Top 10 Best External Knowledge Base Software in 2025

I used to think knowledge bases were just glorified FAQ pages. I thought I didn’t need them if I had a stellar support team. Oh, how wrong I was!  

My “aha!” moment came when I was desperately searching for a solution to a software glitch at 2 AM, with no support agent in sight. Stumbling upon a help page built with external knowledge base software and a clear answer to my problem was like finding an oasis in the desert.

I realized the true power of a knowledge base. It’s not just about deflecting support tickets but also about empowering customers with instant access to information 24/7. 

In this blog, I will discuss my top 10 external knowledge base software, highlighting their key features and benefits. I’ll also provide a comprehensive guide on how to choose the right platform.

What Is External Knowledge Base Software?

External knowledge base software is an online tool that helps organizations create, manage, and share information with customers, partners, and other external users.

It helps create and maintain a self-service portal where users can access FAQs, product documentation, troubleshooting guides, and other helpful resources. 

For example, a tech company offering a cloud-based project management tool can use external knowledge base software to host onboarding guides, integration tutorials, and API documentation.

When customers have questions about setting up their accounts or connecting third-party apps, they can search the knowledge base instead of contacting customer support.

Let me show a real-life example, aka a case study, of how Colorado Theological Seminar reduced phone calls and email inquiries with external knowledge base software:

Top 10 Best External Knowledge Base Software Tools

In this list, I have provided a comprehensive analysis of different options, comparing features, pricing, and use cases to guide them toward the best solution for their specific needs.

Here’s a quick summary of my top 10 external knowledge base software:

1. ProProfs Knowledge Base

For Easily Creating Help Sites, Manuals, and External & Private Knowledge Bases 

My team has been using ProProfs Knowledge Base to create and manage comprehensive external knowledge bases, which has helped us enhance customer self-service and streamline support operations. Its user-friendly interface and AI-powered content authoring simplify the process of building, organizing, and sharing knowledge.

We can also tailor the look and feel of our knowledge base to match our brand identity, creating a seamless and professional user experience. This includes adding custom domains, logos, color schemes, and even CSS customization for a truly unique and on-brand knowledge base.

Also, ProProfs Knowledge Base offers robust security features to protect sensitive information and ensure compliance with industry standards. Access controls, user authentication, and encryption capabilities safeguard your knowledge base content and maintain user trust. 

What You Will Like: 

• 100+ knowledge base templates to help you create error-free knowledge base articles quickly
• Revision history to track up to 30 recent changes made to your knowledge base, restore previous versions, and compare two different versions of a page or article
• Multi-branding to create different versions of a single site by applying different branding styles to it
• Comprehensive analytics and reporting tools, allowing you to track key metrics, understand user behavior.

What You May Not Like:

• No downloadable or on-premise version
• A dark user interface option is not available.

Pricing:

Forever Free Plan with all the premium features for small teams. Paid plan starts at $49/author/month.

2. Zendesk Service

Ideal for Zendesk Suite Users

I like Zendesk’s user-friendly interface, WYSIWYG editor, and customizable templates that make crafting visually appealing and informative articles, FAQs, and tutorials easy. Its collaboration features, such as AI-powered article recommendations and content cues, ensure customers are presented with the most relevant information.

Its powerful search functionality, with options for filtering and indexing, ensures that users can quickly find the answers they need. Moreover, features like customizable branding and a clean, modern design allow businesses to create a help center that aligns with their brand identity and provides a positive user experience.

What You Will Like:

• Integrates seamlessly with a variety of other tools, including CRMs, chatbots, and social media platforms
• Lets users engage with customers through various messaging channels, including social media
• Lets you automate tasks and streamline support processes with customizable workflows.

What You May Not Like:

• Gets pricey as you add on features
• No automatic resizing option for the reply text area, particularly noticeable on Chrome.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts at $19/agent/month.

3. Notion

To Create Internal Wikis for Teams Sharing Informal Knowledge

I had used Notion before for its ability to create a structured and interconnected knowledge base. Its database functionality helped me create pages for different categories, link related content, and build a hierarchy of information that is easy for users to navigate.  

The platform also allows you to embed various media types, like images, videos, and files, to create engaging and informative articles. Also, Notion’s clean and minimalist design ensures that the focus remains on the content, providing a distraction-free reading experience for your users.

What You Will Like:

• Lets multiple team members contribute to the knowledge base simultaneously
• Features like version history and commenting facilitate collaboration and ensure everyone is on the same page
• Lets you organize your content with tags and categories to improve searchability further.

What You May Not Like:

• I found it a little difficult to format text/pages for a first-time user
• Lacks an option for visualizing data – no real offline mode.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts at $10/seat/month.

4. Atlassian Confluence

Ideal for Team Collaboration on Documents

Atlassian Confluence helps create well-structured and organized documentation. Its hierarchical page structure, combined with a rich text editor and templates, allows you to present information in a clear and logical manner.

You can create dedicated spaces for different product lines or support categories, making it easy for customers to navigate and find the information they need.

The platform allows multiple users to edit and contribute to the same document simultaneously, fostering teamwork and ensuring everyone is on the same page. Features like inline comments and @mentions facilitate communication and feedback, streamlining the content creation and review.

What You Will Like:

• The advanced search functionality supports filters, labels, and even natural language queries
• Can easily integrate it with other Atlassian tools, such as Jira Service Desk, to provide a unified support experience.
• Enables insights on knowledge base usage, such as identifying popular content and understanding user engagement. 

What You May Not Like:

• Some users do complain about its steep learning curve
• Sometimes, the search system is not that accurate at showing relevant results.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts at $5.16/user/month.

5. ServiceNow

Ideal for Built-in Community Forum 

ServiceNow‘s key strength lies in its ability to create a centralized knowledge repository. Its Knowledge Management application provides a structured platform for organizing and managing knowledge base articles, FAQs, and other documentation. This ensures that customers have access to a single source of truth, reducing confusion and improving self-service success.

My favorite is the platform’s powerful workflow engine, which can also automate knowledge management processes, such as content approval and publishing, ensuring consistency and efficiency. It also allows multiple agents and subject matter experts to contribute to the knowledge base, fostering a collective effort in building a comprehensive and up-to-date resource.

What You Will Like:

• Its GenAI helps you generate knowledge content from closed incidents and other sources
• Features like version control and knowledge feedback allow seamless collaboration and continuous content improvement
• Its integration with other ServiceNow applications, such as incident and customer service management, enables a unified support experience.

What You May Not Like:

• I felt that the tool was not beginner-friendly
• Its mobile app is complex to set up.

Pricing: 

ServiceNow offers a custom pricing plan starting at $70/user/month.

6. Document360

Choose It for Creating Online Documentation

I was using Document360 five years back for its customizable templates to develop and maintain effective documentation tailored to our brand and audience. This customization ensures that the knowledge base aligns with the company’s identity while providing a user-friendly experience for customers seeking information. 

Analytics is another powerful tool within Document360, providing insights into how users interact with the knowledge base. By analyzing metrics such as page views, search terms, and user feedback, companies can identify areas for improvement, better understand customer needs, and optimize their content strategy to enhance user satisfaction. 

What You Will Like:

• Enables version control to help track changes and revert to previous versions if necessary
• Enables integration with popular tools like Slack and Salesforce 
• Has an AI-powered search engine that returns context-sensitive results in milliseconds.

What You May Not Like:

• Changes to the custom code don’t automatically save and require you to do it each time manually
• Sometimes, it becomes hard to find where a broken link is on a page.

Pricing:

Available on request.

7. HubSpot

SEO-Optimize Your Help Articles

With HubSpot‘s well-structured knowledge base, companies can reduce the volume of support requests while enhancing customer satisfaction. Its easy-to-use knowledge base editor allows users to create, format, and organize articles without requiring technical expertise.

Businesses can structure their content with categories and subcategories, making it easy for customers to navigate and find the needed information. The platform also supports multimedia elements like images and videos, ensuring a more engaging and comprehensive knowledge-sharing experience.

What You Will Like:

• AI-powered search functionality
• Detailed analytics and reporting tools to track users’ interactions with the knowledge base
• Seamlessly integrates with its ticketing and chatbot systems, enabling a unified support experience. 

What You May Not Like:

• Sometimes, the search engine cannot read the document attached in a pdf format
• The form submissions are a bit complicated to reply to in a ticket and almost always cause two tickets to appear per submission.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts at $15/seat/month.

8. HelpCrunch

Ideal for Creating a Structured Help Center

I love HelpCrunch‘s intuitive article editor. It provides a seamless way to create, format, and organize content, ensuring that businesses can present information in a clear and structured manner. The editor supports rich media elements, like images and videos, making complex concepts easier to understand.

The platform’s AI-powered search lets users quickly find relevant articles based on keywords and intent. It enhances the self-service experience by delivering precise answers instantly, reducing customers’ time searching for information.

What You Will Like:

• Lets businesses categorize and tag articles for effortless navigation
• Provides insightful analytics to analyze article performance, identify knowledge gaps, and improve underperforming content
• Seamless integration with HelpCrunch’s live chat and ticketing system.

What You May Not Like:

• Lacks multilingual capabilities
• Cannot edit the message after it has been sent on the app.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts at $12/member/month.

9. Nuclino

Fast Collaboration to Bring Knowledge, Docs & Projects Together in One Place

Nuclino’s enables organizations to build a structured self-service hub where customers can access guides, FAQs, and troubleshooting resources. This reduces reliance on support teams while enhancing the customer experience with quick and easy access to critical information.

The platform’s real-time collaborative editor allows multiple team members to edit articles simultaneously, ensuring content stays updated with minimal effort. It also supports rich media, including images, videos, and embedded content, making articles more engaging and visually informative for users.

What You Will Like:

• Powerful linking and structuring capabilities—users can organize information in a connected, wiki-style format
• The search tool indexes content in real time, delivering relevant results instantly
• Integrates seamlessly with popular tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Trello.

What You May Not Like: 

• The lack of customization options in Nuclino, especially when it comes to the visual appearance of documents
• New users may still need some time to learn the platform’s features and get accustomed to its interface.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts at $6/user/month.

 10. Zoho Docs/Zoho Writer

For Sales-Focused Helpdesk

One of my ex-colleagues recommended Zoho Writer for its cloud-based document editor. This tool helps teams build a centralized repository of FAQs, guides, and troubleshooting articles, ensuring customers and stakeholders have easy access to essential information. Its clean interface and real-time collaboration features make it a powerful tool for knowledge management.

The platform allows multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously, making it easy for teams to update knowledge base content in real-time. The built-in commenting and review system allows contributors to provide feedback, suggest edits, and ensure accuracy before publishing. 

What You Will Like: 

• Offers extensive formatting and customization options
• Comes with templates, headers, and tables of contents, letting you design well-organized guides 
• It lets you embed images, videos, and links to help enhance knowledge base articles.

What You May Not Like: 

• I have noticed that the style sometimes doesn’t work, and I need to refresh the page
• Sometimes, I find it difficult to convert documents into PDFs.

Pricing:

Paid plan starts at $5/iuser/month. 

How to Choose the Right External Knowledge Base Software

Building a well-structured external knowledge base is a strategic decision that requires careful planning. Here are some steps to ensure the right choice for your business.

Define Your Business Goals

Determine the primary purpose of your knowledge base—whether improving customer support, reducing ticket volume, or establishing a self-service help center. Aligning the software with your business objectives ensures long-term success.

Understand Your Audience’s Needs

Analyze your users’ pain points, preferred content formats, and search behaviors. A customer-focused approach can help you select a tool that enhances user experience and accessibility.

Evaluate Scalability & Flexibility

Choose software that grows with your business. Consider whether it can handle increasing content volume, support multiple languages, and integrate with other tools as your needs evolve.

Assess Content Management Workflow

Identify how content will be created, reviewed, and updated. Opt for a system that supports collaboration among teams, version control, and approval workflows to maintain accuracy and consistency.

Ensure Seamless Implementation & Adoption

A complex setup can slow adoption. To encourage team participation, look for a platform that offers smooth onboarding, an intuitive UI, and minimal training requirements.

Prioritize Data Security & Compliance

Since your knowledge base may contain sensitive information, ensure the software complies with industry security standards and offers user access controls to protect data.

Test Before You Commit

Take advantage of free trials or demos to evaluate usability and performance. Gather feedback from stakeholders to ensure the platform meets both internal and customer-facing requirements.

Improve Product Adoption With External Knowledge Base Software

External knowledge base software is a valuable tool for businesses looking to empower their customers, streamline support operations, and enhance their brand image. By providing a centralized repository of information, readily accessible to users 24/7, you can significantly reduce support costs, improve customer satisfaction, and foster a culture of self-service.

When choosing external knowledge base software, consider factors such as your budget, content needs, team size, and desired features. Evaluate different options and explore free trials to find the platform that best aligns with your requirements.

In my experience, ProProfs Knowledge Base stands out as a robust and user-friendly solution, offering a wide range of features, including AI-powered assistance, customizable templates, and seamless integrations.