The best knowledge management tools and software of 2024

Every day, customers are reaching out to businesses with concerns, requests, and questions. On top of that, employees constantly need company information, training documents, and other information to help them do their jobs. To help streamline all of these internal and external requests, businesses need to create and maintain a library of informative documents—and for that, you need the right knowledge management (KM) software.

KM software can help customers and employees find the information they need more easily—leading to an improved customer experience (CX) and increased team efficiency. In this guide, we detail 10 knowledge management tools so you can find the right partner for your business.

More in this guide:

• What are knowledge management tools?
• Why are knowledge management tools important?
• Different types of knowledge management tools
• The 10 best knowledge management software
• How to choose the right knowledge management software
• Frequently asked questions
• Build a comprehensive knowledge management system with Zendesk

Knowledge management (KM) tools are resources businesses can use to effectively gather, distribute, and continuously update internal and external knowledge. Modern KM tools often leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to help create and manage knowledge at scale, improve search capabilities, keep information secure, and more.

Knowledge management is the process of organizing and sharing information with employees and customers. Organizations can use KM software to consolidate knowledge base content like self-help resources, employee onboarding documents, FAQ pages, and general company information.

Knowledge management software often includes AI capabilities, making it easy for employees and customers to find information quickly. This can also help in article creation, organization, and performance.

Knowledge management tools can aid businesses in several key areas. Here are some of the most impactful benefits.

Create a knowledge center quickly

KM software helps teams rapidly create a centralized knowledge center with AI capabilities. Features like generative AI creation tools can create articles, spot knowledge gaps, and aid in populating knowledge base content. This can help businesses get up and running quickly and establish a helpful and comprehensive knowledge management system.

Keep knowledge fresh and up to date

Centralized, cloud-based systems ensure all team members have the same reference point. For example, a manager can update an internal process or upload a new document, giving instant access to all departments within your organization. This means employees won’t have to rely on downloading outdated PDFs onto their devices because everything is accessible in the cloud.

Enhance security

Businesses know that protecting customer and employee data is paramount. With knowledge management software, teams can harness security features like encryption, access controls, and audit trails. This ensures only authorized personnel can access sensitive information, can safeguard against data breaches, and can improve customer data protection.

Increase team productivity

Knowledge management platforms can boost team productivity by making it easier for employees to find information. KM tools improve document organization and often provide robust search features—meaning teams spend less time searching for what they need. Having helpful documents at their fingertips allows them to act quickly and finish their tasks.

Reduce support cost

KM tools promote customer self-service and help them resolve issues on their own—thereby taking pressure off your team and reducing support costs. Self-service resources like how-to articles and community forums can help customers understand their issues and get the information they need.

This can reduce the amount of customer support tickets which translates to decreased labor costs, and also frees up staff to handle more complex issues. For example, global manufacturer MOO uses Zendesk self-service tools to achieve $52,000 in annual cost savings and a customer satisfaction (CSAT) score of 95 percent.

Businesses will encounter different types of knowledge management tools depending on the industry or use case. Here are some of the most important to look for.

1. Generative AI content creation tools

Generative AI is a crucial aspect of KM tools that helps businesses create content rapidly. This technology can help businesses in several areas:

• Expanding content you’re writing to turn a few sentences or bullet points into fully-fledged articles.
• Changing the tone of an article to sound more conversational or professional, depending on your intended audience.
• Simplifying help center content to get rid of unnecessary filler or buzzwords and get to the meat and potatoes of your post.

With generative AI, you can create a comprehensive knowledge base quickly.

2. AI-powered content management insights

After creating content, businesses need to consistently monitor performance to make sure it’s effective for their audience. AI-powered content management insights like content cues can uncover opportunities to improve the health of your knowledge base in ways like:

• Identifying frequent support ticket topics to highlight common questions and spot content gaps—topics that don’t have help center articles—thereby providing your team ideas for new assets.
• Highlighting top and low-performing articles to ensure your content is relevant and up-to-date. If an article isn’t getting many views or engagement, it may get flagged as low-performing. This provides content managers or team leaders the opportunity to update or archive the topic.

Through these capabilities, you can make sure your resources are always optimized for your customers and employees.

3. Knowledge-Centered Service® (KCS)

Knowledge-Centered Service® (KCS) is the process of collecting, structuring, reusing, and improving knowledge content to enhance the customer experience. KM tools that prioritize KCS help businesses consistently create and update content, ensuring valuable information is documented and accessible for future use. This can help improve support teams and increase organization.

4. Knowledge bases

If knowledge management tools are the libraries, knowledge bases are the books. These resources are documents like self-help articles, product information, industry guides, and more. You can have an external knowledge base for customer-facing information, an internal knowledge base for employee handbooks and onboarding materials, or a combination of the two to help customers and employees simultaneously.

5. Search

Just as you wouldn’t drive around a new city without a map, you can’t expect your customers or employees to navigate your knowledge base without a search function. Knowledge base search capabilities come in several forms:

• Generative search: AI-powered search that helps users find what they need faster. With generative search, customers can simply ask a question, and AI will identify a help article or resource that best matches their query.
• Federated search: A search method that lets your users see all relevant content—not just content in your help center. For example, after inputting a query, users may see results from blog posts, external knowledge bases, website pages, and other resources that aren’t confined to your knowledge base.
• Semantic search: Another AI-powered search that uses machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to help identify user intent and serve relevant articles based on the query.

These three main search types can help your users find answers to their questions—even if they aren’t sure how best to ask.

6. Knowledge base AI bots

Advanced bots, like AI agents, can improve your knowledge base, adding another layer of support that your users can harness to get the answers they need. This technology lets users directly communicate with bots to get search results instantly. Additionally, AI agents can scan knowledge base content in seconds, giving your users relevant answers without needing to read the article themselves.

Next, we’ll dive into 10 knowledge management software options. In each entry, we’ve included a product overview, list of features, and pricing so you can find the best solution for your needs.

1. Zendesk

Best for AI-powered knowledge management

Building and maintaining an effective knowledge base is easier said than done. You need to know what your customers are searching for, you must craft truly helpful articles around their queries and ensure everything is easy to find. Above all, you need to harness artificial intelligence to streamline the entire process. With Zendesk, you can easily check all of those boxes and more.

Our generative AI capabilities can help you craft a perfect article in seconds. Start by typing a few bullet points, and watch as Zendesk AI turns your idea into a full-length article. And if you need the content to strike a different tone or condense the writing to appeal to a different audience, our system can re-write anything to fit your specifications. Not only that, but our approval and publishing workflows can help you change and publish multiple assets at once—helping your team save time and operate more efficiently.

Once you have your content in place, our search capabilities can help your users find exactly what they need. Generative search uses AI to pull contextually relevant content from even the most complex user question, federated search finds results from across your content, and semantic search uses machine learning and natural language processing to expertly identify user intent and identify relevant articles. Together, they create comprehensive search functionality that boosts efficiency and expertly directs users to relevant assets.

If your users still can’t put their finger on what they need, Zendesk AI agents—or advanced chatbots—can provide instant, accurate replies. You can implement them to respond to customers as efficiently as human agents, offer non-stop service, and impress your customers.

By now, you’ve created helpful assets and made it possible for your users to find them—but your work’s not done there. Our AI-powered content management insights can help you continuously monitor article performance to spot low-performing assets and opportunities for new articles so you can keep your knowledge base performing as intended.

Not to mention, Zendesk is easy to use and scalable, so you can get your team up and running in days, not months. Follow the link below to try us for free for 14 days and see firsthand how we can revolutionize your knowledge management.

Features:

• Content Cues
• Generative AI
• AI agents
• Generative search, semantic search, and federated search
• SEO ready
• Approval and publishing workflows
• Content blocks
• Bulk actions
• Templates
• Scheduled publishing and verification
• Self-service portal
• Multilingual capabilities
• Reporting and analytics
• AI-powered knowledge base
• Community forums
• Easy to use and easy to scale
• Security
• Customizable and flexible

Pricing: Plans start at $55 per agent/month. A 14-day free trial is available.

Explore more Zendesk pricing plans.

2. HubSpot Service Hub

Best for marketing teams

HubSpot Service Hub offers its users multiple knowledge management tools. The knowledge base supports an FAQ library that provides customers with articles, videos, and documents; it also comes with a search function.

Businesses can customize the look and feel of their articles with the HubSpot CMS editor. This feature can also automatically organize articles into categories and can give users previews so they can see how the articles look on different devices. HubSpot also allows users to track metrics and create reports with the reporting dashboard that shows useful articles and knowledge gaps.

Features:

• Generative AI
• Search functionality
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Reporting
• Customer portal
• Feedback surveys
• Integrations

Pricing: Plans start at $90 per seat/month, billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how HubSpot integrates with Zendesk and how Zendesk vs. HubSpot compare.

3. Guru

Best for real-time data capture

Guru is a knowledge base platform that integrates with your existing CRM or customer service platform. It captures real-time data from integrated channels and compiles it into a single knowledge source. It then organizes that knowledge and deletes duplicates while suggesting further organizational tags.

When users search the knowledge base, Guru can give context-based recommendations on related articles or information. The product also has generative AI features that can help with agent training and advanced search.

Features:

• Content cues
• Generative AI
• Search functionality
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Customizability
• Security
• Employee profiles

Pricing: Plans start at $15 per user/month. A 30-day free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Guru integrates with Zendesk.

4. Document360

Best for technical documents

Document360 is a self-service platform that helps businesses build, share, and manage their knowledge bases. The product lets users create content with three editors: The markdown editor for text and code-heavy documents, the What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor for Microsoft Word-style writing, and the advanced WYSIWYG editor that supports text, images, videos, and more.

Analytics can analyze knowledge base traffic to identify where it’s coming from and the articles they’re looking for. Businesses can support multilingual content with up to 30 languages. Security features like SSL and encryption help restrict information to authorized users and keep data private.

Features:

• Analytics
• Customizations
• Security
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Multilingual content
• Workflows
• Feedback manager

Pricing: Plans start at $149 per project/month, billed annually. A free plan and a 14-day free trial are available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Document360 integrates with Zendesk.

5. Bloomfire

Best for cross-functional teams

Bloomfire is a cloud-based knowledge management tool for sales, service, and support teams. It has AI capabilities that help with indexing and organizing content, search functionality, document summarization, and more.

The platform has flexible access controls so users know who can access which documents, and it can integrate with many other tools to fill performance gaps. It has customization features that allow users to alter layouts, content feeds, and filtering options. Bloomfire is also HIPAA-ready and GDPR-compliant.

Features:

• Generative AI
• Search functionality
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Customization
• Unlimited data storage
• MS teams and Slack integrations
• Implementation support

Pricing: Contact Bloomfire for pricing. A 30-day free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Bloomfire integrates with Zendesk.

6. Helpjuice

Best for team knowledge sharing

Helpjuice is a cloud-based knowledge management tool that lets companies build internal and external knowledge bases. Its search engine is capable of identifying relevant information within PDFs and images. It integrates with solutions like Zendesk, Slack, and Google Chrome.

The product has its own editing interface and also allows users to copy and paste text and images from different platforms like Word. Users can also access analytics features that detail how many people viewed an article and a rating system that shows how helpful it is.

Features:

• Search functionality
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Analytics
• Customization
• Integrations
• Multilingual capabilities
• Security

Pricing: Plans start at $120 per month for up to four users. A 14-day free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Helpjuice integrates with Zendesk.

7. Happeo

Best for team intranet usage

Happeo provides a centralized hub for companies to organize and share knowledge. The search engine can locate keywords spread across a company's different platforms, like Slack. Businesses can also control user access for each page and assign roles.

The software has drag-and-drop templates capable of custom branding and can support multiple languages. Analytics can help managers determine the return on investment (ROI) of their initiatives, including engagement and user adoption.

Features:

• Search functionality
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Multilingual support
• Analytics
• Organizational charts
• Mobile accessibility
• AI capabilities

Pricing: Contact Happeo for pricing.

8. SharePoint

Best for Microsoft 365 users

SharePoint is the knowledge management software included in the Microsoft 365 suite, but it is available on a stand-alone basis. With SharePoint, teams can upload files, share news, and locate resources. The platform also allows collaboration between internal and external team members.

Businesses can organize documents with custom metadata that helps users search for and find articles. Users can also use versioning and access control to edit documents and restrict who can view them.

Features:

• Search functionality
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Analytics
• Security
• Collaboration tools
• Access controls
• Customizations

Pricing: Plans start at $5 per user/month, billed annually. A 30-day free trial is available.

9. ClickUp

Best for team management

ClickUp is a knowledge management app that centralizes resources, communication, and team management into a single platform. The product has AI capabilities that can organize resources, answer questions, write content, and build workflows.

Teams can customize documents with styling options and templates, and writers can use editing features like bookmarks and tables to use different formatting options. Users can access the library with search features, and businesses can use security measures to limit access to authorized users.

Features:

• Generative AI
• Search functionality
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Customizations
• Security
• Analytics
• Team collaboration and editing

Pricing: Plans start at $7 per user/month, billed annually. A free plan is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how ClickUp integrates with Zendesk.

10. Trainual

Best for employee training resources

Trainual is a knowledge management software that specializes in organizing the internal information businesses need to onboard and train employees. Teams can create and organize internal resources in dedicated folders.

AI features can help teams write documents that match their branding, and the editor allows users to embed PDFs, GIFs, and videos. Businesses can implement e-signatures to help with onboarding or employee training. Also, tracking and reporting features allow managers to monitor training completion.

Features:

• AI capabilities
• Self-service portal
• Knowledge base
• Customizability
• Team directory
• Screen recording
• Security
• Mobile app and browser extension

Pricing: Plans start at $249 per month, billed annually. A 7-day free trial is available.

Companies need to consider multiple factors when comparing the various KM tools on the market. Here are some key considerations to help inform your decision:

• Fast time to value and ease of use: Knowledge management tools should make everyone’s lives easier. The right software should be quick to set up, fast to learn, and easy to maintain. It may also be wise to look for KM tools with employee experience software so it’s that much easier for your team to use.
• Low total cost of ownership: The monthly price of software doesn’t represent every cost. Businesses also need to evaluate training costs, maintenance, and add-ons. Finding knowledge tools with a low cost of ownership will significantly impact your long-term bottom line.
• AI capabilities: Artificial intelligence is changing the way businesses operate. In the scope of knowledge management, AI can help users find answers to their questions, write articles, organize content, and more. For example, LATAM Airlines uses Zendesk self-service options and AI agents to support its internal team—leading to a 90 percent employee satisfaction rating.
• Scalability and customizability: The right knowledge management platform can grow with you—making it easy to support increased customers or employees. Also, make sure you can customize your knowledge base content to fit your branding and promote a consistent user experience.
• Security: Data protection is crucial. Look for a knowledge management solution that has the certifications and protections you need to keep customer, employee, and sensitive business information safe.

As you evaluate the considerations above, keep your customers and employees in mind to make sure you select a solution that works for them.