Finding the Right Navigation Solution for Confluence: Which is the Best Choice for Your Team?

Confluence is a widely used collaboration tool for managing documentation, projects, and content organization. Its user-friendly interface and ability to centralize information make it essential for improving team communication and productivity. 

However, as projects grow, more advanced navigation tools become necessary for efficient access to content.

While Confluence’s native navigation features, such as the main navigation bar and space sidebar, provide essential support, they may fall short for larger teams. Robust navigation tools are vital to improving user experience and ensuring teams can find the information they need quickly, boosting overall productivity.

Three primary navigation apps can boost Confluence’s native features: SubSpace Navigation for Confluence, Refined Sites for Confluence, and STAGIL Navigation

In this article, you’ll discover how these three tools compare and find the best app for your needs. Whether you seek customization, better support, or an intuitive experience, this guide will help you make the right choice for your organization.

Double the Value, Double the Efficiency—get SubSpace Navigation for Confluence or Navitabs—Tabs for Confluence and Start Personalizing Confluence like a pro!

As part of our limited-time offer, you can test one of the apps we cover in this article today–SubSpace Navigation for Confluence. Buy one and get the other at a discounted price. Enjoy customized product demos, dedicated support, and a one-month free trial for both apps. Start navigating your Confluence with ease! 

*The offer is valid for one app only. You must own or purchase the other app before receiving the discount.

A screenshot of Confluence’s main navigation bA screenshot of Confluence’s main navigation bar.ar.

Overview of Confluence Native Navigation

Confluence provides basic navigation features like the main navigation bar and the space sidebar. The navigation bar helps users access spaces and tools quickly, while the space sidebar organizes pages within a space.

These features are useful but may lack the flexibility larger teams or projects need. That’s where other Confluence apps come into the picture.

Understanding Other Confluence’s Navigation Apps

A screenshot showing how the STAGIL app can directly edit the default Confluence main navigation bar.

#1 SubSpace Navigation for Confluence

SubSpace Navigation for Confluenceby Communardoboosts navigation by allowing you to create centralized, custom navigation menus using internal and external links, spaces, folders, and CQL queries. It provides flexibility to personalize the Confluence workspace to fit organizational needs, making finding content across multiple spaces easier. It also has an intuitive menu style editing feature that lets you customize the menu to suit your branding. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5UyXMxp5SI

#2 Refined Sites for Confluence

Refined Sites for Confluence by Refined transforms Confluence into themed, customizable sites. Its Theme and Layout Editors enable users to design themed intranets, knowledge bases, wikis, and documentation sites with custom navigation—all without any coding. The tool also allows the export/import of layouts for quicker setup, ideal for organizations seeking a visually cohesive experience.

#3 STAGIL Navigation for Confluence

STAGIL Navigation for Confluence by catworkx focuses on customizing the default top navigation bar. It allows teams to configure the navigation bar to suit their workflow, providing a more personalized, efficient way to access critical content in Confluence.

Generally, each of these apps offers different levels of customization to improve the native Confluence navigation experience, helping you create a more user-friendly and productive environment.

Comparative Analysis Between Confluence Native Navigation and Other Navigation Apps

Now, let’s see how these apps compare against each other. 

The table compares default Confluence navigation features and other navigation apps. Data were collated at the time of writing and may be different now. 

A screenshot showing the live preview feature on the SubSpace app.

SubSpace Navigation vs. Refined Sites for Confluence

Refined Sites for Confluence leans more toward aesthetic customization. Through its theme and layout editors, page builders, and ready-made templates, you can create visually themed and custom sites. This makes it ideal for creating documentation sites like intranets and knowledge bases but not for functional navigation. 

Though the Refined app has been installed over 3,000 times, it costs USD 124.00 per month for 50 users (USD 2.48 per user (average)). This high price makes it suitable only for companies with the proper budget—especially those that only want documentation capabilities. If you want to use it for functional navigation, then you’re out of luck. 

SubSpace Navigation, on the other hand, prioritizes functional navigation. You’ll get highly customizable, centralized menus that organize internal and external links, spaces, and folders. This way, you can easily access important content without unnecessary distractions.

SubSpace Navigation is ideal for organizations focused on efficiency rather than heavy site customization and design work. Its features, like saving unfinished changes and staying on the same page while showing a preview of the menu, make setting up the menu much faster. 

This app also includes a robust backup and restore data feature, giving organizations peace of mind when managing critical documentation. With support for multiple languages, SubSpace Navigation caters to global teams, making it easier for international users to navigate Confluence in their preferred language. 

Also, it’s considerably cheaper than the Refined app at only USD 39.00 per month for 50 users (USD 0.78 per user (average)) - so, it’s affordable for a lot more companies! 

A screenshot showing the CQL query you can add as a menu item in the SubSpace app.

SubSpace Navigation vs. STAGIL Navigation for Confluence

STAGIL Navigation allows you to directly configure the top navigation bar by hiding default Confluence menus - but it lacks the depth of features found in SubSpace Navigation. 

With SubSpace Navigation, you can build structured navigation menus, such as integrating CQL queries and organizing content hierarchies across spaces. You can also more efficiently add content from various sources (e.g., internal links from Confluence spaces and external links from the rest of the internet). The top-level preview and staying on the same page while giving a preview feature boost the user experience by letting them view content without navigating away from the current page. 

On the other hand, automating Confluence queries is a feature that’s not even available on the STAGIL app. So, if your menu needs to show a list of query results from Confluence (e.g., list of all recently updated Confluence pages), you can’t do that with the app. Your menu navigation could end up being quite basic. 

SubSpace Navigation’s drag-and-drop functionality further boosts efficiency, enabling users to organize menu elements with minimal effort. This feature reduces the time spent configuring navigation structures and helps create a more intuitive user interface, ensuring employees focus on their tasks. 

Though the STAGIL app is much cheaper at USD 14.50 per month for 50 users (USD 0.29 per user (average)) than the SubSpace Navigation app, the latter has a solid foundation with more installs and reviews. 

Considering that STAGIL is a relatively new app as well as Communardo’s reputation for excellent customer support, the SubSpace app is a stronger choice for most teams.

Why SubSpace is the Superior Choice for Most Organizations

Here are some other reasons why SubSpace Navigation stands out as the most powerful Confluence navigation solution for organizations: 

  • Customizable Menus: SubSpace Navigation offers flexible menu customization with 5 different items, making it easy to adjust navigation to any team’s needs.
  • Excellent Support: Reliable customer support and solid Atlassian experience (i.e., Communardo is a Platinum Marketplace and Solution Partner) ensures a smooth user experience and high satisfaction.
  • Trusted and Affordable: With a strong user base and competitive pricing, SubSpace Navigation stands out as a trusted, cost-effective solution.
  • Effortless Experience: SubSpace Navigation provides an intuitive interface, easy onboarding, and superior menu features for seamless navigation.

Choose SubSpace: The Superior Confluence Navigation App

SubSpace Navigation stands out as a highly customizable and user-friendly navigation app for Confluence, with advanced features and reliable support. For organizations looking to boost their Confluence experience, SubSpace Navigation provides the best value, especially when considering its strong market presence and competitive pricing.

To make it even more appealing, you can take advantage of our ongoing promotion now. It includes a one-month free trial, product demos from the developers, and comprehensivesupport from day one. Plus, there's a discounted price when purchasing SubSpace Navigation and Navitabs—Tabs for Confluence together. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to try the superior Confluence navigation app and elevate your team's productivity!

Double the Value, Double the Efficiency—get SubSpace Navigation for Confluence or Navitabs—Tabs for Confluence and Start Personalizing Confluence like a pro!

Your Confluence deserves to be personalized! Get started today with a one-month free trial, product demos, dedicated support, and a limited-time offer on SubSpace Navigation for Confluence and Navitabs – Tabs for Confluence.

*The offer is valid for one app only. You must own or purchase the other app before receiving the discount.