# Zendesk Guide vs Confluence: which do AI models recommend for knowledge base, October 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Knowledge base and self-service. One of fourteen models named Zendesk Guide first on the direct prompt; two named Confluence. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/customer/knowledge-base-and-self-service/zendesk-guide-vs-confluence/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk Guide | 7% | #4 of 12 | 10% | 40 | 14 of 14 |
| Confluence | 5% | #5 of 12 | 15% | 46 | 14 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- GPT-5.4 mini: zendesk guide first (first choices: Zendesk Guide) (alternatives: Confluence, Document360, Guru)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: confluence first (first choices: Confluence, Document360) (alternatives: Notion)
- Kimi K2: confluence first (first choices: Confluence, Freshdesk) (alternatives: Notion, Slite)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Document360, Helpjuice) (alternatives: BlueTweak, Helply, KnowledgeOwl, Nuclino, Stonly, Zendesk Guide)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Document360, Guru) (alternatives: Confluence, Glean, HubSpot Service Hub, Notion, Stonly, Zendesk Guide)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither first, one named (first choices: Pylon) (alternatives: Confluence, Document360, Helpjuice)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Helpjuice) (alternatives: Confluence, Document360, Freshdesk, Slite, Zendesk Guide)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Document360) (alternatives: Confluence, Freshdesk Knowledge Base, Notion, Zendesk Guide)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Slite) (alternatives: Confluence, Document360, Guru, Help Scout Docs, Notion)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Tettra) (alternatives: Confluence, Document360)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: Document360) (alternatives: Confluence, Guru, Zendesk Guide)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither first, one named (first choices: Document360, Freshdesk, Pylon) (alternatives: Confluence, LiveAgent)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Document360) (alternatives: Freshdesk, Notion, Pylon)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: Pylon) (alternatives: Document360, Freshdesk, Spekit, Stonly)

## What the models said about Zendesk Guide

- "typical enterprise tools (like Zendesk or Salesforce) are often too expensive" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt, soft negative)
- "Higher price point; may be overkill for smaller mid-market teams" (Kimi K2, direct prompt, soft negative)
- "can become expensive, especially with add-ons like AI features" (Mistral Small, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "my default recommendation would be Zendesk. It's the safest all-around choice" (GPT-5.4 mini, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "Best overall for B2B support + self-service: Zendesk ... I'd start with Zendesk." (GPT-5.4 mini, direct prompt, first choice)
- "I'd recommend Zendesk as the top customer self-service help center tool." (Grok 4.1 Fast, paraphrase prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Confluence

- "Search issues: Surfaces archived pages above current ones ... Cost creep: Atlassian pricing changes have frustrated many users" (Kimi K2, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Sluggish performance on large pages, steep learning curve, clunky permissions, dated editor, search degradation at scale." (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "not suitable for public help centers and is often better treated as an internal wiki than a customer support KB" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Choose Confluence if you're focused on internal team documentation and already use Jira" (Kimi K2, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Often the top pick for mid-sized teams... Confluence leads for B2B collaboration" (Grok 4.1 Fast, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Notion free + Confluence free 10-user are the most commonly recommended" (Muse Glimmer 30B, budget prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.