Expert Guide

The Cheapest Knowledge Base Software in 2026

Seven knowledge base tools priced for a 25-person team billed yearly, with the seat bands, editor limits and add-ons that change the total.

Louis CorneloupFounder, Dupple · 920,000+ readers · Updated Oct 2026

Product links may be affiliate links. How we rate 7 tools compared

TL;DR

Short answer: for 25 people billed yearly, Confluence Standard is the lowest bill at $1,700 a year, but its pricing page lists no help center. The cheapest tool that also publishes help docs to customers is Tettra Scaling at $2,400 a year, or $8 per user a month, verified on vendor pricing pages in October 2026.

Helpjuice comes next at $2,988 a year on a flat $249 monthly plan that holds 30 users. Notion Plus and Slite Basic each cost $3,000 a year for 25 seats, but both are built around the internal wiki. Help Scout costs $7,500 for 25 full seats, so it earns its price only when the shared inbox is part of the job.

Key facts7 tools compared: Confluence Standard, Tettra Scaling, Helpjuice Customized, Notion Plus…

Updated: October 11, 2026
Top pick: Confluence Standard (best for: Internal wikis for a team that wants the lowest annual bill and has no need for a public help center)
Top pick price as of October 11, 2026: Confluence Standard: $1,700 a year for 16 to 25 users billed annually; $6.70 per user a month billed monthly. Free for up to 10 users.

7 tools compared: Confluence Standard, Tettra Scaling, Helpjuice Customized, Notion Plus, Slite Basic, HelpDocs Harvest, Help Scout Standard
Tettra Scaling (best for: Teams that want answers inside Slack and a public help site for customers from one tool): $8 per user a month billed yearly (higher monthly), 10-user minimum, 30-day free trial; $2,400 a year at 25 users.
Helpjuice Customized (best for: Customer help centers that need a branded design, for teams of up to 30 users): $249 a month for up to 30 users, about $2,988 a year, with a 14-day free trial and no annual discount shown.
Notion Plus (best for: Internal wikis where the whole company writes, with a few public pages for customers): $10 per member a month billed yearly ($12 monthly), free plan for one person; $3,000 a year at 25 members.

A knowledge base bill is mostly seats, so the cheapest tool depends on how many people must write and whether readers outside the company need a page. We priced seven tools for one scenario: 25 people, billed yearly, one internal wiki and one public help center.

Each yearly figure is the vendor's own list rate multiplied out for that team. For a wider look at the category, see our ranking of the best knowledge base software, which compares fit rather than cost.

Tool profiles sit on Toolradar, for example Confluence and Tettra.

Toolradar data: of the 112 knowledge base tools we track as of 10 October 2026, 60% are free, freemium or open source, and the median cheapest paid plan is $15 a month across the 32 that publish a price.

At 25 seats, five of the seven tools below work out to less than that $15 median per person a month, and the other two do not.

Top Picks

Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.

Cheapest Knowledge Base Software 2026: Team Costs Compared: 7 tools compared, updated Oct 2026
Tool	Pricing	Best for
Confluence Standard	$1,700 a year for 16 to 25 users billed annually; $6.70 per user a month billed monthly. Free for up to 10 users.	Internal wikis for a team that wants the lowest annual bill and has no need for a public help center
Tettra Scaling	$8 per user a month billed yearly (higher monthly), 10-user minimum, 30-day free trial; $2,400 a year at 25 users.	Teams that want answers inside Slack and a public help site for customers from one tool
Helpjuice Customized	$249 a month for up to 30 users, about $2,988 a year, with a 14-day free trial and no annual discount shown.	Customer help centers that need a branded design, for teams of up to 30 users
Notion Plus	$10 per member a month billed yearly ($12 monthly), free plan for one person; $3,000 a year at 25 members.	Internal wikis where the whole company writes, with a few public pages for customers
Slite Basic	$10 per user a month billed yearly; no free plan, 14-day trial; $3,000 a year at 25 users.	Teams that want AI answers across one set of verified internal docs
HelpDocs Harvest	$399 a month billed annually for 25 editors, $4,788 a year; readers are unlimited and free; 14-day trial.	External help centers where a fixed group of writers edits and every reader is free
Help Scout Standard	$25 per user a month billed annually, so 25 users come to $7,500 a year; the Free plan covers 5 users at $0.	Support teams that want a shared inbox and a help center in one product

Pricing read from each vendor's own published pricing page, checked Oct 2026. Every vendor here publishes a price.

Confluence Standard

Top Pick

Best for: Internal wikis for a team that wants the lowest annual bill and has no need for a public help center

Pricing$1,700 a year for 16 to 25 users billed annually; $6.70 per user a month billed monthly. Free for up to 10 users.

+At 25 users the annual band works out to $68 per person a year, the lowest bill of the seven.

+The Free plan covers 10 users and 2GB at $0, which is enough for a small internal wiki before any money is spent.

+The annual band is flat, so the 26th user moves the team into the $3,350 a year band rather than adding a per-seat charge.

−Monthly billing costs $2,010 a year at 25 users, which is $310 more than the annual band.

−Atlassian describes Confluence as a team workspace, and its pricing page lists no help-center product, so customer docs need a second tool.

Visit Confluence Standard →

Tettra Scaling

Best for: Teams that want answers inside Slack and a public help site for customers from one tool

Pricing$8 per user a month billed yearly (higher monthly), 10-user minimum, 30-day free trial; $2,400 a year at 25 users.

+At 25 users it is the cheapest of the seven that does both jobs in one product.

+External sites publish whole categories to people outside the account, which covers the help-docs half of this scenario.

+The AI bot in Slack, the Google Workspace integration, usage analytics and API access are all listed on the Scaling plan.

−Monthly billing adds $600 a year at 25 users, because the monthly rate is higher than the yearly one.

−SSO and SCIM are paid add-ons on Scaling, and Tettra publishes no add-on price, so ask sales for a quote.

Visit Tettra Scaling →

Helpjuice Customized

Best for: Customer help centers that need a branded design, for teams of up to 30 users

Pricing$249 a month for up to 30 users, about $2,988 a year, with a 14-day free trial and no annual discount shown.

+At 25 users the flat $249 works out to $9.96 per person a month, which is below most of the per-seat plans in this list.

+Custom design is part of every Helpjuice plan, and the top plan adds unlimited customization credits at no extra charge.

+The trial runs 14 days with no card required, so a team can publish a real help center before the first invoice.

−The 31st user moves the team to the $449 a month AI plan for up to 100 users, which is $5,388 a year.

−Helpjuice publishes one monthly rate and no annual option, so the yearly bill is twelve times the monthly fee.

Visit Helpjuice Customized →

Notion Plus

Best for: Internal wikis where the whole company writes, with a few public pages for customers

Pricing$10 per member a month billed yearly ($12 monthly), free plan for one person; $3,000 a year at 25 members.

+A single person on the free plan can add as many pages and blocks as they like, so a sole operator can start for $0.

+Plus adds custom sites with a header, theme, favicon and Google Analytics, so a public page can carry the company brand.

+Plus includes unlimited file uploads, although a per-file size limit may still apply.

−A custom domain for a public Notion site costs $8 a month per domain billed annually, which is $96 a year on top of the seats.

−Monthly billing costs $3,600 a year at 25 members, which is $600 more than the yearly rate.

Visit Notion Plus →

Slite Basic

Best for: Teams that want AI answers across one set of verified internal docs

Pricing$10 per user a month billed yearly; no free plan, 14-day trial; $3,000 a year at 25 users.

+The doc verification workflow and the Knowledge Management Panel are on Basic, so owners have a route to check pages.

+Ask, the AI search and answers feature, is on Basic, with MCP and API access included on the same plan.

+Basic includes unlimited docs, so the 25-person team never hits a page cap.

−A custom domain for public docs needs the Pro plan at $20 a user, which is $6,000 a year at 25 users and $3,000 more than Basic.

−Storage is 5GB per user on Basic, against 10GB on Pro, which a documentation-heavy team can reach.

Visit Slite Basic →

HelpDocs Harvest

Best for: External help centers where a fixed group of writers edits and every reader is free

Pricing$399 a month billed annually for 25 editors, $4,788 a year; readers are unlimited and free; 14-day trial.

+Viewers are unlimited and free on every plan, so a public help center never adds a reader fee.

+Harvest includes 25 editors, 10,000 AI credits a month and unlimited languages.

+Bloom at $239 a month billed annually covers 15 editors, which is $2,868 a year, so a 15-person writing team can stop at Bloom.

−Editors beyond the 25 on Harvest cost $25 each per month, so 30 editors add $1,500 a year.

−Monthly billing costs $5,988 a year on Harvest, which is $1,200 more than the yearly rate.

Visit HelpDocs Harvest →

Help Scout Standard

Best for: Support teams that want a shared inbox and a help center in one product

Pricing$25 per user a month billed annually, so 25 users come to $7,500 a year; the Free plan covers 5 users at $0.

+Standard includes two Docs sites and two shared Inboxes, so one plan covers a public help site and a support queue.

+The Free plan covers 5 users with one Inbox and one Docs site at $0, which suits a team of five.

+Annual billing saves 16 percent against the monthly rate, so the annual rate is the one used here.

−At 25 users the bill is $7,500 a year, more than four times the Confluence annual band.

−Extra Docs sites cost $20 a month each on Standard, and extra Inboxes cost $10 a month each.

Visit Help Scout Standard →

What it is

A knowledge base is a searchable store of the answers a team keeps writing down, from onboarding and process docs to customer help articles. Some tools charge every person who signs in, some charge only the people who edit, and some charge per site or a flat monthly fee for the whole workspace.

Two tools with similar headline prices can therefore cost very different amounts for the same 25 people. Our help desk software guide covers the support-inbox side of the same purchase.

Why it matters

The bill is paid per person, so every extra seat multiplies. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest tool here is $5,800 a year at 25 people. A team that buys the cheapest wiki and then needs a help center pays for two products.

Confluence's annual band plus Helpjuice at $2,988 comes to $4,688 a year, which is more than the Tettra bill that does both jobs. For the same seat-cost logic applied to project tools, see project management pricing compared.

Key features to look for

Who pays per seatEssential

Some tools charge every member, others charge only editors and let readers in free. Notion and Tettra bill every member, while HelpDocs bills editors and leaves viewers free.

Seat bands and minimumsEssential

Tettra starts counting at 10 users, Helpjuice holds a flat fee up to 30, and Confluence prices 16 to 25 users as one annual band. The band edges decide the bill as much as the rate.

Public help accessEssential

Whether readers outside the company can open articles without a seat. Notion and Slite publish public pages, and Tettra, Helpjuice, HelpDocs and Help Scout sell a help site as the product. The Confluence pricing page lists none.

Custom domain

A branded address for public docs. Notion charges extra for each custom domain on top of its plan, and Slite moves custom domains for public docs to its Pro plan.

Billing term

Yearly billing lowers the per-seat rate on Confluence, Tettra, Notion and HelpDocs. Helpjuice shows one monthly rate and no annual option.

Pricing

Methodology: every seat rate is multiplied by 25 users and by 12 months, and flat plans count once. The yearly figures are the cost for 25 members billed yearly, in US dollars. Notion's rates are the USD figures on its pricing page.

Confluence's annual band is the rate used for the 16 to 25 user tier.

Sources, read on each vendor's own pricing page: Confluence pricing, Tettra pricing, Helpjuice pricing, Notion pricing, Slite pricing, HelpDocs pricing and Help Scout pricing.

For what the Notion and Help Scout plans include beyond price, read our Notion review and Help Scout review.

Storage limits for the same team are compared in cloud storage for business.

Two tools are not ranked because neither publishes a price. Document360 quotes each deal on workspaces, languages, team accounts, SSO and AI usage.

Guru scopes its price to organization size, knowledge complexity and AI maturity in a sales call. Neither gets a number here, so neither can win a cheapest ranking.

Plan	Price	Best for
Confluence Free	$0	Up to 10 users, 2GB storage, community support
Confluence Standard	$1,700/yr at 25 users	Annual band for 16 to 25 users; the 26th user moves to the $3,350 band
Tettra Scaling	$8/user/mo billed yearly	10-user minimum, external sites, AI bot in Slack, API access
Tettra Enterprise	Contact sales	SSO and SCIM included, hands-on onboarding and custom reporting
Helpjuice Customized	$249/mo	30 users, 12GB storage, custom design, 14-day trial
Helpjuice AI-Knowledge Base	$449/mo	Up to 100 users and 24GB storage
Notion Free	$0	Unlimited pages for one person; a block limit applies once several members join
Notion Plus	$10/member/mo billed yearly; $12 monthly	Custom sites, unlimited file uploads and unlimited charts
Notion Business	$20/member/mo billed yearly; $24 monthly	Advanced page analytics and Notion Agent
Slite Basic	$10/user/mo billed yearly	Unlimited docs, AI search and answers, doc verification, 5GB per user
Slite Pro	$20/user/mo billed yearly	Custom domain for public docs, OpenID SSO, 10GB per user
HelpDocs Sprout	$99/mo billed annually; $129 monthly	5 editors, 1,000 AI credits a month, 3 languages
HelpDocs Bloom	$239/mo billed annually; $299 monthly	15 editors, 5,000 AI credits a month, 20 languages
HelpDocs Harvest	$399/mo billed annually; $499 monthly	25 editors included, 10,000 AI credits a month, unlimited languages
Help Scout Free	$0	5 users, 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site
Help Scout Standard	$25/user/mo billed annually	Two Docs sites, two Inboxes, multiple knowledge bases
Document360	Custom quote	Quoted on workspaces, languages, team accounts, SSO and AI usage
Guru	Custom quote	Quoted on organization size, knowledge complexity and AI maturity

Mistakes to avoid

×Buying the lowest bill for the wrong job: the Confluence annual band covers the internal wiki, and a public help center then means a second tool on top of it.

×Forgetting the seat band: the $249 Helpjuice plan covers 30 users, and the 31st person moves the team to the $449 a month plan, which is $5,388 a year.

×Paying monthly by habit: at 25 seats, monthly billing adds $600 a year on Tettra and $600 on Notion, and $1,200 a year on HelpDocs Harvest.

×Counting readers as editors on HelpDocs: viewers are free, so only the people who write count. The 26th editor on Harvest costs $25 a month, and Bloom includes 15 editors.

×Adding the domain after the plan: a Notion custom domain adds $96 a year on top of the seats, and a public Slite site on its own domain needs the Pro plan at $20 a user.

Expert tips

→Start Confluence on its free plan for up to 10 users, since it costs $0. Before the team grows past 10, check Atlassian's pricing page for the 11 to 15 range, because the Standard annual band starts at 16 users.

→Test the public side during the trial, because Helpjuice, Slite and HelpDocs each give 14 days and Tettra gives 30 days. Publish one real category before the first invoice. If the wiki must sit beside Slack, the <a href="/reviews/best-team-chat-apps">team chat apps</a> guide compares the options.

→On HelpDocs, readers cost nothing, so the bill covers only the people who write. Count the writers first, then pick the editor band. If the team mainly needs AI note-taking rather than a published wiki, compare <a href="/reviews/best-ai-note-taking-apps">AI note-taking apps</a> before you buy.

The bottom line

For 25 people billed yearly, the lowest bill that covers both an internal wiki and public help docs is Tettra Scaling at $2,400 a year. Helpjuice is the step up at $2,988 if the help center must carry a fully branded design.

Choose Confluence Standard only when the wiki is the whole job.

Skip Help Scout for a wiki-only team, because its $7,500 a year buys an inbox that the team may not need. Treat Notion and Slite as wiki-first tools that also publish pages.

Ask Document360 and Guru for a quote before you rule them out, since neither publishes a number to compare here.

For the broader category, our best knowledge base software ranking covers fit.

Cite this: Techpresso, "Cheapest Knowledge Base Software 2026: Team Costs Compared", October 2026, with prices checked on vendor pricing pages on 10 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest knowledge base software for a 25-person team in 2026?

Confluence Standard is the lowest bill at $1,700 a year for 16 to 25 users billed annually, but Atlassian sells it as a team workspace and its pricing page lists no help center. The cheapest tool that covers an internal wiki and public help docs is Tettra Scaling at $2,400 a year, which is $8 per user a month billed yearly, with a 10-user minimum.

How much does knowledge base software cost per user?

Among the seven tools here, yearly rates run from $5.67 per user a month on Confluence Standard, using its annual band for 25 users, up to $25 on Help Scout Standard. Notion Plus and Slite Basic bill the same per-seat rate when billed yearly. Monthly billing costs more on Confluence, Tettra, Notion and HelpDocs.

Is there a free knowledge base software?

Yes, for small teams. Confluence Free covers up to 10 users with 2GB of storage at $0, Notion's free plan gives one person unlimited pages, and Help Scout's free plan covers 5 users with one Inbox and one Docs site. Slite and HelpDocs have no free plan, only 14-day trials.

Why are Document360 and Guru not in the ranking?

Neither publishes a list price. Document360 quotes each deal on workspaces, languages, team accounts, SSO and AI usage, and Guru scopes its price to organization size, knowledge complexity and AI maturity. A cheapest ranking needs a number on the vendor's own pricing page, so both stay off the list until a quote is in hand.

Does Confluence work as a public help center?

Not on the evidence of its pricing page. Atlassian describes Confluence as a team workspace for creating and sharing knowledge, and its pricing page lists no help-center product. A team that needs public articles should test a workaround first, or compare Tettra Scaling, which includes external sites.

When does the cheapest plan change as the team grows?

Helpjuice's flat monthly plan holds up to 30 users, and the 31st user moves the team to the $449 a month plan for up to 100 users, which is $5,388 a year. Confluence steps up to its $3,350 a year band at 26 users. Tettra and Notion scale per seat, so each further 25 members adds $2,400 on Tettra and $3,000 on Notion.

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