How to choose the best SharePoint intranet in 2026

When organizations need more than SharePoint out of the box (OOTB) can deliver, they often look for an intranet packaged solution. These intranet-in-a-box products promise to expand on SharePoint’s existing features and capabilities to meet enterprise business needs. We took a look at four top intranet options to help communicators, intranet teams and IT buyers compare products.

What to look for

In 2026, there are a wide variety of intranet packaged solutions on the market to choose from, each with different pros and cons. Here are some of the key things to consider:

1. Platform approach

Many intranet products claim to be “SharePoint intranets,” but only a small handful of them will work seamlessly with SharePoint. Most fall into one of these categories:

• Standalone products that provide loose integration with SharePoint.
• Products that store content in SharePoint, but abstract its page and web part model, replace the SharePoint authoring experience and rely on a vendor’s cloud-hosted technology to display intranet pages. This leaves you with an intranet that either isn’t really leveraging everything SharePoint has to offer or can’t take advantage of future innovation from Microsoft without a product update, which can take months or years.

We recommend looking for a native SharePoint intranet packaged solution – one that is built for Microsoft 365 and preserves fundamental SharePoint experiences to ensure your intranet stays aligned with the Microsoft roadmap.

2. Implementation and support

The company that created your intranet product might not be the same one tasked with implementing it. In many cases, you may be paired with a partner in your region who will help with setup and support. That means you’ll have to assess the partner along with the product. Here are a few questions to keep in mind:

• What is their approach to implementation? Look for a tested, structured process that will keep the project on track while still allowing for adaptation to meet your organization’s unique needs. Even better, choose a partner who takes a human-centred approach that ensures your intranet will meet your employees’ needs.
• What level of Microsoft expertise do you need? Microsoft innovates at a rapid pace. To take full advantage of everything Microsoft 365 and SharePoint have to offer, look for a certified Microsoft partner who understands the ins-and-outs of SharePoint and how to leverage technologies like the Power Platform.
• What type of support is available? Vendors can offer support by email, phone, chat or an online portal. Some companies may outsource their support to an offshore team that provides basic technical help while others provide consultation with an in-house team that’s closely aligned with product development team. Consider what level of service coverage you may need and what’s most important to your team. Not all products include support in their pricing model – it may be an additional cost or come with limits – so be sure to check the fine print.

3. Pricing model

For organizations that are already using Microsoft 365, a SharePoint intranet packaged solution, like the ones in this guide, tend to be more cost-effective than independent products. An independent product has to develop its features from scratch and provide hosting whereas a packaged solution can leverage what’s great about SharePoint and fill in the gaps or extend its capabilities to meet your needs.

Most SharePoint intranet packaged solutions leverage a subscription model, where the price is often based on number of users.

4. Other considerations

In addition to the above criteria, here are other questions to ask when comparing intranet packaged solutions:

• How long has the vendor been in business? Look for long track record of evolving a product to consistently meet client needs.
• What do their clients say? You can find the voice of the customer in reviews, testimonials and independent comparison guides. This will give you a sense of not only the product’s features and functionality but also customers’ experience working with the vendor from implementation through to support and updates.
• Can you see examples of real intranets they’ve created? Look for case studies and success stories to see how the product looks and functions when put into action.

Quick comparison of SharePoint intranet products

Deep dive

1. Akumina

Building intranets since: 2015

Head office location: Nashua, United States

Pricing model: Subscription based

Akumina is a headless Employee Experience Platform (EXP) that separates the user experience from the backend content management. This means that organizations have greater design flexibility and can publish content to digital channels beyond the intranet.

Core strengths:

• Provides granular, persona-based content targeting for global workforces
• Enables developers to build custom application widgets
• Multilingual capabilities

Things to consider:

• The platform’s highly customizable nature can lead to longer, more complex implementations that sometimes rely on heavy IT or partner support.

Best for: Large multi-brand organizations that want a highly customized design and personalized messaging for global employees.

Takeaway: Choose Akumina if you want to create a customized SharePoint experience with advanced targeting and integration with numerous line-of-business systems.

Average customer rating: 4.5/5 (Gartner)

What customers say:

“It's a powerful platform, but the setup is not for the faint-hearted.” (Gartner)

“Good product, but lacks support and development capabilities.” (G2)

2. Omnia

Building intranets since: 2015

Head office location: Stockholm, Sweden

Pricing model: Subscription based

Omnia leverages SharePoint for content and data storage while providing a look and feel that stands apart from the OOTB experience. Instead of leveraging Microsoft Teams and Viva Connections, Omnia comes with its own dedicated mobile app.

Core strengths:

• Governance features that help prevent “SharePoint sprawl”
• Design themes for seasonal campaigns and multi-brand needs
• Multilingual capabilities

Things to consider:

• Compared to the other products in this guide, Omnia can be more complex to implement and manage.

Best for: Large, globally distributed enterprises with complex governance needs.

Takeaway: Choose Omnia if you want to prioritize targeted communications to employees across devices and you have the time and resources to make it possible.

Average customer rating: 4.6/5 (Gartner)

What customers say:

“The platform's flexibility made it possible to achieve what we needed, but it also meant that we had to invest in a significant amount of customization. This added extra cost and complexity in the early stages.” (Gartner)

“Great customer service and our contact person is helpful and easy to work with, and they respond quickly. Easy to use. However, the system lack features that we consider basic.” (Gartner)

3. Origami

Building intranets since: 2014

Head office location: Vancouver, Canada

Pricing model: Flat fee for initial license and setup

Origami runs natively within Microsoft 365 and is built using the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). It offers ready-to-use templates and web parts that you can use on top of your existing SharePoint OOTB environment.

Core strengths:

• No-code deployment
• Some increased design flexibility compared to SharePoint OOTB
• Inherits all of your existing Microsoft 365 security permissions

Things to consider:

• Support and updates require active renewal
• Requires solid baseline understanding of how Microsoft 365, SPFx and app catalogues function
• Managing the intranet may require more of your time and resources than the other options we’ve looked at

Best for: Organizations that want to enhance SharePoint without custom coding.

Takeaway: Choose Origami if you want a do-it-yourself option that provides a quick upgrade for your basic out-of-the-box SharePoint site with pre-built templates and web parts.

Average customer rating: 4.2/5 (G2)

What customers say:

“Some learning curve at the start, especially for new users, and limited flexibility for advanced or highly custom designs compared to full development.” (Capterra)

“Great SharePoint look and feel, but plug-in downloads are tedious.” (G2)

4. GO Intranet

Building intranets since: 1996

Head office location: Vancouver, Canada

Pricing model: Subscription based

GO Intranet helps organizations create an exceptional intranet experience within SharePoint and harness the power of Microsoft 365. It builds upon SharePoint’s out-of-the-box capabilities and extends them with an advanced set of intranet features designed for communicators, making it easier to get the right message to the right employees, create engaging content, govern your intranet and gain behavioural insight.

GO is a native SharePoint intranet. This means:

• It’s deployed into your existing Microsoft 365 tenant
• All content is stored within your SharePoint Online instance, under your existing security model and control
• It doesn’t replace the SharePoint authoring experience, but does enhance it to better support your content authors
• All pages are served up through SharePoint, leveraging the site model and page/document library construct

Every GO intranet comes with unlimited support, worry-free upgrades and deep measurement and analytics to help you uncover actionable insights.

Core strengths:

• Built by employee experience experts
• Modern user experience and strong usability
• Pre-built web parts and page templates address critical gaps in SharePoint OOTB to improve employee efficiency and productivity
• Fast implementation means you can focus on employee needs and content instead of figuring out different SharePoint features
• Advanced analytics to help you increase reach and engagement
• Lifecycle management to keep content accurate and drive accurate Copilot experiences
• Comprehensive content author training and support
• Ongoing support from our in-house Intranet Success and Support team
• Regular platform releases
• True achievement of SharePoint’s intranet vision while remaining aligned with the roadmap
• Minimal IT involvement required

Things to consider:

• GO is deeply integrated with SharePoint and the Microsoft 365 environment, so prior experience with SharePoint is helpful.

Best for: Companies with intranet teams that want to optimize the reach of internal communications, understand content engagement and curate enterprise knowledge for Copilot.

Average customer rating: 5/5 stars (G2)

What customers say:

“I'm genuinely thrilled with GO and how it's worked for our organization and employees. It's intuitive, and feels like home for employee engagement, news, and information.” (G2)

“The best part about GO is all the features that make our intranet so customizable and vibrant. Version updates are quick and easy and we always appreciate the support we get from the team!” (G2)

Customer success stories:

Here’s what clients have achieved with GO Intranet:

• Successful adoption. ATCO increased reach by 500% across their global workforce with their new GO Intranet.
• Increased engagement, even with traditionally hard-to-reach employees, like frontline staff. Employee engagement for news increased 73% when the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) launched their new GO Intranet.
• Enhanced employee connection and culture. At Corus Entertainment, employee recognition increased over 12% with the launch of their GO Intranet.

Why choose GO Intranet

You’ll keep pace with Microsoft’s rapid innovation. GO doesn’t replace any fundamental SharePoint experiences. GO is built with the SharePoint Framework (SPFx), ensuring alignment with web standards and Microsoft’s best practices for SharePoint development. Habanero has a close partnership with Microsoft that ensures GO remains tightly aligned with Microsoft’s product roadmap.

You’ll be ready for a Copilot-powered future. GO’s SharePoint-based architecture unlocks a world of Copilot-powered AI experiences that help employees find answers, create content and manage and govern your intranet.

GO includes content lifecycle management features that ensure important content is always up to date. In this new AI era, a well-governed intranet is critical, as it is the authoritative source of organizational knowledge and answers for Copilot.

You’ll reduce IT overhead. If your organization is already using Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, GO eliminates the need for yet another technology platform, reducing platform sprawl and unnecessary IT overhead. In addition, our Intranet Success and Support team ensures that your intranet owners are well supported, without having to add additional support responsibilities to your IT team’s plate.

You won’t be locked in. Unlike many intranet products, GO is deployed directly into your Microsoft 365 tenant, which means that all your intranet content remains under your control and is governed by your existing security, compliance and permission models. In the unlikely event you decide you no longer wish to use GO, it can be removed, while your content remains in SharePoint.

You’ll be supported. GO’s in-house Intranet Success and Support team is a huge differentiator. Based in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, the team ensures that the needs of GO clients are always top of mind.

FAQ: Comparing SharePoint intranets

What is an intranet packaged solution?

Many organizations choose to fast track their SharePoint intranet implementation by purchasing a packaged intranet solution. These SharePoint intranet-in-a-box products are pre-built, third-party solutions that work with or on top of SharePoint. They’re faster to implement, easier to use and offer intranet features that are missing out of the box.

What should I look for in an intranet?

When comparing intranet options, look for a product that is modern that makes it easy to find and use relevant information, integrates with your line-of-business systems, and connects employees across desktop and mobile. It should also have robust search capabilities, strong governance features and clear analytics to ensure the platform drives genuine employee engagement rather than sitting unused. To learn more, check out these SharePoint features every communicator should know about.

How is GO Intranet different than other SharePoint intranets?

GO Intranet is different from other SharePoint packaged solutions in these key ways:

• GO is an intranet product for SharePoint that is tightly aligned with the Microsoft roadmap. This means that your intranet will evolve in step with Microsoft innovation.
• It comes with a robust set of features that helps internal communicators reach employees across desktop and mobile devices.
• GO’s modern design and UX ensure your intranet won’t look like SharePoint OOTB, but it will fit in seamlessly with your Microsoft 365 workplace.
• GO makes it easy to author and manage your intranet content, which is a critical source of enterprise knowledge for Copilot experiences.
• GO also comes with a free subscription to Helm Insights, which provides detailed user analytics for your intranet news.
• With GO, you keep control of your intranet content. It’s deployed into your Microsoft 365 tenant, so it’s governed by your existing security, compliance and permission models.

How much does an intranet cost?

Pricing for intranet packaged solutions varies and depends on your workforce size, customization requirements, implementation approach and support needs. Most products charge a monthly or annual subscription fee, based on the number of users.

Where can I see examples of real intranets?

To find examples of real intranets, look for intranet awards like Step Two, read product reports like Clearbox, and check out vendor websites to read their case studies. Look for testimonials from customers about the implementation process and the final result, including engagement metrics.

Do companies still need an intranet if they use AI?

AI can’t replace your intranet. Instead, your SharePoint intranet is the foundation for trustworthy AI-powered experiences. Employees need to know they can trust the information they access through Copilot. But simply being in SharePoint does not automatically make an intranet AI ready. Learn more in our webinar, Why intranets are critical in the age of AI.

Can I just use SharePoint as my intranet?

SharePoint has solid content management capabilities, but when it comes to the key features internal communicators need in an intranet, the out-of-the-box experience falls short. You can learn more about the strengths and gaps of SharePoint OOTB in our webinar, You don’t have to break up with SharePoint to have a great intranet.