Confluence Data Center end of life: the dates
Confluence Data Center reaches end of life on March 28, 2029 at 23:59 PST. On that date Atlassian expires every Confluence Data Center subscription and its Marketplace apps. The instance turns read-only. New customers could no longer buy Data Center after March 30, 2026. Existing customers can buy new subscriptions and expansions until March 30, 2028. After that, you can only renew what you already have.
For a documentation team, that leaves four moves. Go to Confluence Cloud with the rest of the company. Stay on Data Center until the clock runs out. Move docs to a docs platform. Or move them to a CCMS like Topicary. Each one has a price, and the prices are not close.
This page is for the person who owns the docs, not the Jira admin. The company-wide migration is someone else's project. Your job is to decide where product documentation lives after 2029, and what that costs.
The Atlassian timeline, with sources
Every date below comes from Atlassian's Data Center end of life FAQ, read on October 26, 2026. The quoted words are Atlassian's.
| Date | What changes | Atlassian's wording |
|---|---|---|
| March 30, 2026 | New customers can no longer buy Data Center | "new customers will no longer be able to purchase new Data Center subscriptions or new Marketplace Data Center apps" |
| March 30, 2028 | Last day for new subscriptions, apps and expansions | "existing customers can continue to purchase new Data Center subscriptions, Marketplace apps, and subscription expansions until March 30, 2028 at 23:59 PST" |
| Through March 28, 2029 | Support continues in reduced form | "Technical support", "Security bug-fixes for critical vulnerabilities", "Connectors from Atlassian Data Center products to Atlassian Cloud" |
| March 28, 2029 | End of life | "Data Center subscriptions and any associated Marketplace apps will expire on this date, making Data Center products and Marketplace apps read-only" |
| After March 28, 2029 | Extensions by exception only | "extended maintenance for certain Data Center customers by exception after March 28, 2029" |
Two details matter more than they look. First, renewals still work. Atlassian says you can renew "for the number of users and apps you have today, up until March 28, 2029." A 12-month renewal that runs past that date is prorated to it. Second, the exception path is real but narrow. It is a conversation with your account executive, not a plan you can count on. The single safe assumption is that March 28, 2029 is final.
The same FAQ lists migration incentives. Cloud migration trials "last the duration of your Data Center subscription." Step-up credits give qualified customers a credit equal to the prorated value of unused Data Center maintenance. Customers buying Cloud Enterprise by June 2027 may get 10 to 20% off the first year.
What read-only means for documentation
A read-only wiki is an archive. Atlassian's wording is plain: "You will be able to access your data, but you will not be able to add new data or perform new actions." Product docs that cannot change are wrong by the next release.
It gets worse for anything public. Atlassian advises against "keeping your product running in a read-only mode while connected to the internet." No security fixes ship after the end date. A customer-facing help site served from Data Center becomes a liability on March 29, 2029.
The apps go with the platform. If your team runs K15t's Scroll apps for versioning and publishing, they expire too. K15t states that "Scroll Versions and Scroll Translations won't be released for Confluence Cloud in their current form." Its Cloud path is a conversion to Scroll Documents. K15t says it will keep maintaining Scroll Versions on Data Center "until Atlassian ends support in March 2029."
So the docs decision has two parts. Where does the content live? And what replaces the versioning and publishing layer you bolted on?
The four moves, priced at one team size
Prices only compare at a stated size. The biggest variable is who the vendor counts. This page uses one company:
- 300 Confluence users. That is the team size set in Atlassian's pricing calculator for the October 26 capture.
- 5 technical writers who own the product docs.
- 1 public docs site.
The size matters because the bills count different people. Confluence charges for every user on the site. Docs platforms charge for writers or editors. A 300-person wiki and a 5-person docs team are two different invoices.
| Move | Annual cost at this size | Arithmetic | Biggest loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confluence Cloud Standard | $20,808 | 300 users x $5.78 x 12 | Scroll Versions has no Cloud release in its current form |
| Confluence Cloud Premium | $40,176 | 300 users x $11.16 x 12 | Same as Standard |
| Stay on Data Center | Your current renewal | Atlassian publishes no Data Center price | Read-only from March 28, 2029 |
| GitBook Essential | $1,500 | ($65 + 5 x $12) x 12 | Wiki-style pages, no publish-time conditions |
| Mintlify Starter | $0 | 5 editor seats included | A Git-native workflow writers must adopt |
| Mintlify Pro | $5,400 | $450 x 12, billed annually | Same as Starter |
| Paligo Business | From $20,000 | $15,000 CCMS + $5,000 portal | Budget, and a 5-author quote from sales |
| MadCap Flare Desktop | $15,750 | 5 authors x $3,150 | Desktop authoring, hosting extra |
| Topicary Team | $1,788 | $149 x 12 | Hosted only, Business plan for SSO |
Confluence prices are Atlassian's calculator at 300 users with monthly billing, checked October 26, 2026. Annual billing is labelled "save up to 17%." Docs-platform prices are each vendor's pricing page, checked the same day.
Move 1: Confluence Cloud
What it costs. At 300 users, Standard is $5.78 per user a month. That is $1,734 a month, or $20,808 a year. Premium is $11.16 per user, so $3,348 a month, or $40,176 a year. Enterprise is a sales quote. Per-user rates change with team size, so run the Confluence pricing calculator at your own count.
The honest read. That bill buys the company wiki, not the docs. If your company migrates Confluence to Cloud regardless, docs that ride along add no new licence cost. That can make Cloud the cheapest move on paper. The main cost hides in the docs layer.
What you lose. Data Center Marketplace apps expire with the platform. If you version docs with Scroll Versions, the Cloud route means converting spaces to Scroll Documents. K15t prices its Cloud apps separately, so get that quote before you assume "free." Macros and apps without a Cloud edition need a replacement or a rebuild.
Choose it when the company is moving to Cloud anyway and your docs are mostly internal. Page-level reuse must also be enough for you.
Move 2: Stay on Data Center until 2029
What it costs. Your current renewal. Atlassian's Confluence pricing page lists no Data Center price. It says only: "To learn more about this offering, please contact us." Renewals continue, prorated to March 28, 2029.
What you lose. Growth, first. Expansions end on March 30, 2028, so a bigger team after that date needs another plan. Then everything, on March 28, 2029.
The honest read. This is a deferral, not a destination. It is still the right call for a team that needs time. Two years of runway is enough to evaluate properly. Use it. Run a Cloud migration trial, which lasts as long as your Data Center subscription. Run a docs-tool trial in parallel on a real export. Decide before March 30, 2028, while you can still expand if the move slips.
Move 3: A docs platform
Here the docs leave Confluence. The wiki goes wherever the company takes it. Prices below are for 5 writers and 1 site, from each vendor's page on October 26, 2026.
GitBook. Essential is $65 per site a month plus $12 per user, billed annually. For 5 writers: $65 + $60 = $125 a month, or $1,500 a year. Ultimate is $249 per site plus the same per-user fee: $309 a month, or $3,708 a year. GitBook is a polished, wiki-style editor. It has no publish-time conditions or variable sets. Full breakdown: the GitBook comparison.
Mintlify. Starter is $0 and includes 5 editor seats, a custom domain and a web editor. Pro is $450 a month billed annually, or $540 billed monthly. That makes Pro $5,400 a year. Mintlify is a developer docs platform built around MDX, Git and API reference. It is excellent for API docs and a culture shift for a writer-led team. See the Mintlify comparison.
Document360. No public price. The pricing page builds a custom quote from a short questionnaire. Its own FAQ asks "Why don't you show flat pricing?" Document360 is a strong knowledge base with AI ticket deflection. Budget time for a sales cycle. See the Document360 comparison.
Paligo, for structured content. Business is "From $15,000 per year," with 2 authors and 2 languages included. Licensing is per author. Hosted delivery through Nexus Portal is "From $5,000 per year." A hosted Paligo setup therefore starts near $20,000 a year for 2 authors. A 5-author price is a sales quote. See the Paligo comparison.
MadCap Flare. Flare Desktop is $3,150 per author per year. For 5 writers that is $15,750 a year, before hosting. Flare Online, the cloud tier, is a sales quote. Flare is the deepest print and PDF tool in this list. See the Flare comparison.
What you lose in this move. Jira macros, Confluence permissions and the familiar editor. Every platform imports Confluence content differently. Test each importer on a real space export before you sign anything.
Move 4: Topicary
What it costs. Topicary prices by plan, not by reader. Team is $149 a month flat for up to 10 authors and 10 published sites. For 5 writers that is $1,788 a year. Pro is $79 a month for up to 3 authors. Above 10 authors, the Business plan is a custom quote. Topicary is free during its beta, with listed quotas applying after beta.
What it does for a Confluence docs team. Confluence is one of the import formats, on the Team plan. Reusable components show where each one is used before you edit it. Conditions filter content by audience or product version at publish time. Readers get a version switcher on the published site. That covers the job Scroll Versions did. SME reviewers on Team are unlimited and need no login. Markdown export is available on every plan.
When Topicary is the wrong choice. Be honest about these:
- You need a self-managed install. Data Center exists for "customers with strict regulatory or security requirements," in Atlassian's words. Topicary is a hosted service with no self-managed edition.
- You need SSO now. SAML single sign-on sits on the custom-priced Business plan.
- Your content is team knowledge, not product docs. A wiki is the right tool for meeting notes and runbooks. Confluence Cloud or another wiki fits better.
- Your docs must live next to Jira issues. Topicary is not part of the Atlassian stack.
- You want a long vendor track record. Topicary is in beta.
The migration path, including which macros survive, is in how to migrate from Confluence. The feature-by-feature comparison is in Topicary vs Confluence.
How to choose
Answer three questions in order.
1. Is the company moving Confluence to Cloud anyway? If yes, docs on Cloud cost no new licence money. Price the Scroll Documents conversion and the apps you would need to replace. If that total is small and page-level reuse is enough, stay with the company.
2. Do your docs need structure the wiki never had? Signs: the same warning pasted into dozens of pages. A space copied per product version. A PDF built by hand from web pages. If two of these are true, any move is a chance to fix the model, not only the host. That points to a CCMS: Paligo or Flare at the deep end, Topicary at the flat-price end.
3. Do you need self-managed hosting? If regulators or security policy require it, the hosted options in this list are out. Ask Atlassian about extended maintenance. Shortlist tools that offer an on-premises install. Flare Desktop authors locally, but hosting is still yours to solve.
Whatever you pick, start the evaluation before March 30, 2028. After that date you cannot expand Data Center to buy time.
What the migration involves
The mechanics are similar whichever tool you choose.
- Audit first. List spaces, page counts and the macros you depend on. Drop dead pages before export. A documentation audit makes this faster.
- Export the space. Confluence exports a space as HTML from Space Settings. You need space admin rights.
- Import and spot-check. Body content usually moves cleanly. Jira macros, dynamic macros and third-party macros usually do not.
- Rebuild the docs layer. Versions, variants and reuse were app features in Confluence. Recreate them in the new tool's own model.
- Run both in parallel. Keep Data Center live until the new site checks out. You have until March 28, 2029, not longer.
Disclosure: This page is published by Topicary, which competes with every docs tool listed here. Every date is quoted from Atlassian's end-of-life FAQ, and every price comes from the vendor's own pricing page on October 26, 2026. Found an error? Email support@topicary.com and I will correct it within 24 hours.