#productivitytools #workingremote Asana Notion Slack Google 4 Favourite Collaboration Tools for Remote Tech Startups socialwise.io. Sharing links to Notion pages is easy. Whether you want to quickly send a page link to someone in Slack, or share a template with the world (like this note-taking template), you can simply open Notion’s context menu and click Copy Link (or use the Cmd/Ctrl+L keyboard shortcut. Since Notion is a web-first app, these.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and Obie. We wrote this article for the purposes of evaluating these platforms, side by side, in as unbiased a form as we can be. This blog is meant to be a helpful resource for organizations who are currently in the midst of their journey to onboarding a knowledge base software that deeply integrates with Slack.
What is a Slack wiki?
Slack wikis are knowledge management solutions that integrate deeply with Slack. Depending on the robustness of the integration, often this means that the content contained therein can be authored, edited, verified, searched and shared, all directly from Slack.
The Slack wiki alternative landscape
In the competitive landscape of knowledge base software, there are a number of companies providing solutions that address the demand for an internal knowledge base on Slack. In many cases, bringing knowledge to your internal communication tools, like Slack, has become mission critical because it accelerates productivity and enables self-serve support. We hope to provide clarity as to how these tools assist in capturing, accessing and sharing knowledge within the world of Slack.
We believe that Slack is becoming the operating system of the modern workplace. While offering a Slack integration is not a requirement for all knowledge base software, we believe that knowledge must be connected to the places where questions are asked and answers are given. So in this analysis of alternatives, we will actively consider the strength of each product’s integration with that platform.
Hey 👋, before we start, first check out Obie’s Slack wiki in action! — Watch the Fastest Demo Video Ever
Here is the list of companies products that we will be comparing in this article.
With a good amount of feature parity among these products, much of the final decision in evaluating the product lies in aligning the product direction with your company or team’s needs. Some are looking for a vanilla knowledge base software. Others are looking for creativity and innovation that suits their team workflow. Yet more are looking for something that respects the complexity of their corporate structure, where departments prefer to build their own knowledge silos. The good news is, there is something for everyone.
Confluence
Confluence was popularized by technical teams for authoring documentation. This true no-nonsense, full-featured collaborative knowledge base software, without extra bells and whistles, has permeated across strategic business units outside of engineering. If you’re looking for a modern or unique take on knowledge base technology that attempts to recreate the authoring or consumption experience, this isn’t it; Confluence is the Microsoft Word of the knowledge management ecosystem. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At least one company has to be the flag bearer for collaborative knowledge tools, and its Atlassian’s Confluence.
Slack Integration
Confluence’s Slack wiki integration is fairly limited; it enables notifications on content within Slack channels, as well as link previews. Arguably the biggest drawback of Confluence is the lack of integrated Slack-based search. This creates a productivity gap for knowledge seekers. Many organizations invest in Confluence, but find this lack of search integration (on top of an already rudimentary search experience) very problematic as companies reach scale. As a result, they have to turn to the third-party developer ecosystem in the Atlassian Marketplace (like this and this) that enable Slack-based search of their tools to fix the problem.
Pros
- No nonsense appeal for collaborative teams.
- Allows Cloud and Server (on-prem) workspaces.
Cons
- Everyone seems to takes issue with Confluence’s search capability, even within the app
- No Slack search integration, which makes finding things even more distant from Slack workflows.
Guru
Guru has reinvented the standard knowledge base software from the traditional document format into one that is composed on a series of “cards”. They have deep integrations with numerous third-party knowledge sources, but ultimately its all about building knowledge in the card format. That said, editing cards within the Guru browser extension is quite nice. The goal is to create a format that can be shared and embedded wherever the need arises, whether that is in Slack, a web-page or elsewhere.
Slack Integration
Guru allows users to search, capture and share knowledge in Slack, but they tend to steer users back to their browser extension or app for full featured use. They also tend to use a “modal” user experience within their flavor of Slack wiki for knowledge search which is a little bit cumbersome.
Pros
- Card format is good for sharing and embedding.
Cons
- Confined to the card format, which can feel limiting.
- Convoluted use of modals in a Slack-based wiki workflow.
Bloomfire
Bloomfire positions itself as an enterprise offering that uses AI-powered tools to help categorize and tag content automatically to assist in content discovery. In a lot of ways, Bloomfire is like an alternative to Sharepoint with no gimmicks beyond the smart-tagging. Another no-nonsense, no-frills knowledge base software that appeals to enterprises. Bloomfire knowledge content can be searched, accessed and shared in Slack, which is an improvement from the limitations of its closest competitor in this list: Confluence.
Slack Integration
Bloomfire’s Slack wiki integration is limited to search and sharing of Bloomfire wiki content. When content is updated in Bloomfire, users can be optionally notified in Slack.
Pros
- Automated tagging which improves content discovery
Cons
- Limited integrations, uninspired design and collaboration tools
Notion
Notion has endeavored to improve personal and team note-taking from the heyday of Evernote. Out of this core note-keeping functionality, came team based tools for project planning and a team wiki. You could say that Notion’s philosophy is to unify knowledge, tasks and projects into a single tool. It’s considered more of a workspace than a dedicated wiki or knowledge base software. Notion has developed mobile and desktop apps to complement their web presence.
Notion is really meant to be a standalone workspace and while it has integrations with third-party tools, they are limited. For example, the Slack integration only syncs updates on projects and content – there is no search capability from the Slack message bar. This creates a productivity gap for knowledge seekers trying to connect knowledge to conversations.
Slack Integration
While Notion’s own functionality is quite robust, their Slack integration scope is fairly narrow. It only allows an organization to pipe edits and updates on any Notion page right into the Slack channel of your choosing. There is no search, capture or sharing capability built-in.
Pros
- Standalone tool that handles team notes, knowledge and project management
Cons
- Most disparate of the Slack-wiki options
- No strong Slack integration – only syncs content updates, no search from Slack
Tettra
Tettra has a great combination of collaborative elements with strong Slack, Teams and other third-party integrations – but more in the wiki-format rather than that of “enterprise knowledge base software”. The distinction seems insignificant, but it isn’t. If Confluence and Bloomfire seem to stuffy for you, but Notion and Slite don’t have enough of that familiar wiki structure, its time to consider Tettra. Tettra’s biggest issue is scalability to larger team workflows.
Slack Integration
Tettra’s Slack integration allows for search of wiki pages, authoring of wiki content and requests to author content from subject matter experts.
Pros
- A good small team Slack wiki option that is beautiful and is built with a Slack-first mentality
Cons
- Scalability for growing teams
Slab
Slab’s core philosophy is to deeply integrate third-party technologies directly into the wiki to limit transfer of technology. For example, if your team uses Github, you can embed readmes or issues directly into Slab. Content is synced with that third party source to increase its accuracy.
Also, Slab allows for federated search from within their app, which reduces bias and increases the scope of their knowledge base software to other unrelated silos. The only limitation is that these searches cannot be executed directly from Slack—creating yet another destination for knowledge.
Slack Integration
As mentioned above, Slab does offer federated search from their app, but it is not available within Slack workspaces. Aside from this feature gap, their Slack integration is quite robust. It even includes the ability to search Slack messages from their own app, which is helpful for sourcing knowledge shared in conversations.
Pros
- Deep wiki integrations with numerous third party tools
- Federated search (across multiple silos)
Cons
- Federated search is not available in Slack.
Slite
Slite has found a niche for those looking to compile meeting notes or minutes and capture that body of knowledge with a massive template library. It compares most closely to Notion with its philosophy, and places an emphasis on building a knowledge base software with workflows that are familiar to modern knowledge workers.
The experience is designed to be like building a knowledge base in Slack. For example, knowledge is compiled in Channels rather than Folders, and content updates are communicated with, which is how conversations flow within the world of Slack or Teams.
Like Notion, Slite has desktop and mobile apps to accompany their web app. Their browser extension helps users capture drafts of knowledge, notes and lists.
Slack integration
Slite’s Slack integration enables wiki article sharing to Slack channels, search for Slite wikis directly from Slack, and notifications where wikis are created or edited.
Pros
- If you like Slack’s look/feel/flow and you think that it would be awesome that a wiki would look/feel/flow the same way, there’s a good chance you’ll like Slite
- Lots of templates for creating documentation
Cons
- Much like its cousin, Notion, Slite feels much like knowledge silos of the past—lacking federated search and integrations with 3rd party knowledge sources.
Obie
The Obie wiki is different from the other alternatives listed here. While it is certainly a beautiful and robust knowledge management software, our investment has been in delivering that fastest access to knowledge directly from within Slack. This product is optimized for Slack-based workflow first, then everything else second. In many cases, you’ll never need to leave Slack for anything knowledge related (eg. with AI-powered intelligent previews); you can access, capture and share knowledge directly from within a Slack message.
To achieve this rapid access to knowledge Obie delineates knowledge format into two types:
- FAQs – A dedicated snippet format for storing unstyled content for rapid access and upkeep
- Knowledge Base – A traditional long-form, rich-text format with the ability to embed anything including video, GIFs, code snippets, images and even web pages (via iframe)
The unique direction that Obie takes in with its entire knowledge base software philosophy is to remain unbiased. If you’ve already built some base of knowledge in Confluence; partially in Google Drive; the remainder in Evernote – Obie respects that investment in time and effort and simply connects knowledge seekers to all of it simultaneously without compromising security. So, you can choose to build your knowledge base entirely in Obie, or it can be used to enhance existing stores of knowledge without the requirement to migrate existing knowledge to a new platform.
While all of the other technologies listed in this article force you to commit to a single knowledge platform, Obie lets Engineering keep their Confluence, Customer Support can keep Zendesk Guide, Marketing to keep Dropbox, IT to use Obie FAQs and HR to use Obie Knowledge Base without issue.
Slack Integration
Obie’s Slack integration is arguably the most powerful of those listed here. There are four notable reasons why.
1. Optimized for Speed in Slack
Obie is designed to deliver the fastest access to the knowledge you need within Slack based workflows. In many cases you’ll never need to leave Slack to get the information you need. With the FAQ knowledge format and our own knowledge base product, content is previewed immediately from the query so that you can consume or copy-paste-share the information you need in the fastest way possible.
2. Federated Search
Obie brings federated search to Slack, unlike any of the other Slack wiki options, to give comprehensive knowledge search results without leaving the Slack workspace. This means that, not only is all of your internal knowledge searchable from Slack, but so are all of your files and documents, whether they are stored in Google Drive, Confluence, Dropbox or elsewhere.
3. Intelligent Suggestions
When people ask questions in Slack, they’re often looking for knowledge to complete a task. In channels where he is invited, Obie recognizes questions in the flow of conversations, and executes a real-time federated search across all knowledge silos for a relevant result. If nothing is found, Obie stays silent, but if he does, he’ll privately suggest answers to the knowledge seeker.
Theory Slacks
4. Slack Ticketing
When a user executes a search and no adequate results are found, the user can be prompted to create a support ticket to escalate the issue for resolution. This limits context switching and can assist in building out the knowledge base further where knowledge gaps are found.
Pros
- Most powerful Slack integration
- Bias-free silo-search functionality
- Dedicated snippet format
- Scalable bucket pricing (in lieu of per-user pricing)
Cons
- Native authoring tools are designed for static documentation (not live collaborative knowledge)
Users love Obie
Curious what other people think about Obie? Visit the Obie G2 Reviews page for to see what real verified users say about our Slack wiki.
Bucket Comparison
Everyone likes to put things in buckets, so let’s do that now. Not surprisingly, there is a bit of bucket overlap for some products.
Plain Vanilla
Confluence and Bloomfire fit into the same plain, vanilla-colored bucket. The big differentiator is Bloomfire’s AI-powered tagging and Slack-based search vs. Confluence’s integration with the rest of the ubiquitous Atlassian Suite. Obie’s Knowledge Base and FAQ products are similarly vanilla in terms of their design, but the hope is to not over-complicate authoring of static knowledge.
Creative Mode
Guru’s card format and Slite’s Slack-doppelganger wiki get points for creativity. If you’re looking for mediums that to try and inspire your team to capture and share knowledge though a novel experience, consider these options.
All Slack, all the time
While they tend to stand on their own mertits, the real Slack-first alternatives are Obie, Slab, Tettra, Slite and Bloomfire. These products merge knowledge-centric workflows directly into Slack. Guru encroaches on this category as well although they do tend to have a strong emphasis on accessing knowledge through their browser extension.
Dear Diary
Notion is like a public diary on steroids. Do all your planning, note taking and task management in one place and share it with your team. It is unique from all the other offerings in its standalone philosophy and broad appeal. But if bringing Slack into the knowledge-centric workflow is your goal, this diary is locked away and hidden from prying eyes.
Bias Busters
Obie and Slab are the sole options that provide bias free access to knowledge, whether in native tools or third party silos. While Slab’s federated search functionality is restricted to their app, Obie enables silo-search directly from Slack or the browser extension.
Summary of Slack Wiki Integrations
Given the importance of merging knowledge with communication in Slack, we compiled a side-by-side comparison of each company’s Slack-wiki Integration offering.
At Obie, we are truly fans of all of these companies paving the way for the future of work and how collective knowledge is made more accessible. There is a tool for every team and workflow, and if you feel like Obie might be a fit for you, reach out!
- Published on February 8, 2021
- Updated on
- Read time 6 minutes
- Category
Notion is an incredible tool that you can use to simplify your note-taking processes and to handle your tasks while taking care of your database processes.
This application is so incredibly versatile and productive that you are going to have a hard time replacing it with something else. But as with everything in the software market, there is always some other tool that is going to fulfill your needs and requirements more perfectly.
That’s why, in this article, we are going to talk about some of the best applications on the market that you can use as a Notion alternative, and take care of those notes and databases more effectively and easily.
6 Best Notion Alternatives to Use in 2021
Here are some of the applications that we are going to talk about in this article.
Best Notion Alternatives for 2021
Let’s take a look at all of them in detail and find out how they are different and more useful than Notion.
1. nTask
Being an amazing project management software and one of the best task management applications that you can find on the market, nTask has everything that you need in a Notion alternative.
The application is an amazing tool that allows you to gather information about the project you are working on in the designated comment section for every task and project, and also you can use it to manage the data connected to your project, all in a single interface.
Key Features
- Task color codes
- Meeting agendas
- 2FA
- File attachments
- Project cloning
- Activity management
- Project planning and management
Pricing
- Basic free plan
- 14-day free trial for Premium and Business plan
- The paid subscription of the application starts at $2.99/month
Use The Best Notion Alternative for Free.
Manage all your tasks, projects, team collaboration and more in one place. Sign up today!
2. Coda
Another incredible Notion alternative that allows you to take control of the whole bulk of docs related to your project than easily than you need to check out Coda.
The application is a highly proficient word-processing, database management, and spreadsheet creation tool that enables you to take control of your project and tasks with fairly good results.
Key Features
- API
- Alerts / Escalation
- Approval Process Control
- Automatic Notifications
- Brainstorming
- Collaboration Tools
- Collaborative Review
- Collaborative Workspace
- Commenting
- Configurable Workflow
- Customizable Templates
- Document Automation
Pricing
- There is a free trial of the software available if you want to check out the software before making a subscription purchase
- The paid subscription of the software starts at $10/month
3. Joplin
Another great example of a Notion alternative that can help you gather information via notes and easily manage all of the tasks related to your project is Joplin.
One drawback of this application is that it is not as feature-packed as Notion and some of the other applications in this list, but it does have some cool features that help you to create notes and manage your tasks pretty easily.
Key Features
- End-to-End encryption to keep your data protected and secured from any harmful entities
- The software supports a lot of plugins that help you to hook this application with some other professional applications that you use daily
- You can easily import data from Evernote
- Integration with NextCloud
- Integration with WebDAV
- Integration with OneDrive
Notion Integrations
Pricing
- This incredible application is open-source and completely free of cost
4. Tettra
One of the most powerful Notion alternatives that you will find on the app market is Tettra. The application is an incredible knowledge management system that can replace Notion for you and maybe help you even more than its famed rival.
The application provides incredible support for smart workflows and provides you with the ability to quickly answer different questions of the new and old team members.
Key Features
- Single sign-on with Slack
- Slack integration
- Securely hosted
- Page requests
- Automatic table of content
- Easy to use editor
- Markdown support
- Slack notification
- Share and search pages on slack
- Internal page linking
Pricing
- There is a free trial of the software available to use if you want to check out the software before making a purchase
- The paid subscription of the application starts at $50/month
5. Evernote
When it comes to data management and note-taking, we all know that Evernote is the king. It is an incredible Notion alternative that allows you to input data and other forms of content very easily into a single interface so that you can work on your projects and tasks easily with all of the data at hand.
Key Features
- Mobile and Web interface
- Web clipper browser extensions
- Geolocation
- Save online resources in one place
- Save favorite webpages
- Evernote Clearly for clearing web content
- Annotation and markup
- Other products include Skitch and Penultimate
Pricing
- There is a free trial of the software available to use if you want to check out the application before making a subscription purchase
- The paid subscription of the application starts at $3.99/month
6. Microsoft OneNote
One another example of a great note-taking application is Microsoft OneNote. The application is designed to allow all sorts of users to sync, create and store all sorts of ideas and notes through all of the different mobile devices that you use daily.
Let’s take a look at some of the features that this application has to offer.
Key Features
- Page Templates so that you don’t waste time creating an interface for similar projects every single time
- Quick Notes to help you store any and every information that you want to be saved at any time of the day
- Custom Tags to help you differentiate between the different types of information that you input into the application throughout the day
- Quick Access Toolbar to help you access just the right features at the right moment and not go through all of the features before you find your desired one, every single time
- Docked Note Taking
- Real-time Collaboration
- Audio/Video Recording
- Internal Links
- Version History
- Integration with Outlook
Pricing
- You have to contact the company for a pricing model
Related:
Conclusion
These were our top picks for the best Notion alternatives that you can find on the app market right now. If you think that we missed something, or if you think that we mentioned something wrong, contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
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