Document approval process in Confluence

[Radhika Vijji]

Hi 

Can someone suggest me a multi-tier (each tier has three people) document approval workflow/process in Confluence?

Thanks

Radhika

[Alexander Bondarev]

I agree with @JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_ - Comala is nice solution!

Here you can see a detailed comparison of Comala`s apps.

For Cloud you can try : 

• Comala Approvals for Confluence

• Comala Workflows Lite

[DSell]

Hi Alexander, it seems that Comala works on the Confluence page, but not on a document attachment. We have a situation where most forms are in word or excel and need to be versioned and approved. They need to show the state of the document. It does not seem that Comala will work, do you know if this is the case or do you know of another solution?

Thank you

[JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_]

Hi,

there's no approval workflow out of the box. You might want to check Comala's Workflows lite:

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1215729/comala-workflows-lite?hosting=server&tab=overview

Haven't tried it, but be use the big brother Comala Workflows for Server, which adds any workflow process you can imagine to Confluence.

Best

JP

[Flowdence]

Hi Radhika,

For a multi-tier document approval process, the key thing is to separate workflow routing from approval evidence.

A workflow can route the page through tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 reviewers. But for controlled documentation, you usually also need to prove:

• who approved at each tier
• when each approval happened
• whether approval was sequential or parallel
• which exact page version was approved
• whether the page changed after approval

That last point is easy to miss. If an approval is attached only to the page, someone can approve the document and then another edit can change the content while the page still looks approved. For document control, the safer model is version-aware approval: approval is tied to the specific Confluence page version that was reviewed, and later edits make the approval stale again.

So when evaluating the apps mentioned in this thread, I would look for:

1. Multi-step approval stages, so each tier can be modeled clearly
2. Named approvers or reviewer groups per stage
3. Audit history that records approver, timestamp, decision, and page version
4. Automatic stale status when an approved page is edited
5. Reporting or export, if this is for compliance or policy documentation

We built ApprovalFlow for Confluence around that version-aware model. It supports sequential approval workflows, approval queues, page-level status, and audit history tied to the reviewed Confluence version.

Helpful background resources:

• How to Set Up Multi-Step Approvals in Confluence - useful for mapping tiered reviewer chains
• Version-Aware Approvals in Confluence - why approval should attach to a specific page version
• Confluence Approval Audit Trails - what evidence teams usually need for document control

If your tiers are always the same three groups, set them up as sequential stages. If the three people vary by document type, look for a workflow design that lets the author or space admin choose approvers per request while still preserving the audit trail.

Disclosure: I am from Flowdence, the team behind ApprovalFlow for Confluence.

Regards,
Kinjal

[Matthew Joslin_AppFox_]

The key thing to know is that Confluence doesn’t have a built-in approval workflow, especially for multi-step or multi-tier processes. Most teams end up stitching something together with comments, page status, or automation, but it’s not really designed for structured approvals.

That’s why the answers here mostly point to Marketplace apps.

If your goal is a proper document approval process (especially with multiple reviewers or stages), something like Workflows for Confluence is usually a better fit. It lets you define clear (custom) states (draft → review → approved), enforce approvals before publishing, and keep an audit trail directly on the page.

It's also undergone a huge overhaul of its interface, with out of the box templates and drag-and-drop no-code features for non-technical teams.

So in practice: Confluence + Workflows = much closer to what people expect from a real approval process

[Daryl Karan]

Hi @Radhika Vijji 

Thanks for posting your question to the community. Confluence is a great collaboration tool that allows users to be notified (space/page watchers) as soon as content is created and have them comment on it. Unfortunately Confluence doesn't have a great method to help with having a multi-tier (each tier has three people) document approval workflow/process.

Having said that, this is where Atlassian's Marketplace can extend your experience with Confluence. Atlassian's Marketplace has some really cool tools to help fill the gap for your requirement to add a multi-tier document approval workflow/process to your Confluence Cloud Content.

As @Alexander Bondarev mentioned Comalatech has Comala Document Management for Confluence Cloud that gives you the ability to add a multi-tier document approval workflow/process for your space or page content. 

Comala Document Management is available on the Marketplace and you can try it for free for 30 days for Confluence Cloud

Cheers, 
Daryl 

[EPS Software Engineering AG]

Hi @Radhika Vijji 

Maybe our Easy Document Signer could solve your requirement. After the approval the pages get view only and can only be unlocked by an administrator. You can find it on the Marketplace and here is a LIVE EXAMPLE.

Regards,
Stephan (CEO of EPS Software Engineering AG, the vendor of the Easy Document Signer)