Alternatives to Confluence for agile documentation

Compare options, what to prioritise, and how to keep plans and delivery aligned in Jira.

TL;DR

  • If you want living documentation that stays in sync with delivery, prioritise tools that connect tightly to Jira issues and workflows.
  • If your need is long form knowledge and policies, choose the tool your organisation already supports, then link back to Jira as the single source of truth.
  • For product planning and delivery documentation inside Jira, use Easy Agile apps so your roadmap, dependencies, and story maps stay connected to the work.

What people really mean by “agile documentation”

Confluence is often used for everything from meeting notes to product requirements. Before you switch, separate these needs:

  • Delivery context: roadmaps, dependencies, releases, story maps, acceptance notes, and decisions tied to specific Jira issues.
  • Team agreements: ways of working, Definition of Done, incident playbooks.
  • Knowledge base: how to guides, onboarding, FAQs, policies.

If your main pain is that plans drift away from Jira, replacing Confluence alone will not fix it. The bigger win is keeping delivery context close to the work.

Strong alternatives to consider

These are common Confluence replacements, each with a different strength:

  • Notion, Coda, Slab: great for fast authoring, templates, and lightweight knowledge bases.
  • Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, OneDrive, Loop): strong governance, permissions, and enterprise admin.
  • GitHub or GitLab wikis: best when documentation is part of the engineering workflow.
  • Miro or FigJam: strong for collaborative workshops, but usually needs a handover step to become documentation.

When comparing, check for:

  • Permissions and auditability (especially for enterprise)
  • Search quality and information architecture
  • Templates and version history
  • How the tool links to Jira issues and makes those links easy to maintain

Keep plans and delivery documentation in Jira

If you use Jira to deliver, the most reliable way to keep “documentation” current is to keep it close to Jira issues.

Easy Agile supports this by giving teams collaborative planning views that are connected to Jira from the start:

  • Story mapping and refinement with Easy Agile TeamRhythm so assumptions, slices, and acceptance notes stay anchored to Jira issues.
  • Roadmaps with Easy Agile Roadmaps so narrative, releases, and priorities stay linked to epics and initiatives.
  • Dependencies and cross team plans with Easy Agile Programs so program level decisions and risks connect to real work.

You can still use any documentation platform you like for long form knowledge, but anchor the living parts of delivery in Jira.

A practical setup that works for most teams

  1. Jira is the system of record for work items and status.
  2. Use Easy Agile to create shared understanding in Jira (story maps, roadmaps, program plans).
  3. Put long form docs in your chosen platform, with a simple rule: every page links back to the relevant Jira epic, initiative, or filter.

If you want a single starting point, explore all Easy Agile products to find the one best suited for your team.