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Atlassian Confluence vs Zendesk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
Atlassian Confluence is a cost-effective tool improving time efficiency, knowledge sharing, and quality of life for users.
Sentiment score
6.7
Zendesk enhances organizational efficiency and productivity, reducing costs despite licensing fees, with varied but significant financial benefits.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Atlassian Confluence support is responsive but limited, with users often seeking help elsewhere due to cost and complexity issues.
Sentiment score
6.3
Zendesk excels in responsiveness and issue resolution, though reliance on documentation may delay human support replies.
This team manages all queries and uses various plugins, such as Tempo for time tracking.
The Atlassian technical support team is reachable through different platforms.
Their support team from Zendesk is excellent, similar to what you have in Freshdesk.
The technical support provided by Zendesk has been very satisfactory.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Atlassian Confluence scales efficiently for diverse organizations, though cloud performance and cost concerns exist; integration boosts flexibility.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zendesk scales well for various team sizes; praised for customization, integration, though challenges include data backup and departmental customization.
Zendesk can scale from very small companies to very large ones.
The scalability of Zendesk is still in the same range as Freshdesk.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Atlassian Confluence is reliable and stable, despite occasional server-related disruptions, with performance improving consistently over time.
Sentiment score
7.7
Zendesk is stable and reliable, despite occasional outages, making it ideal for small businesses and startups globally.
 

Room For Improvement

Atlassian Confluence faces criticism for poor search, inadequate editing features, inflexible pricing, and scalability issues for large enterprises.
Zendesk users face challenges with interface clumsiness, slow performance, customization, integration, and pricing, affecting overall usability and efficiency.
More options similar to those available in Word or Google Docs in terms of formatting and other features could enhance its functionality.
This chart used AI to offer users the option to create it based on the data.
There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier.
 

Setup Cost

Atlassian Confluence costs vary by users and add-ons, potentially increasing annually, with complex licensing affecting price perception.
Zendesk pricing varies, perceived as high, but offers value and flexibility; negotiation advised for larger teams to optimize costs.
It streamlines license management and renewal processes, which can otherwise lead to complications or lapses in access.
Money is a factor because Atlassian Confluence is not free.
It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.
 

Valuable Features

Atlassian Confluence enhances collaboration with customizable templates, content sharing, and secure integration with Jira and external tools.
Zendesk offers user-friendly integration, robust features, and valuable tools, enhancing efficiency and streamlining customer support processes effectively.
It's accessible from anywhere, and people from different regions, like India or Germany, can use it in their own time zones.
I use Atlassian Confluence for task management and other project management tasks, such as reporting, visualization of tasks, tracking the progress of tickets, and understanding how work is progressing.
It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.
The benefits I have seen from using Zendesk include faster response times.
 

Categories and Ranking

Atlassian Confluence
Ranking in Knowledge Management Software
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (2nd), Enterprise Social Software (3rd)
Zendesk
Ranking in Knowledge Management Software
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (6th), CRM (18th), Help Desk Software (8th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (7th), Sales Force Automation (8th), Reporting (14th), Community Platforms (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Knowledge Management Software category, the mindshare of Atlassian Confluence is 12.7%, down from 24.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 12.1%, down from 17.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Knowledge Management Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Atlassian Confluence12.7%
Zendesk12.1%
Other75.2%
Knowledge Management Software
 

Featured Reviews

Rabindra K Maharana - PeerSpot reviewer
Editing features improve document accessibility
There is a holiday calendar, however, I need to install an app or add something to it. The add-on feature is not readily available or well-documented. Guidance on this should be available in a forum. Recently, I used a feature in another tool—perhaps GitHub—where it helped prepare a chart. It involved listing resources, like having fifteen people in the X team, ten in the Y team, and seven in the Z team. It created a bar chart showing these numbers. This chart used AI to offer users the option to create it based on the data. It was then created on a separate page and made available.
JohanSkibdahl - PeerSpot reviewer
Automating customer support with advanced AI capabilities and seamless communication
Zendesk has been invaluable in automating communications such as email and phone calls. It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. This intelligent tool can manage complex queries before users even realize they are interacting with a non-human. Additionally, we have integrated Zendesk with Datto and Klaviyo, enhancing our workflows.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Performing Arts
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Atlassian Confluence?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from its document-controlling feature. In Atlassian Confluence, controlled documents cannot be edited by anyone else.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Atlassian Confluence?
With Atlassian, the costs are reasonable. Although higher than before when we used multiple platforms and licenses, having a collaborative platform like this is advantageous. It streamlines license...
What needs improvement with Atlassian Confluence?
There's room for improvement in the way folders are structured in Atlassian Confluence. Sometimes it's frustrating when we have two documents that we want to have the same name. For instance, we mi...
What do you like most about Zendesk Support?
I found the user experience with vendors on Zendesk to be straightforward, especially when it comes to understanding and searching for specific tickets. The search and navigation tools are easy to ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zendesk Support?
Zendesk's pricing is reasonable. It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.
What needs improvement with Zendesk Support?
I'm going to piggyback on what I said regarding Freshdesk concerning what could be better in Zendesk: incorporate more AI. I know many CRM tools are already on the way to do that.
 

Also Known As

Confluence
Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Facebook, Skype, Microsoft, NASA, Netflix, Adobe, Bonobos, LinkedIn, Pfizer, Citi.
Mailchimp, Tesco, Vimeo, Instacart, Mediaocean, Slack, Uber
Find out what your peers are saying about Atlassian Confluence vs. Zendesk and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
870,623 professionals have used our research since 2012.