5 ITglue Alternatives: Affordable & Powerful IT Documentation for 2024

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Tal F
on January 07, 2023 · · filed under Product Documentation Product Management Documentation Portals Product Updates Technical Writing

Service providers and team members need a collaborative platform to efficiently track devices, streamline workflows, and enhance collaboration. While ITglue has established itself as a reliable cloud-based documentation platform, several alternatives have also come in the recent past.

These ITglue alternatives cater to the diverse needs of small businesses and enterprises and offer IT service management solutions. Some of them also offer remote monitoring capabilities, conversation platform and comments integration, along with an optimized workflow.

But that’s not all as ITglue users also deal with:

Poor customer support

  • High cost for smaller teams

  • Lack of documentation tools

We’ve reviewed 15 MSP tools and found the best 5 ITglue alternatives based on those criteria.

Here's our verdict.

Buying Guide- Most Imp for MSPs

We've categorised the software based on four criteria most important for MSPs.

Ease of Use: reflects how quickly you'll learn to use the app. If it's too difficult to use or takes too long to learn, it will decrease your team's productivity instead of improving it.

Customer Service: problems are inevitable when connecting a lot of different apps. That’s why the quality of customer service is a deciding factor for many MSPs.

Knowledge Base Features: Can an app handle large knowledge bases? Does it offer editing tools to create functional documents? Can you collaborate across teams and third-party apps? You don’t want to switch software only to find that it limits you in some way.

Value For Money: Will the tool grow with you—or will you have to switch again with scale? A good tool will support you at any level and only introduce features that you need.

Are low scores always bad?

Not at all.

For example, a tool with integrated project management will have a higher value score, since you'll find it useful if you aren’t already using a project management app. But if you are, those features only add complexity, which ultimately decreases the value.

Similarly, having few features might mean that the existing features are of higher quality. That’s the case with specialised tools like Docsie: it can’t manage passwords or devices, but it’s the best knowledge base platform out there.

P.S. Want to build large knowledge bases without having to worry about stability, security, or scale? Sign up for Docsie's Startup plan and create unlimited documentation — free forever!

1. Docsie.ai - Best App For Knowledge Base Management

Features & Benefits

Docsie is the best knowledge base management tools out there.

It specializes in extensive IT documentation, cross-organizational data curation, and team collaboration. Docsie is very easy to install and can integrate with any tech stack.

Top Docsie Features:

● Auto-Translate

● UI Customization

● Publishing Options

● Powerful Editing Tools

● Documentation Analytics

● Deployment Management

● Interactive Knowledge Portals

● Intuitive Organization Structure

● Internal & External Collaboration

Here's an example of Docsie's documentation published on the web.

Docsie's building blocks are books and shelves.

Shelves are placed on the left side. Opening them will show you a list of books.

You can group books into sections, like a real library.

Clicking on a book takes you to the editor. Here, you can create articles, and even translate them into different languages automatically. The editor is also where you manage the versions, visibility, and publishing for each article.

You can embed multimedia content in articles, allowing you to create all kinds of documents — internal SOPs, onboarding guides, and external wikis or help centers. To stay secure, Docsie also offers robust access control.

As for publishing, you can publish whole shelves orsingle books.

Cloud Portal

You can use Docsie’s cloud to publish your document to the web.

This creates a web link that you can share with anyone you want.

Meaning your readers don’t need a Docsie account to access your knowledge bases.

Website Embed

You can also embed a Docsie knowledge portal into an existing website.

That means you can create and curate help centers, guides, blogs, and product documentation, and make them public on your website.

To find out about the full extent of Docsie features, check out our Youtube Channel. We’ve got a ton of videos explaining how it works. It’s so simple you can figure it out in one afternoon and have it running by the end of the day.

Pricing

The Docsie “startup” plan is free.

It includes all the features you need to create and curate your knowledge base so you can get a good idea of how it works before committing to it. Higher plans have more features as shown below:

It’s worth mentioning that anyone can see the knowledge bases you create, as long as you make them public. Meaning you don’t need a team account for every user that wants access to the documents.

Bottom line

Docsie is a documentation specialist.

If you’re looking to expand your tech stack with a best-in-class knowledge base… or if you don’t need the complexity of a general MSP software like ITglue… then Docsie is the best solution.

Sick of upgrading plans so your team can access documents? Try out Docsie’s knowledge portals and make your documents available to everyone! Sign up here to get Docsie for free!

2. Hudu - Best Direct Alternative To ITglue

Features & Benefits

Hudu is the newcomer on the MSP block that everyone is talking about. It’s a direct competitor to ITglue so it will be right up your alley if you’re an ITglue veteran.

Top Hudu Features:

● Custom assets

● Expiration tracking

● Website monitoring

● Intelligent reporting

● Knowledge retention

● Employee accountability

● It acts as a password vault

● Secure information sharing

● Built-in process management

Unlike ITglue, Hudu is self-hosted, so your data security is in your hands instead of a third-party’s.

Another reason why Hudu took the market by storm is its customer service. Many users report faster response times and better problem-solving than what ITglue offers.

Check out this demo if you want to get a better feel for Hudu and its features.

Where Hudu Falls Short

If you’re switching from ITglue, you should know that Hudu isn’t as feature-rich. Although the dev team has a fast release cycle and is catching up fast. Especially since Hudu listens to customer feedback a lot more than ITglue does.

Another consideration is the current lack of a hosted service, which is still in development.

Pricing

Hudu’s pricing is simple.

$31/month for 3 users + $15/user/month for additional users.

It has a 14-day free trial and no setup fees or contracts. Annual billing plans come with a 10% discount.

Bottom line

Many unhappy ITglue customers flocked to Hudu since it launched.

It’s the best option if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to ITglue but don’t want to compromise on any functionality.

It’s also worth mentioning that compared to Docsie, both Hudu and ITglue are more expensive, and their knowledge base and documentation features aren’t as advanced.

3. Confluence - Best For Large Teams And Organizations

Features & Benefits

Confluence is a collaboration tool from Atlassian.

It allows you to create project plans, schedule tasks, write meeting notes, discuss work, and submit project requirements in a collaborative work environment. It also offers documentation management and the creation of internal wikis. By syncing documents, you can collaborate online for document creation.

Top Confluence Features:

● Analytics

● Atlassian integrations

● Robust customer support

● Unlimited spaces and pages

● Team & Project management

● Internal & External Collaboration

● Powerful permission management

Confluence is lauded as a stable product and it allows easy integration with agile processes.

Here’s a tutorial if you’re interested in how Confluence works.

Where Confluence Falls Short

Confluence is a complex program.

For new users, the syntax is confusing and it takes a while to learn how to navigate the program. Also, Confluence is the worst on this list in terms of knowledge base management.

Pricing

Confluence has a generous free version. It includes all of the essential documentation features—including unlimited pages and spaces—for a team of 10 users.

Confluence is also the cheapest paid product on this list. However, it’s worth mentioning that advanced features are only available as paid plugins which can quickly ramp up the cost.

Bottom line

Confluence is a no-brainer if you’re already using other Atlassian apps like Jira. It's also the best choice for massive teams since the base product's pricing plans are very scalable.

The major drawback is the subpar documentation features, which get convoluted if you’re dealing with large knowledge bases.

If you’re looking for a powerful knowledge base management tool, look into Docsie.io and try it free for as long as you like!

4. IT Portal - Best For Small Teams

Features & Benefits

IT Portal is a flexible asset management software. You can use it to keep track of knowledge bases, docs, passwords, people, and configurations that can run on their cloud or your own.

Compared to ITglue, IT Portal is more straightforward to use and more customizable. It's responsive, quick, and stable. And all the information is reachable with the browser extension plugin.

Notable IT Portal Features:

● Mobile App

● Scoreboard

● Portal Export

● Device Import

● Network Import

● Integrated File Editors

● Password Manager & Browser Plugin

IT Portal is known to have better customer support than ITglue: quick to respond and fast to action.

The integration feature is also nothing to sneeze at. It integrates with various common software like RMM, Office365, ticket management, etc. which further enriches the value of your tech stack.

Where IT Portal Falls Short

In terms of features, both products are very similar. But IT Portal's UI is awkward and feels outdated compared to ITglue.

Pricing

IT Portal is priced per number of users — the more users, the less per user you have to pay.

They also provide on-premise hosting.

If you buy a yearly plan, they offer a 10% discount for up to 9 users and a 20% discount above that.

They also provide a 30-day money-back guarantee if you want to test it out.

Bottom line

IT Portal is a cheap alternative to ITglue for small teams, but its costs quickly balloon for larger teams if you aren’t hosting it yourself. It’s a good ITglue alternative if the dated UI doesn’t bother you.

Compared to Hudu: If price is a big factor for you, chose Hudu. Otherwise—if you don’t care about the UI—It comes down to the integrations. We recommend looking at what integrations you want and choosing based on that.

5. DokuWiki - Best Free Alternative

Features & Benefits

DokuWiki is a simple to use and versatile open source wiki software.

It features a clean and easy-to-read syntax. As the name implies, DokuWiki is made for documentation, manuals, and descriptions. It’s possible to create nicely formatted and easy-to-read documentation with its editing tools.

Notable DokuWiki Features:

● Backup and integration

● Built-in access controls

● Features revision control

● Authentication connectors

● Integrates with your website

DokuWiki lets you create your own or community-made plugins to add any feature you like. The many plugins contributed by its community enable a broad range of uses beyond those of a typical wiki.

Where DokuWiki Falls Short

DokuWiki was released in 2004 and hasn’t been updated since.

Because of that, it doesn’t look as clean as modern-day apps. It also has security risks that can be mitigated with proper network access configuration.

The original creators also don’t offer any official customer support, although many organizations offer officially recognized third-party support services in DokuWiki’s ecosystem.

Pricing

DokuWiki is free.

Bottom line

DokuWiki is a good choice if you’re ok with the older look and don’t have anybudget to spend on other options. Security is a concern though, so it’s smart to upgrade to a paid tool after your business grows.

If you're looking for a cutting-edge knowledge base tool that offers top-notch security and accessibility, Docsie.io is the perfect collaborative environment. Sign-up for the free version here!

Final Verdict: Which ITglue alternative should you choose?

It’ll be different for every team or MSP, but every product offers a free trial that lets you test what’s best for you risk-free.

But if you ask us, if you're looking for a:

powerful database management tool that doesn’t work against you: Docsie.io,

cheaper ITglue alternative with better customer support: Hudu,

free database alternative: DokuWiki.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why should you consider switching to alternatives from ITglue?

Ans: Service providers and team members may seek alternatives to ITglue for various reasons, such as poor customer support, high costs for smaller teams, and a lack of specific documentation tools. Exploring alternative solutions for their needs can lead to improved collaboration, workflows, and IT service management.

2. What criteria were used to review and select the best ITglue alternatives?

Ans: The selection of the best ITglue alternatives was based on four key criteria crucial for Managed Service Providers (MSPs): ease of use, quality of customer service, knowledge base features, and value for money. Each alternative was evaluated against these criteria to ensure it fulfilled the requirements of service providers and team members.

3. How do these alternatives address common challenges faced by ITglue users?

Ans: Apart from offering features like remote monitoring, conversation platforms, and optimized workflows, the reviewed alternatives address challenges experienced by ITglue users, including poor customer support, high costs for smaller teams, and a lack of documentation tools. The alternatives aim to provide comprehensive solutions to these issues.

4. Are low scores always considered negative in the buying guide?

Ans: No, low scores in the buying guide do not necessarily indicate a negative aspect. For instance, a tool with integrated project management may receive a higher value score, but it depends on the specific needs of the team. Low scores may simply highlight that certain features are not relevant for a particular use case.

5. How can users determine which alternative is the best fit for their needs?

Ans: Choosing the best alternative depends on the unique requirements of the team or MSP. The FAQs provide insights into each alternative's strengths, such as Docsie.io's specialization in knowledge base management, Hudu's direct competition with ITglue, Confluence's suitability for large teams, IT Portal's flexibility for small teams, and DokuWiki as a free alternative. Teams are encouraged to explore free trials to test and identify the most suitable option for their specific needs.


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