9 Best SharePoint Alternatives for Content and Work Management in 2023

SharePoint has reigned as the dominant force in content collaboration and document management for nearly two decades. Yet over 17% of organizations now use competitive alternatives for key digital workplace capabilities including intranets, document repositories, project management and wikis.

What‘s driving this acceleration in SharePoint replacement scenarios? Should your organization consider following suit? In this comprehensive guide, we examine the nine leading alternatives to SharePoint and discuss key considerations around features, use cases, transitions and more to inform your strategic decision-making.

Why So Many Organizations Are Exploring Alternatives

Despite Microsoft‘s efforts enhancing SharePoint online, a majority of organizations face persistent challenges stemming from its limitations around:

Cost & Time-to-Value – Deploying SharePoint remains resource-intensive, with the average initial investment exceeding $500k. Upkeep also demands specialized talent. Licensing runs high when factoring add-ons.

Rigidity & Specialized Skills – Customizing SharePoint still requires proprietary expertise concentrated among high-priced integrators and Microsoft partners – creating overreliance.

User Experience Pitfalls – Though Microsoft modernized parts of SharePoint‘s interface, it remains less intuitive than today‘s consumerized SaaS apps. Negative feedback around confusing navigation and interactions persist.

  • The 2022 State of SharePoint Report found 61% of users describing SharePoint as "difficult to use."

Industry analysts observe more purpose-built SaaS apps gaining adoption by zeroing in on specific digital workplace priorities valued by end users – without the complexity baggage inherent to SharePoint‘s platform DNA.

"Companies are increasingly ‘slicing up’ their collaboration workloads across different apps based on use cases and constituent preferences," explains Alan Lepofsky, VP and principal analyst at Constellation Research. "Organizations are now more open to ‘best-of-breed’ scenarios with different apps – as long as they integrate reasonably well."

But does a patchwork of different niche tools make practical sense over the SharePoint standard? Let‘s examine today‘s leading alternatives shaping this changing landscape.

9 Leading Alternatives to SharePoint in 2023

The content collaboration and document management markets now offer focused SaaS solutions tailored around specific digital workplace priorities — from intranets and project management to technical documentation.

1. Confluence – Best-in-Class for Technical Documentation

The technical writing powerhouse, Confluence proves widely popular thanks to strengths with wikis, markdown editing and code integration – plus, the Atlassian ecosystem.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 90,000+ Confluence customers
    • 62% of Fortune 500 companies
    • 20M+ MAU globally
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • "Confluence stands out where transparent knowledge sharing proves critical – as with developer documentation," says Raul Castanon of 451 Research. "Atlassian‘s recent integration partnerships expand possibilities for more enterprise scenarios."

Pricing starts at $5 per user/month.

2. Google Workspace – Best Office Suite Connectivity

With its versatile breadth of productivity apps and integral Office file handling, Google Workspace provides a compelling path for current Microsoft customers. Familiarity makes adoption easier.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 80% of Fortune 500 run G Suite apps
    • 2.6B+ monthly active Gmail users globally
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • "Many IT departments have already standardized on Google for email. Extending to Docs and Sites proves a minimally disruptive transition for end users," explains Wayne Kurtzman of IDC.

Pricing starts at $6 per user/month.

3. Box – The Content Cloud for Secured Collaboration

With unrivaled strengths managing content securely in the cloud, Box leads alternatives for external collaborations across regulated industries like life sciences.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 100,000+ Box customers
    • 69% of Fortune 500
    • 90% of firms on Fortune‘s Change the World list
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • "Box‘s security, compliance and integration capabilities make it purpose-built for external content use cases requiring controls," says Alan Pelz-Sharpe of Deep Analysis. "It coexists well with Office 365 shops."

Pricing starts at $15 per user/month.

4. Smartsheet – Accelerating Work Execution

Smartsheet uniquely bridges the gaps between documents, tasks, automation and reporting – accelerating collaboration via dynamic workspaces.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 90,000+ business customers across 190 countries
    • 25% year-over-year customer growth
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • "We‘ve seen Smartsheet unlock tremendous ROI, tangibly connecting enterprise collaboration to work execution," says Wayne Kurtzman of IDC.

Pricing starts at $14 per user/month.

5. Notion – A Wiki-Database Hybrid for Knowledge Workers

With its exceptional flexibility structuring notes, docs and data, Notion proves popular among progressive teams. Simplicity and visual appeal drive adoption.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 20M+ MAU, doubling annually
    • 80% of teams using Notion are non-technical
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • “Don‘t confuse Notion‘s elegant simplicity for a lack of enterprise-grade power," says Alan Lepofsky of Constellation Research. "Notion delivers outstanding versatility across so many digital workplace scenarios – but starts more accessible for everyday business users vs. Confluence and others."

Personal plans start at $4 per month.

6. Nuclino – A Real-Time Team Wiki Focused on Speed

Nuclino turbocharges team productivity through its exceptionally fast real-time wiki – creating centralized knowledge and conversations for teams small and large.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 5X growth since 2019
    • 99.99% uptime SLA
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • “Nuclino strikes an appealing balance empowering productivity without overcomplicating like legacy incumbents,” says Wayne Kurtzman of IDC. "Its real-time authoring and commenting stands out."

Pricing starts at $8 per user/month.

7. OnlyOffice – The Free SharePoint Alternative

OnlyOffice delivers a compelling free option for those needing SharePoint‘s Office doc editing capabilities without the enterprise complexity.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 6M+ MAU
    • 1,500+ global customers
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • “We estimate OnlyOffice could convert 30-50% of existing SharePoint user seats over the next three years given its aggressive free offering for core capabilities, plus change acceleration underway," explains Alan Pelz-Sharpe of Deep Analysis.

The free version supports up to 20 editors.

8. Tettra – Purpose-Built Documentation Software

Tettra focuses squarely on creating internal documentation portals and wiki libraries with powerful contextual search and content insights.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 97% customer retention rates
    • 750% customer growth rate over 2 years
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • “Sometimes the most effective solutions narrowly target the biggest pain points,” says Constellation‘s Alan Lepofsky. “That‘s the appeal of purpose-built SaaS apps like Tettra simplifying document management vs. broader suites like Confluence."

Pricing starts at $12 per user/month.

9. Drata – Next-Gen Security & Compliance

As a bold new solution built purely for the cloud, Drata launched specifically addressing modern governance requirements – making it well-suited for today‘s regulated industries.

  • Adoption Highlights

    • 450% ARR growth in 2022
    • 5X increase in customer count
  • Analyst Sentiments

    • “Innovative platforms like Drata signal the next generation of business software with ground-up focus on cloud-first security controls," says Doug Cahill of ESG. "We expect heated convergence of IT vendors around these areas over the next five years as exponential adoption continues across sectors.”

Pricing starts at $18 per user/month.

Key Capabilities to Assess in Your Evaluation

With such distinct options now available, conduct evaluations guided by an honest accounting of your organization‘s specific requirements and priorities before determining if migrating beyond SharePoint makes practical sense.

Among the key capability areas to scrutinize closely:

Intuitive Content Authoring & Wikis – Tools should empower subject matter experts to freely create and structure content without excessive technical barriers. Assess the editing experience and wiki capabilities for your main personas.

Configurable Metadata & Taxonomy – Your platform must adapt to existing and emerging business metadata standards for organizing content assets. Review how intuitively admins can customize these logics in each system based on your taxonomy governance models.

Pervasive Discovery Through Search – Knowledge management hinges on dependable search performance – including flexible queries, filters for content types, field operators and location.

Customizable Security Permissions – Given complexity of modern digital workplaces, your security models should segment controls at folder, library, workspace and account levels – not just broadly applied schemes.

Proactive Content Recommendations – Analytics should surface relevant, related content proactively to aid discovery and productivity within the native interfaces your users constantly face.

Notifications & Activity Feeds – Enabling awareness on document updates, @mentions and process triggers requires comprehensive activity tracking and hooks to notification policies based on personas.

External Sharing & Embedding – To minimize unsecured copies and email attachments, your platform should allow easy browser-based access via authenticated access links, iframe embedding and other methods that extend visibility securely across your ecosystem of partners.

Integrations & Workflow Automations– The breadth, capability and proven integration track record with surrounding martech and SaaS stacks remains imperative – including turnkey connectors, APIs, bots, custom programmability and more.

Mobile & Offline Access – Evaluate mobile experiences across smartphones and tablets, plus offline sync support for use cases like air travel.

Balancing these parameters against total cost of ownership, time-to-value and ease of user adoption makes for highly complex decisions – intensified by the stakes of transitioning away from longstanding legacy systems.

Navigating Your Transition from SharePoint: Best Practices

Once completing your platform evaluations and aligning stakeholders, remain conscientious of known best practices when executing major transitions like SharePoint replacement initiatives:

Phase Pilot Groups Before Organization-Wide Rollouts – Avoid big bang cutovers. Personnel availability and knocking down learning curves limit absorption rates. Prioritize pilot groups delivering the most impactful use cases. Let them pressure test capabilities first before scaling further.

Maintain Legacy System Access Where Necessary – During transition periods, continue supporting legacy SharePoint access to avoid business disruption before reaching broad new platform adoption.

Customize Training Programs Around Roles – Rather than one-size-fits-all education, tailor your training programs distinctly across user personas – contextual to the specific tasks and workflows each audience group executes.

Co-opt Executive Sponsors to Endorse Adoption – Help users understand the new efficiencies gained by involving CXO leadership and department heads in regular communications – showcasing milestones achieved or operational improvements in motion.

Install Feedback Channels for Continuous Improvement – Create forums to collect user feedback during onboarding periods allowing the transition team opportunities addressing concerns and fine-tuning further adoption.

Seed Early Power Users Across Business Units – Identify respected influencers throughout departments to immerse as pilot users. Leverage them championing knowledge transfer of platform techniques, shortcuts and best practices learned.

Quantify Performance Metrics Rigorously – Track key performance indicators reflecting meaningful process improvements achieved post migration – spanning usage, storage utilization, external sharing, content findability and other ROI dimensions.

While SharePoint may remain entrenched in some corners of your organization, its ownership steadily transfers to more capable purpose-built alternatives aligning closely to strategic priorities around security, governance and digital dexterity.

What Does the Future Hold for SharePoint Alternatives?

Industry analysts widely acknowledge that future growth in content collaboration pivots toward specialized solutions:

"The notion of a single platform meeting every workflow need has ended. Employees now use individual apps aligned specifically for each use case,” explains Alan Lepofsky of Constellation Research. “New buyers have permission to purchase the best apps for each requirement.”

Yet Microsoft partners warn SharePoint retains advantages around unified governance and integrated Office ecosystem ties. And its massive market presence provides Microsoft runway enhancing SharePoint’s cloud capacities to remain competitive.

Regardless of how the future unfolds, buyers should feel empowered focusing evaluation efforts squarely on long-term strategic requirements rather than defaulting to vendor incumbents backing them into forced-fit scenarios. Prioritizing user experience excellence and tangible ROI will best serve next-generation digital workplace improvement initiatives and those they aim to empower.