Best free knowledge base software of 2024

Overview

In an age where information is as valuable as currency, having a structured and efficient way to manage knowledge has become essential for organizations of all sizes. Still, with such a vast range of free help desk knowledge base software options, it’s hard to know where to begin.

We compiled this list of the best free help desk knowledge base tools and software in 2024. From small startups to large enterprises, the ability to collect, organize, and share information effectively by creating an accessible online knowledge base is crucial for success, but most companies want to test out free solutions before investing significantly.

Knowledge base software is a cornerstone for customer support, internal knowledge sharing, and overall content management. As of 2024, the landscape of free knowledge base software has grown exponentially, with many options available to businesses seeking to empower their teams and customers without incurring additional costs.

These platforms have become more user-friendly, feature-rich, and versatile, making selecting the "best” free help desk knowledge base software a challenging task. Still, thankfully, most options are different enough from each other that it’s fairly easy to pick knowledge base software based on your organization’s specific needs.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the top 15 free knowledge base software solutions of 2024. We'll highlight their pros and cons so that you can better decide which will fit most effectively into your organization's workflow.

Whether you're a small business owner searching for a cost-effective solution or an IT professional evaluating tools for an enterprise, this article will serve as your roadmap to finding the ideal knowledge base platform for your needs.

Our top pick: Freshdesk

Freshdesk stands out as one of the best free help desk knowledge base software options in 2024. Its features empower support teams and enhance CX through AI workflows and a highly customizable support experience.

Key Features

• Integrated AI workflows AI chatbots, AI ticket creation/assignment, and more with Freddy AI

• Tickets created by customers on the website auto-display related knowledge base articles

• Contextual support capabilities provide agents with relevant information and a complete customer interaction history

• Customer segmentation ensures customers only see the knowledge base folders that are right for them

• Advanced ticketing system allows customer support teams to manage, prioritize, and resolve tickets efficiently in a unified workspace

Remember that some of these great features aren’t available in the free version.

Advantages

The AI-powered automation and workflows in Freshdesk optimize operations, doing away with redundancy and enabling teams to run as efficiently as possible. With the assistance of Freddy AI, agents are supported at every step, from ticket creation and assignment to resolution, ensuring they can deliver accurate, personalized, and timely solutions to customer inquiries.

Freddy even learns from your previous tickets, suggesting new fields and categorizing incoming tickets more accurately. Combine this with a Chatbot powered by Freddy AI and automatically suggested solutions. Your customers become more likely to find an answer without having to talk to an agent than ever before.

The cutting-edge ticketing system includes a unified workspace that allows agents to loop in members of other teams for complex issues. This system helps agents focus on the right issues and deliver personalized support quickly, which is critical in a fast-paced support environment where customer satisfaction hinges on response times and information accuracy.

Collaboration is key in resolving complex customer inquiries, so Freshdesk brings together cross-functional teams with ease. The collaboration tools within Freshdesk are designed for the future of hybrid work, ensuring that agents can engage with the right experts and provide faster, more consistent service.

Why People Rave About Freshdesk’s Knowledge Base

To put it simply, Freshdesk's combination of intuitive support, advanced ticketing, self-service, AI automation, collaboration, and insightful analytics make it a compelling choice for businesses seeking the best free help desk knowledge base software on the market today.

Its ability to scale with you as you grow, combined with its focus on both the agent and customer experience, explains why it's trusted by over 60,000 customers and recommended by industry experts. Here’s what one happy client had to say about Freshdesk on G2:

“As a daily user, what I appreciate most about Freshdesk is its user-friendly interface, the impressive new AI summarize feature, and the comprehensive integration of tickets, chats, phone, and knowledge base, all in one platform. Additionally, their great support team adds immense value to the overall experience, providing excellent assistance and guidance when needed.”

Amanda C.

15 other free knowledge base software solutions for 2024

Freshdesk might be the leading knowledge base software solution in 2024. Still, there are plenty of other free options out there that might be a good fit depending on your business’s unique needs.

1. Zendesk

Zendesk provides knowledge base software as part of its customer service suite. This knowledge base software can be used as an IT or agency knowledge base or FAQ tool. AI-powered tools like Content Cues offer insights into customer searches for content recommendations and updates, while other AI tools can create articles and edit existing content. Team Publishing is also available for increased collaboration and workflow management. 

Key Features

• Full-service ITSM offering

• Embedded AI and automation

• Smart routing and ticketing

Pros and Cons of Zendesk Knowledge Base Free Software

• High degree of personalization

• Detailed customization of customer interactions

• Clean, intuitive interface

• Trial and demo options

• High cost

• High learning curve

2. Bitrix24

Bitrix24’s knowledge base can be edited and used by all team members for easy collaboration. Additionally, a chat feature and mobile application are available for effective collaboration. It provides easy storage for a wealth of information, from instructions to checklists to manuals. It is also easy to create knowledge bases with customizable templates and provides configurable permission settings. Smart searches also allow for better access and organization and the ability to find information quickly and efficiently. Onboarding and training new employees become more effective as employees can search for common questions in the knowledge base, and training materials can be integrated into the knowledge base. 

Key Features

• Combines project management tools, CRM, communication tools, and knowledge base software into a single package

• Robust communication features with high audio/video clarity

• Easy-to-use website builder

Pros and Cons of Bitrix24 Free Knowledge Base Software

• Makes centralizing their operations in one platform straightforward

• Powerful project management tools

• Customizable project templates

• Steep learning curve

• Overwhelming number of features

• Interface is difficult to use

• Inefficient integrations

3. Piggydb

Piggydb is a knowledge creation and management tool. It lets you perform simple tasks like outlining or making notes. It is also scalable and can grow with your business to develop and refine ideas with a bottom-up approach. It helps businesses build a network structure and classifies knowledge fragments with hierarchical tags. 

Key Features

• Unique network structure of knowledge base creation

• Powerful tagging system

Pros and Cons of Piggydb Free Knowledge Base Software

• Flexible network structure

• Easy to classify information in a structured and accessible manner. 

• Unique expressive network structure could overwhelm new users 

• Limited scalability for larger teams

• Has been discontinued

4. Mybase

Mybase is a knowledge base management tool that allows businesses to input various forms of data and content, from webpages to emails to images. It operates similarly to a word processor for simpler information organization into a tree-like structure. It can also capture, edit, and share information for easier collaboration and increased productivity among team members. 

Key Features

• Accepts unstructured data entry, allowing users to input text, webpages, images, documents, emails, and files

• No programming skills required

Pros and Cons of Mybase Knowledge Base Free Software

• Intuitive interface is highly accessible to users familiar with common text editing tools

• Very limited features

• Tailored toward personal information organization rather than enterprise-level knowledge management

• Lacks role-based access controls, integration with other enterprise software, and detailed reporting

5. Guru​

Guru is an all-in-one platform that combines Intranet, Enterprise AI Search, and Wiki functions.  It can integrate tools you use so you do not constantly switch between applications. With Guru, you can effortlessly find information and receive expert assistance. Its AI capabilities help to identify knowledge gaps, find relevant information based on context, and more.

Key Features

• Powerful AI search capabilities

• Automated wiki (internal knowledge base) creation

• Intuitive integration into other tools

Pros and Cons of Guru Knowledge Base Free Software

• Provides real-time updates and seamless integration with messaging platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams

• AI features that suggest relevant information to users automatically

• Limited customization

• Restricted free version

• Editing existing cards can be difficult

6. osTicket

OsTicket has multiple functions to make managing a knowledge base easy and effective. Canned responses, unlimited FAQs, and more can be added to the knowledge base for efficient knowledge base usage. By automatically providing articles on FAQs, clients can also solve common issues themselves, reducing wait times and increasing customer satisfaction. Some of osTicket’s other notable functions include custom fields, custom columns and queues, configurable help topics, an auto-responder, advanced search, and more. 

Key Features

• Built-in knowledge base functionality

• Configurable help topics

• Automated ticket creation and routing

Pros and Cons of osTicket Free Knowledge Base Software

• Open-source and free-to-use

• Highly customizable

• Strong community of users and developers 

• Outdated user interface compared to other free help desk knowledge base software options

• Limited features compared to premium solutions

• Advanced features may require additional development work

7. Spiceworks

Spiceworks’ knowledge base can create and share information with other admins and techs in a team, with articles being able to be kept either private or shared. Spiceworks also has various other IT tools, like a connectivity dashboard to monitor your infrastructure, IT vendor contract tracking, ticket tracking, and more. Its self-service portal enables users to submit and track tickets and use resources from the knowledge base. 

Key Features

• Existing built-out how-to guides already in the knowledge base are free to use

• Articles can be shared with a variety of internal and external audiences

Pros and Cons of Spiceworks Free Knowledge Base Software

• Supported by a strong community of IT professionals

• Integrated IT tools

• Embedded ads can be distracting

• Software can become slower when scaled

• Limited options for customization compared to paid solutions

8. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk’s knowledge base management functions are able to cut down on response times, increase agent productivity, and ensure a consistent brand image. Organization is simplified as categories can be created for brands, and sub-categories can be created for brand-specific information. The Knowledge Base Gallery is able to store media content, and articles can be automatically translated into over 50 languages for better global outreach. SEO optimization tools and collaboration tools help to provide customers with relevant and quality content as well. 

Key Features

• AI assistant Zia helps with ticketing and provides suggestions for knowledge base articles

• Excellent customization options

• 24-hour support

• Automatic translation to 50+ languages

Pros and Cons of Zoho Desk Free Knowledge Base Software

• Integration with Zoho Ecosystem

• Powerful AI accelerates knowledge base creation

• Customizable layout, fields, and workflows

• Steep learning curve for new users or small teams

• Limited free plan

9. Confluence

Confluence offers a user-friendly platform for creating, organizing, and searching for content, making knowledge management easy for both employees and customers. Its intuitive interface and helpful search engine help users to find the information they need quickly and easily. RSS feeds, blog updates, and more also help teams to communicate with users seamlessly. 

Key Features

• Real-time editing, track changes, and commenting

• Sticky notes can be converted to Jira issues with a single click

• Advanced search and content tree

Pros and Cons of Confluence Knowledge Base Free Software

• Offers various templates and allows for extensive customization

• Integrates with all other Atlassian products, including Jira

• Free tier is limited, paid plans are expensive 

• Very high learning curve and high complexity

10. Notion

Notion is a versatile tool for managing projects and workflows so businesses can organize and track goals and tasks from one platform. Its Wiki feature helps to centralize knowledge and improve search functions. Businesses are able to create and maintain a knowledge base for various topics like HR workflows, task instructions, and more. 

Key Features

• Block-based layout allows pages to contain multiple types of content, from text and images to entire databases

• Blocks are synched for single-source authoring

• Includes AI integration

Pros and Cons of Notion Free Help Desk Knowledge Base Software

• Flexible while remaining organized

• Single-source authoring saves time on content creation

• Real-time editing, commenting, and sharing

• Intuitive interface

• Can become sluggish with larger pages or on less powerful hardware

• High learning curve

• Exporting content doesn't always maintain original formatting

11. Helpjuice

Helpjuice is a cloud-based knowledge management solution with tools for creating and managing knowledge bases. These knowledge bases can be easily designed and personalized using customized tools like tagging features that categorize questions into different topics. Helpjuice also provides analytics to help businesses track content users are searching for and identify potential improvements. 

Key Features

• Real-time editing and commenting

• High number of integrations

• Single-source authoring

Pros and Cons of Helpjuice Free Help Desk Knowledge Base Software

• Highly customizable with many integrations

• Google-like search feature

• High level of customer service

• No chatbot

• No folder system for images

• Possible local connectivity problems

12. Document360

The Document360 Knowledge Base Portal includes various tools to streamline knowledge base management. Its category manager allows for better organization, and advanced analytics help teams learn more about knowledge base traffic and sources. The portal also has three different editors for code-heavy documents, Word editing, and text and multimedia editing. 

Key Features

• Collaborative editing tools

• Basic analytics

• Document storage 

• Versioning and version history 

Pros and Cons of Document360 Free Knowledge Base Software

• Fast and robust search capability

• Tagging tools are available 

• Only up to 2 users

• Limited articles and storage

13. Obsidian

Obsidian is a writing and note-taking app that assists users with organizing, storing, and creating notes. It also has several other useful features, like end-to-end encryption for securing notes and features to help turn notes into a knowledge base or Wiki. Obsidian Publish sites are also mobile and SEO-optimized. 

Key Features

• Able to graph your notes 

• Hundreds of plugins 

• Backlinking 

• Note-taking app

Pros and Cons of Obsidian Free Knowledge Base Software

• No account or sign-up is required 

• All apps featured are offered 

• Learning curve 

• Regular maintenance is required to make sure the knowledge base is effective 

14. BookStack

BookStack is an efficient knowledge base platform, providing users with a user-friendly environment to create, organize, and share documentation. With an intuitive WYSIWYG editor, users are able to craft informative pages into books and chapters to allow for seamless structuring of information. Its robust RBAC permission system also ensures sensitive knowledge is well managed. 

Key Features

• Built-in page editor with diagrams.net 

• Optional markdown editor

• Dark and light modes

• Multi-factor authentication

Pros and Cons of BookStack Knowledge Base Software

• Easy and simple interface

• Multi-lingual 

• Limited customization options

• Complicated installation

15. Nuclino

Nuclino is an effective platform for knowledge base creation and management with its versatile and collaborative environment for teams. Users are able to edit, create, and link items, which are containers for information that can be organized into a flexible hierarchy. Its search functionality also allows for effective retrieval of relevant information, enhancing productivity and decision-making. Nuclino also provides customizable permission and version control. 

Key Features

• Web and mobile app functions 

• Activity tracking

• Assignment management 

• API capabilities

Pros and Cons of Nuclino Free Knowledge Base Software

• Real-time collaboration 

• Integration capabilities

• Limited storage, fields, and items

• Customization is limited

What features should I be looking for in my knowledge base software?

When selecting knowledge base software, there are several features you should consider to ensure that the platform will meet your needs effectively. 

1. Cross-team collaboration

Cross-team collaboration is an indispensable feature in knowledge base software--without it, customers are often caught in long wait times as agents struggle to find the right person to provide the information they need. Similarly, knowledge bases will suffer when some of the most knowledgeable teams aren’t given the tools they need to easily and quickly contribute what they know.

A knowledge base that fosters collaboration bridges the silos that traditionally separate different teams, encouraging a unified approach to knowledge sharing and problem-solving. With cross-team collaboration features, a knowledge base transforms into a dynamic repository where collective insights, expertise, and experiences converge. This not only enriches the quality of the content but also ensures that it reflects a wide range of perspectives and skills.

2. Parent-child ticketing

Parent-child ticketing in knowledge base software is a powerful method for organizing and managing related support issues. This feature allows for a primary ticket, known as the parent ticket, to be linked to one or more secondary tickets, or child tickets. The primary benefit of this approach is the streamlined resolution of complex issues that may involve multiple sub-tasks or need the attention of various departments.

For example, if a customer reports an issue that requires input from the engineering, customer service, and quality assurance teams, a parent ticket can be created to represent the overall problem. Child tickets can then be assigned to each team. This method not only ensures that each aspect of the problem is addressed by the appropriate team members but also allows for easy tracking of the issue's progress as a whole.

3. Support across multiple channels (email/chat/phone)

In today's digital ecosystem, customers engage with businesses through a wide range of channels, including email, social media, live chat, and phone calls. Omnichannel support in knowledge base software is vital because it ensures that customers receive a consistent and seamless support experience across all these platforms.

By integrating knowledge base resources into every channel, businesses can deliver the right information at the right time, irrespective of how or where a customer reaches out for help. For instance, if a customer starts a query via live chat and later follows up with an email, omnichannel support ensures that the context and history of the interaction are preserved.

The customer doesn't have to repeat themselves, and the support agent can continue assisting with full knowledge of the previous interactions. This continuity is key to building customer trust and satisfaction.

How to choose the right knowledge base software for your team

Choosing the right free help desk knowledge base software for your team is an incredibly important task as it can have a massive impact on the bottom line. Here are the steps to follow to ensure you do it right.

1. Gather knowledge base requirements based on your team's needs

When determining your team's needs for knowledge base software, it's critical to conduct a thorough needs assessment that will inform your decision-making process. This assessment should consider a variety of factors.

Start by taking a look at the current workflow and processes your team uses to create, manage, and distribute knowledge. Identify any bottlenecks or pain points in these processes. For instance, if your team frequently collaborates on documents, you'll want a knowledge base that allows for easy co-authoring and editing.

Next, consider how your team creates content. What kind of multimedia support is necessary? Do they need the ability to embed videos or integrate with graphic design tools? 

Then, evaluate the volume of information your team handles. A small team with a modest amount of data will have very different needs compared to a large team dealing with complex technical information. 

Finally, figure out which integrations you’ll need the most. The free help desk knowledge base software you choose should ideally integrate seamlessly with your existing project management tools, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, or communication platforms to streamline operations.

2. Choose a scalable solution that can grow with your company

Once you have a clear idea of what your organization needs the most, it's crucial to consider how much you think your organization is going to grow in both the short term and the long term. 

Every solution on this list will scale in different amounts and speeds for a variety of prices, and many have limits. You need to choose a solution that will grow in tandem with your company without becoming a bottleneck for growth or becoming more expensive than you can afford. You want something that will adapt seamlessly to expanding teams, evolving processes, and increasing data volumes.

3. Consider the end customer-experience

Any free help desk knowledge base software must be weighed against the customer experience it delivers, as the ultimate goal is to provide intuitive, accessible, and efficient support. You need to ensure that, whatever software you choose, it’s going to improve--or at the very least maintain--the current level of customer service.

Ideally, the solution you ultimately pick should improve your customers’ experiences over time, leading to better customer retention, higher customer satisfaction, and increased profits and revenue.

Following these three pivotal steps will guide you toward a knowledge base software solution that’s not just a repository of information but a dynamic asset enhancing team performance and customer satisfaction.