Confluence vs SharePoint: Which Platform Is Better for Knowledge Management and File Collaboration?

When teams compare Confluence vs SharePoint, they’re usually trying to solve a core question: Where should our knowledge, documents, and collaboration live? Both platforms are powerful in their own right, widely used across enterprises, and deeply embedded into two major ecosystems: Atlassian tools on one side, Microsoft SharePoint on the other.

But despite being grouped together as “collaboration tools,” Confluence and SharePoint were built for very different purposes.
Confluence is a flexible workspace for creating, sharing, and organizing knowledge.
SharePoint is a structured platform designed for document management, intranet sites, and enterprise-level governance.

This article explains how each platform works, where they excel, what they lack, and when it makes sense to use both. We also look at how teams can connect Confluence and SharePoint seamlessly without duplicating files or breaking governance rules, which is a common challenge for hybrid Atlassian and Microsoft 365 environments.

By the end, you’ll know exactly which tool fits your needs, and what to do if your organization depends on both.

What Confluence Is Best At

For teams comparing Confluence vs SharePoint, one of the biggest advantages of Confluence is how easily people can create, share, and evolve knowledge together. Confluence shines as a knowledge management and knowledge sharing platform, built for fast collaboration rather than heavy document governance.

Its structure feels more like a connected workspace than a traditional intranet, which makes it especially strong for teams that need to capture ideas, document processes, publish updates, or maintain a living knowledge base. The interface is intuitive, the learning curve is low, and real-time editing keeps team collaboration simple and fluid.

Confluence also acts as the natural hub for the Atlassian ecosystem, connecting seamlessly with Jira, Trello, and thousands of Marketplace apps. For many teams, especially product, engineering, operations, support, and marketing, Confluence becomes the central place where content is created and conversations happen.

If your priority is content creation, team collaboration, and keeping knowledge easy to find and maintain, Confluence is often the more efficient and user-friendly choice.

Core Confluence Features

Confluence includes a wide range of content management and collaboration tool capabilities that support fast documentation and cross-team alignment.

Key features include:

• Rich page creation using templates, macros, multimedia embeds, and collaborative editing

• Wiki-style structure with nested page trees, making knowledge easy to organize and navigate

• Inline comments and mentions to discuss ideas directly on pages

• Deep integration with Atlassian tools, especially Jira, where teams can embed issues, roadmaps, and reports

• Flexible content management for handbooks, onboarding docs, project plans, meeting notes, sprint retros, and more

• Marketplace apps that extend Confluence with diagramming, tables, AI tools, file integrations, and more

• Real-time collaboration across teams, whether working synchronously or asynchronously

Confluence excels wherever teams need to create, refine, and share knowledge quickly, without the complexity of traditional document management systems.

What SharePoint Is Best At

While Confluence excels at knowledge creation and team collaboration, Microsoft SharePoint stands out as a powerful document management and intranet platform. It’s designed for organizations that need tight control over files, structured governance, compliance, and enterprise-grade workflows.

SharePoint is built around document libraries, not pages. This gives it a level of structure, automation, and permission granularity that Confluence simply doesn’t aim to replicate. It’s ideal for teams dealing with large volumes of documents, sensitive content, or regulated environments where retention policies, metadata, and audit trails are essential.

Thanks to its deep integration with the Microsoft ecosystem, especially Office, Teams, and OneDrive, SharePoint offers one of the strongest co-authoring experiences for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft Office Suite files.

If your priority is enterprise document management, controlled access, compliance, and building internal sites or intranets, SharePoint usually delivers the more robust foundation.

Core SharePoint Features

SharePoint provides a comprehensive set of document management platform capabilities and intranet-building tools that support structured, compliant, enterprise-level workflows.

Key features include:

• Document libraries with metadata, tagging, and advanced file organization

• Enterprise-grade version control, retention policies, and audit logs

• Granular permissions and access control, from folders to individual files

• Highly customizable intranet sites with branded layouts, navigation, and integrated content panels

• Deep Microsoft Office Suite integration, enabling real-time co-authoring of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more

• Automated workflows through Power Automate for approvals, notifications, and business processes

• Native integration with Microsoft Teams, enabling shared libraries, team sites, and file tabs

• Advanced search capabilities across documents, pages, and metadata

SharePoint’s strength lies in its structured information governance and enterprise-level document management capabilities, making it the preferred platform for organizations that rely heavily on Microsoft tools and require precise control over content.

Confluence vs SharePoint: Key Differences

For teams evaluating both platforms, the most helpful way to understand the distinction is simple:
Confluence is a knowledge-management and content-creation tool. SharePoint is a document-management and intranet platform.

Both support collaboration, both can store content, and both are widely used in enterprises, but they solve different categories of problems.

Below is a clear comparison table covering the features users search for most when comparing collaboration tools.

Confluence vs SharePoint: Comparison Table

This comparison shows why many teams treat the platforms not as competitors but as complements.

Confluence excels at content creation.
SharePoint excels at structured document management.

Use Cases: When to Choose Confluence, SharePoint, Both, or a Hybrid Editing Solution

Teams rarely choose a collaboration platform based on features alone. The real decision comes from the work they need to do, the tools they already use, and the level of document governance they require.

Across thousands of organizations, four primary patterns emerge. Understanding these use cases makes it much easier to select the right platform, and to decide when an integration or add-on completes the picture.

1. Teams That Use Only Confluence

Best for teams that need:

• A knowledge base for internal documentation, onboarding, and process guides

• Real-time page editing with comments and collaborative workflows

• A central hub for engineering, product, support, HR, design, or operations

• Seamless Jira integration for requirements, specs, roadmaps, and project documentation

• Fast content creation with minimal setup, no heavy governance

Typical scenarios:

• Creating product specs linked to Jira issues

• Organizing work in page trees with lightweight structure

• Building a documentation hub for internal teams

• Moving fast without bureaucratic review cycles

Summary:

If your priority is knowledge sharing, team collaboration, and documentation, Confluence alone is often the perfect fit.

2. Teams That Use Only SharePoint

Best for teams that need:

• Enterprise-grade document management with metadata, retention, and approval workflows

• Highly structured file storage across departments

• Company intranets with navigation, communication, and publishing

• Deep integration with Microsoft 365 (Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, Office apps)

• Strict governance, auditing, and regulatory compliance

Typical scenarios:

• Managing financial, legal, or regulated documents

• Running approval workflows for policies, contracts, and controlled docs

• Co-authoring Office files with Teams and OneDrive

• Hosting a company-wide intranet with structured content

Summary:

If you need document control, governance, or advanced intranet functionality, SharePoint is usually the right platform.

3. Teams That Use Both Confluence and SharePoint

This is the most common enterprise scenario.

Why? Because:

• Confluence is where teams think, write, collaborate, and document.

• SharePoint is where companies store, secure, govern, and control documents.

This “split-brain” setup works in theory, but creates daily friction:

• Broken links

• “Request access” permission loops

• Duplicate uploads

• Outdated files spread across pages

• No unified audit trail

• No single source of truth

For these organizations, the solution is not to replace one tool with the other, but to connect them properly.

This is where the SharePoint Connector for Confluence by ikuTeam becomes essential:

• Attach SharePoint + OneDrive files and folders to Confluence pages

• Live file previews

• Edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint directly from Confluence

• Keep SharePoint as the single source of truth

• No duplicates, no reuploads

• Permissions inherited automatically

This unlocks the best of both worlds without forcing content migration.

4. Teams That Use Confluence, Don’t Have SharePoint, but Need Office Editing

This is a rapidly growing use case, especially for:

• Startups

• SMBs

• Teams that don’t want to pay for Microsoft 365 licenses

• Organizations using Google Workspace but needing Office compatibility

These teams ask the same thing: Can we edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint inside Confluence, without SharePoint or Microsoft licenses?

The answer is: Yes!

And this is exactly why ikuTeam Office for Confluence exists.

What Office Editor for Confluence solves:

• Edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files directly inside Confluence, meaning no extra tab opens and all editing happens within the Confluence page

• No Microsoft 365 subscription required

• Real-time editing for multiple users

• Preview Office files without downloading

• No file duplication; edit the version shown on the page

• Secure, compliant, and fully integrated inside Confluence

This allows teams that live entirely inside Confluence to still collaborate on Office documents natively.

Want to know more? Read the blog post “How to Edit Office 365 Files Directly in Confluence” to see how teams around the world are using it.

Summary: The Right Choice Depends on Your Team’s Reality

For many modern organizations, the choice isn’t Confluence vs SharePoint; it’s Confluence and SharePoint working side by side. This hybrid setup has quietly become the norm, especially in enterprises that rely on both Atlassian and Microsoft ecosystems.

Here’s why.

1. Development and Product Teams Live in Jira and Confluence

Engineering, product management, and support teams rely on:

• Jira for issue tracking

• Confluence for documentation, requirements, runbooks, retros, and internal knowledge

These teams need a flexible workspace where they can write, collaborate, and centralize context, which makes Confluence an obvious fit.

2. The Organization Runs on Microsoft 365

At the same time, the broader company typically uses:

• SharePoint for document management

• OneDrive for personal file storage

• Office apps for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

• Teams for communication

This creates a situation where the company’s system of record is in SharePoint, not Confluence.

3. Documents Must Stay in SharePoint for Governance and Compliance

SharePoint often isn’t optional; it’s mandatory because it provides:

• Retention policies

• Version history

• Metadata

• Access control

• Data residency

• Compliance frameworks

• Structured document libraries

Many documents (contracts, policies, financial files, customer materials) must remain in SharePoint to meet regulatory standards.

4. Confluence Remains the Workspace, SharePoint Remains the Document Repository

The natural split becomes:

• Confluence: where people collaborate, write, plan, and organize knowledge

• SharePoint: where documents are stored, governed, and secured

This reflects how most teams actually work today.

5. But Confluence and SharePoint Don’t Communicate Well Natively

This is where friction arises.

Without a proper integration:

• Users paste SharePoint links that break or show “Request Access”

• Document previews fail

• Permissions don’t sync

• Files open in new tabs instead of in Confluence

• Attachments create duplicates and version confusion

• Teams lose track of the “latest” version

The two ecosystems are powerful, but isolated.

This Is Exactly Why Teams Look for a Connector

The need is clear:

• Keep documents securely in SharePoint

• Let teams access them directly in Confluence

• Avoid duplicates

• Maintain governance

• Support editing without leaving the workspace

This sets the stage for the next section, where we explore how organizations solve this gap with dedicated integrations like the SharePoint Connector for Confluence by ikuTeam.

The Challenges of Using Confluence and SharePoint Together

Teams that rely on both Confluence and SharePoint quickly discover the same set of friction points. Each platform is excellent at what it does, but they were never designed to work together natively. The result is a workflow filled with workarounds, broken links, and unnecessary complexity.

Below are the most common challenges teams face when trying to combine Confluence’s knowledge base with SharePoint’s document libraries.

1. Broken SharePoint Links Inside Confluence

Users often paste SharePoint URLs into Confluence pages, only to find:

• The preview fails

• The link breaks when the file is moved

• Colleagues click it and receive a “Request Access” message

This disrupts documentation, slows collaboration, and creates distrust in shared content.

2. Permission Mismatches Between Systems

Confluence uses Atlassian permissions.
SharePoint uses Microsoft 365 permissions.

These two models don’t align.

This leads to:

• Users who can see a Confluence page but cannot open the linked document

• Teams needing to manage access twice

• Sensitive files being exposed unintentionally

• Endless back-and-forth messages asking, “Can you grant me access?”

For governance-heavy organizations, this isn’t just inconvenient; it’s risky.

3. Duplicated Files Across Confluence and SharePoint

When users cannot rely on links, they start uploading documents directly into Confluence.

This creates:

• Multiple copies of the same file

• Conflicting versions

• Misaligned document libraries

• Confusion about the “real” or latest version

Attachments in Confluence become stale the moment a SharePoint file is updated.

4. No Unified Audit Trail

SharePoint has auditing, retention, and lifecycle management.
Confluence attachments do not.

When documents are copied into Confluence:

• File governance disappears

• Admins lose the ability to track edits

• Compliance records stop following the file

• Teams cannot ensure version fidelity

For regulated industries, this becomes a critical blocker.

5. Version Control Becomes Inconsistent

SharePoint manages versions at the file level.
Confluence manages versions at the page level.

When a file is attached to Confluence:

• It no longer participates in SharePoint’s version history

• Users manually upload new iterations

• Old versions remain buried in pages

• Stakeholders accidentally work on outdated copies

This is the opposite of modern document management best practices.

6. Users Download Files Instead of Collaborating

Without real integration:

• A file stored in SharePoint opens in a separate browser tab

• Editing requires switching contexts

• Users download files locally, edit them offline, and re-upload

• Different versions float around, with no single source of truth

This breaks the seamless collaboration experience that both tools aim to support.

7. Manual Uploads Create Outdated Copies in Confluence

When documentation depends on attachments:

• Someone uploads a file from SharePoint into Confluence

• Later, the file in SharePoint is updated

• The Confluence version remains outdated

• Teams referencing the page use incorrect or old information

This misalignment becomes harder to notice as content spreads across spaces.

Why This Matters

These challenges don’t mean teams should choose between Confluence and SharePoint, far from it. It means that using them together requires an integration layer that prevents broken links, syncs permissions, and ensures a single source of truth.

This leads naturally to the next section: how organizations solve these pain points with the SharePoint Connector for Confluence by ikuTeam.

How to Integrate Confluence and SharePoint Smoothly (Without Migrating Content)

For many teams, the real question isn’t “Confluence vs SharePoint?” but “How do we make Confluence and SharePoint work together without moving everything?” The good news: you don’t need a risky migration project to connect the two. You just need to choose the right integration approach.

There are three main ways SharePoint integrates with Confluence today:

Manual Links

The simplest option is to paste SharePoint URLs directly into Confluence pages. It technically “works,” but:

• Links are easy to break when folders are renamed or moved

• There’s no preview, so users have to click blindly

• You get no help with permissions, version control, or file organization

Manual links are fine for one-off references, but they do not scale as a serious integration between collaboration tools.

Confluence Smart Links

Confluence Smart Links are Atlassian’s native way of turning URLs into richer previews. When you paste a link, Confluence detects the source and lets you show it as:

• Inline text

• A card with title and metadata

• An embedded view (for some content types)

This works well for Atlassian content and some cloud tools, but for SharePoint in particular, Smart Links have important limitations:

• Card previews show only the first page and never the full document in context. If a user lacks permission, they only see an empty or locked card.

• There is no live document editing from Confluence. Users still need to open SharePoint to make changes.

• There is no control over file consistency. Smart Links only reference the file and do not manage version history or enforce a single source of truth.

In other words, Smart Links help visualize links, but they do not provide a real integration layer between Confluence and SharePoint.

Storage Connectors (The Proper Integration Layer)

The third option is to use a dedicated Confluence SharePoint integration. These connectors typically:

• Treat SharePoint as the authoritative source of files

• Let you browse SharePoint libraries from inside Confluence

• Attach folders and files to pages instead of pasting naked URLs

• Provide previews and, for Office documents, live editing

• Respect or replicate SharePoint permissions and governance

With this model, Confluence remains your knowledge and collaboration hub, and SharePoint continues to handle document libraries, governance, and storage, with no migration needed.

For organizations that rely on both platforms, this “connector” model is usually the only sustainable way to integrate Confluence and SharePoint smoothly. It avoids the fragility of manual links and the limitations of Smart Links, while letting both collaboration tools do what they’re best at.

SharePoint Connector for Confluence: A Seamless Way to Use Both Platforms and Improve Document Management

For teams that rely on Confluence for knowledge sharing and SharePoint for structured document storage, the SharePoint Connector for Confluence by ikuTeam creates a clean, reliable bridge between the two systems. Instead of copying files, re-uploading documents, or dealing with broken links, the connector lets Confluence pages work directly with real SharePoint content.

Here’s what the integration enables, based entirely on how the app works in practice:

• Attach real SharePoint and OneDrive files and folders to Confluence pages
  You can connect any SharePoint or OneDrive for Business folder to a Confluence space. From there, users browse the folder, select files, and attach them to pages using a macro. Attachments remain linked to the original location, not duplicated into Confluence.

• Preserve permission alignment with SharePoint
  The app uses the connected storage as the single source of truth. You control access through the folder’s permissions panel:
  – Keep the default open editing
  – Restrict editing
  – Restrict viewing and editing
  Permissions can also be granted to specific people, groups, or roles.
  Admins may require authentication so that SharePoint’s original file permissions are respected.

• Preview documents directly in Confluence
  The connector supports full-screen previews for Office files, PDFs, images, OpenOffice documents, and even videos. Folders attached to pages can be expanded to preview content inline without leaving Confluence.

• Edit Office files directly from Confluence
  Users can open Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OpenOffice documents directly from the macro or file manager. Editing happens in the Microsoft 365 online editor, with real-time collaboration, autosave, and no file locking. When you close the tab, the updated file is already saved back to SharePoint.

• Avoid duplicates completely
  Since files are never uploaded into Confluence, the connector prevents copies, outdated attachments, and multiple versions scattered across spaces.
  The same file can be attached to multiple pages. Changes in one place appear everywhere because the source never changes.

• Maintain a unified audit trail
  Because all activity ultimately happens in SharePoint or OneDrive, organizations keep their existing compliance rules, retention policies, and audit trails. Confluence becomes a surface for collaboration, not a second storage system to govern.

• Support for multiple SharePoint and OneDrive accounts
  Users can connect several SharePoint sites or OneDrive accounts and browse them through a consistent file manager UI. Tags, sorting, renaming, previews, and folder management are all supported.

• Full folder-level management
  Connected folders can be:
  – Renamed
  – Sorted
  – Tagged
  – Disconnected (with 30-day restoration)
  – Opened in the original storage
  You can also create new folders, upload files, or drag-and-drop content directly into SharePoint/OneDrive from Confluence.

With these capabilities, teams no longer need to choose between Confluence and SharePoint. The connector turns Confluence into a collaborative front end for SharePoint libraries, while SharePoint remains the authoritative storage system. This allows both platforms to play their strongest role with no duplication, no migration, and no friction.

Example Workflow: Adding a SharePoint File to a Confluence Page

To see how this works in practice, here’s a simple step-by-step example of how to attach a SharePoint file to a Confluence page using SharePoint Connector for Confluence.

1. Open the Confluence page and add the macro

   • Click Edit on the page.

   • Place the cursor where you want the file to appear.

   • Type /attach (or /file, /folder, /sharepoint, /onedrive) and select SharePoint & OneDrive from the menu.

   • The SharePoint Connector dialog opens.

2. Select the SharePoint site and folder

   • In the dialog, choose the SharePoint place you want to use (you may have multiple sites/accounts).

   • Authenticate if needed.

   • Navigate through the SharePoint structure to the library/folder where your document lives.

   • If the site is not visible, you can use the “Find site” option by entering the SharePoint URL.

3. Pick the document to attach

   • Use the checkboxes to select one or more files.

   • You’ll see them appear in the Live Preview panel on the right.

   • Optionally switch to the Layout tab to adjust header size, preview height, and collapsed/expanded behavior.

4. Keep SharePoint permissions in control

   • You don’t need to change permissions on every file.

   • Access to the attached file is governed by the connected folder’s permission settings and (optionally) SharePoint’s own permissions if Require Authentication is enabled.

   • Anyone who can see the Confluence page and has access to the SharePoint folder will be able to open the file; others won’t.

5. Insert the file into the page

   • Click Insert.

   • The macro appears in the Confluence editor, listing the attached file(s).

   • Publish the page. Now users can expand the file row or click the name/icon to preview it.

6. Edit the SharePoint file directly from Confluence

   • On the published page, hover over the attached file and click Edit.

   • The document opens in a new tab using the Microsoft 365 online editor (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint).

   • Users can collaborate in real time; autosave keeps changes synced back to SharePoint.

7. Version updates sync instantly everywhere

   • When you close the editor tab, the updated file is already saved in SharePoint.

   • Any other Confluence page that has the same file attached will show the latest version automatically.

   • There are no duplicate attachments, and version history remains in SharePoint as usual.

´In practice, this means you attach once, keep the file in SharePoint, and let Confluence serve as the collaborative front end, with permissions, versions, and storage all staying exactly where IT expects them to be.

Final Recommendation: SharePoint vs Confluence Isn’t Either/Or

When comparing Confluence vs SharePoint, the real takeaway is that they excel at different parts of the collaboration stack.

Confluence is strongest when teams need:

• A shared knowledge base

• Project documentation and workspaces

• Real-time collaboration and page-centric content

• Tight alignment with Jira and other Atlassian tools

SharePoint is the better fit when teams need:

• Enterprise-grade document management

• Structured storage, metadata, and retention policies

• Microsoft 365–first workflows

• Intranet sites, governance, and compliance controls

For many organizations, it isn’t a matter of choosing one platform over the other. It’s about recognizing that each solves a different problem and that teams often need both to work efficiently. Confluence becomes the place where people collaborate and share context, while SharePoint remains the system of record for documents.

Used together, they create a strong combination. But this only works well when the two platforms are integrated in a way that avoids duplication, permission mismatches, and broken links.

If your teams rely on both SharePoint and Confluence, a connector like SharePoint Connector for Confluence helps them work together securely, keeping documents in SharePoint while making them accessible and editable directly inside Confluence, with no friction and no copies.

If your team uses Confluence as its primary workspace but wants file editing tools similar to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, the ikuTeam Office for Confluence is the right fit. It provides a secure, consistent, Microsoft-compatible editing experience that is fully native to Atlassian, giving teams that do not use SharePoint a seamless way to edit Office documents directly inside Confluence.

FAQ: Confluence vs SharePoint

Can Confluence integrate with SharePoint?

Yes, but not natively. Smart Links offer basic previews, yet they don’t sync permissions or support live editing. For real integration, SharePoint Connector for Confluence by ikuTeam lets you attach, preview, and edit SharePoint and OneDrive files directly inside Confluence while keeping permissions and versions aligned. It’s the most reliable way to use both platforms together.

Is Confluence better than SharePoint for documentation?

Confluence is generally better for documentation because it’s built as a collaborative workspace with pages, templates, inline comments, and real-time editing. It’s designed for knowledge sharing, team communication, and project hubs. SharePoint can store documents used in documentation workflows, but it’s not as strong at creating or organizing narrative content.

Can Confluence replace SharePoint?

Not usually. Confluence is a knowledge management and collaboration tool, while SharePoint is a document management and intranet platform. Organizations that require structured storage, metadata, governance, and Microsoft 365 integration typically still need SharePoint. Most companies use both for different purposes.

Can you store SharePoint files in Confluence?

You can surface SharePoint files inside Confluence, but you shouldn’t store them there. Uploading them to Confluence creates copies and breaks the single source of truth. With the SharePoint Connector for Confluence by ikuTeam, files stay in SharePoint while becoming available inside Confluence pages, including previews, navigation, editing, and version updates.

Do SharePoint permissions work in Confluence?

Yes, if you use a connector that supports permission inheritance. The SharePoint Connector for Confluence lets you attach SharePoint or OneDrive folders and files while keeping their access rules intact. Confluence users only see or edit content if they have the corresponding rights in SharePoint, ensuring consistent governance across both platforms.

What if my team uses Confluence but needs to edit Word, Excel, or PowerPoint without SharePoint?

If you use Confluence but not SharePoint or Microsoft 365, you cannot edit Office files natively. ikuTeam Office for Confluence solves this by allowing teams to preview and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint directly inside Confluence. No Microsoft license is required, no downloads, and no duplicates. It is the simplest way to add real Office editing to Confluence-only environments.