If you’ve been following Confluence updates closely, you may have noticed that new approvals functionality is currently in Beta.
For teams looking to run their page(s) through an approval workflow, the Atlassian Marketplace has historically held the answer offering apps like Approvals for Confluence, or Workflows for Confluence, depending on what your specific needs are.
With this new functionality now in Beta, it looks like you’ll be able to use a native Confluence feature to enable at least a basic level of on-page review process in the not-too-distant future (if you’re on a Premium or Enterprise plan).
But will Confluence’s built-in approval processes be enough for teams with high compliance and regulatory requirements?
Today, we’re going to compare approval functionality in Confluence vs the Approvals for Confluence app, to understand the answer to this question and more.
If you dealt with that one, brace yourself: wave two is coming in September 2026, and it’s arguably the trickier of the two.
Spotlight on Approvals for Confluence
Approvals for Confluence is an Atlassian Marketplace app, created by our team here at AppFox.
Launched in 2018, it’s a well-established Confluence plugin, used by teams that require flexible approval workflows at scale, and with a fully traceable audit log.
What is native Confluence approval functionality?
Native Confluence approval functionality essentially means that you can request approval for a Confluence page, or set up an approvals workflow, using built-in Confluence capabilities instead of a third-party plugin.
Approvals functionality has long been a gap in Confluence’s native offering, hence why so many teams have turned to the Atlassian Marketplace to browse other solutions.
So what’s included in Confluence’s built-in approval tools?
We need to start this with a caveat: Native approval functionality is currently still in Beta, and is not due to enter General Availability (GA) until the Fall. As such – and knowing Atlassian as we do – there may well be more capabilities added over time.
For now, this is what we know is included:
- Single-stage approvals for Confluence pages
- Up to 10 approvers
- Page approval progress bar
- Email notifications
- Page approval comments
- Page approval history
- Space settings
And what’s not part of the native Confluence approvals offering yet?
As we mentioned, this may change as the functionality approaches GA – but, as of time of writing, there are some areas that Confluence’s built-in approvals can’t serve:
- Unlimited approvals: You’re currently capped at 10
- Groups as approvers: You can only add individual Confluence users to an approval workflow, not a group
- Section approvals: Users can approve a page in its entirety, but currently cannot approve specific page sections, which is often useful for long, company-wide documents that require sign off from different teams for different parts.
- Quorums: For sensitive or high-risk documents in particular, you may require a minimum number of approvers to make a decision. Currently Confluence native functionality cannot support this.
- Approvals dashboard: There is currently no central dashboard where you can view all Confluence pages – and their approval status – at a glance.
- Exportable approval history: Whilst page approval history is included in Confluence’s native offering, it is not exportable. This is often a key compliance requirement for teams who need to maintain a robust audit log.
- Approvals for live docs: We understand that this may be on the cards when Confluence built-in approvals enters GA – but for now, approvals can only be applied to pages.
Where does the Approvals for Confluence app fit into this?
Put simply, the Approvals for Confluence app fills almost all of the gaps within Confluence’s native functionality.
The app was originally built to offer easy-to-use, simple approval capabilities – but over time it has evolved to provide meaningful quality management controls and compliance enablement for regulations like ISO 9001. These include:
- Unlimited approvers
- Group approvers
- Section approvers
- Approval expiry dates
- Quorum for approvals
- Exportable page history
- Approvals search
- Approvals dashboard
- Space and Global settings
- Live docs support
How does Confluence native functionality compare to the Approvals for Confluence plugin?
Let’s take a glance at both offerings:
| Feature | Approvals in Confluence by Atlassian | Approvals for Confluence by AppFox |
|---|---|---|
| Single-stage page approvals | ✅ | ✅ |
| Unlimited approvers | ❌ Capped at 10 | ✅ |
| Add groups as approvers | ❌ | ✅ |
| Page approval message | ✅ | ❌ |
| Due date | ✅ | ❌ |
| Page approval progress bar | ✅ | ❌ |
| Initial email notification | ✅ | ✅ Optional |
| Confluence notifications | ✅ | ❌ |
| Page approval comments | ✅ | ✅ |
| Page approval history | ✅ | ✅ |
| Exportable page history | ❌ | ✅ |
| Expire on edit | ❌ | ✅ |
| Time-based expiry | ❌ | ✅ |
| Quorums | ❌ | ✅ |
| Approvals search | ❌ | ✅ |
| Approvals dashboard | ❌ | ✅ |
| Macros | ❌ | ✅ |
| Section approvals | ❌ | ✅ |
| Space settings | ✅ | ✅ |
| Global settings | ❌ | ✅ |
| Integration with Confluence Automations | ✅ | ❌ |
| Supported by Live Docs | ❌ | ✅ |
How much does Approvals in Confluence native functionality vs Approvals for Confluence Marketplace app cost?
Confluence’s native functionality, whilst still in Beta at the time of writing, will be included free of charge for Premium and Enterprise users. However, there are currently no plans to roll it out to Free or Standard plans – so a large proportion of Confluence’s user base may miss out all together.
The Approvals for Confluence app is priced on a per-user basis, with ball-park costs beginning at $7.50/month for 10 users. Pricing is flexible and users can choose to be billed monthly or annually.
Teams can also try Approvals for Confluence for free for 30 days on the Atlassian Marketplace!
How does user interface compare?
As Confluence’s built-in approvals is, well, built in, it will look and feel exactly the same as Confluence. There are some neat UI features exclusive to the native tooling, such as a page approval message or approval progress bar.
The Approvals for Confluence app has been designed to mirror the intuitive Confluence look and feel. Despite being a third-party app, it is integrated tightly within Confluence, so you still benefit from a centralized experience.
How does each offering support my organization’s compliance needs?
Native Approvals in Confluence provides a page history, so you can note who has approved what, when and (if they add a comment) why. At present, however, that’s as far as it goes.
For more robust compliance needs, the app Approvals for Confluence enables you to export full page histories, so you can share and document all approval decisions. Functionality like quorums also demonstrate safeguarding controls around sensitive or high-risk content.
Approvals in Confluence vs Approvals for Confluence: Which is right for me?
If you’re a Premium or Enterprise user and you haven’t explored page approvals before, it’s worth giving Confluence’s new native functionality a go. If you have simple document approval needs, it may well meet them – all at no cost to your team.
If, however, it turns out that you actually need greater quality and compliance control – or if you have a feeling from the get-go that you’re going to need more robust approvals functionality, then the Approvals for Confluence app is likely your best bet.
And remember, you can evaluate the Approvals for Confluence app, for free, over on the Atlassian Marketplace – so why not give both a go in tandem, to truly understand where any gaps or greater needs exist.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Confluence has native page approval functionality, currently in Beta and expected to reach General Availability in the Fall. It lets you request approval for a page or set up an approvals workflow using built-in Confluence capabilities instead of a third-party app. It’s available to Premium and Enterprise plans only.
The native offering currently includes single-stage approvals for Confluence pages, up to 10 approvers, a page approval progress bar, email notifications, page approval comments, page approval history, and space settings.
As of writing, native approvals do not support unlimited approvers (capped at 10), groups as approvers, section approvals, quorums, an approvals dashboard, exportable approval history, or approvals for live docs. Some of this may change as the feature approaches General Availability.
Approvals for Confluence is an Atlassian Marketplace app built by AppFox. Launched in 2018, it’s a well-established plugin used by teams that need flexible approval workflows at scale with a fully traceable audit log.
The app adds unlimited approvers, group approvers, section approvers, approval expiry dates (including expire-on-edit and time-based expiry), quorums, exportable page history, approvals search, an approvals dashboard, global settings, macros, and live docs support.
Native approval functionality is free for Premium and Enterprise users, but there are no current plans to bring it to Free or Standard plans. The Approvals for Confluence app is priced per user, starting at around $7.50/month for 10 users, billed monthly or annually, with a free 30-day trial on the Atlassian Marketplace.
Not with native functionality – it only lets you add individual Confluence users. To add groups as approvers, you need the Approvals for Confluence app.
Native approvals provide a page history showing who approved what, when, and why, but that history is not exportable. For more robust compliance, the Approvals for Confluence app supports exportable full page histories and quorums, helping demonstrate safeguarding controls for sensitive or high-risk content and supporting regulations like ISO 9001.
If you’re a Premium or Enterprise user with simple approval needs, native functionality is worth trying at no cost. If you need greater quality and compliance control – or expect to need more robust approvals – the Approvals for Confluence app is likely the better fit. You can trial both together via the free 30-day Marketplace trial.
