Best SharePoint Replacement in 2026: Top Intranet Alternatives and How to Choose

Answering your question: What is the best replacement for SharePoint in 2026?

Many organizations in 2026 are actively replacing SharePoint as their intranet platform. Despite being bundled with Microsoft 365 licenses, SharePoint’s complexity, hidden customization costs, and persistently low employee adoption have pushed IT and Communications teams to seek modern alternatives.

For organizations using or willing to adopt Google Workspace, Happeo stands out as a leading sharepoint replacement. It delivers a modern intranet with built-in social features, unified search across documents and people, and deep integration with Gmail, Drive, and Calendar—without requiring months of developer work.

For Microsoft-first environments, strong alternatives to sharepoint also exist, including Simpplr, Jostle, and extending Microsoft 365 with Viva Connections and Teams. However, this article focuses primarily on modern, cloud-based intranet platforms that prioritize employee experience over technical flexibility.

Here’s what you’ll get from this guide: a clear explanation of why companies are moving away from SharePoint, practical evaluation criteria for choosing a replacement, and a curated list of specific platforms—including Happeo—with current context for 2025–2026 decision-making.

What is SharePoint and how is it used today?

Microsoft SharePoint has been a staple of enterprise IT since the early 2000s. Today, SharePoint Online is part of Microsoft 365, while SharePoint Server remains available for on-premise deployments requiring tighter control over infrastructure and data.

In 2024–2026, typical SharePoint use cases include:

• Document storage behind Microsoft Teams: When you upload a file to a Teams channel, it lives in a SharePoint document library. Many employees interact with SharePoint daily without realizing it.

• Internal sites for departments: HR publishes policies, Finance shares templates, and IT maintains help documentation—each on separate SharePoint sites with varying structures and navigation.

• Permission-based access to project assets: Teams use SharePoint libraries for version control and controlled file sharing across internal and external parties.

More than 300 million users technically have access to SharePoint through Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licenses. But here’s the reality: actual intranet adoption is often surprisingly low. Employees struggle to find what they need, navigation feels inconsistent, and the platform rewards technical administrators more than everyday users.

SharePoint is powerful as a document management system and content management platform. But it was never originally designed as a ready-made, employee-friendly intranet or employee experience platform. That gap is precisely why the search for best sharepoint alternatives has intensified.

Why organizations are replacing SharePoint instead of customizing it further

From 2022 to 2026, a clear trend has emerged: mid-sized and large organizations are moving off custom SharePoint intranets towards SaaS-based digital workplace platforms. Rather than investing in another round of customization, they’re choosing purpose-built tools that deliver faster time-to-value.

High total cost of ownership

Building a fully-featured sharepoint intranet typically involves multi-month projects with external agencies or specialized SharePoint developers. Custom web parts, branded templates, and complex workflows require ongoing maintenance. When Microsoft releases updates or deprecates features, those customizations often break—triggering expensive rebuild cycles. The sticker price of Microsoft 365 licenses may look free, but the true cost includes consulting, internal IT hours, and perpetual maintenance.

Usability and adoption challenges

SharePoint has a steep learning curve that frustrates employees accustomed to consumer-like experiences. Navigation varies wildly between sites. Page layouts feel inconsistent. Search results return hundreds of results without clear prioritization. Many employees simply give up and default to email, Slack, or asking colleagues directly—defeating the purpose of having a centralized intranet solution.

Limited agility for content teams

When Communications or HR wants to launch a new campaign, microsite, or policy hub, they often need IT involvement. Simple content changes can take days. Design updates require development resources. This bottleneck slows down internal comms and reduces the intranet’s relevance to fast-moving business needs.

Integration constraints beyond Microsoft

SharePoint integrates deeply with the entire microsoft suite—Teams, OneDrive, Power Automate, Power Apps, and Outlook. But organizations that also rely on google workspace, Slack, Zoom, Workday, or other tools find friction. Building connectors requires custom development or third-party add-ons, adding complexity and cost.

Governance and content sprawl

Over years of use, legacy SharePoint environments accumulate thousands of sites, many outdated or abandoned. Broken links, duplicate content, and orphaned pages make search results unreliable. Without strong governance (which itself requires dedicated resources), content sprawl becomes unmanageable, and employees lose trust in the platform.

How to evaluate a modern replacement for SharePoint

Before committing to any platform, you need clear evaluation criteria. This checklist applies to intranet, knowledge hub, and digital workplace platforms in 2025–2026.

Ready-made vs. platform

Contrast configurable, out-of-the-box intranets (like Happeo, Simpplr, or Jostle) with developer-heavy frameworks such as classic SharePoint or custom portals. Ready-made solutions come with pre-built templates, page structures, and governance features that reduce project timelines from 9–12 months to 6–12 weeks.

User experience and adoption

Prioritize platforms with responsive design, dedicated mobile apps for iOS and Android, and modern social features like feeds, comments, and reactions. The goal is low training requirements—if employees need a manual to post a comment, adoption will suffer. Look for an intuitive interface that feels familiar from consumer apps.

Content structure and governance

Effective platforms provide page templates, clear ownership roles, review date reminders, and automatic expiry notifications. Built-in analytics should identify stale content so you can maintain a fresh, trustworthy intranet. This prevents the content sprawl that plagues legacy SharePoint environments.

Integrations and single sign-on

Check compatibility with your core systems:

• Productivity: google workspace or Microsoft 365

• Chat: Slack or microsoft teams

• HRIS: Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, BambooHR

• Identity: Okta, Azure AD, Google Identity

Seamless integration reduces context switching and ensures employees can access everything from one place with secure access controls.

Search and knowledge discovery

Unified search should span intranet pages, documents in connected file storage (google drive, OneDrive, Box), and people profiles. Filters by department, location, and content type help employees find exactly what they need. Strong search is essential for knowledge sharing across distributed teams.

Analytics and employee engagement

Look for built-in dashboards showing page views, announcement reach, search terms with poor results, and engagement patterns. These metrics prove intranet ROI and help you continuously improve content strategy.

Implementation speed and ongoing ownership

Target implementation timelines of 6–12 weeks for initial launch, not 9–12 months. The platform should empower Communications, HR, or People teams to own content without heavy IT involvement. IT focuses on integrations, security, and governance—not day-to-day page updates.

Top SharePoint replacements to consider in 2025–2026

This section covers specific replacements actively used by organizations worldwide. They’re grouped by primary strength: Google-first intranets, Microsoft-focused platforms, knowledge hubs, and collaboration tools.

This isn’t an exhaustive market map. It’s a curated list with concrete positioning, accurate to late 2025 and early 2026. Each subsection describes who the tool is best for, how it compares to SharePoint, and notable trade-offs.

Happeo – Best replacement for SharePoint for Google Workspace-centric organizations

Happeo is a cloud-based intranet and digital workplace designed for organizations that primarily use google workspace—Gmail, google drive, Calendar, Meet, and google docs. If your company has standardized on Google, Happeo offers native alignment that SharePoint simply cannot match.

Core capabilities

Happeo structures your intranet around three pillars: Pages for structured content (policies, department hubs, onboarding guides), Channels for social communication and peer to peer communication, and a People directory that surfaces org charts, expertise, and contact information.

Deep Google Workspace integration

Unlike sharepoint, Happeo connects natively to google drive, Docs, Slides, and Calendar. You can embed live documents and calendars directly into intranet pages without duplication. When someone updates a Google Doc, the embedded version updates automatically. This eliminates the version control headaches common with traditional file sharing.

Unified search

Happeo’s search surfaces intranet pages, google drive files, and people profiles from a single search bar. No more switching between apps to find that project plan or policy document. For distributed teams, this dramatically reduces the “Where was that file?” frustration that kills productivity.

Governance and analytics

Content ownership is built in. Page owners receive review reminders, and analytics dashboards show engagement for news posts, pages, and Channels. You can see which content resonates and which needs refreshing—data that’s difficult to extract from native SharePoint.

Employee engagement features

Social features including comments, reactions, targeted communications by location or department, and personalized homepages help distributed teams feel connected. Leaders can share updates that reach the right audiences without email overload.

Implementation and IT effort

Typical Happeo launches take weeks, not months. Pre-built templates accelerate setup, and Comms or HR teams can manage the intranet with minimal IT overhead. IT focuses on SSO configuration, security policies, and integrations rather than content management.

Contrast with SharePoint

Happeo replaces the intranet and communications layer rather than replicating every SharePoint developer feature. It’s not a document management system replacement—it works with your existing file storage. Happeo fits best when google workspace is your productivity backbone and you want a modern intranet without enterprise ready intranet solution complexity.

Simpplr – Modern intranet for Microsoft and mixed tech stacks

Simpplr is a SaaS intranet platform used by mid-sized and enterprise organizations, often as a SharePoint replacement in Microsoft-centric environments or mixed stacks.

Internal communications

Simpplr excels at targeted communications: news, campaigns, and multi-channel distribution across web, mobile app, email, and integrations with microsoft teams or Slack. Communications teams can reach specific audiences without building complex SharePoint page targeting.

AI-powered discovery

The platform includes AI search, content recommendations, and auto-governance features that nudge content owners to update or remove outdated pages. This proactive approach addresses the content sprawl problem that plagues legacy intranets.

Integrations

Simpplr connects with Microsoft 365, google workspace, HRIS systems like Workday, and identity providers. This flexibility makes it viable for organizations with mixed tech stacks who don’t want to choose between ecosystems.

Use cases

Typical implementations include corporate intranet, HR hub, IT help center, and leadership communications during change initiatives. The platform handles internal websites and resource centers without requiring custom development.

Compared to SharePoint, Simpplr offers ready-made intranet capabilities, lower need for custom development, and stronger collaboration features for internal comms. The trade-off is less flexibility for complex document workflows or custom applications.

Jostle – Replacement for SharePoint focused on internal communication and culture

Jostle is an intranet and employee communication platform suited for organizations wanting a simpler, culture-focused alternative to SharePoint.

News and activity feeds

Jostle provides targeted internal news, activity streams, and announcements designed to cut through noise. The platform’s opinionated structure means less configuration but more consistent user experience across the organization.

Document sharing

Jostle’s Library connects to cloud storage like google drive and OneDrive, with permission controls to keep policies and internal resources organized. It’s not a full document management system, but it handles the document sharing needs of most intranet use cases.

People and culture

The People directory, org charts, and social recognition features support connection and employee engagement. Jostle emphasizes culture-building over technical flexibility.

Unlike sharepoint, Jostle is less developer-centric, more opinionated in structure, and easier for non-technical admins to manage. It’s a great sharepoint alternative for organizations prioritizing simplicity over customization.

Atlassian Confluence – Replacement for SharePoint as a structured knowledge base

Confluence is a collaborative documentation and knowledge management tool widely adopted by product, engineering, and operations teams.

Spaces and Pages

Confluence Spaces can replace SharePoint team sites, with structured pages for project docs, SOPs, and retrospectives. Teams document product releases, incident postmortems, and runbooks in a collaborative workspace that supports team collaboration.

Integration with Jira and Atlassian ecosystem

For teams already using Jira Software or Service Management, Confluence offers embedded Jira issues, roadmaps, and workflow automation. This tight integration makes it compelling for technical teams managing project management and development workflows.

Collaboration features

Page comments, inline feedback, version history, and templates for meeting notes and requirements support document collaboration. Multiple users can edit simultaneously, similar to google docs.

Confluence works best as a knowledge base or wiki rather than a full internal comms intranet. If your primary need is structured documentation for business teams and technical groups, it’s a strong SharePoint replacement. For company-wide communications and employee experience, pair it with a dedicated intranet platform.

Google Workspace – Productivity backbone plus light intranet

Google Workspace provides an all-in-one cloud based productivity suite (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Chat, Sites) that can serve as both a SharePoint alternative and a foundation for intranet tools like Happeo.

Real-time collaboration

Co-authoring in Docs and Sheets, commenting, and version history make collaboration seamless. Many teams prefer this approach over traditional file check-in/check-out workflows in SharePoint libraries.

Drive as file storage

Google Drive’s shared drives and folder structures provide file storage comparable to SharePoint document libraries. For organizations standardized on Google, Drive eliminates the need to manage documents in SharePoint.

Simple intranet via Google Sites

Google Sites can host basic intranet pages with embedded Docs, Sheets, and calendars. However, governance, navigation, and engagement features are limited compared to dedicated intranets. There’s no built-in analytics, no social features, and no targeted communications.

Pairing with Happeo

Organizations often use Happeo to add a structured, engaging intranet layer on top of google workspace content and collaboration tools. Happeo provides the intranet experience while Google Workspace handles productivity—a combination that replaces SharePoint without sacrificing essential features.

Microsoft Viva, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 apps – When to extend instead of replace

Some organizations prefer staying within Microsoft 365 and extending or partially replacing SharePoint using microsoft teams, Viva Engage, Viva Connections, and third-party integrations.

Teams as a collaboration hub

Teams provides channels, chat functionality, and meetings. SharePoint sits behind Teams for file storage—when you upload files to a channel, they’re stored in a SharePoint library. This is convenient for team collaboration but can fragment knowledge management across channels.

Viva Engage (formerly Yammer)

Viva Engage offers communities, leadership Q&A, and broad social conversations across departments. It’s useful for enhanced collaboration and company-wide discussions but isn’t a structured intranet.

Viva Connections

Viva Connections surfaces sharepoint online content within Teams, creating a more integrated intranet-like experience. This approach works for organizations deeply invested in the microsoft ecosystem who want to improve web access to company resources without migrating away.

When this approach makes sense

Extending Microsoft 365 works when organizations have deep licensing investments, in-house expertise, and willingness to accept some complexity. The trade-off is higher IT involvement, potential for content sprawl across Teams/SharePoint/Viva, and a user interface that still feels more IT-centric than modern SaaS intranets.

How to choose the right SharePoint replacement for your organization

There’s no single “best” choice for replacing SharePoint. The right replacement depends on your tech stack (Google vs. Microsoft), organization size, industry requirements, and primary goals—whether that’s communication, knowledge, compliance, or secure external collaboration.

Clarify your primary purpose

Define what you’re actually trying to solve:

• Internal communications hub for company news and leadership updates

• Knowledge base for policies, procedures, and institutional knowledge

• Front-line mobile access for deskless workers

• Secure collaboration with external parties and clients

• A combination of all the above

Your primary purpose shapes which platforms make your shortlist.

Map your existing tools

Create a current-state diagram showing how your organization uses email, chat, HRIS, file storage, task management, and ticketing systems. Identify overlaps and gaps. For example, if you’re on google workspace for productivity but use SharePoint for intranet, migrating to Happeo creates alignment. If you’re all-in on Microsoft 365, extending with Viva might reduce friction.

Involve the right stakeholders

Include IT (for security, integrations, and data management), Internal Comms (for content strategy and targeted communications), HR/People (for onboarding, policies, and employee engagement), Security (for robust security features and compliance), and business unit leaders (for specific workflow needs). Run workshops or interviews to gather requirements from each group.

Pilot before committing

Run a time-bound pilot—6–12 weeks—with one department or region. Test usability with real users, validate integrations with other tools, and measure engagement through analytics. A pilot reveals issues that demos and documentation can’t surface.

Plan migration carefully

Inventory existing SharePoint sites. Decide what to migrate to the new platform, what to archive, and what to delete. Set up redirects or guidance so employees transitioning from SharePoint can find resources in the new system. Don’t underestimate this step—a poor migration experience undermines adoption.

Invest in change management

Communicate the “why” behind the change early and often. Establish a champions network of early adopters who can help colleagues. Create short video tutorials for common tasks. Host office hours during launch. Track adoption metrics and adjust your approach based on what the data shows.

For example, a 2,000-employee company moving from SharePoint to Happeo + google workspace might allocate 4 weeks for discovery and design, 4 weeks for pilot with the marketing and HR teams, then a phased roll-out by region over 8 weeks—with ongoing optimization based on analytics.

When Happeo is the right SharePoint replacement – and how to get started

Happeo is a strong choice when your organization wants a Google Workspace-first digital workplace that combines intranet, social communication, and knowledge discovery in one place.

Ideal customer profile

Happeo works well for organizations with 500 to 15,000 employees, particularly those with distributed or hybrid workforces, offices across multiple countries, and knowledge workers who rely heavily on Gmail and google drive. If your employees already live in Google Workspace and you want an intranet that feels native to that ecosystem, Happeo is purpose-built for that scenario.

Business outcomes you can expect

Organizations implement Happeo to achieve specific goals:

• Improve internal communications reach beyond email open rates

• Make policies and procedures easier to find with unified search

• Onboard new hires faster with structured onboarding hubs

• Give leaders a modern channel for updates that employees actually read

• Reduce time spent searching for documents and people

Implementation journey

A typical Happeo implementation follows four phases:

1. Discovery and design: Define information architecture, content owners, and integration requirements

2. Pilot: Launch with a few departments to test and gather feedback

3. Phased roll-out: Expand by region or function based on pilot learnings

4. Ongoing optimization: Use analytics to refine content and improve engagement

Timeline and resources

Expect 8–12 weeks for a phase one intranet launch. Comms and HR teams own content while IT focuses on integrations, SSO with Okta or Google Identity, and security policies. This division of labor keeps business processes moving without IT bottlenecks.

How to proceed

Start by booking a demo to see how Happeo handles your specific use cases. Prepare a short list of must-have integrations (email, file storage, HRIS, identity provider) and share files showing your current intranet pain points. Involve key stakeholders early—IT, Comms, HR, and at least one business unit leader—so you can evaluate Happeo in the context of your broader digital workplace strategy.

Conclusion: Moving beyond SharePoint to a modern digital workplace

Many companies in 2025–2026 are replacing SharePoint because the pain has become unavoidable: complexity that requires specialized developers, customization burdens that drain budgets, low adoption that undermines the platform’s purpose, and content sprawl that makes search useless. Purpose-built intranet and digital workplace platforms offer a way forward.

A successful replacement focuses on employee experience, governance, integration with core tools, and fast time-to-value—not replicating every technical feature of SharePoint. Platforms like Happeo, Simpplr, Jostle, Confluence, and google workspace offer concrete, proven paths depending on your stack and priorities.

Define your primary objective: communication, knowledge, collaboration, or culture. Then shortlist 2–3 tools for deeper evaluation. Run pilots with real users. Measure engagement. Choose the platform that your employees will actually use—not the one with the longest feature list.

The digital workplace will continue evolving with AI, hybrid work models, and organizational change over the next 3–5 years. Investing in a modern, adaptable intranet solution now positions your organization to adapt rather than repeat another painful migration cycle.