Help center vs knowledge base vs FAQ: what's the difference and which do you need?
By The Relay team · Published · 3 min read
The short answer
The terms overlap, and vendors use them loosely. In practice: a knowledge base is the set of articles, a help center is the customer-facing site that presents them (with search and categories), and an FAQ is a single page of short answers. A small SaaS should build the articles first, publish them as a help center, and keep an FAQ only for a handful of questions everyone asks.
The three, side by side
| Knowledge base | Help center | FAQ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | The collection of articles | The customer-facing site that presents them | One page of short question-and-answer pairs |
| Who it's for | Customers, and often your team and your bot | Customers | Customers deciding or getting started |
| Shape | Many articles, each on one topic | Search, categories, article pages | One page, a dozen answers |
| Best at | Depth and accuracy | Letting customers find answers themselves | Quick answers to the very common |
Which to build first
- Write the articles. Whatever you call the collection, it's the asset. One question per article, the customer's words in the title, the answer in the first paragraph.
- Publish them as a help center with search and a few categories, so customers can find them without writing to you.
- Add an FAQ only if a few questions come up on the pricing or sign-up page. Link each FAQ answer to its article instead of duplicating it.
What a small SaaS gets from a help center
- Customers answer their own questions, at any hour.
- Your widget's search and your AI bot read the same articles, so one fix improves both.
- Public articles can be found in search engines by people who haven't signed up yet.
- Every article you write is one you don't have to retype.
In Relay, the help center is public at your workspace's own address, has search and categories, and its published articles are what the bot answers from. You can see a live sample at the demo help center. For a method that decides which articles to write first, see how to reduce support tickets.
Mistakes to avoid
- Starting with a long FAQ page and never writing real articles.
- Organising by your internal structure ("Platform", "Modules") instead of by customer tasks.
- Copying the FAQ into articles and letting the two drift apart.
- Leaving old articles up after the product changes.
Questions
Common questions
- Is a help center the same as a knowledge base?
- Often used interchangeably. A knowledge base is the collection of articles; a help center is the customer-facing site that presents them. Some tools use one word for both.
- Do I need an FAQ page if I have a help center?
- Not necessarily. A short FAQ can help on a pricing or sign-up page for the handful of questions people ask before they buy. Link each answer to the full article.
- How many articles does a help center need to start?
- Enough for the questions you answer most. Starting with your top 10 to 20 repeat questions is a reasonable first goal, then adding more as new ones repeat.
- Does Relay include a help center?
- Yes, on both plans: a public help center with search and categories. The AI bot answers from its published articles.
Sources and how we wrote this
Relay is made by the team that wrote this post. Figures for other tools come from their own public pages, listed under Sources, and are list prices in US dollars that can change. If something here is out of date, tell us on the feedback board and we'll correct it.