Atlassian Confluence vs. Kanban Tool

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Confluence
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Confluence is a collaboration and content sharing platform used primarily by customers who are already using Atlassian's Jira project tracking product. The product appeals particularly to IT users.
$10
per month
Kanban Tool
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Kanban Tool is a visual project management application based on Kanban that helps companies visualize workflow, track project progress, analyze and improve business processes. Some key features include: time tracking and time reports, real-time collaboration and Kaban analytics.
$6
per month per user
Pricing
Atlassian ConfluenceKanban Tool
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
Free for 10 Users
Standard
$5
Per User Per Month
Premium
$10
Per User Per Month
Server
$10
10 Users - Perpetual License
Server
$2,700
25 Users - Perpetual License
Server
$5,300
50 Users - Perpetual License
Server
10,200.00
100 Users - Perpetual License
Data Center
15,000.00
500 Users - Annually
Server
19,800.00
250 Users - Perpetual License
Server
30,000.00
500 Users - Perpetual License
Data Center
30,000.00
1,000 Users - Annually
Server
45,000.00
2,000 Users - Perpetual License
Data Center
52,000.00
2,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
79,200.00
3,000 Users - Annually
Server
90,000.00
10,000 Users - Perpetual License
Data Center
105,600.00
4,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
132,000.00
5,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
143,000.00
10,000 Users - Annually
Server
150,000.00
10,001+ Users - Perpetual License
Data Center
154,000.00
15,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
165,000.00
20,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
176,000.00
25,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
187,000.00
30,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
198,000.00
35,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
209,000.00
40,000 Users - Annually
Data Center
220,000.00
40,001+ Users - Annually
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Kanban Tool Team
$6
per month per user
Kanban Tool Enterprise
$11
per month per user
Kanban Tool On-Site Team
$720
per year per 10-user pack
Kanban Tool On-Site Enterprise
$1,320
per year per 10-user pack
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ConfluenceKanban Tool
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Atlassian ConfluenceKanban Tool
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Atlassian ConfluenceKanban Tool
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Atlassian Confluence
7.2
109 Ratings
8% below category average
Kanban Tool
6.6
11 Ratings
13% below category average
Task Management7.087 Ratings9.911 Ratings
Gantt Charts7.912 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Scheduling7.221 Ratings7.09 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.058 Ratings7.79 Ratings
Mobile Access6.882 Ratings8.38 Ratings
Search6.8107 Ratings00 Ratings
Visual planning tools7.586 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Management00 Ratings6.48 Ratings
Team Collaboration00 Ratings9.311 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings7.810 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings3.96 Ratings
Document Management00 Ratings4.87 Ratings
Email integration00 Ratings7.39 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings7.96 Ratings
Change request and Case Management00 Ratings7.77 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings3.04 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Atlassian Confluence
7.9
109 Ratings
1% below category average
Kanban Tool
-
Ratings
Chat6.415 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications8.2107 Ratings00 Ratings
Discussions7.9101 Ratings00 Ratings
Surveys7.015 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase8.5101 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting6.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts9.37 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook9.610 Ratings00 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Atlassian Confluence
7.9
109 Ratings
3% below category average
Kanban Tool
-
Ratings
Versioning8.092 Ratings00 Ratings
Video files7.869 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio files7.763 Ratings00 Ratings
Document collaboration9.0104 Ratings00 Ratings
Access control8.7102 Ratings00 Ratings
Advanced security features8.178 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive7.148 Ratings00 Ratings
Device sync6.748 Ratings00 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
Atlassian Confluence
-
Ratings
Kanban Tool
6.8
5 Ratings
8% below category average
Quotes/estimates00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
Invoicing00 Ratings7.34 Ratings
Project & financial reporting00 Ratings3.04 Ratings
Integration with accounting software00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
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User Ratings
Atlassian ConfluenceKanban Tool
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(126 ratings)
9.9
(11 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(19 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(12 ratings)
6.0
(4 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.4
(25 ratings)
8.3
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.8
(4 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Configurability
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Atlassian ConfluenceKanban Tool
Likelihood to Recommend
Atlassian
It has a comment option on the page, where you can tag other teammates tagging them. it sends the mail notification. Comment at the page end is pretty good for referring to other stakeholders and future references of the topic on the page. Creating the highlights of the discussions, and meeting held points with highlighted tagging. Easy shortcuts such as to add a date just type "//". The interface is cool and has easy shortcuts for quick page making.
Read full review
Shore Labs
Kanban is well suited for a fast-paced working environment for larger teams who want continuous communication with users. Kanban is good for rapid development and daily meetings for updates and statuses. Kanban is less suited for smaller teams or groups who don't require collaboration and constant communication with involved users. Kanban is time-consuming and it takes additional effort outside of your regular work to maintain and manage the tool.
Read full review
Pros
Atlassian
  • QUICK How-to Guides that can be generated and share instantly
  • One can subscribe to the pages and spaces and receive updates in the feed on their home page
  • Automatic Email notifications of new updates in the Confluence area
  • The platform integrates easily with other Atlassian platforms including third-party apps thus improving its reliability
Read full review
Shore Labs
  • It provides a good basic overview of where tasks are on a timeline (particularly helpful for a pull-based approach).
  • It provides a good collaborative space to have multiple folks commenting on multiple tasks.
  • It does a good job of managing very basic visual elements of an agile development cycle.
Read full review
Cons
Atlassian
  • Navigation. Similar to other Atlassian products, users have complained that aspects of Confluence are difficult to learn right away[.]
  • An issue that users can face when using Confluence is attempting to edit a document while someone else is editing. Although users can access the document and save it, they are unable to see the changes happening in [real-time] that other users are implementing until they refresh their page. Some users have also noted that this can result in loss of edits.
  • Another drawback of using Confluence is its specific organizational structure. All information is stored within one page or project, although the page is able to be broken up into sections, some users do not prefer this style. Users can use the ‘page tree’ on each page to organize the different elements of each project.
Read full review
Shore Labs
  • Kanban does not show the task or story clearly. You have to open the project separately to view the details of the project.
  • Kanban gives a higher level project management view but it lacks customization and personal settings features.
  • I would like to see Kanban provide mobile access to their tool, data, and board. This would be very useful for all companies and provide an increase in efficiency and productivity.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Atlassian
I am confident that Atlassian can come with additional and innovative macros and functions to add value to Confluence. In 6 months, Atlassian transformed a good collaborative tools into a more comprehensive system that can help manage projects and processes, as well as "talk" with other Atlassian products like Jira. We are in fact learning more about Jira to evaluate a possible fit to complement our tool box.
Read full review
Shore Labs
We are more likely than not to renew our use of Kanban. Even with its limits, it still is a good product that fulfills our needs.
Read full review
Usability
Atlassian
Confluence can - and in my personal opinion, it will - be a bit hard to use in the first moment. Atlassian is a great company and is eager to help you with any question you have, though. The interface seems to be a bit clumsy at first but the customization options are enough to make it easier and simpler. In general, Confluence is easy to use when you understand what each section does, but this can take a while.
Read full review
Shore Labs
Again, this is a strong tool for software teams using Agile that are distributed across multiple geographies. It can be good for co-located teams too, but there are better platforms on the market like JIRA that provide a more built-out story.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Atlassian
I do not recall having outages or applications error so far, very reliable and available.
Read full review
Shore Labs
No answers on this topic
Performance
Atlassian
Pages load very quickly, which makes it useful for quickly obtaining information. The search functionality is also very quick and is able to parse through all of the documents to provide the most relevant results for the query. Other information based software gets bogged down, but so far Atlassian Confluence maintains its performance.
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Shore Labs
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Atlassian
This rating is specifically for Atlassian's self-help documentation on their website. Often times, it is not robust enough to cover a complex usage of one of their features. Frequently, you can find an answer on the web, but not from Atlassian. Instead, it is usually at a power user group elsewhere on the net.
Read full review
Shore Labs
This is the best tool I had a chance to work with- since I started to use it I saved a lot of time and I made my work go smoothly.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Atlassian
Overall, I am very satisfied with the initial implementation (and the subsequent upgrades and implementations made over the years).
This product has never rose to the level of being an major issue at an executive level. It has quietly and valiantly done it's job for our company!
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Shore Labs
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Atlassian
We used to use Google Drive to store all of our documentation, but it is disconnected from our every day working environment and it was easy to lose documents and become disorganized within the broad drive environment. [Atlassian] Confluence has kept us more organized and its tight coupling with Jira has made documents more accessible and more likely to be kept up to date.
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Shore Labs
We've only tried JIRA Agile and KanbanFlow before. Kanban Tool was the one that our team actually liked and enjoyed working with. Also - it's been much easier to get started with and to understand than some of the other two (JIRA in particular). Although JIRA has many more features that we would have possibly used, the user feedback on it was so poor we were afraid that the negativity would create time wasted and less "job satisfaction" amongst the team.
Read full review
Scalability
Atlassian
This tool is very adaptable. So much so we use it for three completely separate projects, in three very different ways.
Read full review
Shore Labs
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Atlassian
  • We've gone from folders and folders of Word documents and PDFs into a single system with a search feature to bring all of our data together and trackable
  • While onboarding took a bit longer for the company (to switch from a Word document centric mindset - to a web-based one), overall the company has embraced the features and power of Confluence within the working stack
  • However, as costs continue to climb for the Atlassian product, we are forced to continue our evaluation of the product - with replacing it a remote possibility if it begins to outprice its usefulness to us.
Read full review
Shore Labs
  • Better communication and organization of ongoing projects.
  • We are a very small team, with many areas to work on. Having everything in one system gives us a lot of visibility.
  • Greatly reduced costs from using other tools that were much more expensive.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Kanban Tool Screenshots

Screenshot of Visual project management tool - Kanban board from Kanban Tool.Screenshot of The collection of Power-Ups form Kanban ToolScreenshot of Kanban Tool board example, with My Work widget, Recurring and Postponed Tasks visible in the side panel. User's own background selected.Screenshot of Kanban Tool  board example. Default light theme applied.Screenshot of Kanban Tool - an open card view, with comments in the side panel. The choice of what fields show on cards is with the user.Screenshot of Kanban Tool's free Power-Ups  for user's own activation.