Happy Valley

Confluence vs Notion

Confluence and Notion are both note-taking & docs tools. Confluence is aimed at enterprise and developers, while Notion is aimed at small businesses and freelancers. Confluence costs less, from $7.15/mo versus $12/mo for Notion. Both have a free plan.

Confluence

Team wiki tightly integrated with Jira

Notion

All-in-one workspace for notes, docs and projects

PricingFreemium · $7Freemium · $12
Starting price$7.15/mo$12/mo
Free planYesYes
Free trial14 days—
Built forEnterprise, DevelopersSmall businesses, Freelancers, Enterprise
Platformsweb, ios, androidweb, ios, android, macos, windows
CountryAU · 2004US · 2016
Rating——

Choose Confluence if

Organizations already standardized on Jira that need a governed knowledge base.

  • Deep Jira integration and shared admin
  • Mature permissions for large organizations
  • Free for small teams up to 10 users

Look elsewhere if: Teams without Jira or those who value writing experience; Notion, Slite or Outline.

Choose Notion if

Startups and small teams (2–50 people) that want docs, wiki and simple project tracking in one place, and individuals who like building their own systems.

  • Replaces several tools (docs, wiki, light PM, CRM) for small teams
  • Extremely flexible data model; databases with relations and rollups
  • Huge template ecosystem and integrations via API and Zapier/Make

Look elsewhere if: Engineering teams that need a strict issue tracker with cycles and estimates, finance teams that live in spreadsheets, or organizations that need offline-first access.

Confluence vs Notion pricing

Confluence

  • Free$0Up to 10 users, 2 GB storage, community support
  • Standard$7.15/user/mo1-100 users monthly; tiered lower ($5.78 avg at 300); 250 GB
  • Premium$14.10/user/mo1-100 users monthly ($11.16 avg at 300 users); 30-day trial
  • EnterpriseCustom801+ users, advanced analytics, scale and security

Notion

  • Free$07-day page history, 10 guests, limited Notion AI trial
  • Plus$12/member/mo$10/mo billed yearly; 30-day history, unlimited guests
  • Business$24/member/mo$20/mo billed yearly; 90-day history, Notion Agent, AI notes
  • EnterpriseCustomUnlimited history, zero data retention with LLM providers

Confluence · Key features

  • Spaces, page trees and templates for specs, runbooks and meetings
  • Live Jira issue embeds and requirement linking
  • Whiteboards, databases and inline comments
  • Rovo AI search, chat and writing
  • Granular space and page permissions
  • Marketplace apps for diagrams, forms and macros

Cons

  • Editor and formatting can be frustrating
  • Search quality is inconsistent
  • Feels heavy compared with modern wikis

Notion · Key features

  • Block-based editor with slash commands, synced blocks and 50+ content types
  • Relational databases with table, board, calendar, gallery, timeline and list views
  • Templates, buttons and database automations for repeatable workflows
  • Notion AI: Q&A across workspace plus Slack, Drive and GitHub connectors
  • Public publishing with custom domains (Notion Sites) and SEO settings
  • Granular sharing: teamspaces, guests, page-level permissions and SSO on Business

Cons

  • No native structure means workspaces sprawl without governance
  • Slower on large databases; offline mode is limited
  • Per-seat pricing adds up for large teams, AI bundled only in Business and up

Confluence vs Notion: FAQ

Which is cheaper, Confluence or Notion?

Confluence starts at $7.15/mo and Notion at $12/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.

Do Confluence and Notion have a free plan?

Yes, both Confluence and Notion have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.

Which is better for small businesses, Confluence or Notion?

Notion lists small businesses as a core audience, while Confluence is aimed more at enterprise and developers.

Not sure yet?