- Home
- HR Knowledge Base Software
- CompassDocs
CompassDocs
What it is
CompassDocs is a self-hosted team knowledge base for creating, arranging, and finding SOPs, technical documentation, policies, and internal knowledge. Teams can ask questions in plain English and receive answers based on their documents with inline citations; without an AI key, search falls back to keywords. Documents support rich-text or Markdown editing, AI proofreading, diagrams, tables, checklists, and embeds. Access and publishing can be managed with Viewer, Editor, Approver, and Admin roles, custom roles, private spaces, and an optional review queue. Integrations include a Claude connector, Microsoft 365 and Entra sync, Google Workspace directory sync, and notifications through Webex, Teams, Slack, email, or webhooks. An Outlook add-in provides search, AI answers, and document-link insertion. Self-hosted installs support scheduled backups, restore, and off-site mirroring. The free Community plan is self-hosted; Enterprise is $599 per year. Cloud is listed at $8 per user per month but has not launched.
For and against
For
- Plain-English document answers include inline citations.
- Rich text and Markdown editing are supported.
- Roles and review queues control publishing.
- Scheduled backups support restore and off-site mirroring.
Against
- AI answers need an AI key; otherwise search uses keywords.
- Cloud plan is not yet launched.
- Enterprise costs $599 per year.
The verdict
CompassDocs brings document authoring, search, access controls, and backup options together for team knowledge management. Its free plan is self-hosted, while Enterprise adds identity features and is listed at $599 per year.
Who it suits
It suits teams that need a self-hosted place to maintain internal documentation with role-based publishing controls. Teams wanting managed cloud service should note that the listed Cloud plan is not yet launched.
Plans and prices
Community
unlimited users and documents · self-hosted · AGPL-3.0 · community GitHub support
Read 15 Oct 2026 · compassdocs.io
Cloud
managed hosting · updates · encrypted backups · managed TLS
Read 15 Oct 2026 · compassdocs.io
Enterprise
SSO · Microsoft 365 and Entra sync · policy acknowledgements · training tracking
Read 15 Oct 2026 · compassdocs.io
Enterprise dedicated support add-on
Optional add-on · 48-hour response commitment
Read 30 Sep 2026 · compassdocs.io
On the record
- AI answers
- Its Ask CompassDocs feature creates plain-English answers grounded in company documents and links claims to source documents.compassdocs.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- AI fallback
- When no AI provider key is configured, questions fall back to ranked keyword-search results or matching snippets.docs.compassdocs.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Analytics
- Knowledge-base analytics cover views, unique readers, reading time, trending documents, unanswered searches, engagement, author reach and downloads.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- API endpoints
- Documented API resources include token introspection, visible spaces and paginated document listing with space, status, limit and offset parameters.docs.compassdocs.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Approval workflow
- Strict mode routes edits to published documents through an Approver review queue, while open mode allows direct publishing.docs.compassdocs.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Backups
- Scheduled encrypted backups support retention and off-site mirroring to S3-compatible storage, Cloudflare R2, MinIO or Azure.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Claude integration
- A Claude MCP connector can search, draft and revise CompassDocs documents while retaining the approval workflow.compassdocs.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Cloud status
- CompassDocs Cloud is described as launching soon; its listed plan includes 25 GB of document and attachment storage and a free trial at launch with no credit card.compassdocs.io · read 30 Sep 2026
- Content blocks
- Markdown content can include Mermaid and PlantUML diagrams, tabs, accordions, callouts, embeds, checklists, decision trees and filterable tables.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Editor
- Documents can be edited in rich text or Markdown, with AI proofreading and support for diagrams, tables, checklists, and embeds.compassdocs.io · read 30 Sep 2026
- Encryption
- SMTP, AI, SSO and backup credentials are sealed with AES-256-GCM, session tokens are hashed and backups are encrypted before storage.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Enterprise identity
- Enterprise adds SAML 2.0 and OIDC SSO, Microsoft 365 directory and Entra group synchronization, SCIM provisioning and audit-log export.compassdocs.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Governance
- Viewer, Editor, Approver, and Admin roles, custom roles, private spaces, and an optional review queue control access and publishing.compassdocs.io · read 30 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- The product lists a Claude connector, Microsoft 365 and Entra sync, Google Workspace directory sync, and notifications through Webex, Teams, Slack, email, or webhooks.compassdocs.io · read 30 Sep 2026
- Licence
- The Community software is open source under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: AI dependency
- Synthesized cited AI answers require an Anthropic API key; without one the product provides keyword-based results.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: cloud availability
- The Cloud edition is marked coming soon and final launch pricing is not yet confirmed.compassdocs.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: enterprise support cost
- Dedicated support is an optional $3,000-per-year add-on to the Enterprise plan.compassdocs.io · read 15 Oct 2026
