Confluence vs Elium (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Confluence: it is second in our ranking of docs and wiki tools, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Confluence grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Confluence
Team wiki and docs workspace from Atlassian, tied to Jira
Elium
Governed company knowledge base for people and AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Confluence if
- Fits if your team runs Jira and wants its docs linked to its issues
- Works for a team of up to 10 that can live with 2 GB and no page permissions, for free
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free: 10 users, 2 GB, 3 active whiteboards each, 50 automation steps a month and no page permissions
- Pricey if you need enforced SSO or SCIM, because that takes a separate Atlassian Guard subscription
- Watch out: the $5.42 the pricing page shows first is a 300-user average; your first 100 users pay $6.70 each
- Not for you if you want to host it yourself, since Data Center reaches end of life on March 28, 2029
- Skip it if you want a desktop app, as it's web, iPhone and Android only
Pick Elium if
- Fits if you have 10 or more people who need one governed knowledge base
- Works for companies that tie their wiki to Microsoft 365 or Zendesk
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you have fewer than 10 users, as every plan has a 10-user minimum
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there isn't one
- Watch out: the trial starts with a call to the Elium team
- Pricey if you need approvals or SSO, which need Corporate at €20 a user billed yearly
- Watch out: prices are in euros and Enterprise isn't priced
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAConfluenceVery good | 2.0GPAEliumFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStandard is $6.70 a user a month for the first 100 users and Premium $13.20, mid-pack in a category whose cheapest quarter starts at $6.30. Read the pricing page carefully: the $5.42 it shows first is an average for 300 users. Enforced SSO costs more again, via a separate Atlassian Guard subscription. | D€15 a user a month billed yearly, with a 10-user minimum, so at least €150 a month. That's well past the $82.50 dearer quarter for docs tools. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree for up to 10 users with pages, spaces, databases and templates, and a team that size could really stay there. The walls are 2 GB of storage, 3 active whiteboards each, 50 automation steps a month and no page permissions at all. | CA free trial that needs no card, though it starts with a short call. No free plan. |
| Features | APages in spaces with a page tree, several people editing at once, comments and version history, and then the parts most rivals don't have in the same product: whiteboards that link to Jira issues, databases laid out as tables, cards or boards, rule-based automation and Rovo AI search and chat on the paid plans. | CContent ownership, AI answers, templates, decision trees and reporting. But approval workflows, SSO, audit trail and MCP connections need Corporate at €20. |
| Ease of use | B4.64 from about 3,700 App Store ratings, just under our A line. You sign up and it's there, Standard and Premium have a 7-day trial that asks for no payment details, and templates mean you rarely start a page from nothing. | CNo store rating on record. You set up spaces, owners and connectors to Microsoft 365 and others. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Jira, Jira Service Management, Trello, Loom, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, GitHub and Figma wired in. There's no desktop app on record, so at a computer it's a browser tab, and the self-managed Data Center edition reaches end of life on 28 March 2029. | BWeb app plus a browser extension, with Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Google Drive, Teams, Zendesk and Slack links. |
| Best for | team wikis that sit next to Jira | larger teams running a governed knowledge base |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Confluence and Elium. How we grade
Price against what you get
Confluence starts at $6.70 a month for each person and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Elium starts at about $16.76 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Confluence scores higher and starts $10.06 a month lower. Of the other docs and wiki tools on the chart, none scores higher than Confluence for less, and 20 score higher than Elium for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Confluence also covers databases, whiteboard and documents.
- Elium also covers AI search.
At a glance
| Confluence | Elium | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $6.70 per user / month, billed monthly (first 100 users) | €15 per user / month, billed yearly (€18 billed monthly), 10-user minimum |
| Free plan | Free plan for up to 10 users: pages, spaces, databases and templates, 2 GB of file storage, 3 active whiteboards per user and 50 automation steps a month. No space or page permission settings. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Standard or Premium; no payment information required | Free trial that starts with a short call with the Elium team; no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Atlassian | Elium |
| Price read from | atlassian.com | elium.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Confluence
- The Free plan stops at 10 users and 2 GB of storage and has no space or page permission settings.
- The pricing page's default prices ($5.42 Standard, $10.44 Premium) are per-user averages for a 300-user team; the first 100 users cost $6.70 or $13.20 each.
- Enforced SSO and SCIM need a separate Atlassian Guard Standard subscription on every plan except Enterprise, which is sold on annual contracts only.
- The self-managed Data Center edition reaches end of life on March 28, 2029, when its subscriptions expire and it becomes read-only.
Elium
- Every plan has a 10-user minimum, so very small teams cannot buy it.
- There is no free plan, and the free trial starts with a call with the Elium team.
- Approval workflows, SSO, audit trail, the browser extension and MCP connections need Corporate at €20 per user / month billed yearly.
- Prices are shown in euros; Enterprise pricing is not published.
Key features
Confluence
- Pages and spaces
- Pages hold project plans, meeting notes and policies, and are grouped into spaces with a page tree. Several people can edit at once, with inline and page comments and version history.
- Whiteboards
- Freeform canvases for brainstorming and diagrams, with built-in links to Jira. Free allows 3 active whiteboards per user, Standard 10, and Premium and Enterprise have no limit.
- Databases
- Structured collections that gather information from Jira and other apps and can be laid out as tables, cards or boards.
- Rovo AI
- Rovo Search, Chat and Agents come with paid plans and are metered in monthly credits: 25 per user on Standard, 70 on Premium and 150 on Enterprise.
- Automation
- Rule-based automation with templates and a low-code builder. Monthly allowances run from 50 steps per subscription on Free to 500 steps per user on Enterprise.
- Permissions and external sharing
- Paid plans add space and page permissions, view-only public links, anonymous access and up to 5 free guests per paid user, each limited to a single space.
Elium
- Content ownership and review
- Each article has an owner, and stale content or gaps are flagged and routed to that owner to verify. Expiry reminders are on every plan.
- AI answers with sources
- Staff can ask questions and get AI answers that cite the source article. Unlimited AI search and answers are included, with no usage credits.
- MCP and AI agent connections
- The Corporate plan connects ChatGPT, Claude or custom agents over the Model Context Protocol, keeping permissions and citations.
- Templates, AI editor and decision trees
- Articles are written with an AI editor and reusable templates, and decision trees guide readers through multi-step procedures.
- Governance and reporting
- Approval workflows, duplicate and gap detection, and dashboards on content, search and AI answers come with Corporate. SSO and audit trail are on Corporate as well.
- Connectors and import
- The integrations page lists 65 integrations, including SharePoint, OneDrive and Google Drive imports, Teams and Zendesk, and Markdown import.
Plans
Confluence
Free$0
Up to 10 users on one site with 2 GB of file storage, 3 active whiteboards per user and community support.
Standard$6.70
per user / month, billed monthly (first 100 users)
250 GB of storage, page permissions, guests, public links and 25 Rovo credits per user. Annual billing is $680 a year for up to 10 users.
Premium$13.20
per user / month, billed monthly (first 100 users)
Unlimited storage and whiteboards, analytics, company hub, 24/7 critical-issue support and a 99.9% uptime SLA. $1,300 a year for up to 10 users.
EnterpriseCustom
Annual contracts through sales: Atlassian Guard Standard included, up to 150 sites, Atlassian Analytics and a 99.95% uptime SLA.
Elium
Team€15
per user / month, billed yearly (€18 billed monthly)
Expiry reminders, AI editor and templates, decision trees, multilingual content, unlimited AI search with sources. 10-user minimum, 1 admin included.
Corporate€20
per user / month, billed yearly (€24 billed monthly)
Adds MCP connections for AI agents, approval workflows, gap detection, dashboards, a browser extension, SSO and audit trail. 10-user minimum, 3 admins included.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom AI assistants next to a CRM or help desk, dedicated team, private-cloud or on-premise hosting options, 99.5% uptime SLA and full API. Volume-based pricing.
Ways to pay less
Confluence
- Annual discount
Save up to 17% with annual billing
The pricing page's billing toggle states a saving of up to 17% on annual plans. Annual prices are set by user tier: Standard is $680 a year and Premium $1,300 a year for up to 10 users.
- Nonprofit
75% off for eligible nonprofits
Atlassian's licensing page offers Confluence Cloud at 75% off to eligible Community customers: registered nonprofits and social enterprises, verified through Goodstack.
- Education
75% off for academic institutions
Academic licenses give eligible schools, colleges and affiliated research institutes 75% off the list price of Confluence Standard, Premium and Enterprise.
- Education
75% off Classroom licenses
Eligible college students, graduate students and teachers using Confluence for classroom or learning activities get 75% off Standard and Premium.
Elium
- Annual discount
Save 17% with yearly billing
The pricing page shows Team at €15 per user a month billed yearly against €18 billed monthly, and Corporate at €20 against €24.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Confluence or Elium?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Confluence is cheaper to start with: $6.70 a month for each person, against about $16.76 a month for each person for Elium. Confluence starts at $6.70 per user / month, billed monthly (first 100 users), and Elium starts at €15 per user / month, billed yearly (€18 billed monthly), 10-user minimum.
Which has a free plan, Confluence or Elium?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Confluence has a free plan. Elium does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Confluence and Elium run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Confluence lists iOS and Android apps and only Elium lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.