facing teams
Overview:
Guru is a popular application for internal knowledge management across teams. This AI-driven platform offers advanced customizations and integrations with any of your favorite tools.
Guru features:
- Enterprise AI search bar and powerful search engine.
- Easy-integration for tools with internal information.
- Personalized company intranet and wiki.
- Customized user interface.
Note: While Guru excels at organization use cases like onboarding, keeping support and sales employees informed, and ongoing communications, it is not meant to support a self-service portal for customers.
Take advantage of Guru's 30-day free trial to learn more.
8. Confluence
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G2 rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars.
Capterra rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Best for: Private knowledge base and team workspace
Overview:
Atlassian's Confluence is a flexible solution for team collaboration and knowledge management.
While it is primarily used for internal information management, it can also be utilized as a platform for customer knowledge bases.
Confluence features
- Collaborative editing and real-time comments.
- Interfaces with project management software like Jira and Trello.
- Unlimited workspace and pages.
- Whiteboard capability for mind maps and more.
Confluence is a dynamic tool that best serves internal use cases. It's worth noting that Confluence's search function isn't as powerful as some other platforms that offer AI-powered and context-based searches.
9. Zoho Desk
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G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Best for: Self-service portal and support experience
Overview:
Zoho Desk provides a ticketing system and help desk solutions along with a strong knowledge base.
The site is easy to use for content creators, with specific sections for how-to article drafts, FAQs and more.
Zoho features:
- Advanced web forms and rich text editor.
- Live help widget chatbots and self-host options.
- Omnichannel messaging.
- Guided conversations.
The knowledge base in Zoho Desk is very customizable, allowing customers to construct multiple homepage portals for different user groups, both internal and external, and change the branding as needed.
10. Bloomfire
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Capterra rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars.
Best for: Internal information-sharing and crowdsource
Overview:
Bloomfire, a knowledge base software, aims to reduce organizational silos by centralizing knowledge.
Its comprehensive search scans all types of data, including video tutorials, ensuring employees always have easy access to relevant information.
Bloomfire features:
- Unlimited data storage.
- Access to the Bloomfire community forum.
- AI-powered search and content discovery tools.
- Powerful reactive support experience.
Bloomfire builds a feeling of community around knowledge, driving high engagement by allowing employees to ask and answer questions within the platform.
11. Intellum
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Capterra rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Best for: Content management for large audiences
Overview:
Intellum combines knowledge base capabilities with a learning management system.
It's designed for educating huge audiences of 10,000 or more, catering to a wide range of businesses.
Intellum features:
- Content categorization.
- Technical writer and content text editor.
- Real-time collaboration functionality.
- Customizable user interface.
- Full-text search bar.
You need to contact a sales representative for a personalized quote to get price information.
12. Nuclino
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Capterra Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Best for: Collaborative knowledge base articles and brainstorming
Overview:
Nuclino aims to improve your team's information management by creating a uniform workspace for optimal collaboration and knowledge sharing. This is particularly useful for hybrid and remote teams.
Nuclino offers a different way to share relevant information across teams.
The tool is extremely interactive, incorporating real-time collaboration that extends beyond storing and retrieving data.
Nuclino features:
- Real-time collaboration in rich text editor
- List, board, table and graph views.
- Set permissions for public, small group and personal use.
- Attach files from mind meister for flowcharts and mind maps.
With active interaction through document creation, editing, and commenting, Nuclino is a dynamic hub for knowledge sharing.
13. MangoApps
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Capterra Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Best for: Internal information management and community forums
Overview:
The MangoApps knowledge base type best suits internal use cases.
This intranet and primarily focused on centralizing employee workspaces to provide consistent and accessible client information.
MangoApps features:
- Digitally organize and attach files, URLs and resources with "Libraries."
- Powerful information architecture.
- Collaborative social mediums to crowdsource, comment and share documents.
MangoApps' user-friendly interface is similar to social media apps, with threads, comments and group functions. It also provides a wide range of integrations and branding customization choices.
14. Slite
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Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Best for: Employee workflows and personal knowledge base
Overview:
Slite's primary focus is to help teams create and maintain a cohesive and vast internal knowledge base.
Slite enables teams to quickly capture and document new knowledge, in any form.
Slite features:
- Capture meeting notes and customer interactions instantly.
- Document workflows with the project management tool.
- Create articles to manage procedural changes and best practices.
- Share internal information in real time.
Furthermore, Slite's internal knowledge base software is extremely adaptable and ideal for both less tech-savvy teams, who can easily use its basic content creation features, and advanced users, who can leverage its more technically strong features.
15. HappyFox
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G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Best for: Help desk and customer support
Overview:
HappyFox, a cloud-based CRM, provides knowledge management systems to a variety of businesses.
Their knowledge base includes user-friendly features such as multi-brand user portals, feedback collection, and unique internal and external knowledge management systems.
HappyFox features:
- Omnichannel tickets and tagging.
- Managed roles, permissions and schedules.
- Multilingual agent portal and reactive support.
- SSO and migration assistance.
While HappyFox shines in terms of feature offerings, it falls short in terms of pricing and integration choices. Unfortunately, no free trial or free plan is available, but they do have various pay plans worth exploring.
Why do you need knowledge base software?
Here are a few of the most important benefits of knowledge base software.
Improved customer satisfaction
Imagine you run an e-commerce store. You can use a knowledge base to create articles targeting frequent consumer inquiries on topics such as:
- Shipping, processing or credit card require.
- An installation guide.
- Product documentation and updates.
- Troubleshoot steps.
- Returns.
... and other relevant information.
Solution articles are a self-host option that saves your team time, reduces tickets and increases satisfaction with your organization.
Consistent communication
Consider a software company that frequently updates its product.
Without a knowledge base, support agents might rely on different sources of information to address customer queries. This can result in inconsistent responses.
With a knowledge base, all support agents have access to the same, relevant knowledge and product documentation.
This guarantees customers receive consistent and reliable information from your support team.
Optimize office and remote work
When all of your company's documents, procedures, and rules are saved in a well-organized knowledge base, both in-office and remote employees can access the same resources.
For example, your HR department can make an employee handbook available to everyone, regardless of location.
This adaptability not only promotes efficient cooperation but also ensures that employees have access to critical resources, whether they are in the office or working remotely.
Knowledge base software FAQs
Who uses a knowledge base?
Knowledge bases are great for personal use, and support businesses and organizations in:
- Onboarding and training.
- Troubleshooting issues.
- Documenting knowledge content and SOPs.
Customers and clients frequently use knowledge bases to provide self-service support. Knowledge bases are used by educational institutions to provide learning resources, and content creators can utilize them to share information with a larger audience.
Why do we use knowledge base software?
Knowledge base software provides several critical functions. It centralizes information, making it easier to organize and retrieve. This simplifies data access, which is crucial to customer self-service support. It improves internal communication by providing a shared resource for team members.
Another critical factor is consistency; knowledge base software ensures that users across the company have access to the same, up-to-date information. Overall, it improves efficiency by minimizing redundancy, promotes problem-solving and learning, and provides an organized approach to information management.
What is a knowledge base example?
Wikipedia is a well-known public knowledge base that allows people to contribute and retrieve information on a variety of subjects. Internal knowledge bases, which are private, employee-focused platforms used for training, company regulations, and documentation, are commonly maintained by businesses.
Help centers are customer-facing knowledge bases that provide solutions to frequently asked questions on websites and software applications. Medical reference databases, technical documentation, and legal references are examples of specialized knowledge bases that cater to specific fields or industries.
Get the right knowledge base software
Choosing the right knowledge base software is a critical decision that necessitates a well-defined strategy and an ability to adapt to changes.
You now understand the fundamental components of an efficient knowledge base system, such as user-friendly interfaces, powerful authoring tools, dynamic search features, customization options, and analytics. You are now well-equipped to make an informed selection. But, make sure your choice matches your company's growth and evolving needs.
Knowledge management software, such as Scribe, boosts employee productivity and customer happiness by helping you create, organize, and share your company knowledge bases with your team and customers. Ready to build a robust knowledge base?
