21 Best Knowledge Base Software & Tools in 2023: A Comprehensive Guide

What good is knowledge if it can’t be put into practical use? That’s what most businesses struggle with – fragmented content lost in random emails and docs, leading to repetition of tasks.

Being in the customer support domain for around ten years, I know how knowledge base software can help elevate customer support and internal knowledge sharing. 

“Knowledge base software allows employees to solve a problem without bugging their manager. It also answers any doubts users have before they become paying customers”.

Neil Patel

After scrolling through hundreds of review websites and product reviews and drawing from my experience, I have curated a comprehensive list of the 21 leading platforms that can prove invaluable for your business. Here’s a quick summary of my top five:

Best Knowledge Base Software	Best For	Free plan/trial available?	Pricing
ProProfs Knowledge Base	Branding and customization	Yes.15-day free trial. Yes, for up to 25 pages	Paid plan starts at $19.99/month for 100 pages.
GetGuru	AI-powered searchability	Yes. Yes, for up to 3 users	Paid plans start from $10/user/month
Nuclino	Granular access controls	Yes, for up to 50 items and 2 GB storage	Paid plans start from $5/user/month
Zoho Desk	Creating forums and communities	No	Starts from $9.6/user/month
Confluence	Remote teams	Yes, for up to 10 users and 2 GB storage	Paid plans start from $5.75/user/month

List of 21 Best Free + Paid Knowledge Base Software in 2023

1. ProProfs Knowledge Base – Best for Branding & Customization

Customizable and easy to use, the tool has stellar features that aid content authoring, designing, and publishing. Its ready-to-use templates and customization features, like CSS and white labeling, help you build a knowledge base that aligns with your company’s branding. 

Besides third-party platforms, ProProfs Knowledge Base also plays nicely with sibling tools – ProProfs Help Desk and Live Chat, helping you provide 360° customer support. 

Talking of rich integrations, Sameer Bhatia, Founder & CEO, ProProfs.com also mentions during an interview with Authority magazine, “We use our own software — ProProfs Live Chat — to support our customers 24/7. We also use ProProfs Knowledge Base to provide self-service help. Interestingly, we first built these products for ourselves so we could offer the absolute best customer support and they are now used by many market-leading companies.”

What you will like: 

• AI-powered text editor with pre-built prompts for faster and error-free content creation
• A comprehensive reporting system to track and improve knowledge base performance

• Simple and straightforward pricing structure with no hidden fees or month-end surprises

“Our knowledge base has exploded to over 200 useful articles full of relevant data, documentation, images and video.”

Trever Ehrlich, Creative Solutions Manager, Innovations Lab, Kenco Group

What you may not like: 

• Frequent feature updates can make the experience overwhelming for users
• More personalized template designs would have been better 

Pricing:

Forever free plan for up to 25 articles with all premium features. Paid plan starts at $19.99/month for 25+ articles.

2. Guru – Best for AI-Powered Searchability

If you are specifically looking for a company wiki solution, then Guru is a great bet. 

It is one of the best internal knowledge base software options I have used so far. It allows you to capture information from the tools your team frequently uses, such as Google Docs, Slack, email, and CRM. 

This knowledge can then be stored in “Cards” to make it instantly accessible for your teams. Moreover, its AI-powered search further ensures that end-users get the most accurate information that closely matches their queries. 

Although Guru is designed mainly for internal use, you can also publish content externally through its APIs. 

What you’ll like:

• Capture knowledge effortlessly via Slack and convert into Cards 
• Powerful integrations with tools like Confluence, Slack, and Zendesk

What you may not like: 

• Adding videos to Cards can be cumbersome 
• Limited customization options can impact the overall experience 

Pricing:

A free plan is available for up to 3 users. Paid plan starts from $10/month.

3. Nuclino – Best for Granular Access Controls

Nuclino is another knowledge base platform that is designed mainly for internal use.

From what I have experienced, the software provides teams with a fast and seamless way to collaborate with each other and get work done quickly. Teams can manage projects and share knowledge easily in one unified space, which helps prevent silos and context switching. 

The software also provides granular access controls to ensure you have full control over users’ roles, responsibilities, and activities. 

Nuclino is quick to set up, easy to search, and works beautifully with over 40 popular platforms like Slack, Figma, and Google Drive, among others. 

What you’ll like: 

• Dedicated mobile apps for Android and iOS 
• Teams can use internal comments to collaborate on documents

What you may not like: 

• Lack of formatting options 
• Dated user interface 

Pricing:

A free plan is available for up to 50 items and 2 GB storage. Paid plan starts from $5/user/month.

Read More: Top 10 Nuclino Alternatives & Competitors 2023

4. Zoho Desk – Best for Creating Online Forums & Communities

Zoho is a popular omnichannel customer service software that combines help desk ticketing and self-service with AI capabilities. Zoho Desk offers the knowledge base as part of its customer support suite. 

What I found most interesting about this knowledge base software is that in addition to help centers, it also helps you build online forums and communities for your customers to discuss problems and get instant answers. 

For a more elaborate solution, customers can submit tickets right from the help center and even track their status. 

What you’ll like: 

• Customers can submit tickets or even respond to comments right from the help center
• Customers can chat with your support agents from the same interface

What you may not like: 

• The knowledge base is not offered as a standalone solution. This means you have to pay for the entire package even if all you need is their knowledge base. 
• The tool’s search system is not that efficient

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $9.6/user/month.

5. Confluence – Best for Remote Teams

Confluence is a popular cloud-based knowledge base software that enables teams to manage knowledge together, collaborate on projects, and stay connected no matter where they are. 

You can pick one of their templates and instantly kickstart the process of creating a knowledge base. 

As I see it, Confluence is great for remote teams that require a flexible workspace where they can stay organized and get everything they need in seconds. 

The best part is you can extend Confluence’s capabilities by integrating it with over 3000 apps including Slack and JIRA. 

What you’ll like: 

• It’s easy to stay updated on recent activities and ongoing work with a personalized home page
• Dedicated mobile apps for iOS and Android help you provide on-the-go support 

What you may not like: 

• As per some users, the tool has a steep learning curve
• Online reviews state that its search system is not that impressive

Pricing:

A free plan is available for up to 10 users and 2 GB storage. Paid plan starts from $5.75/user/month.

6. Zendesk Guide  – Best for Content Localization

As one of the oldest and most popular knowledge base tools, Zendesk focuses on providing conversational and connected experiences across channels. 

Its knowledge base software, popularly known as Zendesk Guide, is offered as a part of the customer support suite. 

As one of the best knowledge base systems, Zendesk Guide also provides contextual self-service right inside your product for an exceptional customer experience.  

Using this tool, I could personalize my knowledge base and localize it in over 40 languages for a diverse audience spread across the globe. 

What you’ll like: 

• You can preview the customizations before final publishing
• It offers an answer bot for super quick and 24×7 self-service

What you may not like: 

• Only one help center can be created in its basic plan
• It doesn’t offer a knowledge base as a standalone solution

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $19/month.

7. HelpCrunch – Best for Automated Chatbot-Led Self-Service

An all-in-one customer support platform, HelpCrunch is one of the best knowledge base software for small, medium, and growing businesses. 

It helps you provide 24×7 multichannel customer support via chat, email, and self-service. With a powerful editor and well-structured hierarchies, HelpCrunch makes content authoring a breeze.

I find its search system quite powerful as it automatically suggests keyword-relevant answers and provides customers with a top-notch information-gathering experience. 

What sets it apart is its FAQ chatbot that delivers relevant knowledge base articles based on specific scenarios, taking the entire customer support experience to a whole new level. 

What you’ll like: 

• Comprehensive reports to track failed searches and customer reactions
• Cost-effective tool for growing businesses

What you may not like:

• Lacks multilingual capabilities

Pricing: 

Paid plan starts from $12/month.

8. Notion – Best for Collaborative Project & Knowledge Management

If building an internal knowledge base platform for your employees is your top priority, Notion can be a great choice. 

The tool has helped me build a unified workspace where teams can collaborate to manage projects, maintain documents, and stay updated. This has made collaboration a lot easier, even for remote teams working from different locations. 

Notion is a highly flexible tool as it combines the capabilities of both project and document management. You can customize the platform with the drag-and-drop interface and get started quickly with its extensive library of pre-designed templates. 

What you’ll like: 

• Pre-built templates to kick-start content creation
• Co-editing and internal comments to boost collaboration

What you may not like: 

• Reports are not that comprehensive
• Steep learning curve for new users 

Pricing:

Free plan available. Paid plan starts from $8/user/month.

9. Bloomfire – Best for Collaborative Authoring

Bloomfire provides one unified and searchable space for your teams to share knowledge and collaborate on tasks. 

Its AI-powered search works at lightning speed, pulling out accurate answers in an instant. Customizable filters and automated tagging make the search process more seamless. 

What I found unique about Bloomfire is that it allows employees to stay engaged via comments, likes, and personalized feeds. The tool also offers built-in analytics to track search trends and measure knowledge base performance. 

What you’ll like: 

• Offers file syncing integrations with tools like Google Drive and OneDrive
• Important information can be bookmarked for easier access

What you may not like: 

• Offers limited choice in terms of its price plans
• The search system shows unrelated posts at times as per some online reviews

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $25/user/month.

10. Whatfix – Best for in-app guidance

Whatfix is a reliable digital adoption platform that provides users with step-by-step instructions on how to use your software. It offers a contextual support experience, helping users navigate through the application seamlessly. 

Along with popups, beacons, and task lists, Whatfix provides a self-help knowledge base right within the application, so users do not have to go from pillar to post to find the help they need. 

Additionally, I can vouch for the tool’s in-app guidance. It is a remarkable feature that aids user onboarding and accelerates product adoption. 

What you’ll like: 

• Engage with users across multiple touchpoints such as widgets and popups
• Smart targeting for user-level segmentation

What you may not like: 

• Programming knowledge is required for complex tasks like adding a popup in the middle of a flow
• Reporting can be glitchy at times

Pricing:

Custom pricing

11. HelpScout – Best for Creating SEO-Optimized Knowledge Base

Having extensively used HelpScout, I believe it is one of the best knowledge base software for startups. 

The tool offers a knowledge base as a part of its customer support solution that also includes live chat and a help desk. Its self-service tool, popularly known as Docs, helps you create both an internal and external knowledge base with ease. 

You can create knowledge-based articles and embed them anywhere on your website as a sidebar, popover, or modal. The tool’s auto-generated sitemap and SEO capabilities are good for optimizing these articles for search engines. 

What you’ll like: 

• You can add hyperlinks, tables, videos, and much more to articles
• Agents can share knowledge base article links in ticket responses

What you may not like: 

• The tool can be costly for those looking only for specialized knowledge base software
• Only one Docs site is offered in the standard plan

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $20/user/month.

12. Slite – Best for Fast & Flexible Editing

Slite provides a centralized home to all your company knowledge. It helps you create structured documents with its fast and flexible editor. 

The tool also offers ready-made templates that can help set up your documentation quickly. Each article can have a separate workflow that shows its progress from the time it is created until it gets published. 

Slite comes with both desktop and mobile apps so your teams can document information, collaborate on ideas, and share knowledge on the go. You can also plug in content by integrating Slite with tools like Trello, Loom, Slack, and the like. 

What you’ll like: 

• A vast range of templates to create a custom knowledge base 
• Intuitive UI and short learning curve for both tech and non-tech users 

What you may not like: 

• Limited options for importing and exporting
• Navigation gets a little complex on mobile phones

Pricing:

Free plan available. Paid plan starts from $8/member/month.

13. ServiceNow – Best for Built-in Community Forum

ServiceNow’s knowledge management tool helps you offer self-service support to both customers and employees. 

Using this tool, you get a familiar writing experience similar to MS Word. You also get comprehensive analytics to monitor knowledge base usage, gaps, timelines, and feedback. Such insights can be harnessed to fine-tune your content and boost its performance. 

I also love the fact that it comes with a built-in community forum that gives customers and employees a shared space to crowdsource answers and get personalized support. 

What you’ll like: 

• Handle and schedule IT requests across departments
• Fully customizable and highly scalable 

What you may not like: 

• The tool is not beginner-friendly
• Its mobile app is complex to set up

Pricing:

Custom Pricing

14. HubSpot – Best for Knowledge Base & CRM Integration

HubSpot is another popular software that offers a suite of marketing, sales, service, and CMS solutions.

Its knowledge base tool comes as a part of the service hub and offers top-notch features to help you create delightful self-service experiences. 

One of the most fascinating features of this tool is that it plays nicely with HubSpot’s CRM. Articles viewed by customers are automatically recorded in the CRM to ensure agents don’t share duplicate content in their ticket responses. 

What you’ll like: 

• Create a knowledge base in a language your audience prefers
• All HubSpot solutions work in sync with each other

What you may not like: 

• Search can be a little slow at times
• Lacks knowledge base templates

Pricing:

Free plan available. Paid plans start from $18/month

15. LiveAgent – Best for Creating an Internal Forum

LiveAgent is an all-in-one tool that provides ticketing, knowledge base, live chat, and social media solutions. Using its knowledge base system, you can provide self-service support in multiple languages to cater to a diverse audience. 

With a powerful search engine, discussion boards, and custom themes, we could provide a stellar self-help experience for our end users. 

You can also create an internal forum where employees across departments can exchange ideas, share experiences, and collaborate with each other. 

What you’ll like: 

• You can add different types of attachments to articles
• Create unlimited knowledge bases from a single account

What you may not like: 

• It’s not a standalone knowledge base tool
• UI could be improved

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $9/agent/month.

 16. Happyfox – Best for Third-Party Integrations

Happyfox, an exceptional knowledge base tool, is tailor-made for optimizing customer support to unparalleled levels of efficiency.

 Its robust features seamlessly combine knowledge management with ticketing, ensuring a holistic approach to issue resolution. 

What sets Happyfox apart is its remarkable integration capabilities, creating a cohesive support ecosystem where knowledge seamlessly integrates with ticket workflows, resulting in accelerated problem-solving and enhanced agent productivity.

What you’ll like: 

• Happyfox simplifies the process of authoring and structuring articles, enabling even non-technical users to contribute effectively.
• The tool’s seamless link between knowledge articles and support tickets not only expedites problem-solving but also empowers agents with quick access to relevant information.

What you may not like: 

• While Happyfox offers customization options, delving into advanced settings might require some technical expertise.
• For new users, there might be a slight learning curve when exploring the tool’s comprehensive range of features.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $26/agent/month.

17. Wix Answers – Best for Sleek Interface

Wix Answers is a knowledge base tool that seamlessly blends style with substance. 

As I see it, the tool is designed to help you build a visually captivating knowledge hub that aligns with your brand identity. Thanks to its wide customization options! 

It excels in creating engaging articles enhanced with multimedia elements, providing a dynamic self-service experience. The tool’s sleek interface ensures easy article creation and management, while its robust search functionality guarantees users find answers quickly.

What you’ll like: 

• Wix Answers allows you to design a knowledge base that reflects your brand’s aesthetic, enhancing user engagement.
• Embed images, videos, and interactive elements within articles to create engaging and comprehensive content

What you may not like: 

• While suitable for most businesses, advanced customization might be limited for those requiring highly specific functionalities.
• As your knowledge base grows, you might need to upgrade to higher-priced tiers to accommodate increased content.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $24/month.

18. KnowledgeOwl – Best for AI-Driven Search

KnowledgeOwl, a versatile and innovative knowledge base tool, stands as a cornerstone for businesses aiming to offer exceptional self-service support. 

Unleash your brand’s full potential with its fully customizable and feature-rich platform, granting you the power to build a knowledge base that resonates with your unique identity. 

From what I experienced, it’s super seamless to craft and organize articles with its intuitive interface, while its comprehensive categorization and tagging options effortlessly guide users to the information they seek. 

The tool’s cutting-edge search functionality employs AI-driven insights, ensuring users swiftly access relevant solutions. 

What you’ll like: 

• KnowledgeOwl allows you to design your knowledge base to match your branding, ensuring a seamless user experience.
• Gain insights into user behavior and article performance to continually refine and improve your knowledge base.

What you may not like: 

• Setting up and customizing the tool might require a bit more time and effort initially.
• While suitable for many businesses, the cost might be a consideration for smaller organizations with tight budgets.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $79/month for small teams.

 19. Helpjuice – Best for Multi-Language Support

Helpjuice, a leading knowledge base platform, is a strategic asset for large enterprises aiming to provide exceptional customer self-service. Its comprehensive suite of features empowers businesses to build and manage an expansive knowledge base effortlessly. 

The platform’s advanced analytics offer invaluable insights into user behavior and content performance, enabling data-driven optimizations. 

With its scalability and multi-language support, Helpjuice is the go-to solution for organizations seeking to enhance customer experiences on a global scale.

What you’ll like: 

• Gain deep insights into user engagement, popular articles, and search patterns to continuously refine your knowledge base strategy.
• Helpjuice seamlessly grows alongside your business, accommodating expanding content needs and user interactions.

What you may not like: 

• Given its extensive features, mastering the platform might take some time for new users.
• While feature-rich, the cost could be a consideration for smaller businesses.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts from $120/month.

20. Document360 – Best for Version Control & Collaboration

Document360 is a cutting-edge knowledge base tool tailored for tech-centric businesses seeking to provide comprehensive technical documentation. 

It offers an intuitive interface that simplifies the creation and organization of intricate articles, making it the go-to platform for hosting developer documentation and user guides. 

The tool’s version control and collaboration features ensure seamless teamwork, while its powerful search capabilities ensure users quickly locate relevant technical information.

What you’ll like: 

• Document360’s version control safeguards documentation integrity, allowing teams to track changes and maintain accurate records.
• Tech-savvy users can leverage Markdown for precise formatting and presentation of technical content.

What you may not like: 

• The tool’s tech-focused nature might pose challenges for non-technical users during content creation.
• While feature-rich, pricing might be a consideration for smaller businesses.

Pricing:

Free plan available. Paid plans start from $49/month.

21. MediaWiki – Best for Creating Wikis & Documentation

MediaWiki, a renowned open-source wiki platform, is a treasure trove for collaborative knowledge creation. Ideal for teams and communities, it empowers users to collaboratively build extensive wikis and documentation. 

Its robust features include rich text editing, version history, and multilingual support, facilitating the seamless creation and management of diverse content. With a vast array of extensions and plugins, MediaWiki offers unparalleled flexibility to adapt the platform to unique use cases.

What you’ll like: 

• MediaWiki’s plethora of extensions and plugins enable tailored functionality, making it adaptable to various project requirements.
• The detailed revision history ensures content integrity and offers the ability to revert to previous versions.

What you may not like: 

• For users new to wiki-style platforms, mastering the ins and outs of MediaWiki might take some time.
• Being an open-source platform, maintenance, and updates fall on the user or the hosting provider.

Pricing:

Free and open source platform.

Which is the Best Knowledge Management Software?

Choosing the best knowledge base software from a long list of robust and feature-rich tools is challenging. However, considering some aspects, like the primary users, features to prioritize, and usability, you can make an informed decision. 

I would recommend ProProfs Knowledge Base as it is the right combination of simplicity and features. Its AI text editor speeds up the authoring process with pre-build prompts. Features like internal comments and user-based roles take collaboration to the next level. 

My team is not the only one that has reaped its benefits; Judy Hutchison, Systems/Operations Manager, RightAnswer.com, also mentions, “ProProfs made it super easy for us to create individual sites for our software offerings.”

Let’s explore the basics of Knowledge Management software before you revisit the list to make the final decision. 

What Is Knowledge Base Software?

Knowledge base software is a tool that helps you author, store, and publish self-service content for your customers and employees. You can create documentation, user manuals, guides, how-to articles, video tutorials, and FAQs in simple steps. 

You can easily create and edit content with a built-in AI editor with ready-made prompts and customize it with CSS and white labeling features. It also comes with a robust reporting system that helps you unlock critical insights into how your self-service content is performing. 

Knowledge base software is usually sold as a (Software as a Service) model, which lets users access these features on a subscription basis and from anywhere with internet connectivity. SaaS platforms don’t need on-premise installations or ongoing maintenance from the customer.

It enables a centralized repository of information to store, manage, and easily retrieve information about your products, services, policies, and procedures.

Types of Knowledge Base Software

Knowledge base software comes in different forms, catering to the specific requirements of diverse industries. 

From technical documentation to sales enablement, these knowledge base tools streamline information management and customer support. Let’s look at all the common ones:

1. External Knowledge Base

 

An external knowledge base is a self-help platform where customers can find all the help they need to get acquainted with your products or services and solve problems independently.

2. Internal Knowledge Base

An internal knowledge base is a storehouse of critical business knowledge meant for consumption by your employees. It comprises information on your company policies, SOPs (standard operating procedures), products and services, clients, and more. 

Here’s a quick video that explains everything about an internal knowledge base.

Employee Handbook Software

Employee handbook software  helps keep employees updated on the company’s vision, mission, policies, functions, etc., with a centralized and easily accessible employee handbook

3. Online Documentation

Online documentation simplifies documenting software details. It helps users explore the product’s features and benefits through interactive visuals and a comprehensive guidebook.

Help Authoring Software

Help authoring software helps technical writers and content creators create user manuals, FAQs, and online help guides. 

Software Documentation

Software documentation software helps create detailed software application guides, manuals, and tutorials. 

HR Documentation Software

HR documentation software streamlines and centralizes human resource documents, policies, and procedures. 

IT Documentation Software

IT documentation software enables IT professionals to organize network diagrams, hardware configurations, troubleshooting guides, and IT policies. 

Product Documentation Software

Product documentation software helps create detailed product guides, specifications, and assembly instructions. 

Process Documentation Software

Process documentation software helps map business processes, workflows, and standard operating procedures. 

Technical Documentation Software

Technical documentation software mainly helps industries like engineering and manufacturing, facilitating tools to create detailed technical manuals, specifications, and diagrams. 

Training Documentation Software

Training documentation software helps create training modules, course materials, and interactive guides.

4. User Manual

A user manual provides instructions, guidance, and information on using a product or service effectively. 

Technical Manual Software

Technical manual software helps generate intricate technical manuals for machinery, equipment, and specialized devices. 

Training Manual Software

Training manual software assists in crafting comprehensive training manuals and guides for various educational purposes.

5. Help Center

A help center is a centralized resource that provides support and assistance to users, customers, or employees. 

Call Center Software

Call center software centralizes customer support knowledge, including FAQs, troubleshooting guides, and product information. 

Sales Enablement Software

Sales enablement software assists sales teams with up-to-date product information, sales scripts, competitive analyses, and customer success stories. 

Context-Sensitive Help Software

Context-sensitive help software enables targeted assistance within software applications based on users’ actions and queries. 

In-App Help Widget

In-app help widgets are interactive tools integrated into the tool’s interfaces, providing on-the-spot assistance to users. 

6. Wiki Software

Wiki software facilitates collaborative content creation and editing. It enables teamwork and knowledge sharing by allowing multiple users to contribute, edit, and update content. 

 7. FAQ Software

FAQ software takes self-service to another level. It streamlines the creation and management of frequently asked questions. 

Read More:Knowledge Base Software – Why It’s Important According to Expert

What Are the Benefits of Knowledge Base Software?

Whether you are an e-commerce store, a growing company, or an established corporation, creating a knowledge base is a fool-proof strategy that can give your business a definite edge in the marketplace. 

Let’s explore the top benefits of knowledge base software for your customers and employees. 

1. Knowledge Base for Customers 

A knowledge base software for customer support system can bring multiple benefits to the table, such as: 

Boosts Customer Satisfaction

Today’s empowered customers love to be on their own. 

Self-reliance promises better and faster solutions. It’s much more convenient for customers to solve problems independently than wait for hours on calls or emails to get basic questions answered.

By delivering instant 24×7 assistance, a knowledge base ensures your customers have a satisfying experience with your brand.

Reduce Your Support Ticket Volume

It’s common to find agents flooded with tickets, most of which are for trivial issues that customers themselves can easily handle. With a comprehensive knowledge base at your customers’ disposal, ticket volume can be substantially reduced. 

As customers start addressing challenges independently, your agents will have to deal with fewer tickets, and they can devote their time to more critical tasks. 

Read More: How to Reduce Support Tickets With Self-Service Knowledge Base

2. Knowledge Base for Employees 

Just like customers, your employees too can benefit from a knowledge base. Let’s see how. 

Fosters a Collaborative Work Culture 

 An internal knowledge base makes business-critical information seamlessly accessible to employees. Democratizing company knowledge enables teams to quickly access the information they need and share it within their departments. 

This saves time and effort, eliminates silos, and, most importantly, lets employees work collaboratively on projects and stay on the same page. As collaboration improves, there is more innovation in product development and delivery, customer satisfaction goes up, and your sales start growing. 

Helps Employees be Their Productive Best 

Productivity goes down the drain when employees have to spend hours on emails, calls, and scattered documents to get the information they need. A centralized knowledge base takes the unnecessary to and from out of the picture by making information access a matter of a few clicks. 

With all the help right at their fingertips, employees can stay laser-focused on the tasks at hand and work more productively.  

Aids Employee Onboarding 

New employees have a hard time adjusting to new company culture and understanding the new roles and responsibilities.

An informative internal knowledge base, wiki, or employee handbook introduces them to your company policies and working style, so they can get up to speed faster. 

Every time new hires are stuck at work, this self-help resource points them in the right direction and helps them work effectively right from day one, elevanting the employee onboarding experience. 

Improves Organizational Efficiency 

Internal knowledge base solutions promote a culture of knowledge sharing where employees can share their insights, experiences, and expertise under one roof. 

The downtime for employees to get what they need reduces drastically, which helps them perform tasks and complete projects successfully and on time. 

On top of that, it keeps your workforce up to date with the latest company news and developments. This improves the overall organizational efficiency, productivity, and quality of deliverables.

Knowledge Base Software Features: What to Look For

Choosing the right knowledge base software is essential to streamline information management, enhance customer support, and foster internal collaboration. 

Let’s look at the must-have features in a knowledge base tool: 

1. Content Authoring and Editing

An efficient knowledge base software should have an MS Word-like editor at its heart. 

It should also be equipped with generative AI features for real-time content suggestions and pre-built prompts to help users write fast and error-free. 

Features like WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors, templates, and version history assist content creators to create engaging and informative articles. 

Flexible editing options ensure your knowledge base is dynamic, seamlessly accommodating updates, revisions, and new content.

2. Powerful Search Capabilities

Intelligent, Google-like search functionality is the backbone of any effective knowledge base. 

Advanced search algorithms, auto-suggestions, and synonym recognition help users quickly pinpoint relevant information within extensive databases. 

Enhanced search capabilities boost efficiency, making content retrieval quick and hassle-free, enriching user experience, and providing information accessibility.

3. Branding and Customization

Your knowledge management system should have flexible branding and customization features that allow you to personalize your knowledge platform’s color scheme, fonts, themes, and design. 

You should be able to add your company’s logo, brand name, and styling elements to your knowledge base with the help of your knowledge management software. 

It should also allow you to create a knowledge base in multiple languages to cater to a broader global audience. Integration with Google Translate makes it more accessible.

4. Collaborative Tools

Knowledge cannot be managed in silos by one person as it is a collaborative effort where all users come together to create, manage, and maintain your knowledge platform. 

The knowledge base tool should offer team collaboration features that allow you to define the roles and responsibilities of different members. 

As a master administrator, you should be able to assign functions like administrator, contributor, editor, and viewer to other users and set their responsibilities accordingly.

5. Built-In Reports

A knowledge base constantly needs to be updated with improved content. To do so, you should analyze what’s missing and what’s working well. 

Smart analytics feature helps to analyze your knowledge base using the following metrics:

• Number of articles created
• Total number of searches
• Failed and successful searches
• Poorly rated and popular articles
• Broken Links
• Keywords that were unable to yield results
• Author activities

 

6. G-Suite Integration

Look for a knowledge base system that syncs seamlessly with Google Workspace, making document import/export a breeze. 

It should enable real-time collaboration, helping everyone work together on files. It should also ensure centralized access to essential documents. 

All this simplifies content management and speeds up knowledge base development, making your work life smoother and more efficient.

7. Feedback System

Having a knowledge base tool with a robust feedback system helps users easily share insights, flag inaccuracies, and suggest improvements. 

Regular feedback helps engage end-users and ensures your knowledge base stays fresh and tailored to their needs. 

It keeps your content top-notch, evolving with every user interaction.

How to Choose the Right Knowledge Base Software

Getting your hands on the right knowledge base software is a pivotal first step that lays a strong foundation for the rest of the process. 

Before you pick a tool, several factors should be considered to make the right decision.

Get Your Basics Clear

Basics related to pricing, integrations, customization, security, etc., must be crystal clear before you zero in on a tool. 

You should ask yourself the following questions to clarify your need: 

• Do you want free or paid software? 
• What is your budget for the tool? 
• What kind of software integrations are you looking for? 
• Do you need a code-free tool? 
• How many customizations and security levels do you require? 
• What advanced functionalities do you need? 

Once you have the answers to these questions, you can do your research right and make an informed decision. 

Are There Any Other Solutions for Creating a Knowledge Base? 

Ever thought that WordPress could be used for creating a knowledge base? 

It is inarguably a great tool to have in your tech stack. However, it is not a specialist tool for building a customized knowledge base with a unique domain. 

WordPress is essentially a Content Management System designed to help you build your company’s website. 

It allows you to add a knowledge base to your website using a plugin. These plugins have several limitations in terms of SEO, searchability, and access rights.

For example, you cannot keep your content private. Setting a review and approval workflow is also not possible. On top of that, managing a large quantity of content can be a big challenge with WordPress. 

If you need advanced functionalities for building a stellar knowledge base that is optimized for search engines, is highly searchable, and works across devices, then WordPress will not fit the purpose. 

You will require a specialist tool that is well-equipped with the best-in-class features that aid you across all stages of knowledge base creation, right from content authoring and designing to user management and publishing. 

Free Vs. Paid: Which One Is Better? 

Who doesn’t like a free tool?

Especially if you are a small business on a tight budget, you might look for cost-cutting opportunities everywhere possible. 

While free tools look attractive on the surface, they are not for the long haul. 

Most free tools offer limited functionalities and soon become unsuitable as your company scales and documentation needs grow. Early in the journey, you will realize free tools are too essential and do not serve the purpose. 

So, next time you come across free knowledge base software. Look for the free version’s features and assess if those functionalities will be beneficial in the long term. 

On the contrary, paid tools are equipped with advanced features that can be instrumental in shaping your knowledge base. Most tools on the market offer multiple paid plans. As the features get more advanced with each plan, the price also goes up. 

This is where you need to jot down your requirements and map them with the paid plans available. While a starter plan might suffice for some of you, those with a large customer or employee base might need a customized, enterprise-level plan.

Ease of Use

The user-friendliness of knowledge base software is essential to get the most out of the tool. Look for intuitive interfaces and simple navigation. The tool should be used without any coding knowledge. 

It should be accessible to everyone in your team, regardless of their technical proficiency. A system with a clean layout and easy-to-understand features ensures that your team can quickly adapt and focus on content creation rather than grappling with complex tools.

You should request demos or trial periods to enable team members to interact with the software firsthand. Gather feedback from potential users during these trials to gauge the platform’s usability. 

You can also review case studies and testimonials from businesses like yours to understand their experiences with the software’s usability.

Scalability

Consider your company’s future growth. Choose a software tool that can scale along with your business. As your knowledge base grows, the platform should accommodate the increasing volume of data without compromising speed or performance. 

Scalability ensures that your knowledge base stays efficient and responsive even as your business evolves and your data grows.

To ensure the same, research the tool’s specifications regarding database size limits, concurrent user capacity, and content upload limitations. 

You can also contact the software provider’s support team to ask about their clients’ experiences scaling the platform as their needs grow. 

Integrations

The software’s ability to integrate with other tools and platforms is essential. Check for compatibility with your existing software stack. 

Seamless integrations with communication tools, project management software, and customer relationship management systems enhance collaboration and workflow efficiency. These integrations help your team consolidate information, streamline processes, and provide a unified experience for both employees and customers.

To ensure the same, review the tool’s official documentation and integrations marketplace to understand available integrations. Contact the software provider’s sales or support team to inquire about specific integrations crucial for your business. 

The Importance of Knowledge Base Design

In the dynamic landscape of customer support, the significance of knowledge base design cannot be overstated. A well-crafted design transcends aesthetics, serving as a strategic tool that shapes user experiences and drives successful self-service initiatives.

Knowledge base design goes beyond aesthetics; it’s the cornerstone of user engagement and satisfaction. A well-designed interface with visual allure, user-centric navigation, mobile responsiveness, and interactive elements is pivotal in creating a knowledge hub that resonates, empowers, and drives successful self-service adoption.

Difference Between Help Desks and Knowledge Bases 

In customer support, the distinction between help desks and knowledge bases is pivotal. 

Understanding their unique roles and functionalities unveils the power of combining these tools to deliver exceptional support experiences.

Help Desks

A help desk is a dynamic hub for issue resolution. It’s a communication-focused platform that facilitates direct interactions between support agents and customers.

Ticket management, real-time chat, and personalized assistance make help desks instrumental in addressing specific inquiries and complex problems.

Knowledge Bases

Knowledge bases, on the other hand, are self-service treasure troves. They house a repository of articles, guides, and FAQs designed to empower users to find solutions independently.

Knowledge bases nurture proactive support, enabling users to explore and learn at their own pace.

Ready to Boost Productivity, Collaboration, and CSAT?

Knowledge base software isn’t just about organizing data; it’s about empowering your team, providing excellent customer satisfaction (CSAT), and steering your business towards new possibilities.

That’s what ProProfs Knowledge Base helps you achieve – create insightful and error-free knowledge articles and websites with an AI-based text editor to empower your customers with self-service. On top of that, it facilitates team collaboration to ensure your team is informed and on the mark.

Users can import existing files, such as Word documents or PDFs, and edit them within ProProfs Knowledge Base. Multiple users can contribute, review, and edit the documents with internal comments. 

With the top 21 knowledge base tools at your fingertips, you can craft your knowledge base, nurture it with care, and make your customer experience a delight!