Thinking about replacing SharePoint as your intranet? Here's an honest look at how the two compare on features, setup, admin effort, and migration, including how to keep SharePoint for documents while Axero runs the intranet.
| Compare features | Axero | SharePoint |
|---|---|---|
| Social Intranet | ||
| AI Chatbot | ||
| AI Content Creation | ||
| Employee Directory | Limited | |
| Collaboration Spaces | ||
| Content/Document Management | ||
| Employee Engagement | Limited | |
| Employee Recognition | Limited | |
| Knowledge Management | ||
| Project Management Tools | ||
| Workflow Automation | ||
| Customizable Branding/Themes | Limited | |
| Mobile App | ||
| Advanced Analytics and Reporting | ||
| Integration Capabilities | ||
| Security and Compliance | ||
| Multi-Language Support |
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For the intranet, yes. Axero gives communications, HR, and department owners a platform they can publish to and manage without a developer, with news, knowledge, documents, the people directory, and recognition in one branded place. SharePoint stays strong as Microsoft 365 file storage, and Axero connects to it, so many teams replace the intranet and keep their SharePoint libraries.
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Where SharePoint intranets get hard
SharePoint Online is a capable platform. These are the places teams most often find the intranet job harder than expected.
Communication sites make basic publishing approachable, but hub sites, navigation, site architecture, and permission inheritance are concepts most comms managers end up needing IT to handle. Day-to-day changes can turn into tickets.
Out-of-the-box themes and headers cover basic branding. Custom layouts, branded experiences, and tailored web parts usually mean SharePoint Framework development or a third-party add-on, and that custom work has to be maintained as Microsoft updates SharePoint Online.
News posts support comments and likes, but community discussion, recognition, and engagement mostly happen in Viva Engage and Teams. The employee experience ends up spread across several Microsoft apps rather than one intranet.
SharePoint integrates deeply with Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform. Organizations that also run Google Workspace or other non-Microsoft tools usually rely on connectors or custom work to bring that content into the intranet.
A SharePoint intranet is typically built from communication sites, hub sites, global navigation, Viva Connections, and often a third-party intranet layer. Each piece is capable. Someone still has to design how they fit together and keep them that way.
Every new Team creates a SharePoint site, so sites, groups, and permissions multiply quickly. Keeping content current and access correct needs a governance plan and ongoing admin time, or sprawl sets in.
What changes with Axero
Axero is built to be the intranet from day one, so less of the work is assembly and upkeep.
Most branding and layout work happens in configuration. Teams that want more can use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and IT can build integrations against REST APIs with 500+ endpoints.
Comments, reactions, discussions, shout-outs, and badges sit in the same place employees read news and find documents, so engagement doesn't depend on a separate app.
Total implementation burden
License price is the smallest part of an intranet decision. Here's where the work actually goes on each side.
SharePoint
Plan the site architecture (hub sites, communication sites, navigation), configure Viva Connections for mobile, and decide how Teams-created sites fit in. Most organizations bring in internal SharePoint expertise or a Microsoft partner.
Axero
Axero's implementation team works with you from kickoff through launch on information architecture, content strategy, branding, and integrations, including SSO through Entra ID.
SharePoint
Site and group sprawl, permission inheritance, and content lifecycle are managed across the SharePoint, Teams, and Microsoft 365 admin centers. It needs a governance plan and regular admin time.
Axero
Spaces, roles, and granular permissions are managed in one admin area. Department owners can run their own spaces without access to anything else, which keeps IT out of routine content changes.
SharePoint
Themes and basic branding are built in. Custom layouts and web parts typically need SharePoint Framework (SPFx) developers or third-party tools, and that code needs upkeep as SharePoint Online changes.
Axero
Branding, layouts, and widgets are configured without code. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and REST APIs are there for teams that want to go further.
SharePoint
SharePoint is included in most Microsoft 365 plans, which makes it look free. The real cost is implementation, customization, add-ons, and admin time. We break down whether SharePoint is really free.
Axero
Axero is an additional subscription. In exchange, the intranet features, hosting, and platform updates come with the product instead of being projects you fund separately. See Axero pricing.
SharePoint
Staying on SharePoint avoids a platform migration, but redesigning an existing SharePoint intranet is often a rebuild of its own.
Axero
No big-bang cutover required. Connect SharePoint Online and OneDrive libraries to Axero spaces with two-way sync, move the content that belongs natively in the intranet (policies, onboarding, announcements) team by team, and keep the rest in SharePoint.
Still comparing more than two options? Our roundup of SharePoint alternatives groups the field by what you're replacing SharePoint for.
We're committed to SharePoint for documents. Does that rule Axero out?
No. Some organizations move their SharePoint content into Axero for a single experience, and others keep document libraries in SharePoint. Axero's SharePoint integration displays that content inside the intranet with two-way sync, so you can keep SharePoint where it works and change the part that doesn't.
Axero also includes native document management with version history and per-item permissions, so moving files over later is an option, not a requirement.
Don't just take our word for it!
“The best information sharing and collaboration solution. Highly customizable, well-thought-out, and deployment of new features is second to none. The support is amazing.”
“Branding was really important to us and Axero was the only product that gave us complete branding control over our site. We're very happy with Axero. It gives us everything we need!”
“Platform to provide communications to employees and central repository for knowledge based content. Ability to provide private or public spaces which allows us to control what content is visible”
