10 Best Helpdesk Knowledge Base Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 20 tools reviewed.
With so many different helpdesk knowledge bases available, figuring out which is the right fit for your needs is tough. You know you want a database to help you store information in an easily accessible way to help your agents and customers find answers to common questions quickly, but you need to figure out which system is best. In this article, I'll help you make your choice easy by sharing my insights on the best helpdesk knowledge bases to make key information easily accessible.
What is a Helpdesk Knowledge Base?
A helpdesk knowledge base is a tool that collects information about products, services, or other common issues to help with support and self-service. These platforms typically have content management capabilities and offer a searchable knowledge base to customer support teams or customers find the information they need quickly.
Businesses can leverage helpdesk knowledge bases to increase the efficiency of their support services in several ways. The software allows companies to offer 24/7 access to help, enabling faster problem-solving and providing a better customer experience. In addition, by eliminating repetitive requests, organizations can operate with fewer staff, reducing overhead costs.
Overviews of the 10 Best Helpdesk Knowledge Bases
Here’s a brief description of each helpdesk knowledge base solution to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
UserGuiding is a user onboarding software that enables businesses to create interactive in-product experiences for their users. It provides a suite of features such as product tours, onboarding checklists, resource centers, and in-app surveys to facilitate user experience with your product.
Why I Picked UserGuiding: This platform offers centralized locations for users to access helpful resources and information, gathering all support content in one place. The resource center can include in-app support, self-service, FAQs, help articles, interactive guides, checklists, and more. It can also integrate with your own existing knowledge bases. UserGuiding makes self-service easy with a search bar for users to find the help they need.
Additionally, because it's a no-code platform, it's easy to create product walkthroughs, onboarding checklists, and other resource repositories and integrate them into a helpdesk knowledge base for self-service support.
UserGuiding Standout Features and Integrations
Features include no-code functionalities, resource centers, product tours, onboarding checklists, segmentation, analytics, in-app surveys, and tooltips.
Integrations include Intercom, Segment, Slack, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, HubSpot, and more.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Ability to create interactive product guides and onboarding documents
- Multiple language and format options
- No coding experience necessary
Cons:
- Potential learning curve for those with limited technical knowledge
- Limited integrations
LiveAgent is a help desk and knowledge base management software that customer support teams can use to streamline their operations.
Why I picked LiveAgent: Customer support teams can build their knowledge base in addition to managing incoming chat, email, and phone tickets with the software. Crafting support content is simplified with the WYSIWYG editor that's accessible to users with varying technical skills. Beyond developing a self-serve customer support hub, the software can also be used to build forums where existing customers can exchange among themselves on common issues. Teams can collect feedback from customers as well, helping improve their strategies.
LiveAgent Standout Features & Integrations
Features include multilingual live chat, customer forums, customer feedback, website tracking, content management, customizable themes, in-app notifications, call routing, call recording, and a reporting dashboard.
Integrations include ActiveCampaign, BigCommerce, Clockify, Cloudtalk, Gmail, Jira, Magento, Pipedrive, Shopify, Slack, Trello, Twilio, and Webflow.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Manage help desk and knowledge base in one place
- 24/7 customer support
- Quick setup and onboarding
Cons:
- Reporting not included in starter plan
- Additional cost for social media tools
Zoho Desk Knowledge Base Software helps you achieve faster answers, fewer tickets, and happier customers.
Why I Picked Zoho Desk Knowledge Base: You can create a multi-brand help center, with different knowledge base articles for each of your brands. In addition, the customization features allow you to mimic the look and feel of your website in your self-service portals. Your help center can be mapped to your own domain, making it a true extension of your main corporate brand.
You can create a repository of articles and FAQs in the knowledge base system, so customers can find answers without waiting for an agent. The community forum feature allows customers to get answers and share ideas on a common knowledge base platform.
Zoho Desk offers a high level of security. Knowledge base content can be available to the general public, or only to people who have created accounts.
Zoho Desk Standout Features and Integrations
Features include a dashboard, data visualization, data import, ticket management, and a self-service portal.
Integrations include DocuSign, Outlook, Mailchimp, Slack, PandaDoc, RingCentral, Zoom, Shopify, Microsoft 365, and AWS.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Highly customizable
- Real-time chat option
- Powerful automation features
Cons:
- The user interface can be confusing
- Setup can be confusing
Axero
Best company intranet, internal comms, & knowledge management in one
Axero Solutions provides a comprehensive intranet platform designed to support internal communication, knowledge management, and workplace culture within organizations.
Why I Picked Axero Solutions: I chose Axero for the helpdesk knowledge base because of its award-winning platform that provides a modern and integrated approach to employee intranets. What makes Axero different is its all-in-one solution that caters to various business communication and collaboration needs, including AI-powered features and a responsive client experience. I believe Axero is best for unified team collaboration due to its comprehensive suite of tools that support modern intranets, knowledge centers, and enterprise portals, along with powerful integrations with systems like Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace.
Axero Solutions Standout Features & Integrations
Features include mobile-friendly intranets, centralized company knowledge centers, customizable enterprise portals, security and compliance with permission controls and audit trails, integrations with with Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace, AI-powered bot named Copilot for learning and development, client support services, a mobile app, and resources like blogs and ebooks.
Integrations include Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, and Zoom for collaboration; ServiceNow and Twilio for customer service and communication; and Microsoft Teams and Active Directory for team management and security. It also supports file management through integrations with Box, Dropbox, and OneDrive, and offers single sign-on capabilities with ADFS/SAML 2.0, AuthDigital, Okta, OneLogin, and Salesforce SSO.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Connects employees, projects, and information
- AI-powered learning & development tools
- Completely customizable to your needs
Cons:
- Slight learning curve
- May be cost-prohibitive for small biz
MyHub Intranet Solutions is an internal intranet solution that can support internal communications, collaboration, and knowledge sharing for various types of businesses. Customer support teams can benefit from the software by using it as an internal knowledge base.
Why I picked MyHub Intranet Solutions: This platform made my list because of its versatility and flexibility. Users can set up different types of content and manage information using blogs, forums, newsfeeds, calendars, and more. Meanwhile, automated forms, task automation, and collaboration tools help streamline and standardize processes.
MyHub Intranet Solutions Standout Features & Integrations
Features include blog, newsfeed, form builder, forums, commenting, surveys, staff directory, file management and sharing, template library, notifications, analytics, and a mobile app.
Integrations include Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Gmail, Google Cloud Platform, Google Calendar, and Microsoft Azure.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Allows remote access via mobile devices
- Step-by-step guides and videos
- User-friendly interface
Cons:
- Limited customization options
- Limitations in analytics capabilities
Groove is committed to providing organizations with a fresh alternative to popular customer service and knowledge management solutions.
Why I Picked Groove: The software gives agents a shared inbox that helps them organize, prioritize, and solve customer requests. Conversation assignments make it clear who is responsible for each inquiry, while collision detection prevents double replies.
Groove aims to instill customer confidence by offering instant help on any website or app page. Round-robin assignment spreads the workload, and unattended message logic ensures customers get a fast response. When customers drop offline, conversations can continue by email.
Groove Standout Features and Integrations
Features include private knowledge bases, @mentions and notifications, mobile optimization, and embeddable widgets.
Integrations include Slack, Stripe, Shopify, Recharge, HubSpot, Trello, ConstantContact, Github, Instagram, and Salesforce.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Excellent canned replies system
- Support for multiple inboxes
- Comprehensive ticket tracking
Cons:
- No bulk import
- Searching for closed requests is difficult
Slite is an advanced knowledge base solution that drives action through the effective use of structured documents, meaningful collaboration, and informed decision-making.
Why I Picked Slite: This tool helps people brainstorm ideas, create notes, and share files. Team members can track document versions, maintain activity logs, comment on files, and generate recurring documents. They can also organize ideas, create project handbooks, store private notes and manage image galleries.
In Slite, decision-making and async discussion are built into documents. The software replaces scattered conversations and long email or Slack threads.
Slite's composer tool enables team members to organize ideas, create project handbooks, store private notes, and manage image galleries. The built-in sketch tool allows employees to create workflows and visualize ideas, whilst maintaining compliance with SOC2 guidelines. Additionally, administrators can schedule data backups, create user groups, set up single sign-on protocols, and configure permission rights to ensure user and data security.
Slite Standout Features and Integrations
Features include a sketch tool, workflow visualization SOC2 compliance, data backups, user groups, single sign-on protocols, document authoring, and permission management.
Integrations include Airtable, Google Workspace, Slack, Figma, Loom, Trello, Asana, Github, Google Docs, and Okta.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Super-intuitive
- Appealing free plan
- Helpful notification features
Cons:
- Can be slow
- Confusing navigation
Help Scout sets out to offer you a better way to talk to customers, managing all conversations in one platform that feels like your inbox.
Why I Picked Help Scout: The knowledge base software is built for discovery, encouraging customers to find their own answers through a self-service portal. It’s easy to create articles quickly, with the option to include text, images, hyperlinks, tables, and videos.
You can surface help articles across your site or app, address commonly asked questions, and reduce incoming email requests. If customers can’t find the answer they need in your knowledge base, they get clear contact options for reaching out to agents directly.
Customers can also reach out via email or chat. The Beacon widget tracks which web pages and articles customers are reading, helping you to understand trends and problem areas.
Help Scout Standout Features and Integrations
Features include real-time reporting, email integration, document knowledge base, conversation metrics, productivity data, and happiness metrics.
Integrations include Pipedrive, Jira, ChannelReply, Salesforce, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Magento, Infusionsoft, Google Workspace, and Slack.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Easy and natural to use
- Great for email interactions
- Simple to assign conversations
Cons:
- Limited customization options
- No mobile app
Sprinklr is an enterprise-level customer experience management solution that handles customer service, content marketing, social media management, and social listening.
Why I Picked Sprinklr: The software turns AI-powered listening into competitive advantage, offering a better understanding of feedback on your products and services. It transforms customer opinions into actionable insights, then shares this across your entire organization to drive innovation.
Sprinklr helps protect your brand by empowering your customer support team with critical knowledge before problems become critical. This allows managers to make proactive, informed decisions about owned media strategies and tactics.
Sprinklr Standout Features and Integrations
Features include keyword tracking, scheduling, marketing automation, and social media integration.
Integrations include AppsFlyer, BazaarVoice, Corezoid, Discourse, Esko, Form Assembly, Freshdesk KB, Okta, Google Analytics, and Mailchimp.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Combines all social media feedback
- Fast, accurate, and efficient
- Extensive reporting options
Cons:
- Disorganized user interface
- Significant investment required
Notion is a sophisticated note-taking app capable of efficiently handling knowledge base management.
Why I Picked Notion: Using this tool, you can centralize your most important information and make it accessible to everyone. It’s perfect for collecting data from everyone on the team and creating a single source of truth on any topic.
Each team member can also have their own space for tools, docs, and processes. Within the knowledge management system, you can create smaller systems for each team. Every department can have its own dedicated space for specific information.
Notion Standout Features and Integrations
Features include customization options, collaboration tools, search functionality, and shared access to resources.
Integrations include ClickUp, Asana, Box, Github, Jira, Slack, Trello, Figma, Dropbox, and Zoom.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Fun and easy to use
- Well-designed user interface
- Good range of templates
Cons:
- Limited fonts and styling
- Steep learning curve
The Best Helpdesk Knowledge Bases Summary
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| UserGuiding | From $89/month (billed annually) | Website |
| LiveAgent | From $9/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Zoho Desk | From $20/user/month | Website |
| Axero | From $2,000/month for up to 200 users | Website |
| MyHub | From $1,300/year for 50 users | Website |
| Groove | From $15/user/month | Website |
| Slite | From $8/user/month | Website |
| Help Scout | From $20/user/month | Website |
| Sprinklr | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Notion | From $4/user/month (billed annually). | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareOther Options
Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best helpdesk knowledge base list:
- Shelf.io
Best for complete lifecycle management of knowledge
- Helpjuice
Best for advanced team collaboration
- Document360
Best for enterprise
- Stonly
Best for guiding people to success at scale
- Guru
Best for AI-driven knowledge access
- Zendesk
Best for a knowledge base that boosts agent efficiency
- Jira Service Management
Best for connecting a Confluence knowledge base
- Issuetrak
Best for omnichannel help desk management
- Freshdesk
Best for an intuitive, feature-rich knowledge base solution
- Connecteam
Offers the ability to create a knowledge base for employees.
Selection Criteria for the Best Helpdesk Knowledge Base
Want to know how I selected the best helpdesk knowledge base tools for this list? Here’s a bit about my methodology:
I started with a long list of helpdesk knowledge bases with positive user ratings. From there, I compared each one against the rest based on its overall functionality and feature set. I used the evaluation criteria outlined below to be sure I was fair in my comparisons. I also leaned on my experience in customer service to keep an eye out for any features that were true value-adds.
Here are the selection criteria I used in my research:
Core Functionality
This is a somewhat niche product category, so not every knowledge base platform will have the exact same functionality. At its core, I expected each tool to have an internal knowledge management system for it to make it onto my list. In other words, it had to have the ability to centralize, store, sort, search through, and access knowledge base content.
Key Features
Beyond the basic functionality outlined above, here are some key features I kept an eye out for while I was researching the best knowledge base software:
- Self-service knowledge base: a public-facing, external knowledge base where customers can find answers to their own questions.
- WYSIWYG editor: A user-friendly editor to produce and publish knowledge base articles and adjust formatting without the need for CSS or HTML coding.
- Content management: Categorization, tagging, search functionality, and Wiki-style organization.
- Helpdesk functionality: A ticketing system to help you sort through and assign support tickets.
- Workflow automation: The ability to setup triggers and automate support workflows to alleviate your team’s manual workload.
- Widgets: The ability to embed a chatbot on your site or track how customers navigate your self-service portal.
- Templates: Ready-made templates to draft docs more quickly, or the ability to build and save customizable templates to create a consistent user experience.
- Access permissions: Some company knowledge needs to be kept secure, so knowledge sharing parameters can be set to ensure only the right people have access.
- Collaboration tools: Shared workspaces in cloud-based platforms allow for real-time team collaboration, even from different locations.
- Search engine optimization: Some software helps with SEO to ensure customers find your knowledge base when they search for answers on Google.
Usability
It’s very important that a helpdesk knowledge base is user-friendly and intuitive for both customers and your team. You want your private knowledge base to be easy for support reps to navigate so they can provide answers and solutions to customers quickly. Meanwhile, you want a public knowledge base to provide a consistent, positive customer experience so customers stay true to your products and services.
Integrations
However you plan to use your helpdesk knowledge base software, you’ll likely want to connect it to some of your other SaaS tools. Many of the platforms on this list integrate with common workplace communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, and project management software like Jira and Asana. Some also connect to CRM systems like HubSpot and Zoho, and storage solutions like Google Docs. The software may integrate directly with Wordpress or have an API or widgets to connect to your website. I’ve noted the integrations included with each provider in my overviews.
Pricing
Of course, cost is always a factor when you’re looking to add a new software to your toolbox. The helpdesk and knowledge management software on this list range from about $8 per user per month to upwards of $100 per user per month. There are a few free knowledge base solutions with feature limitations, which might be suitable for startups or small businesses. I’ve noted the starting price of each software on my list as well as any free plan or trial that’s available in my overviews and the comparison chart.
Helpdesk & Knowledge Base FAQs
In this section, I’ll answer a few frequently asked questions about helpdesks, knowledge bases, and providing exceptional customer service and support.
What are the types of knowledge bases?
Here are few of the different types of knowledge bases you can set up:
- Internal knowledge base: A database of company knowledge such as internal policies, procedures, and resources. Might be used to support better team collaboration, employee onboarding, and other business processes.
- External knowledge base: A public-facing knowledge base system that offers customer support documentation and other content. Might be used to facilitate customer onboarding, provide interactive how-to content, and support complete product usage.
- Community forums: Spaces where community members like users, customers, or brand followers can exchange ideas, best practices, questions, and more. Often hosted on social media, these can be a great way to encourage peer-to-peer support and alleviate your internal team’s workload.
- FAQ pages: Pages providing answers to common questions or issues faced by your target audience (kind of like this FAQ section you’re reading now!). These can be internal or external resources. They may be made public for customers or users to access for self-service or remain private for internal use by your customer support team.
- Tutorials: Comprehensive walkthroughs of how to perform a task, use a product or service, access a feature, or some other behavior. The person seeking support can go through each step in real-time, solving their problem with the help of the tutorial.
How can a helpdesk knowledge base help me?
Helpdesk knowledge base software can be a valuable tool for both large and small businesses. It can help you improve customer satisfaction by providing quick and accurate answers to their questions. It can also help you save time and money by reducing the need for live customer support through automation.
There are pros and cons of customer service automation, but if you implement automation in the right places, it can be a true game-changer. Alleviating the manual workload of your customer support team frees up their time for the work that only humans can do. A help desk software and a knowledge management solution go a long way in providing more consistent, helpful customer support.
Providing Exceptional Service With Helpdesk Knowledge Base Software
Whether you’re providing support or services to external customers, internal team members, or some other group, a helpdesk knowledge base can be a big help. Internal knowledge base software helps keep the people at your organization informed and aligned. Meanwhile, finding the right knowledge base software for your customer service team speeds up resolution times for customer requests and helps improve the overall customer experience.
Whether you found the perfect software solution for your needs in this list, or you’re still on the hunt, hopefully you have the information you need to make a confident choice.
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