Softwr

Content Creation · head to head

Confluence vs Microsoft OneNote

Confluence logo

Confluence

Content Creation

Your remote-friendly team workspace

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft OneNote logo

Microsoft OneNote

Productivity

Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Confluence specific pricing tiers and costs not published on main product page; requires visiting dedicated pricing page; Microsoft OneNote notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • They diverge on capability: Confluence covers Page creation, Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Confluence and Microsoft OneNote actually diverge.

Attributes where Confluence and Microsoft OneNote differ
AttributeConfluenceMicrosoft OneNote
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Macos, Ios, AndroidWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows
CategoryContent CreationProductivity
Founded20021975

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Confluence

  • Page creation
  • Rich text editing
  • Macros
  • Templates
  • Comments
  • Version history
  • Content organization
  • Jira

Only in Microsoft OneNote

  • Free-form page canvas
  • Notebook hierarchy
  • Indexed handwriting
  • Audio recording
  • Web clipper and Outlook capture
  • Shared notebooks
  • Cross-platform clients
  • Tags and cross-notebook search

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Confluence

  • Team documentation and knowledge managementnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Project collaboration and planning documentationnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Technical specification writingnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Agile team documentationnot Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote

  • Handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote.not Confluence
  • Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not Confluence
  • A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not Confluence
  • Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not Confluence

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Confluence

  • Specific pricing tiers and costs not published on main product page; requires visiting dedicated pricing page
  • Free tier availability confirmed but feature limits not detailed on landing page

Microsoft OneNote

  • Notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • Personal notebooks consume OneDrive quota, which is 5 GB on a free Microsoft account, so a notebook full of scans, images and recordings quietly exhausts the whole account including the space Outlook needs for mail.
  • Sync happens at section level and conflicts are resolved by placing both versions on the page, so simultaneous edits to a large or media-heavy section produce duplicated content that somebody has to merge by hand.
  • Search behaves differently across clients, so what the Windows desktop app finds inside handwriting, images and attachments is not necessarily what the browser or mobile version finds, and the same query gives different answers on different devices.
  • There is no relational structure, no database and no properties, so anything that needs a table of records with fields has to be maintained by hand or moved elsewhere, and OneNote's own tables cannot be queried or filtered.

Pricing, plan by plan

Confluence

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited pages
    • Basic sharing
    • Search
  • Standard$5.5/month
    • Everything in Free
    • Advanced permissions
    • Macros

Microsoft OneNote

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Confluence if

  • You need page creation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android.
  • You also want rich text editing.
Confluence review

Choose Microsoft OneNote if

  • You need free-form page canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
  • You also want notebook hierarchy.
Microsoft OneNote review

Questions people ask

Is Confluence or Microsoft OneNote better?
Neither clearly leads. Confluence starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Confluence or Microsoft OneNote?
Confluence starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free.
Does Confluence or Microsoft OneNote run on more platforms?
Confluence runs on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android. Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
Can I use Confluence for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Confluence best used for?
Confluence is most often used for team documentation and knowledge management, project collaboration and planning documentation, technical specification writing, agile team documentation. Of those, team documentation and knowledge management and project collaboration and planning documentation are not what Microsoft OneNote is typically brought in for.
What can Confluence do that Microsoft OneNote cannot?
Confluence covers Page creation, Rich text editing, Macros, Templates. Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Confluence: Does Confluence offer a free version?

Yes, Confluence offers a free tier. Detailed plan features and pricing are available at https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/pricing.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Is OneNote really free?

Yes. The application is free with a Microsoft account, with no time limit and no feature gate. What you may end up paying for is the OneDrive storage the notebooks consume.

Confluence: Can I try Confluence for free before purchasing?

Yes, Confluence can be tried free. Full pricing details for standard plans and the Teamwork Collection bundle are available on the dedicated pricing page.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Can I keep notebooks off Microsoft's cloud?

The Windows desktop app can keep local notebooks, but they will not sync to other devices and any shared access requires OneDrive or SharePoint.

Confluence: Is Confluence available as part of a bundle?

Yes, Confluence is available as part of the Teamwork Collection which includes Rovo, Jira, Confluence, and Loom, with bundled pricing available.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: How do I get my notes out?

Section by section as a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document. A OneNote package preserves a whole notebook but only for another copy of OneNote. Third-party converters exist and the page layout usually does not survive them.

Microsoft OneNote: Which version should I install?

Microsoft consolidated onto a single OneNote application on Windows after retiring the Store version, so install the one distributed with Microsoft 365 rather than looking for an alternative.

Share

Related pages

More on Confluence

More on Microsoft OneNote

Keep looking

Other head to heads