Want to jump straight to the answer? The best knowledge base software for most people is Heroic KB or Helpjuice.
We live in a world that revolves around customer service. Whether it’s customer service about how to use a product or a service, that service is key to the customer’s happiness, and thus the company.
Enter knowledge base software. This fairly new concept has eliminated the need for the archaic practice of printing and shipping physical copies of instruction manuals for products and services.
Instead, knowledge base software is a digital resource that customers and employees alike can use to find solutions without having to call or chat with a customer service representative. That’s thanks to the software’s self-help articles that are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Knowledge base software has revolutionized the idea of support for products and services by making the information much more accessible, which drastically reduces wait times for customers while simultaneously lowering the number of support ticket requests. This software helps people find answers quicker, which is what we all want.
The Top 8 Best Knowledge Base Software
Here are the best options on the market today.
- Heroic KB — Best knowledge base theme for WordPress
- Helpjuice — Best for scalable support
- Document360 — Best for technical documentation
- Zendesk — Best all-in-one customer support suite
- ServiceNow — Best for IT service management
- HelpSite — Best for simple FAQ support pages
- ProProfs Knowledge Base — Most beginner-friendly knowledge base software
- Tettra — Best for internal use
After extensive research and testing, we’ve narrowed down the best eight knowledge base solutions we can confidently recommend. The reviews below contain more information about the features, benefits, prices, use cases, and potential drawbacks of each software on the list.
Heroic KB by HeroThemes — Best Knowledge Base Theme For WordPress
Heroic KB is unique compared to other solutions on the market today. It’s a WordPress theme that can easily be installed to add knowledge base functionality to any WordPress site.
More than 27,000 sites rely on Heroic KB to power their knowledge bases.
If you run a WordPress site and want to control your knowledge base directly within your WP dashboard, this will be the best option for you.
Top features and benefits of Heroic KB include:
- Searchable knowledge base
- Works on desktops, smartphones, and tablets
- Actionable insights and analytics
- Article feedback
- Transfer analytics
- Useful shortcodes and widgets
- Article attachments
Like most WordPress themes, Heroic KB is flexible and really easy to customize. It’s used by sites across a wide range of industries.
Choose from three different packages, including:
- Heroic KB Essential: $149.50
- Heroic KB Plus: $199.50
- Heroic KB Pro: $399.50
All purchases are backed by a 14-day money-back guarantee from HeroThemes. Try Heroic KB today.
Helpjuice — Best For Scalable Support
Helpjuice is one of the most popular knowledge base solutions on the market. The software is trusted by 130,000+ users from thousands of companies, including Amazon, Hertz, Virgin Mobile, and the World Health Organization.
It’s fully customizable, easy to use, and built to scale.
Helpjuice is perfect for growing teams with lots of customer service representatives. Teams can collaborate, comment, and reply to knowledge base content to improve articles in real time.
Its simplicity allows new team members to start using the software immediately without a steep learning curve.
Companies can sign up for Helpjuice and deploy a knowledge base in a matter of minutes.
Some of the top features and advantages of Helpjuice include:
- Robust “Google-like” search feature
- Dozens of knowledge base themes
- Intelligent analytics (what users search, the impact of articles, topic preferences, etc.)
- Ability to drag-and-drop files into articles
- Inter-linking similar articles
- Manage multiple versions of knowledge base content
- Limitless formatting
- Easy to add videos, images, and other useful visuals
Overall, Helpjuice has everything you could possibly need in a knowledge base solution. Its customer support team is fantastic, and it even offers free expert customization.
Here’s a quick look at the plans and pricing:
- Starter: $120 per month (up to 4 users)
- Run-Up: $200 per month (up to 16 users)
- Premium Limited: $289 per month (up to 60 users)
- Premium Unlimited: $499 per month (unlimited users)
As you can see, the software accommodates teams of all sizes. All features are offered with each plan. Pricing is based on the number of users on your team.
Try Helpjuice for free with a 14-day trial.
Document360 — Best For Technical Documentation
Document360 is another popular solution in the knowledge base software space. It’s used by organizations like Harvard University and McDonald’s.
The software makes it easy for businesses to create SOPs, internal knowledge bases, and self-service tools for customers.
Document360 really stands out from the crowd with its support for technical documents. As people who have written countless how-to guides, tutorials, system documents, user guides, and release notes, we appreciate how this software specifically accommodates technical writers.
Here’s a closer look at the top features of Document360:
- Advanced portal for content producers and editors
- Drag-and-drop category manager
- WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor
- Article versioning and rollback support
- Detailed analytics and user feedback
- SSL encryption
- Role-based permissions and SSO
The software is SEO-friendly and integrates with popular tools, like Slack, that many businesses are already using. This is perfect for team collaboration.
Document360 offers simple and transparent pricing:
- Standard: $149 per project per month
- Professional: $299 per project per month
- Business: $399 per project per month
- Enterprise: $599 per project per month
Plans are primarily based on storage, team accounts, monthly page visits, and knowledge base versions. Try Document360 for free with a 14-day trial.
Zendesk — Best All-in-One Customer Support Suite
Zendesk is arguably the most popular customer service software on the market today. It’s trusted by 160,000+ companies of all sizes across every industry.
But Zendesk is more than a general customer service tool. It’s a complete customer support suite that includes knowledge base features.
The Zendesk Guide module is included in the Service Suite. This is the tool that Zendesk customers use to create self-service knowledge bases. The software makes it easy to create a complete help center, community forums, and even AI-powered article suggestions for customers.
As an all-in-one support tool, Zendesk provides solutions that go above and beyond a basic knowledge base. You’ll also benefit from:
- Omnichannel customer support via email, chat, and phone
- Ticket support
- Social media messaging support
- Dashboards and reporting tools
- Complete customer service agent workspace
There are four options for Zendesk for Service—Suite Team, Suite Growth, Suite Professional, and Suite Enterprise. These plans start at $55, $89, and $115 per agent. Suite Enterprise has custom pricing.
If you just need a standalone knowledge base solution, Zendesk is probably too much for your needs. But companies seeking an all-in-one support tool will find that Zendesk delivers exceptional value.
Anyone can try it free for 30 days. Startups can get Zendesk free for six months!
ServiceNow — Best For IT Service Management
ServiceNow is a bit unique compared to other knowledge base solutions on the market today.
It’s actually branded as a workflow management tool. But it has a knowledge management solution designed to provide self-help to both customers and employees.
The knowledge management feature is available with ServiceNow’s IT service management (ITSM) solutions. It’s used by 7,700+ enterprise customers like Deloitte and American Express.
Some of the top features and benefits of using ServiceNow as a knowledge base tool include:
- Integrates with Microsoft Word Online for a simple authoring experience
- Self-service insights
- Machine learning to identify knowledge gaps
- Create knowledge articles during incident management or work processes
- Feedback management tools
- Article versioning
ServiceNow makes it easy to increase customer and employee satisfaction. It ultimately helps ITSM teams manage support more efficiently.
There are three versions of the software—ITSM, ITSM Pro/Pro Plus, and ITSM Enterprise. Contact the ServiceNow team to request a quote and schedule a demo.
HelpSite — Best For Simple FAQ Support Pages
HelpSite is best known for its simplicity. Unlike some of the other knowledge base solutions on the market today, it doesn’t come with an overwhelming amount of extra features.
The software is straightforward and makes it easy for businesses to create clean FAQs and knowledge base articles.
HelpSite is a great option for smaller businesses that don’t have complex needs. The software is still a reliable option for creating a knowledge base from scratch but doesn’t go above and beyond with extra support tools.
Noteworthy highlights and benefits of HelpSite include:
- Mobile-friendly FAQs and knowledge base
- Searchable knowledge base
- Smart contact forms with auto-suggest help articles
- Simple admin interface
- Customizable features
HelpSite also gives users the ability to control the accessibility of help articles, which is perfect for creating an internal knowledge base for your team.
There are five different plans and price points to choose from:
- Free: $0
- Standard: $14.99 per month
- Gold: $49.99 per month
- Plus: $99.99 per month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
We’d recommend the Gold plan, at a minimum. It includes 2,500 articles, 50 team members, a custom domain, custom HTML/CSS, SSL on the custom domain, and custom redirects. The free plan comes with HelpSite branding on the page, which isn’t viable for business use.
Try HelpSite free with a 30-day trial.
ProProfs Knowledge Base — Most Beginner-Friendly Knowledge Base Software
ProProfs Knowledge Base is our top recommendation for beginners. This software makes it easy for anyone to create a knowledge base in less than five minutes.
But don’t let the simplicity fool you. ProProfs Knowledge Base is trusted by big organizations like Sony, Dell, Cisco, Yale, and DHL.
ProProfs Knowledge Base integrates with more than 100 third-party CRMs, chat tools, and help desk solutions. Examples include Salesforce, Google Analytics, Olark, and Freshdesk. These integrations allow businesses to extend the functionality and capabilities of ProProfs Knowledge Base.
Some of the top features and benefits of the software include:
- Internal knowledge bases
- User guides
- Manuals
- Wikis
- Help centers
- Team collaboration tools
ProProfs Knowledge Base is perfect for all technical skill levels. There’s nothing to download, and no HTML or coding knowledge is required.
ProProfs offers one plan with every available feature starting at $49 per author per month for an annual plan. Paying per month boosts the price to $79 per author per month.
Try ProProfs Knowledge Base free with a 15-day trial.
Tettra — Best For Internal Use
Many knowledge base solutions offer the ability to create resources for employees. But Tettra is specifically designed for internal knowledge bases.
The software provides a centralized location for crucial policies, procedures, and documents. It’s really useful for onboarding new team members. Employees love to have this type of internal resource at their disposal for self-help purposes.
What makes Tettra unique is the way it operates. Organizations can empower employees to contribute and add new articles continuously.
Other top features include:
- Robust search functionality
- Integrates with tools like Slack, G Suite, and more
- Team collaboration and sharing features
- Admins can manage user roles and permissions
- Ability to restrict access to certain information
Tettra has a free plan for small teams with up to five users. The plan is not super restrictive, but it doesn’t come with the ability to change user permissions.
Paid plans start at $8.33 per user per month for up to 250 users. Larger organizations can take advantage of the Professional package for $16.66 per user per month with unlimited users.
Check out all its features with Tettra’s 30-day free trial.
How to Find the Best Knowledge Base Software For You
Are you wondering how we narrowed our list down to these top eight knowledge base software programs? Below, we’ll share the methodology we used when researching and analyzing each program. You can use the same methodology as you’re comparing different knowledge base solutions for your business.
It’s important to keep in mind that generally speaking, there’s no “best for all” knowledge base software. It depends on what you need. These considerations can help you understand your needs and pick the best knowledge base software accordingly.
Type of Knowledge Base Software
Knowledge base software comes in all different shapes and sizes. In addition to standalone tools dedicated to knowledge base software, you can find knowledge base software modules built into other solutions, such as all-in-one help desk and customer support software. There are even knowledge base WordPress themes and knowledge base solutions built for ITSM.
If you want to take your customer service to the next level, consider an all-in-one support suite. Otherwise, a standalone knowledge base software will be just fine.
Public vs. Internal Uses
Most people associate knowledge base software with customer service. But these tools are also extremely useful for internal support.
Employees can reference an internal knowledge base for onboarding questions or self-help with specific procedures. This improves employee efficiency and helps keep managers from having to answer the same questions time and again.
Some knowledge base software allows admins to control whether an article is for public or internal use. But if you’re only going to use knowledge base software internally, certain platforms are built explicitly for internal knowledge bases.
Text Editing Capabilities
If it’s difficult to write and create an article, the quality of the content will suffer. The best knowledge base solutions have simple text editors. These editors let writers easily add images, videos, and highlights to emphasize important sections of an article.
User-friendly text editing is crucial for technical documentation, as the content in these articles can be challenging to follow. A simple text editor will make things easier for the person writing the articles, which ultimately improves the end user’s experience.
Analytics and Reports Included
Analytics help businesses identify top-performing help articles. They also help companies improve articles that aren’t answering questions sufficiently. Analytics and reports can also help you see what types of questions people want answers to. You can then create more content within those categories instead of wasting time improving articles with zero views.
If analytics and reports are important to you, explore the different analytics tools offered by each knowledge base software program.
The Top Knowledge Base Software in Summary
In today’s day and age, customers want answers immediately. Adding a knowledge base to your website is one of the best ways to deliver this experience.
Helpjuice is our top recommendation for businesses scaling their support teams. Document360 is the best choice for technical documentation. For an all-in-one customer support suite that goes beyond a knowledge base, try Zendesk.