Confluence is a team collaboration application developed by Atlassian that helps organisations create, organise and share information in one central place. It is commonly used as a knowledge base, internal wiki and documentation hub, allowing teams to capture work as it happens and make it accessible to others.
The application addresses a common problem in growing teams: information scattered across emails, chat messages and disconnected files. By bringing documentation, project notes and shared knowledge together, Confluence supports clearer communication and more consistent ways of working.
Confluence is designed for teams of all sizes, from small project groups to large enterprises, particularly those that rely on shared documentation, structured knowledge and cross-team collaboration.
What is Confluence?
Confluence is a collaboration platform that provides shared online workspaces where teams can create and manage content together. These workspaces, known as spaces, contain pages that can be edited collaboratively and organised in a clear hierarchy.
The core purpose of Confluence is to act as a single source of truth for team knowledge. It combines document creation, content organisation and collaboration tools in a web-based environment, making it easier for teams to keep information up to date and discoverable.
Confluence is positioned as part of Atlassian’s wider ecosystem of work management tools, but it can also be used independently as a documentation and knowledge management solution.
Key Features and Capabilities
- Collaborative pages with real-time editing and commenting
- Spaces for organising content by team, project or topic
- Page templates for common use cases such as meeting notes and project plans
- Version history and change tracking for pages
- Inline and page-level comments for feedback and discussion
- Permissions and access controls at space and page level
- Powerful search to find pages, attachments and comments
- Support for rich content, including tables, images and embedded files
- Integration with other Atlassian products such as Jira
- Mobile access via dedicated iOS and Android applications
How Confluence Is Typically Used
Confluence is widely used as an internal knowledge base where teams document processes, policies and guidelines. This allows new and existing employees to find accurate information without relying on informal communication.
Project teams often use Confluence to plan and track work by creating project spaces that contain requirements, timelines, meeting notes and decisions. Pages can evolve over time as projects progress, providing a documented history of changes.
Product and engineering teams commonly use Confluence for technical documentation, including design specifications, architectural overviews and release notes. The ability to link content and maintain version history supports long-term documentation efforts.
Many organisations also use Confluence for company-wide communication, such as publishing announcements, strategy documents and team updates in a structured and searchable format.
Who Confluence Is Best Suited For
Confluence is suited to organisations that value shared knowledge and written documentation as part of their day-to-day operations. It is commonly used by:
- Small and medium-sized businesses looking to centralise internal documentation
- Large enterprises managing knowledge across multiple teams and departments
- Software development and IT teams maintaining technical documentation
- Product, marketing and operations teams collaborating on plans and processes
- Remote or distributed teams that rely on asynchronous communication
The application is industry-agnostic and can be adapted to a wide range of organisational structures and workflows.
Deployment, Access and Integrations
Confluence is available as a cloud-based SaaS application hosted by Atlassian. It is accessed through a web browser, with additional access provided via mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.
For organisations with specific hosting or compliance requirements, Atlassian also offers a self-managed option through Confluence Data Center, which can be deployed on infrastructure chosen by the organisation.
Confluence integrates with other Atlassian products, most notably Jira, allowing teams to link documentation directly to issues and projects. It also supports integrations and extensions through the Atlassian Marketplace, where additional functionality can be added.
Summary
Confluence provides a structured environment for teams to create, share and maintain documentation and knowledge. Its combination of collaborative editing, organised spaces and search functionality supports a wide range of use cases, from project documentation to company-wide knowledge sharing.
With options for cloud and self-managed deployment, mobile access and integration within the Atlassian ecosystem, Confluence is positioned as a flexible collaboration application for organisations that rely on clear, accessible information.
Example workflow
A new Confluence page notifies the team and links into your workflow. No manual work.
Frequently asked questions
What is Confluence mainly used for?
Confluence is mainly used for creating and managing shared documentation, such as internal knowledge bases, project documentation and team wikis.
Is Confluence a wiki?
Confluence includes wiki-style functionality, but it also provides structured spaces, templates and collaboration tools that go beyond a traditional wiki.
Can multiple people edit the same page in Confluence?
Yes, Confluence supports collaborative editing, allowing multiple users to work on the same page and see changes as they are made.
How does Confluence handle page changes?
Confluence keeps a version history for pages, making it possible to view previous versions and see what has changed over time.
Is Confluence available on mobile devices?
Confluence can be accessed through mobile apps available for iOS and Android, as well as through a mobile-friendly web interface.
Can Confluence be used without Jira?
Yes, Confluence can be used on its own as a documentation and collaboration tool, although it integrates closely with Jira if both are used.
