Atlassian Confluence Data Center End of Life (EOL) - What are the alternatives?

On September 9, 2025, Atlassian officially announced it will retire the Confluence Data Center edition, marking the end of its enterprise-focused on-premises software. Introduced in 2013, Data Center was created for organizations that needed more reliability, governance, and administrative control than the standard self-managed deployments could offer. It became the choice for large enterprises that required stability at scale and tighter control over their environments.

Atlassian has now made the phase-out of Confluence Data Center official. Beginning March 30, 2026 at 23:59 PST, new customers will no longer be able to purchase Confluence Data Center subscriptions or related Marketplace apps. On March 30, 2028 at 23:59 PST, existing customers will lose the ability to expand their licenses. Finally, at March 28, 2029 at 23:59 PST, all Data Center licenses, including apps, will expire and become read-only. For current customers, the message is clear: Confluence Data Center does not have a long-term future.

Now Atlassian has put concrete dates on its phase-out. Starting March 30, 2026, new customers will no longer be able to purchase Confluence Data Center. By March 30, 2028, existing customers will lose the ability to expand their licenses. Finally, on March 28, 2029 at 23:59 PST, all Data Center licenses and related Marketplace apps will expire, leaving instances in read-only mode.

That creates an awkward reality if you are in a regulated environment or you simply want to own your stack. Because yes, Atlassian Cloud has come a long way and includes tempting AI features like Rovo search and agents for Premium and Enterprise plans, but not everyone can or should move. I will get to that. First, let me say this out loud: waiting until mid 2029 to decide is a painful plan. You will be migrating under pressure while your users wonder why they cannot edit the wiki anymore.
The implication for existing customers is unavoidable. Investing further in Data Center only delays the inevitable. Future migrations will be more painful and costly the later you start. It’s time to plan your Atlassian-exit

Why businesses cannot go to Atlassian Cloud

I have discussed with teams whose work touches ITAR, defense supply chains, and public sector controls. For them, the conversation starts with a hard constraint, not a preference.

Take FedRAMP. Many programs require FedRAMP High or DoD SRG IL4 or IL5. That usually means the system must operate inside an accredited boundary you manage, with your logging, patching, and incident response. If you are held to that bar, a multi-tenant third-party cloud often sits out of scope by policy.

ITAR is the next cliff. ITAR regimes care about who can access controlled technical data, where that data sits, and whether non US persons can touch it. If a support path or background process could expose data to the wrong person or location, you are inviting a violation. The sane architecture is on premises or an isolated environment you control, staffed by screened personnel, with provable custody.

Now let us talk GDPR without the usual hand waving. Data residency helps, but it does not eliminate Chapter V transfer analysis or the Schrems II obligations. You still need a transfer impact assessment and supplementary measures where applicable, and any add ons or plugins can introduce their own processing locations. Many EU organizations avoid this recurring legal work by keeping knowledge systems on infrastructure they already control.

Let’s not forget air-gapped environments. Many environments are required to operate entirely within strict boundaries: government agencies, defense contractors, nuclear facilities, healthcare systems, financial institutions, and other regulated industries. If your wiki must operate inside a controlled or national boundary network with no external connectivity, third-party SaaS simply isn’t an option.

What the EOL actually means in practice

There is a multi year wind down, yes, but the end state is stark: on March 28, 2029 at 23:59 PST, Confluence Data Center and its Marketplace apps become read only. If your rollout plan stumbles and you are still on DC by that evening, your editors wake up to a frozen wiki. That is not a good Monday. Plan for the content you will have in 2029, not the content you had in 2022.

What are the options?

As Atlassian retires on-premises options, teams that must keep data in their own environment should move to a modern, self-hosted wiki built for that reality. Docmost is the best Confluence Data Center alternative, offering full on-premisses self-hosting, real-time collaboration, strong permissions controls, and built-in diagram tools.

Docmost as a Confluence Data Center Replacement

Docmost is used by teams at Airbus, the Australian Government, the German Red Cross, Bechtle GmbH, the University of Bern, and many other enterprises and institutions.

We have helped teams migrate from Confluence to our on-premises enterprise wiki with minimal disruption, and our Confluence importer preserves spaces, page hierarchy, attachments, internal links, and draw.io diagrams so your structure comes across intact.

Docmost borrows familiar concepts from Confluence, like spaces, so users find the environment instantly recognizable. With built-in diagrams (Draw.io, Mermaid, Excalidraw), real-time collaboration, and SSO/LDAP integration, teams can transition smoothly without the need to retrain staff or disrupt existing workflows.

Docmost features​

• Air-gapped Ready: Docmost can run fully offline without an internet connection.
• Collaborative Real-time Editor: Work together on pages in real time.
• Diagrams: Built-in support for Drawio, Excalidraw, and Mermaid diagramming tools.
• Spaces: Organize your pages by team, projects, or departments for better collaboration.
• Permissions Management: Easily control access to pages with easy-to-understand permissions.
• Groups: Easily grant unified permissions to users via groups.
• Comments: Add inline comments to pages for better communication and feedback.
• Page History: Track changes with a comprehensive version history.
• Nested Navigation: You can nest and reorder pages via the sidebar.
• Search: Quickly find the information you need with powerful search capabilities.
• File Attachment: Attach files to your pages for quick reference and sharing.
• Attachments Search: Full-text search and indexing of content in PDF and DOCX file attachments.
• Embeds: Embed content from Airtable, Loom, YouTube, and more.
• Authentication: Email and password, LDAP and SSO login (SAML/OIDC) in the Enterprise edition.
• High Availability: Built from the ground up with high availability from day one.

If you think Docmost could be the right fit for your team, let’s talk. Reach out today and we’ll be happy to schedule a demo.