Feedback on Confluence Performance and Usability

[marco]

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to check if others are experiencing similar issues with Confluence. Our team is highly focused on productivity and efficiency, and while we rely on Confluence for documentation, it has become increasingly difficult to use effectively. We are considering alternative platforms but want to make sure we fully understand Confluence’s intended use case first, as it’s becoming unclear what value the new features add for end users like us.

Here are the main issues we face, keeping in mind that our goal is to write documentation quickly and efficiently:

• Pop ups like “Play Confluence Race Mode” and various questionnaires appear unsolicited. These interruptions are frustrating and disrupt workflow.

• Every page load generates around 700 requests for separate JS, JSON and other files. Sometimes we have to fully reload the page and clear the cache since pages dont load correctly. A full page reload without cache can reach 50 MB; with cache, it’s still 5.2 MB for just one page which makes the platform slow, bogged and sluggish. Disabling functions does not stop these requests. 

• Tools like Rovo are pushed into our documentation without consent.

• We are paying for the product but are still shown ads for other Atlassian services, which is frustrating.

• The toolbar in the bottom-right corner blocks page content and was not requested by our team.

• We would like the ability to disable features we never use, keeping Confluence as a bare-bones documentation tool. Currently, it’s not possible to streamline the platform.

That said, some aspects of Confluence are excellent—especially the search functionality and the editor. However, the overall experience has become cumbersome. Optimizing the platform so that a page loads fully in 500ms would make it acceptable, whereas the current average of 12.5s is highly inefficient.

Please avoid suggesting that the issues are related to our internet connection or hardware. The sheer number of requests, unsolicited pop-ups, advertisements, and forced questionnaires indicate systemic issues in the platform’s design. These features should be opt-in rather than opt-out.

We would greatly appreciate hearing if others experience similar challenges and how you handle them. Maybe we are just not the right target group for Confluence. 

Thanks you for your attention,
Marco

[Laura Campbell]

Hi @marco In addition to all the good tips from @Nikola Perisic I'll try to address your comment about wanting to "fully understand Confluence’s intended use case first, as it’s becoming unclear what value the new features add for end users like us."

Confluence can be used on it's own for documentation, but Atlassian is now pursuing a strategy where users integrate Confluence with other products, such as Loom and Jira, if not Jira Service Management, Jira Product Discovery, etc. If Atlassian is displaying pop ups to encourage you to try other products, it's because they don't see the products as stand alone, but as part of a larger work management infrastructure. Confluence Automation plus Rovo now offer sophisticated workflow options in Confluence, and Atlassian will probably keep moving in the direction of adding more similar features.

Most customers are comparing Confluence with Sharepoint, Notion, or other collaboration platforms, requiring Atlassian to provide robust new features, which means if you want a bare bones solution, you might not be the target user in 2025.

[Nikola Perisic]

Hi @marco 

• To turn off the Atlassian Race pop-up, you need to contact Atlassian support. This is a limited feature enabled and will be disregarded.
• For page loading, attachments take a big role. I would suggest not to upload big attachments. Rather than that, it's on the Atlassian's site architecture
• Rovo can be turned off if you turn off all AI feature in your site, you cannot turn off Rovo individually.
• For advertisements, I don't have anything to say, since it's not my decision to place them
• Which toolbar are you referring to?
• You can turn off the features that you do not use such as databases, blogs, smart links and more - this is done through the navigation settings