Published 25 June 2024 · Last updated: 17 August 2026
Choosing the right intranet software for your company is a decision that can significantly impact your team’s productivity and communication.
In this piece we explore what intranet software does, why your company needs it, the top 12 options available today, and how to choose the best one for your needs. Let’s dive in.
Key Takeaways
- “Intranet software” spans a huge range, from lightweight knowledge and communication hubs to enterprise platforms with custom pricing and multi-month rollouts. Match the tool to your team size before you compare feature lists.
- Six of these twelve publish no pricing at all (Guru, Happeo, Staffbase, Simpplr, Workvivo, and Appspace for its paid tiers), so budget time for a sales conversation if they are on your shortlist.
- Check the billing basis, not just the number. Connecteam prices per hub rather than per platform, monday.com has a 3-seat minimum, and Confluence charges a flat annual band that can cost more than paying monthly at certain team sizes.
- An intranet and a knowledge base solve overlapping but different problems. An intranet is the hub for news, people and documents. A knowledge base is where the actual “how do we do this” answers live. Some tools, Whale included, blend both.
- Check a platform is still actively sold before shortlisting it. This list previously included Workplace from Meta, which closed in May 2026 and has been removed.
What is intranet software?
Intranet software is a private network accessible only to an organization’s staff. It is designed to facilitate communication, collaboration and the sharing of information within a company. Think of it as your company’s internal hub, where employees can access documents, share updates and collaborate on projects.
What does intranet software do?
At its core, intranet software is an internal network that carries communication and collaboration across an organization. Here are the key functions:
- Centralized communication: a hub for company announcements, updates and important information.
- Document management: easy storage and retrieval of documents.
- Collaboration tools: chat, forums and project tools so teams work together more efficiently.
- Employee directory: a searchable directory that makes it easy to find contact details and organizational roles.
- Task management: assigning work and tracking progress.
- Social features: activity feeds and recognition to build a sense of community.
Why you need an intranet
- Improved communication: centralizes company news, events and announcements so people stay current.
- Enhanced collaboration: chat, forums and collaborative editing let teams work together more efficiently.
- Streamlined processes: task management, workflow automation and directories reduce daily friction.
- Knowledge management: an intranet acts as a repository for company knowledge, so important information stays reachable.
- Employee engagement: it can lift morale and engagement by building community and making it easier for people to connect.
Research consistently links higher employee engagement to stronger business performance, and a well-implemented intranet contributes by making information and connection easier to find.
Top 12 Intranet Software Options for 2026
Here is how the twelve compare at a glance. Every price was checked against the vendor’s own pricing page in August 2026; where a vendor publishes nothing, we say so rather than estimating.
| Tool | Best For | Starting Price | Free Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whale | Centralizing knowledge, SOPs and training alongside internal comms | Free Forever $0, up to 10 members | Yes |
| Guru | AI knowledge search and a wiki used as an intranet layer | No published pricing, custom package | No |
| Happeo | Social intranet built around Google Workspace | No published pricing; Growth and Enterprise start at 75 users | No, free trial only |
| Microsoft SharePoint | Document-heavy intranets already inside Microsoft 365 | Standalone plans retiring; via M365 from $7/user/mo | No |
| Staffbase | Enterprise comms reaching frontline and deskless staff | No published pricing, no tier ladder | No |
| Confluence | Documentation-led teams already using Atlassian | Free to 10 users; Standard $6.70/user/mo | Yes, up to 10 users |
| Igloo (now Appspace) | Intranet plus digital signage and workplace tooling | No published seat price; Free tier is 2 users | Yes, 2 users and 1 device |
| Simpplr | AI-driven employee experience for larger organizations | No published pricing; discounts from 500 employees | No |
| Noodle | Teams wanting a flat fee instead of per-seat pricing | Cloud $300/mo, or $7,500 one-time on-premise | No |
| monday.com | An intranet-style hub inside a work-management platform | Free to 2 seats; Basic $9/seat/mo annually, 3-seat min | Yes, up to 2 seats |
| Workvivo | Engagement and employee-experience-led intranets | No published pricing, licence-based quote | No, and no trial |
| Connecteam | Deskless and mobile-first teams | Free to 10 users; Basic $29/mo per hub annually | Yes, up to 10 users |
1. Whale
Whale is an AI-powered documentation and search tool that connects teams to the apps they already work in, giving instant answers while centralizing that knowledge into one searchable base. It is the fastest way to get your team aligned. As an intranet option, it gives teams a way to stay connected wherever and whenever they are working.
- Features: contextual guidance, user feedback and knowledge sharing, plus SOPs, training flows and quizzes in the same place.
- Pros: quick to implement, and it strengthens onboarding and training rather than just publishing news.
- Cons: more focused on knowledge and training than on broad social-intranet features like activity feeds.
Pricing:
- Free Forever: $0, up to 10 members included.
- Scale: $399/month billed monthly, or $249/month billed annually. Unlimited members, 3 creators.
- Advance: $799/month billed monthly, or $499/month billed annually. Unlimited members, 5 creators.
- Enterprise: yearly pricing on request.
2. Guru
Guru offers a modern employee intranet layer, along with enterprise AI search and wiki capabilities that surface verified, cited answers across your tech stack.
- Features: knowledge management, AI-powered suggestions and a browser extension.
- Pros: easy access to information, and it integrates with the tools people already have open.
- Cons: primarily a knowledge management tool, and it no longer publishes any pricing or even tier names.
Pricing:
- No published pricing. Guru no longer lists named tiers at all, only a single custom package.
- Priced on what Guru calls your scale, knowledge complexity and AI maturity, and explicitly described as “not just a per-seat tool”. Route in is a call with sales.
3. Happeo
Happeo is an intranet platform that helps teams manage knowledge sharing and internal communications in one workspace, built closely around Google Workspace.
- Features: social intranet, content management and deep Google Workspace integration.
- Pros: straightforward to use, and a natural fit if your company already runs on Google.
- Cons: thinner outside the Google ecosystem, and the Growth and Enterprise tiers start at 75 users.
Pricing:
- No published pricing. Three tiers exist: Starter, Growth and Enterprise.
- Growth and Enterprise start at 75 users and are billed annually. Starter has no minimum and can be billed monthly; Happeo recommends it for intranets under 100 users.
- SSO and the Knowledge Engine are paid add-ons.
4. Microsoft SharePoint
SharePoint is a web-based intranet and document platform that integrates with Microsoft 365. In practice it is more a document repository than a modern intranet, though it is often the default where Microsoft is already in place.
- Features: document management, collaboration tooling and customizable workflows.
- Pros: tight Microsoft 365 integration and strong security and compliance controls.
- Cons: complex to set up and maintain, and the standalone SharePoint plans are being retired.
Pricing:
- Standalone SharePoint Plan 1 and Plan 2 are being retired: end of sale June 2026, end of life January 2027, end of service December 2029. They no longer appear on Microsoft’s plan comparison.
- The supported route is a Microsoft 365 bundle. Business Basic is $7/user/month; Business Standard with Copilot is $23.50; Business Premium with Copilot is $32. Enterprise E3 is $39 and E5 is $60. All paid yearly.
5. Staffbase
Staffbase is an employee communications platform built for organizations with a mix of desk-based and frontline or deskless workers, with a mobile employee app at the centre of it.
- Features: employee app, multi-channel publishing, targeted communications and analytics.
- Pros: genuinely strong at reaching frontline and distributed workforces, not just office staff.
- Cons: no published pricing and no self-serve signup; the process is built around a scoped quote.
Pricing:
- No published pricing, and no tier ladder at all.
- Staffbase quotes against your workforce composition rather than a headcount band, and says plainly that “a published price would be wrong for most organizations”. No employee minimum is published.
- No free tier or trial. Quotes are turned around in 3 to 5 business days after a first call.
6. Confluence
Confluence by Atlassian is a platform for team collaboration and knowledge management, and a common choice as a documentation-led intranet.
- Features: knowledge management, collaborative editing and task management.
- Pros: excellent for documentation, especially alongside other Atlassian tools like Jira.
- Cons: costs climb past the free tier, and the annual pricing bands can work out more expensive than monthly at some team sizes.
Pricing:
- Free forever for up to 10 users, with 2GB storage.
- Standard $6.70/user/month and Premium $13.20/user/month on monthly billing, for the 1 to 100 user band. Per-user rates step down above 100 users.
- Annual billing is a flat price per user band instead: $680/year Standard or $1,300/year Premium for up to 10 users, rising to $6,700 and $13,200 at 51 to 100 users.
- Enterprise is quote-only and annual billing only.
7. Igloo (now Appspace)
Igloo Software was acquired by Appspace in September 2025, folding its intranet and employee communication tools into Appspace’s wider workplace platform alongside digital signage and space reservation. Igloo’s own website now redirects to Appspace, so treat Igloo as a sunset brand rather than a separate product you can still buy.
- Features: collaboration tools, document management and customizable intranet pages, now within Appspace.
- Pros: existing Igloo customers keep full support, with an optional path onto the Appspace platform.
- Cons: the old published Igloo seat pricing is gone, and Appspace does not publish a seat price at all.
Pricing:
- No published seat price. Appspace lists three tiers, Free, Express and Enterprise, and quotes Express and Enterprise on request.
- The Free tier covers 2 users and 1 device.
- Two add-on rates are published: extra cloud storage at $0.10/GB/month and extra bandwidth at $0.15/GB/month, available on any paid subscription.
8. Simpplr
Simpplr is an AI-driven employee experience platform built for larger organizations that want a modern, personalized intranet.
- Features: AI-powered content recommendations, employee experience analytics and broad workplace integrations.
- Pros: consistently ranks at the top of intranet comparisons, which reflects real market presence.
- Cons: no published pricing, so budgeting needs a sales conversation.
Pricing:
- No published pricing. Simpplr describes it as volume-based and tailored to organization size, complexity and support level.
- Discounted intranet pricing is offered to organizations of 500 employees or more. Note that this is a discount threshold, not a minimum.
9. Noodle
Noodle, from Vialect, is a suite that lets people post ideas, create and share content, manage schedules and run video calls inside a single secure site.
- Features: social intranet with communication tools, and a flat-rate pricing model.
- Pros: not overly complex, a helpful support team, and the only tool here you can simply buy online without talking to sales.
- Cons: formatting can be lost when text is pasted in from other applications.
Pricing:
- Cloud, hosted on AWS: $300/month, including the full app suite and 250GB storage.
- On-premise: $7,500 one-time for up to 1,000 users, with updates and priority support at $1,500/year.
- Genuinely self-serve. Noodle is the only tool here with a “Buy” button rather than a demo request.
10. monday.com
monday.com is a highly customizable work management platform that many teams also use as an intranet-style hub, keeping news, docs and work in one place.
- Features: boards and dashboards, workflow automation, docs and collaboration tooling.
- Pros: very customizable, strong for tracking work, and fully transparent published pricing.
- Cons: less focused on traditional intranet features like a news feed or people directory, and paid plans start at 3 seats.
Pricing:
- Free for up to 2 seats.
- Basic $9, Standard $12 and Pro $19 per seat/month billed annually. On monthly billing those become $12, $14 and $24.
- Paid plans start at 3 seats, and above 40 seats monday.com moves you to a quote. Enterprise is custom.
- These are the monday work management rates. monday CRM, Dev and Service are priced separately.
11. Workvivo
Workvivo, now owned by Zoom, is an employee experience platform aimed at engagement and internal communication. It became the preferred migration route for organizations leaving Workplace from Meta.
- Features: social feed, recognition tools, comms campaigns and live streaming.
- Pros: focused squarely on engagement and communication, and easy for employees to pick up.
- Cons: lighter on document management, and there is no free trial, only a guided demo.
Pricing:
- No published pricing. Licence-based custom quote, scoped to how many licences you need.
- No free tier and, unusually, no free trial either. Workvivo offers a guided demo instead.
12. Connecteam
Connecteam is a mobile-first employee management platform built for deskless workers, covering communication, scheduling and HR in one app.
- Features: task management, time tracking, scheduling, chat, a knowledge base and courses.
- Pros: genuinely mobile-friendly, excellent for remote or field workers, and it has a real free plan for very small teams.
- Cons: less built out for office-based intranet needs, and the per-hub pricing means the full platform costs three times a single tier.
Pricing:
- Small Business plan: free for life for up to 10 users, with all hubs and all features.
- A second free Limited plan covers up to 30 users with the essentials of each hub.
- Basic $29, Advanced $49 and Expert $99 per month billed annually ($35, $59 and $119 billed monthly), each covering the first 30 users, then a small per-user rate above that.
- Priced per hub, not per platform. There are three hubs, Operations, Communications, and HR & Skills, so a team wanting all three pays the tier price three times. All prices are USD only. A 14-day trial is mandatory.
How to choose the best intranet software
- Identify your needs: decide which features you actually require. Do you need strong document management, robust communication tools, or work management on top?
- Consider integration: look for software that fits the tools you already use, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
- Ease of use: adoption is the whole game. If people find it awkward they will not use it.
- Scalability: choose something that grows with you, and check seat minimums and user bands before you commit.
- Cost, and the billing basis: check whether pricing is per seat, per hub, a flat fee, or quote-only, and whether a monthly figure needs annual commitment.
- Security: make sure it protects your company’s data to the standard you need.
- Support and training: look for vendors who help you roll out properly, not just sell a licence.
Features to consider for your intranet
Does your intranet provider offer:
- A mobile application
- An organization chart
- The option to include a people directory
- Document management
- Rich media
- Custom branding
- Search functionality
- Centralized content management
- Analytics
- Customer support
- Integrations
Bottom line
Choosing the right intranet software can change how your company operates, improving communication, collaboration and productivity. Take the time to evaluate your options, weigh the pricing model as carefully as the feature list, and pick something that supports how your team actually works. If you want your procedures and training living in the same place as your company news, Whale’s SOP and process templates are a good place to start.
Got questions? Book a demo with our team today.
FAQs on Intranet Software
What is intranet software?
Intranet software allows companies to build a private, secure network that can only be accessed by that company’s employees.
What information should be on our intranet?
A valuable intranet may include essential elements such as company news, a people directory, company documentation, and search capabilities.
What’s the difference between an intranet and a knowledge base?
An intranet is your company’s broader internal hub, covering news, announcements, a people directory and general collaboration. A knowledge base is more specific: it is where the step-by-step answers, SOPs and process documentation live. Some tools, Whale included, blend both into one place, while a traditional SharePoint or Confluence setup treats them as related but separate.
Is intranet software still relevant with tools like Slack and Teams?
Yes, though the role has shifted. Chat tools are built for real-time conversation, not for storing the structured information, company news, documents and directories that a fast-moving conversation buries within hours. Most companies now use both together rather than choosing one over the other.
What’s the best intranet software for a small business?
Smaller teams generally do better with tools that publish their pricing and offer a real free tier, rather than an enterprise sales process, since quote-only platforms are usually built and priced for much larger workforces. On this list that means Whale, Confluence, monday.com and Connecteam. Watch the small print though: monday.com needs a minimum of 3 seats and Connecteam charges per hub.
