A comparison of standalone knowledge base software

In recent years a market for standalone knowledge base software primarily aimed at small businesses has flourished. These are distinct from the big players in helpdesk software such as Zendesk, Groove and Freshdesk.

The advantage of choosing standalone knowledge base solution over the full stack helpdesk is it can be more suitable to the needs of your company. This is because you may not require a help desk ticketing system, email inbox tool or multi-channel support, but you do want a dedicated knowledge base for your customers.

Knowledge management for teams is also becoming increasingly important, and standalone knowledge base software is great for making internal knowledge bases.

There are other types of documentation solutions available such as Help Authoring Tools, Static Site Generators and project management tools, but knowledge base software is in a league of its own. These types of tools suit a particular purpose.

If you are not producing multiple types of documentation across different platforms, ticking the box for legal compliance, or fitting your site into a development workflow, a SaaS knowledge base is all you need.

Here is a comparison of the different knowledge base solutions out there.

Document360

Document360 is a knowledge base solution aimed specifically at SaaS startups and to fit into their development workflow. It costs $99 a month for startup plan with two account access and 50GB storage.

You can scale your use of Document360 easily with your business, and it also has Markdown support. This means you can write your docs in Markdown for easy reuse across different platforms if you need to.

It has excellent version control to encourage iterative workflows – although you can only access the full features with the more advanced plans.

Document360 has been developed by the makers of BizTalk360 and a range of other products based around the Microsoft BizTalk Server ecosystem.

This software is still quite new at the time of writing, but well-supported by the team at Kovai.

Dropbox Paper

Dropbox Paper (formerly Hackpad) is an add-on knowledge base solution for Dropbox’s flagship file sharing software, but unlike many similar solutions you can actually use it without signing up for any enterprise plans.

Since Dropbox offers a freemium model where anyone can simply be a user of Dropbox for free, you have free access to Dropbox Paper (although they don’t promote it much). Paper is built with integrations into Dropbox in mind.

The thing that stands out the most about Dropbox Paper is the beautifully sleek, minimalist interface that is similar to blogging platform Medium. However, it’s aimed more at document sharing and internal collaboration rather than a public self-service knowledge base.

HelpDocs

HelpDocs provides simple knowledge base software that helps startups and small businesses around the world create amazing help documentation.

They have tiered pricing with the cheapest option at $49 per month for smaller teams.

You can customize your knowledge base with your company brand by adding custom CSS or JavaScript, or use their WYSIWYG editor if you’re not a coder. It will be automatically responsive to different device sizes and makes use of their in-built analytics.

As HelpDocs are still a relatively small startup, their pricing is competitive and they’re a good option if you’re on a tight budget. It’s aimed at any type of company looking for an affordable knowledge base.

HelpJuice

HelpJuice is another option for standalone knowledge base software and starts at $199 per month. They offer fantastic support and their knowledge bases are fully customizable. Their price is very reasonable.

Your knowledge base will have multi-level access for different user permissions and supports up to 20 different languages. Helpjuice have all the usual features - WYSIWYG editor, user permissions, analytics - and they’ve aimed for simplicity above all.

Helpjuice count many different companies among their clients, from startups to midsize to universities, all the way up to large enterprises like Walmart.

Intercom Articles

Intercom Articles is an add-on knowledge base developed by Intercom, who actually sell chat messaging software. It is $49/month plus whatever other modules you choose to purchase.

Their knowledge base is built to integrate with their chat app and they import all your knowledge base articles from external platforms if you have them. It’s not really intended to be an independent knowledge base outside the Intercom platform.

You’ll have to sign up for Articles along with at least one of their other products – and they are all individually priced.

Go for this option if you are a fan of Intercom and using their products already. If not, you don’t need to get locked into their ecosystem.

KnowledgeOwl

KnowledgeOwl is our own standalone knowledge base software. We work with all types of customers and organizations, from the development field to the healthcare industry.

With our software, you can create online manuals, handbooks, knowledge bases, portals, user guides, help sites, software documentation, and more.

Our plans start at $79 a month for one user solo account. If you’re anticipating multiple users then start off at $99 a month and then an additional $20 per month per user. You can also add additional knowledge bases for $40 each per month. We also offer amazing support and truly love our product!

Our unique selling point is how invested we are in providing you with the best customer service in the industry. We’ve listened to our customers and honed our knowledge base so it is a dream to use.

SlimFAQ

SlimFAQ still count as a knowledge base, despite their name, because their software offers search, information hierarchy and integration with information analytics. They offer a free option that includes up to 10 questions.

Their software will appeal to those who want to keep things very simple, so if the amount of knowledge you have is not too hefty, this could be a good option for your company.

It’s built for integration with the Intercom platform in mind by the team at Oozou. If you use Intercom and have access to developer skills then SlimFAQ could be a good choice for you.

We’ve included them here as an example of a simple knowledge base solution designed with an API for developers.

Stoplight

Stoplight is software aimed at companies producing documentation for their product API (Application Programming Interface). These companies usually need to publish docs for external developers making new products, or integrating other products with their software.

Stoplight is free for single users and they ask you to contact them for enterprise pricing for their entire platform. If you just want to host API docs, plans begin at $59 a month with limited features.

APIs are a very specialised field of both software development and documentation, a space where many companies might choose to use an open source Static Site Generator instead of a SaaS knowledge base.

This is because Static Site Generators fit into their development workflows and the source code can be hosted in the same repository as their software for a docs-like-code workflow. It also means that companies have ownership and control over the knowledge base code.

Stoplight is the middle ground between a SaaS knowledge base and a Static Site Generator. This means that the back end of Stoplight is hyper-specialised to format API docs and publish live code samples.

Stoplight is not suitable for companies who are not publishing API docs.

If KnowledgeOwl knowledge base software sounds like it might be a good fit, we've love to hear from you!

Next up: how to choose standalone knowledge base software for your business.