32 SharePoint intranet templates and examples: the 2026 decision guide

The best SharePoint intranet template for most organisations is not a paid theme. Start with Microsoft's Organization home or Standard communication template, connect the site to a sensible hub structure, and prove the navigation and publishing model with real users. Buy a third-party product only when you can name the gap it must close.

That is the short answer. The longer answer matters because “SharePoint intranet template” is used to describe four very different things:

1. a free Microsoft site template;
2. a reusable template created by your own Microsoft 365 team;
3. a product that adds design, publishing or governance features to SharePoint; or
4. a separate employee-experience platform that integrates with Microsoft 365.

Those options have different costs, data boundaries, administration models and exit risks. This guide separates them, lists the 25 current Microsoft site templates, adds seven useful intranet patterns you can standardise yourself, and gives you a scorecard for deciding whether native SharePoint is enough.

The four types of “SharePoint intranet template”

What you are actually choosing	What it gives you	Best fit	Main limitation
Microsoft site template	A preconfigured site with pages, web parts, lists, themes and sample content	A quick, supported starting point for common scenarios	It does not create your information architecture, governance or content ownership
Organisational site template	Your own repeatable configuration, applied with SharePoint site templates and site scripts	Consistency across departments, projects or locations	Needs an owner, testing and lifecycle management
SharePoint-native product layer	Extra page design, web parts, publishing, governance, provisioning or analytics while SharePoint remains the foundation	Organisations committed to Microsoft 365 that need more than native features	Adds supplier cost, permissions, update testing and dependency
Standalone intranet platform	A broader employee app with its own experience, often spanning mobile, communications and integrations	Complex global, frontline or multi-platform requirements	May duplicate Microsoft 365 capabilities and create a second content or identity layer

A product can straddle categories, so do not classify it from a marketing headline. Ask where content is stored, which application renders the page, how permissions are enforced and what remains if you stop paying.

What a modern SharePoint intranet is made from

A template is only one building block. Microsoft's intranet planning guidance starts with business priorities, audiences, governance and high-value scenarios—not colours or home-page tiles.

For most SharePoint Online intranets, the working architecture looks like this:

• A communication site for the main portal. Microsoft recommends a communication site for a high-readership SharePoint portal. Team sites are designed for collaboration, projects and working groups.
• A home site where it adds value. A SharePoint home site can provide an organisation-branded landing experience and gateway to other portals.
• Hub sites for association, not a deep subsite tree. Microsoft describes hub sites as the connective tissue that brings related sites, navigation, news and search scope together. Modern units of work should normally be separate site collections that can be reorganised as the business changes.
• SharePoint news and owned content. Publishing only works when every important page has an audience, author, approver, review date and retirement rule.
• Audience targeting where it improves relevance. Targeting can help people see relevant navigation, news and resources, but it is not a security boundary. Permissions still control access.
• Viva Connections when Teams, web or mobile access is useful. Viva Connections can present tools, news and resources in a personalised experience. A SharePoint home site can complement it, but Microsoft says a home site is not required for the Connections desktop, mobile or tablet experience.
• Search, permissions and content quality. A beautiful home page cannot rescue stale policies, duplicated documents or widespread oversharing.

This is why screenshots are a poor way to choose an intranet. The durable decisions sit underneath the screenshot.

The 32 SharePoint intranet templates and patterns

Microsoft's current SharePoint site template gallery lists 13 communication-site templates and 12 team-site templates. Availability can vary by tenant, permissions and Microsoft rollout. The final seven entries below are Collab365 patterns to turn into organisational templates; they are not Microsoft-provided templates.

13 Microsoft communication-site templates

These are the relevant starting points for portals and published information. They are not finished intranets.

1. Standard communication. The safest blank-ish starting point for a main intranet, department portal or topic site. Use it when you want Microsoft-native structure without inheriting a strong scenario design.

2. Brand central. A home for approved logos, imagery, templates, voice guidance and brand contacts. Add named asset owners and version rules or it will become another folder of questionable files.

3. Crisis management. A structure for urgent updates, trusted resources and contacts. Treat it as a prepared communications site, not as the incident-management system itself; permissions, approval paths and rehearsals still matter.

4. Department. Useful for HR, finance, IT, legal or another function that publishes services, contacts, news and resources. Standardise navigation and page ownership before every department invents a different intranet.

5. Event. A published destination for event information, schedules, speakers and resources. Use a team site or dedicated event platform behind it when organisers need a working space.

6. Human resources. A starting structure for benefits, policies, careers, contacts and employee resources. Do not expose confidential HR records merely because the publishing site is called Human resources.

7. Leadership connection. Designed for leadership news, priorities, events and engagement. It succeeds when leaders and communications owners commit to a publishing rhythm, not when the page is launched once.

8. Learning central. A discovery and promotion layer for learning opportunities. It is not a learning management system and does not add enrolment, assessment or compliance records by itself.

9. New employee onboarding. A published welcome, orientation and resource experience. Pair it with role-specific tasks, an accountable onboarding owner and the systems that record completion.

10. Organization home. The strongest Microsoft-provided candidate for a corporate intranet landing site. Use it to prototype the organisation-wide front door, then test whether its navigation and news model match how employees actually look for information.

11. Showcase. A visually led template for a product, service, initiative or campaign. It is useful for storytelling, but a whole intranet made of showcase pages can hide basic tasks behind large imagery.

12. Volunteer center. A hub for opportunities, participation information and community stories. Check whether registration, safeguarding or eligibility data belongs in a more controlled system.

13. Blank communication. Choose this when you understand the native web parts and deliberately want no starter content. It removes sample cleanup; it does not remove the need for design decisions.

12 Microsoft team-site templates

These templates support the intranet, but they should not normally become the high-readership corporate home page. Microsoft distinguishes team sites for collaboration from communication sites for portal publishing.

14. Standard team. A general collaboration site for a team or working group. Use it for shared files, lists and work—not as a dumping ground for company-wide policies.

15. Crisis communication team. A working space for the people coordinating a crisis response. Keep it separate from the published crisis-management communication site so draft and operational material do not leak into employee updates.

16. Employee onboarding team. A collaborative space for the people managing onboarding tasks and materials. It complements the New employee onboarding communication template; it does not replace a public welcome experience.

17. Event planning. A workspace for organisers, schedules, responsibilities and event assets. Publish approved attendee information through the Event communication site or another suitable channel.

18. IT help desk. A starting point for service information and request tracking. Check whether its lists and workflow meet your support, audit, service-level and reporting requirements before treating it as a full ticketing platform.

19. Project management. A workspace for project status, tasks, documents and updates. It is suitable for straightforward projects; portfolio management, resource planning and financial controls may require more.

20. Retail management team. A collaboration pattern for retail management information and operations. Validate the regional, store and frontline access model rather than cloning one site for every location without governance.

21. Store collaboration. A store-level working space for news, resources and local coordination. Mobile usability, shared-device access and content targeting are central requirements, not later polish.

22. Training course. A collaborative course space for material, discussions and activities. Confirm accessibility, records, assessment and retention needs before using SharePoint in place of an LMS.

23. Training design team. A workspace for people producing training content. Use controlled templates, review status and named subject-matter owners so unfinished material is not mistaken for approved learning.

24. Accounts Payable powered by Microsoft Syntex. A scenario template for document processing in accounts payable. Microsoft's gallery notes that this template requires a relevant Syntex licence; validate the current product naming, licence and processing requirements in your tenant before adoption.

25. Contracts Management powered by Microsoft Syntex. A contract-processing scenario using Microsoft document-processing capabilities. It is not, on its own, a contract lifecycle management system or legal-control framework, and Microsoft lists a relevant Syntex licence as a requirement.

Seven organisational intranet patterns worth templating

These are not hidden Microsoft downloads. They are reusable patterns to build, govern and expose under From your organization using SharePoint site templates and site scripts.

26. Policy and procedure centre. Standardise policy type, owner, approver, effective date, next review and superseded status. Make the current approved version obvious and preserve records according to your compliance rules.

27. Location or office portal. Give each location consistent sections for contacts, access, facilities, local news and emergency information while allowing a controlled amount of local ownership.

28. Frontline operations hub. Design first for mobile and shared-device use. Prioritise shifts, safety, operational notices, forms and quick actions; do not assume every employee has a desk, mailbox or personal corporate device.

29. Service catalogue and request centre. Present services in employees' language: what they can request, who it is for, what information is needed and where status is tracked. Link to the system of record rather than imitating it with decorative cards.

30. Knowledge and find-an-answer centre. Use consistent article types, owners, review dates, metadata and feedback. Search quality follows content quality; publishing ten near-identical answers makes both human and AI retrieval worse.

31. Change, merger or transformation hub. Separate confirmed decisions, timelines, FAQs, feedback routes and manager resources. Date material clearly and retire speculation when decisions change.

32. Governance and site-owner centre. Give owners one place for site standards, request paths, naming rules, lifecycle responsibilities, accessibility guidance and support. This is often the missing template that keeps every other template healthy.

What applying a Microsoft site template actually does

The Apply a site template command is useful, but it is not a merge wizard or an undo button.

Microsoft's current template guidance says:

• you need site-owner permissions or higher to apply a template;
• a template can add a theme, pages, lists, libraries and other configured content;
• on an existing site, the template creates a new default home page rather than merging its design into your existing home page;
• existing pages, libraries and lists remain available in Site contents;
• the site may need to be reviewed, customised and republished;
• there is no automatic undo for template application; and
• you can review applied-template information from the site's template history.

Take a recoverable copy of important content and test on a non-production site first. “It only changes the look” is not a safe assumption.

The SharePoint Look Book is also still useful for sample-site inspiration. Microsoft documents a separate sample-site and PnP provisioning route. Do not confuse a Look Book sample, a built-in site template, a custom site script and a vendor template; they use different provisioning and support paths.

When native Microsoft 365 is enough

Stay native for the first serious prototype when most of these statements are true:

• SharePoint Online is already your governed content platform.
• A communication site, hubs, news, lists, libraries, audience targeting and native web parts cover the essential journeys.
• Your branding fits within supported modern themes and page layouts.
• Your employees can use the SharePoint web experience, Viva Connections or both.
• You can assign content owners and run a sustainable publishing process.
• You do not need a separate frontline mobile app, mandatory-read workflow, advanced multilingual publishing or specialist communications analytics.
• Your team can provision repeatable sites with Microsoft site templates, site scripts or an established Microsoft 365 provisioning process.

Native does not mean “free to operate.” You still need discovery, content work, governance, accessibility testing, migration, training and support. It does mean you can validate the need before adding a supplier and another release cycle.

When a third-party intranet product adds real value

Consider a product when it closes a defined, tested gap such as:

• richer brand and layout control without maintaining custom SPFx;
• repeatable provisioning and governance across a large estate;
• simpler multi-channel publishing for internal communications;
• mandatory-read, acknowledgement or campaign workflows;
• multilingual publishing and translation management;
• a dedicated mobile/frontline experience and push notifications;
• deeper content-health, search or engagement analytics;
• an employee directory or profile experience beyond your native design;
• integration across several business platforms, not only Microsoft 365; or
• vendor support and a packaged operating model your internal team cannot provide.

Do not buy because the demo home page looks less “SharePointy.” A theme cannot fix unclear navigation, missing ownership or bad permissions.

A representative market map—not a ranking

The products below are examples of different buying categories. Inclusion is not a Collab365 endorsement, and suppliers can change architecture and packaging. Verify the current product, permissions, storage, licences and contract yourself.

Category	Representative products	What to investigate
SharePoint design and component layer	ShortPoint and BindTuning	Page authoring, branding, web parts, accessibility, tenant permissions, support for SharePoint Online versus on-premises, and what remains without the licence
Packaged intranet on Microsoft 365/SharePoint	Powell Intranet, Involv and Omnia	Where content and configuration live, native-search behaviour, publishing workflow, governance, mobile options and upgrade responsibility
Broader intranet or employee-experience platform	Unily, Simpplr, Staffbase, LumApps, Workvivo by Zoom, Blink, Interact and Appspace	Whether Microsoft 365 is the content system of record or merely an integration; identity, mobile, communications, analytics, data residency and exit plan

The 2025 Gartner Market Guide for Intranet Packaged Solutions evaluates a wider set of providers across this market. Being included in a market guide is not proof that a product fits your architecture or workforce.

One correction to many template roundups: these products are not all SharePoint Online-only. ShortPoint, for example, currently states support for Microsoft 365, SharePoint Subscription Edition and several SharePoint Server releases. Deployment claims must be checked product by product.

SharePoint-native product or standalone platform?

Decision	SharePoint-native product layer	Standalone platform
Content location	Often remains in SharePoint and Microsoft 365	May live partly or mainly in the supplier's platform
Permissions	Often builds on Microsoft 365 identity and permissions	May map Microsoft identity into a separate permission model
Microsoft 365 fidelity	Usually strongest for SharePoint pages, files, search and Teams/Viva surfaces	Varies by connector and synchronisation design
Non-Microsoft channels	May be limited or supplied as add-ons	Often stronger for dedicated mobile, frontline and cross-platform experiences
Customisation	Works within SharePoint and SPFx constraints	Supplier controls the experience and extension model
Exit	Native content may remain usable, but enhanced components can disappear	Content export, URL continuity and replacement experience need explicit planning

Neither model wins automatically. The correct answer follows your content boundary, workforce and operating capacity.

The Collab365 100-point intranet scorecard

Score the native prototype and every shortlisted product against the same evidence. Do not let a supplier choose the criteria after seeing the requirement.

Area	Points	What good evidence looks like
Outcomes and priority journeys	10	Real employee tasks are named, tested and prioritised
Information architecture and governance	15	Hubs, sites, navigation, ownership, lifecycle and permissions are explicit
Publishing and content lifecycle	15	Draft, approval, scheduling, review, expiry and archive work end to end
Findability	15	Representative searches and navigation tasks succeed with your content and permissions
Microsoft 365 integration and data boundary	15	Storage, identity, API permissions, Teams/Viva behaviour and data flows are documented
Personalisation and channels	10	Targeting, notifications, web, Teams, mobile and frontline needs are proved—not described
Accessibility, multilingual and mobile	10	Keyboard, screen reader, zoom, language and device tests pass on real pages
Analytics and improvement	5	Owners can see failed searches, content health and useful engagement measures
Operability and exit	5	Admin effort, support, upgrades, export, URL continuity and termination are understood
Total	100

Set any non-negotiable requirements before scoring. A product that fails your data-residency or accessibility threshold should not win because it has a better carousel.

Questions every intranet demo should answer

Ask the supplier to use a scripted scenario and your content. Then ask them to show—not promise—the following:

1. Where does this page, image, document, profile and analytics event live?
2. Which Microsoft Graph, SharePoint or Entra permissions does the product request, and why?
3. What can an ordinary author publish without an administrator?
4. How are approval, scheduled publishing, review dates, expiry and archival handled?
5. What happens when a user has no permission to the source document?
6. How does search behave with acronyms, misspellings, old versions and restricted content?
7. How does the same task work on a phone, in a browser and—if required—in Teams or Viva Connections?
8. Can a frontline employee without a personal corporate device or mailbox use it safely?
9. How are multiple languages created, reviewed and kept in sync?
10. Show keyboard navigation, screen-reader labels, 200% zoom and contrast on the proposed components.
11. Which features require separate Microsoft, supplier, AI, mobile or analytics licences?
12. What changes during a Microsoft 365 release, and who tests the update?
13. What can we export, what URLs break and what becomes unusable when the contract ends?
14. Show the administrative work required after launch, not only the employee demo.

If a supplier cannot demonstrate a requirement, score it as unproved.

Copilot and SharePoint agents: what a template cannot promise

A template does not make an intranet “Copilot-ready.” It can create a useful structure, but AI answers still depend on content quality, permissions, licensing and governance.

Microsoft says agents in SharePoint use each person's existing access to sites, pages and document libraries. Access currently comes through an eligible Microsoft 365 Copilot licence or through configured pay-as-you-go billing controlled with assigned security groups.

That creates three buyer checks:

• Permission safety: an agent respects permissions, but bad permissions remain bad permissions. Review oversharing and inappropriate access before broad rollout.
• Content readiness: duplicated, obsolete or ownerless material can produce a confidently unhelpful answer even when access is technically correct.
• Licence clarity: ask exactly which users, agents and scenarios need Copilot or pay-as-you-go capacity. “AI included” is not a licence model.

Treat AI search, summaries and agents as capabilities to test with representative questions. Do not make them a mandatory reason to replace a functioning native intranet.

A practical intranet launch sequence

Microsoft's planning guidance favours iterative discovery and a pilot over trying to design the entire organisation in one launch.

1. Name the outcomes and audiences. Choose a few valuable journeys such as finding a policy, completing a common request or reading an operational update.
2. Audit content and the existing estate. Identify authoritative sources, duplicates, ROT—redundant, obsolete and trivial content—and access problems.
3. Design the architecture and ownership. Decide the home, hubs, associated sites, navigation, content types, permissions and review responsibilities.
4. Build a rapid native prototype. Start with Organization home or Standard communication and use real content, not lorem ipsum.
5. Test with representative employees. Include different roles, locations, devices, accessibility needs and permission levels.
6. Document the gaps. Separate missing product capability from fixable content, governance or training problems.
7. Evaluate products only against those gaps. Run the same tasks and 100-point scorecard for native SharePoint and every supplier.
8. Pilot the operating model. Prove authoring, approvals, support, analytics, change control and content reviews before scaling.
9. Launch, measure and retire. Redirect old destinations, remove duplicates, monitor failed searches and make owners act on what employees cannot find.

The launch is the start of intranet management, not the end of the project.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best SharePoint intranet template?

For most organisations, start with Microsoft's Organization home template for the main corporate landing experience or Standard communication for a more neutral base. The best choice is the one that supports your priority employee journeys and can be governed by your team; no visual template solves architecture or content ownership.

Are SharePoint intranet templates free?

Microsoft's built-in site templates are part of SharePoint, although particular features or scenario templates can have additional licensing requirements. Custom organisational templates require implementation and support effort. Third-party templates and intranet products have their own subscription, services and add-on costs.

Can I apply a SharePoint site template to an existing site?

Yes, if you have the required site permissions. Microsoft says applying a template to an existing site creates a new default home page and does not merge the template into your old home page. Existing content remains in Site contents, and there is no automatic undo, so test first.

Do we need a third-party product to build a good SharePoint intranet?

No. Native SharePoint communication sites, hubs, news, audience targeting, lists, libraries, site templates and Viva Connections cover many intranet requirements. Add a product when a tested requirement—such as advanced publishing, design, multilingual, frontline mobile, analytics or estate governance—cannot be met sustainably with your native operating model.

Does an intranet template include Microsoft 365 Copilot?

No. A template can organise content, but Microsoft 365 Copilot and SharePoint agent access depend on current licensing or pay-as-you-go configuration, the user's permissions and the quality of the underlying content.

Official Microsoft references

• Plan an intelligent SharePoint intranet
• SharePoint intelligent intranet overview
• Apply and customise SharePoint site templates
• Plan SharePoint hub sites
• Plan, build and launch a SharePoint home site
• SharePoint site template and site script overview
• Overview of Viva Connections
• Creating and launching a healthy SharePoint portal
• Manage access to agents in SharePoint

Building or repairing a Microsoft 365 intranet? Join the SharePoint & Teams Admins Space for current Microsoft changes, implementation guidance and peer discussion.