The fundamental difference between Confluence and Confluence Cloud lies in how and where the software is hosted and managed. Confluence (referring to the self-managed versions like Data Center, and previously Server) is installed and run on your own infrastructure, while Confluence Cloud is hosted and managed entirely by Atlassian as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution.
What is Confluence?
Confluence is a powerful wiki software and team collaboration tool developed by Atlassian. It enables teams to create, organize, and discuss work in one central place. It serves as a shared workspace where users can create pages, meeting notes, project plans, documentation, and more, fostering knowledge sharing and collaboration.
While the core functionality of Confluence remains consistent across its deployment types, significant operational and feature differences emerge based on whether you choose a self-managed solution or the cloud offering.
Confluence (Self-Managed) vs. Confluence Cloud: A Comparative Overview
| Feature | Confluence (Self-Managed - Data Center) | Confluence Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Hosted on your organization's servers or private cloud. | Hosted and managed by Atlassian on their secure cloud infrastructure. |
| Maintenance | Your team is responsible for installation, upgrades, backups, and security patches. | Atlassian handles all maintenance, upgrades, and infrastructure management. |
| Cost Model | Perpetual license fee + annual maintenance/support. | Subscription-based (monthly or annual), priced per user tier. |
| Scalability | Scales with your hardware resources; Data Center offers high availability and clustering. | Automatically scales with your team's needs, managed by Atlassian. |
| Customization | Deeper server-level access, allowing more extensive modifications. | Configured through the web interface, primarily via apps and integrations. |
| Updates | Manual updates, controlled by your IT team. | Automatic, continuous updates with new features and fixes. |
| Data Control | Full control over data residency and compliance within your infrastructure. | Data resides in Atlassian's global data centers, with some data residency options for Premium/Enterprise plans. |
| Templates | Templates selected from a 'Create' dialog before page creation. | Templates chosen within the page with a live preview experience. |
| App Ecosystem | Extensive marketplace for server/data center apps. | Growing marketplace for cloud-specific apps, often with different functionalities. |
Key Differences Explained
1. Hosting and Infrastructure Management
The most fundamental distinction is who manages the underlying infrastructure:
- Confluence (Self-Managed): In this model, primarily Confluence Data Center, your organization takes full responsibility for hosting. This means you provide the servers, databases, operating systems, and network infrastructure. It offers maximum control over your environment, which can be crucial for organizations with strict security or compliance requirements.
- Confluence Cloud: Atlassian hosts and manages everything for you. This is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, where you access Confluence through a web browser. Atlassian handles server maintenance, performance, security, and backups, allowing your team to focus solely on content creation and collaboration.
2. Updates and Maintenance
Managing updates and general system health varies significantly:
- Confluence (Self-Managed): Your IT team is responsible for planning, executing, and testing every software update. This provides control over when new features or security patches are deployed but requires dedicated resources.
- Confluence Cloud: Atlassian automatically applies updates and new features, often multiple times a week. This ensures you always have the latest version without any administrative overhead, though it means less control over the update schedule.
3. Cost Structure
The financial models differ considerably:
- Confluence (Self-Managed): Typically involves an upfront perpetual license fee (for Data Center), followed by annual maintenance and support costs. Additional hardware and infrastructure costs are also borne by your organization.
- Confluence Cloud: Operates on a subscription basis, usually charged monthly or annually per user. This can be more flexible, allowing you to scale up or down users as needed without large upfront capital expenditures.
4. Customization and Control
While both versions offer customization, the depth varies:
- Confluence (Self-Managed): Provides deeper access to the underlying server and database, allowing for more extensive custom scripting, database-level integrations, and specific network configurations. This can be beneficial for highly specific enterprise needs.
- Confluence Cloud: Customization is primarily managed through the user interface and the Atlassian Marketplace for cloud apps. While extensive, it does not offer the same level of server-side control as the self-managed options.
5. Feature Parity and Evolution
While Atlassian strives for feature parity, the development paths can differ, leading to unique experiences:
- Confluence (Self-Managed): Features are typically released in larger, less frequent updates.
- Confluence Cloud: Benefits from continuous deployment, meaning new features and improvements roll out frequently. A notable difference is the template experience:
- In Confluence Cloud, creating new content is streamlined: you choose a template directly within the page and immediately get a preview of how it will look. This makes the creation process more intuitive and visually guided. Cloud offers a vast library of over 100 templates, with the option to download more.
- In Confluence Server and Data Center, template selection generally occurs from a "Create" dialog before the page is opened, which may offer a less integrated preview experience.
6. Security and Compliance
The responsibility for security differs:
- Confluence (Self-Managed): Your organization is entirely responsible for securing your servers, network, and data, which requires robust internal security protocols and expertise.
- Confluence Cloud: Atlassian takes on the primary responsibility for the security of its cloud infrastructure, adhering to stringent industry standards and certifications (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR). While Atlassian secures the "cloud," you are still responsible for your content and user access ("security in the cloud").
Choosing the Right Confluence for Your Team
Deciding between self-managed Confluence (Data Center) and Confluence Cloud often comes down to balancing control, cost, and administrative overhead:
- Choose Confluence Data Center if:
- You have strict regulatory or data residency requirements that necessitate keeping data on-premises.
- Your organization has the IT resources and expertise to manage server infrastructure, backups, and upgrades.
- You require deep customization or integrations that demand server-level access.
- You prefer a predictable, fixed infrastructure cost model.
- Choose Confluence Cloud if:
- You want to minimize IT administrative burden and leverage Atlassian's expertise in hosting and maintenance.
- You prefer a flexible, subscription-based cost model that scales with your user count.
- You value continuous updates and access to the latest features, like the modern template selection experience.
- Your team requires easy, anywhere access without managing VPNs or remote access to your internal network.
- You prioritize quick setup and deployment.
Ultimately, both versions of Confluence are designed to empower teams with a collaborative workspace. The "best" choice depends on your organization's specific operational needs, IT capabilities, security posture, and budget.
