Written by
Lorina Balan
, Digital Marketer
On September 17th, we hosted our webinar “Break free from Confluence: Your complete open-source migration stack.”
💡 Atlassian has officially announced the end of its Data Center products. The timeline is already set:
- March 30, 2026: No new Data Center subscriptions or Marketplace apps for new customers
- March 30, 2028: Last date for existing customers to buy new licenses, apps, or expansions
- March 28, 2029: Data Center products become read-only
With this deadline approaching, organizations are now evaluating sustainable, long-term alternatives.
Clément Aubin, Director of Sales and Professional Services at XWiki, was joined by Viktor Nagornyy, Marketing Team Lead at Nextcloud, and Ștefana Nazare, Product Owner (Cloud, Apps, Confluence, AI) at XWiki. Together, they walked through how to replace Confluence with a complete open-source stack and take back control of your data and costs.
The session included a live Confluence migration demo and step-by-step strategies. Here’s a summary of what was discussed:
- How XWiki transforms a basic wiki into a structured knowledge platform with granular permissions and faceted search
- Step-by-step migration strategies for moving content, users, and permissions from Confluence to XWiki
- A live migration demo using the Confluence Migration Toolkit, showing real-time preservation of hierarchies, macros, and attachments
- Best practices for zero-downtime migrations and post-import validation
Below you can find out more about the key takeaways, watch the recording, and read through highlights from the Q&A.
Key takeaways
We know many organizations are preparing for Atlassian’s Data Center end of life and need migration paths they can trust. With ongoing updates to our Confluence Migration Toolkit, we’ve focused on making transitions smoother, faster, and easier to manage at scale.
This webinar showed why XWiki is a sustainable open-source replacement for Confluence and how the broader stack, with tools like Nextcloud and OpenProject, can cover the collaboration needs usually handled by Atlassian. The live demo highlighted that migrations are not only about moving pages, but about preserving structures, permissions, macros, and workflows so teams can continue working without disruption.
For those who want to explore the migration process in more detail, we recommend reviewing these resources:
By combining these tools with our migration expertise, you can ensure your Confluence content is transferred securely and efficiently, while setting a solid foundation for long-term knowledge management on XWiki.
Q&A session
The Q&A segment went further, tackling real-world scenarios such as large-scale deployments, PDF export performance, add-on compatibility, and LDAP/SCIM integration. These discussions offered concrete answers and practical guidance for IT leaders planning their next steps.
Q1: Will Nextcloud work on a Synology NAS?
Yes. Here’s a tutorial.
Q2: Can Confluence calendars be migrated?
Yes, we do support this. It’s currently in beta, and we’re improving it further as we go.
Q3: Does XWiki have a Gliffy (from Confluence) macro?
Gliffy diagrams from Confluence will display in XWiki. If you need to edit them, you can convert them into draw.io diagrams directly in the wiki.
Q4: What can XWiki do with Confluence spaces?
XWiki imports Confluence spaces (Server/DC/Cloud XML export) including page hierarchy, attachments, comments, versions, most macros (with bridges/mappings), and can also migrate permissions and groups. Use the open-source Confluence XML importer for single spaces and the Confluence Migration Toolkit for batch or full backup migration.
Q5: Does Nextcloud support integration with both the full open-source and paid options of XWiki?
Yes, integration works with both.
Q6: Is there an SDK/a Developer Guide to build add-ons on our own?
Yes, see:
Q7: How is the current support in XWiki for creating PDF documents (200–300 pages) from large page hierarchies?
The XWiki PDF Export Application can handle that size, as long as the system running it has enough resources. You can run exports client-side or set them up server-side using a headless Chrome instance, which is faster for very large documents.
Q7a: Does XWiki support outlines and demoting headings in PDF export?
Yes. The PDF export tool is based on paged.js and supports outlines and heading levels. Example: Training Information export.
Q8: Can we extend the migration assistant on our own?
Absolutely. XWiki core and all extensions are open source. You can edit or create new extensions as needed.
Q9: How does XWiki scale for very large Confluence DC instances (200k users)?
We’ve already migrated an instance with around 150k users, running on a single node. As part of the openDesk project in Germany, we’re currently working on improvements for autoscaling and real-time collaborative editing in clustered environments, which should land by the end of 2025.
Q10: Is there a list of equivalent macros?
Yes: XWiki Confluence macros alternatives and store listing.
Q11: Can Flow be used as an incident ticket system for XWiki?
Flow isn’t available. But you can achieve incident and ticket management with our Task Manager (Pro), or by quickly building a tailored solution using App Within Minutes.
For teams with more complex project or ticketing needs, we recommend looking at OpenProject, which integrates well alongside XWiki.
Q12: Confluence crashed, can we restore backup to XWiki?
It depends on what kind of backup you have. If you have an XML export, then yes, that can be imported.
Q13: What underlying language is XWiki built on?
XWiki is built on Java.
Q14: Is XWiki OpenJDK compatible?
Our Docker images use OpenJDK. See Java Support Strategy.
Q15: Is the Confluence migration later shown with the paid version only?
No. Everything we do at XWiki is open source, and the migration tools are no exception. You can explore them directly on our GitHub.
What requires a license key is the Confluence Migrator (Pro). That key doesn’t change the fact the code is open source. It simply unlocks access to professional support and ensures sustainability for the high complexity of Confluence migrations.
For smaller instances, you can use the Confluence Migration Toolkit on your own. But for larger or more complex migrations, we strongly recommend getting professional support or consulting to make the process smoother.
Q16: Our DC is used like Microsoft 365. Does someone share this experience?
Some organizations combine XWiki, Nextcloud, and Collabora to cover similar needs as Microsoft 365. We’ve seen this approach work well, and it’s exactly how we, at XWiki SAS, run our own collaboration stack.
Q17: Is there a recommendation for Assets replacement for CMDB functionality?
There’s no dedicated CMDB app, but you can model one in XWiki with App Within Minutes, or use Task Manager or Kanban.
Q18: Are there particular Confluence-supported versions?
Anything above version 6 should work, and if you find anything blocking from the specific version of Confluence that you use, we can fix this as part of our support.
Q19: Is the export option available for Data Center?
Confluence Data Center XML exports are supported for migration to XWiki.
Q20: When migrating Confluence spaces, do we retrieve the same RBAC feature?
Yes, XWiki migrates permissions and groups, including page restrictions.
Q21: Are there training materials and quick start guides for XWiki?
Yes. A video is in the works and will be shared publicly.
Q22: Can we use multiple SCIM/LDAP with XWiki?
Yes. We support OIDC and LDAP today. SCIM support is in progress (expected Q1 2026).
Q23: Is there a way to use files for exclusion lists or ID mappings?
That’s not supported directly today. We’d need to review with the dev team for your use case.
Q24: When are you going to update the docs regarding DB indexing for PostgresSQL specifically?
See Database administration docs. Indexes are created automatically on schema creation.
Q25: Can we migrate comments and versions from Confluence DC?
Yes, we support that in the default migrator.
Q26: Can we migrate page restrictions from Confluence?
Yes, we migrate page restrictions along with standard permissions.
Q27: Do you have reference customers in Switzerland military environment?
We do have clients in the military environment in Switzerland, but we cannot publicly mention them.
Q28: Referring to the PDF export: In our experience, this type of export (done by a browser basically) does not have some important features. (e.g., create a document outline from headings, demote headings to reflect their position in the online page hierarchy of pages...) Is this different for XWiki?
Right now, outlines aren’t supported in XWiki’s PDF export. The exporter works well for styling and large documents, but creating automatic outlines from headings isn’t available yet. It’s something that could be developed in the future or sponsored if it’s a priority for a specific use case.
Q29: Is it possible to use XWiki without openDesk but with its features?
Exactly, the product contributions (scalability, SCIM, …) from openDesk are contributed in open source, and are either added to the core of XWiki, or as installable extensions.
Q30: Are there plans for a paid add-on marketplace?
Yes, this is something we’re considering for the long term. Today, we’re focused on strengthening our Pro Apps ecosystem and partner collaborations, while making sure the model remains sustainable for both developers and organizations using XWiki.
Q31: Will openDesk bring a specific XWiki version?
No. Features are contributed to open-source XWiki directly.
Q32: How to access the recording without a Nextcloud account?
The webinar recording is available on YouTube and PeerTube.
Q33: Does XWiki support official document approval workflows?
Yes. We support Scroll Versions migration and offer: Book Versions, Publication Workflow, and Change Request.
Q34: What about Confluence add-ons like Comala, Confiforms, Table Filter, Translations?
Comala Document Management equivalent feature: Publication workflow, Change request
Confiforms equivalent: AWM, livedata, Publication Workflow, Change Request
Table filter equivalent: AWM with livedata
Translations: XWiki now supports importing translations from Confluence. The sv-translation macro becomes XWiki’s native translatedContent macro. Language-specific macros (often coming from the Translations for Confluence extension) are transformed into proper localized XWiki documents. Instead of relying on macros, each language gets its own dedicated document version, making translations easier to manage and maintain over time.
Q35: How about migrating personal Confluence spaces?
Yes, personal spaces are just standard spaces and are migrated.
Q36: Does XWiki have a good REST API?
Yes. XWiki RESTful API covers 99% of actions.
Q37: Will Confluence links be migrated?
Yes. Both relative and absolute links are migrated if base URL is set.
Q38: Which Confluence Data Server versions are supported?
From version 6 upwards.
Q39: Is there a way to create permalinks in XWiki?
Yes, with the URL Shortener Pro.
Q40: How about pages/spaces with 5000+ attachments?
It should work, though we haven’t tested at that scale.
Q41: Can multiple customers be hosted in one wiki?
Yes, using subwikis. Not the most common setup, but supported.
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