How to choose the best knowledge base software for your SaaS company

Knowledge base software helps both your SaaS customers and your support team find accurate answers faster. It gives customers a central source of accurate information so they can find answers without waiting on support. Plus, it takes pressure off your team by reducing repeat tickets. Support teams can also use the knowledge base to find information faster, improving onboarding and creating more consistent customer experiences.

In this article, we’ll explore the best knowledge base software options for SaaS companies. We’ll cover what features matter most and explain how to choose the best tool for your team.

What B2B SaaS support teams should look for

These key features can help you scale customer self-service and get the most out of your knowledge base:

• Automation and AI-powered tools. Look for knowledge base software that automatically identifies knowledge gaps, generates new content, and keeps existing articles up to date.
• Strong search options. Your knowledge base should make it easy for customers and internal teams to quickly find the most relevant answer.
• Easy content management. Choose software that makes it simple for your team to work together on building the knowledge base and keeping it updated.
• Clear analytics. Good reporting shows how customers use the knowledge base so you can improve it over time.
• Multi-channel support. Make sure customers can access knowledge wherever they ask for help, from your website and chat to the support channels they already use.
• Good security and compliance. Strong authentication and access control are key, and the software should comply with data protection regulations and other important standards.
• Reliable scalability and performance. Your knowledge base needs to be able to handle more content and users smoothly.
• Third-party integrations. Make sure your knowledge base connects with the tools where customer questions and product knowledge already live, so your content stays accurate as things change.

5 knowledge base software options for SaaS companies

Now that you know what to look for, here are five leading knowledge base providers for SaaS support teams.

1. Pylon

Pylon uses AI to analyze customer support conversations across email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, chat, and other channels. It can then turn recurring questions and resolved issues into draft knowledge base articles that your team can review and publish.

Pylon’s AI also identifies knowledge gaps and outdated content, then recommends new articles or updates as your product and customer questions evolve. Your team can review and approve those recommendations instead of manually auditing the knowledge base for missing or outdated content.

These features make Pylon a strong choice for B2B support teams that want AI to continuously improve their knowledge base using real customer conversations. Because Pylon is built specifically for B2B support, it may be less suited to primarily consumer-focused support teams.

2. Zendesk

Zendesk brings information from help centers, community forums, and external tools like Confluence and Google Drive together into a single knowledge base. This platform uses generative AI to create articles from support tickets, as well as to edit existing articles and translate them into new languages.

Zendesk can be a good fit for large B2C companies that want a comprehensive knowledge management system. On the other hand, it’s not designed for B2B teams, and it can involve more setup and onboarding effort than other tools. 

3. Intercom

Intercom’s knowledge base draws on a wide range of sources, including ​​articles and support conversations from Guru, Confluence, Notion, and Zendesk. You can organize your knowledge base content into folders and sub-folders, then choose which customer segments or internal teams can view certain articles. There’s also an AI agent to help you find knowledge gaps and improve resources.

Intercom is a strong option for teams that want to combine self-service knowledge with AI-powered customer support. Be aware that Intercom has a B2C focus.

4. Help Scout

Help Scout offers simple software for getting a help center published fast. This solution comes with an AI assistant to edit and translate articles. There are also basic color pickers and formatting options, so you can design a customer knowledge base that matches your brand. 

Thanks to its simple interface and minimal setup, Help Scout works well for startups and smaller teams that want to launch a knowledge base quickly. But its customization options are limited, as are its reporting and analytics tools.

5. Freshdesk

Freshdesk’s knowledge base features help teams draft articles, send them through an approval workflow, work together on edits, and learn from feedback. This software integrates with your ticketing system to suggest answers to customers, and you can use ticket replies as the basis for new articles.

Overall, Freshdesk is a solid pick for small to medium-sized businesses, especially those that already use other products in the Freshworks ecosystem. Downsides include a lack of support for complex B2B workflows, plus extra costs for important AI and omnichannel tools.

How to choose the best software for your company

Follow these steps to explore your options and choose the best knowledge base software for your team:

1. Clearly define your use case. Decide whether you want to use the knowledge base for internal docs, customer self-service, or both.
2. Review your tech stack. All the knowledge base software we’ve looked at also offers ticketing systems and other customer support tools. Decide what level of complexity you need, and find out how each platform integrates with other tools you use.
3. Prioritize key features. Decide which features are most important for your company. For example, some teams may prioritize AI-powered knowledge creation and maintenance, while others care more about collaboration, search, or customization.
4. Draw up a shortlist. Examine the top platforms in detail, and create a list of two or three that best meet your needs. 
5. Test the candidates. Use demos or trials to see how easily your team can create, find, update, and maintain knowledge in each platform.
6. Consult your team. Bring in the people who will use the knowledge base software on a daily basis. Give them a chance to test each system and give feedback.

How to keep your knowledge base current

Even if you build a knowledge base that’s thorough and easily searchable today, it can quickly become stale. SaaS products evolve fast, and workflows change often. When customers find outdated information, they lose trust in self-service and often end up contacting support anyway.

To keep your customer-facing docs updated, create rules for when and how your team should review articles and add new details. Build that workflow around these pillars:

• Analytics. Use knowledge base software that surfaces gaps, outdated content, and opportunities to improve existing articles.
• Failed searches. Look at the search terms customers enter, and build articles for questions without results.
• Ratings. Give customers a simple way to rate articles, and revise content that gets low scores.
• Customer conversations. Look across support tickets, Slack, email, and other channels for questions or issues your documentation doesn't adequately address.
• Repeat tickets. Find subjects that keep popping up in support tickets, and create new knowledge base articles to address those topics.

How Pylon keeps your knowledge base accurate with less work

B2B and SaaS support teams need knowledge base software that answers customers’ questions fast and is easy to update. Look for a solution that uses AI to automate key workflows, like finding knowledge gaps and generating drafts based on support exchanges.

Pylon is the Agentic Support Platform built for B2B support teams. It brings conversations across Slack, Teams, email, chat, and other channels into one place, giving AI the context to help resolve customer issues and continuously improve your knowledge base. Pylon can identify missing or outdated documentation, generate new content from real support conversations, and help your team keep knowledge accurate as your product evolves.

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FAQ

What’s knowledge base software for SaaS companies?

A knowledge base is a tool that helps SaaS teams create, organize, and publish documentation, so customers and internal teams can find answers without contacting support.

How does a knowledge base reduce support tickets?

By making accurate answers easy to find through search and self-service, a knowledge base can resolve repetitive questions before they become support tickets.

How is AI changing knowledge base software?

AI can turn support conversations into new documentation, identify knowledge gaps, flag outdated content, and recommend updates as products and customer questions evolve.