Over 200,000 businesses use SharePoint for project management or knowledge management. That’s pretty impressive.

But while SharePoint is customizable and has some great features, it’s also expensive and can be complicated and time-consuming to figure out.

Luckily, there are plenty of Microsoft SharePoint alternatives on the market – ranging from options like Workvivo to Jostle to Confluence. If you’re looking for a SharePoint alternative for your organization, you’re in luck. Below, we’ll break down some of the most significant reasons to consider a SharePoint alternative and give you eight of the best options on the market. 

But before diving into the alternatives, let’s start with some background on SharePoint itself. 

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform created and owned by Microsoft. As an intranet, the platform is most commonly used to store, organize, and share documents or other resources amongst internal teams. 

SharePoint has a mobile app in addition to a desktop version. Specific features and functions include:

• File sharing for document collaboration with all team members 
• The ability to design home sites, communication sites, and portals to keep everyone informed
• Rich content management features to keep track of information
• Automation-powered workflows to transform processes and productivity
• Integration with Microsoft Office.

Remote or hybrid teams, especially those already using Microsoft’s suite of digital tools, may appreciate how SharePoint keeps the dialogue open and facilitates easy online collaboration.

Why an alternative may be better for your organization

As we touched on earlier, SharePoint is used by millions of people around the world – 190 million, in fact. But like any software, it’s not perfect. According to current and former users, one of SharePoint’s biggest downfalls is its complexity. The platform is jam-packed with features – but for new users, this can make it more complicated than necessary to get up and running. 

SharePoint is also expensive to use and maintain. If you want to transition your organization onto this platform, you’re looking at costs of:

• SharePoint Online (Plan 1): $5.00 per user per month (recommended for SMBs)
• SharePoint Online (Plan 2): $10.00 per user per month (recommended for enterprises)
• Microsoft 365: $22.00 per user per month

Microsoft also has additional plans that include SharePoint. These plans range from $6.00 per user per month to $22.00 per user per month.

Whatever plan you go with, the bottom line is the larger your company is, the more you’ll pay. For companies who want the full benefits of Office 365 and its integrations, your monthly bill could range up to $23,000 for enterprises with a thousand employees. That’s a significant cost for knowledge management software.

Finally, SharePoint is somewhat high maintenance. While it’s nice to have so much freedom to customize your intranet to suit your organizational needs to a T, it takes a special skillset to do so. You’ll likely need a developer (or someone on staff with advanced IT skills) to use the platform to its full potential for anything beyond the most basic use cases – which is also costly. Plus, SharePoint is a large collection of multiple software, meaning bugs and syncing issues are more common than with a single streamlined platform.

Best SharePoint alternatives for your organization

While it may work well for major enterprises, investing the time, money, and effort into building and maintaining a company SharePoint isn’t for everyone. Let’s dive into some of the best SharePoint alternatives available to help you decide which best suits your business’s needs – and your employees’. 

1) Workvivo

Workvivo is an employee experience platform packed with valuable, easy-to-use features. As a social intranet, Workvivo is an internal communications network that includes features similar to a social media platform. SharePoint is more of a traditional intranet: It’s far less engaging and somewhat outdated. 

However, Workvivo’s social intranet connects your team like never before – no matter where they’re located! With social-networking-like features that enable better communications, improved company culture, and more streamlined remote work, Workvivo provides a better employee experience.

If you are a mid-market or enterprise, Workvivo might be a good fit for you. Workvivo can help with engagement, communications, and operations between frontline and desktop employees.

Key features

• Store all corporate resources and content in one place, creating repositories that are just a click away
• Integrate with common tools like Zoom, Slack, MS Teams, and payroll software
• Use the people directory to quickly find and collaborate with colleagues and to better understand your company structure 
• Increase employee engagement with personalized user feed
• Push notifications for crisis communications ensure everyone gets the message
• Get feedback by posting questions and allowing employees to vote on answers 
• Connect every communication back to your company goals, values, and culture
• Use rich media like podcasts and livestreaming to connect with staff, no matter their location.

Pricing

Request a demo, and let’s chat about how Workvivo can help your organization transform employee communications.

2) Confluence

Owned by collaboration software Atlassian, Confluence is a remote-friendly team workspace that helps with knowledge management, communication, and productivity. This project management tool has more out-of-the-box integrations than SharePoint, and while the starting price is $0.75 higher per user than SharePoint’s cheapest option, you can use Confluence for free forever with 10 users or less.

Key features

• Draw from the template library to easily create things like product requirement documents or marketing plans
• Enjoy up to 2GB of cloud storage
• Set up ‘spaces’ and ‘pages’ for your team.

Pricing

• Free for teams with a maximum of 10 users (limited features)
• Standard: $5.75 per user per month
• Premium: $11.00 per user per month
• Enterprise teams should contact sales for a custom quote

3) Samepage

Samepage is an online collaboration software covering everything from project management to discussion boards and budgeting. Its eStudio contains 30+ total features and capabilities, and small businesses can start with a more minimal plan and increase as their needs grow. Despite all of its features, Samepage is easier to set up and get started than SharePoint.

Key features

• Manage scheduling with calendar and event features
• Use the wiki’s custom search function and auto alerts to stay in the know on relevant topics
• Agile task assignment, timesheet entry, and Gantt charts.

Pricing

• Mini: $39 per month
• Seven: $59 per month
• Pro: $99 per month
• Plus: $199 per month
• eXtreme: $499 per month

4) Igloo

Igloo calls itself the industry-leading intranet for digital workplaces. This software is a good fit for medium-sized businesses and serves as a knowledge base, content management system, and collaboration system, with the ability to configure your intranet in just a few minutes. Integrations like Microsoft, Google, and Slack also help make it easier to get work done.

Key features

• Create wikis so employees can access and search for info they need
• Assign reminders, requests, or to-do items to different users
• Broadcast important messages to the people who need to see them
• Change permissions as needed to view or edit content.

Pricing

Pricing for Igloo is only available via custom quote.

5) Source by IC Thrive

Source by IC Thrive is another intranet option that’s comparable to SharePoint. Describing itself as a full-service intranet partnership, you’ll find solutions to boost engagement, productivity, and more. Unlike SharePoint, Source helps with consulting and integration and offers excellent technical support. 

Key features

• Use the push notifications feature for real-time internal messaging
• Make a digital to-do list and assign tasks to employees
• Increase engagement by remembering and organizing employee birthdays and work anniversaries
• Run customized polls and review answers in Excel.

Pricing

• On-premise: Starts at $19,000 for the first year and $3,800 per year starting year two
• Cloud-based: Starts at $9,500 per year (approximately $800 per month)

6) Jostle

Jostle is the employee success platform for modern workplaces. Jostle aims to replace traditional intranets by creating a platform that is easy to navigate and update. This collaboration tool works well for businesses with up to 10,000 employees. Jostle integrates with more applications than SharePoint and has more comprehensive support options.

Key features

• Publish relevant content and route it to the right people
• Post Shout-Outs to recognize colleagues for a job well done
• Store all of your docs in a single, authoritative library
• Use JostleTV to stream video to monitors around your office.

Pricing

Choose from four tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Pricing on each plan varies; you pay per user per month, and the price per user goes down the more employees you have.

7) Glasscubes

Glasscubes provides a frictionless experience while working with people inside or outside your company. This software bills itself as a more user-friendly SharePoint alternative, explaining that Glasscubes is more affordable, easier to set up, and faster to deploy. Solutions include file sharing, forms and workflow, and client portals.

Key features

• Store, retrieve, and share files securely
• Access information quickly with a powerful function
• Create secure online workspaces where you can distribute tasks and coordinate schedules
• Use the video conferencing feature to set up a conference call within the software
• Use branded extranet portals to collaborate with customers or clients.

Pricing

• Team: $35 per month (includes five users; $4.20 per additional user per month)
• Workgroup: $70 per month (includes five users; $4.20 per additional user per month)
• Enterprise: from $140 per month (user fees subject to plan)

8) Liferay

Liferay is a digital experience software that offers a wide range of solutions, including digital commerce help, supplier portals, and modern intranets. The intranet helps you keep all important info in one place, gives employees what they need to be independent, and streamlines processes to lower costs. Liferay focuses more on business operations than SharePoint does.

Key features

• Let employees access HR info like pay stubs and benefits
• Create personalized, localized communications for employees in different regions
• Use blogs, forums, and online chat to foster collaboration
• Provide branded swag at a company store.

Pricing

Pricing for Liferay is only available via custom quote.

Elevate your organization’s employee engagement with Workvivo

SharePoint can be a good option for some businesses. But, it’s a more traditional intranet setup that isn’t the best option for fostering team communication. 

Turn to Workvivo for a more engaging, collaborative experience. With our social intranet solution, you’ll get the best-of-the-best communication tools for your teams to use every day, regardless of their location. Request a demo to see how Workvivo can help you.