SharePoint team sites vs communication sites
By Emil Björk · Microsoft ecosystem consultant, Gothenburg
The two main SharePoint site types — what each is for, and how to pick.
2 min read
SharePoint Online has many site types, but two account for the vast majority of usage: team sites and communication sites. They're fundamentally the same product — the same web parts, the same APIs — but they're shaped for different jobs.
Site type is the first decision in SharePoint information architecture; communication sites are detailed in communication sites deep dive, team sites are usually created through Teams per Groups vs Teams vs SharePoint, and both are grouped by hub sites.
Team sites
A team site is a workspace for a group of people working together — a department, a project, a product. Every Microsoft 365 Group and every Microsoft Teams team is backed by a team site. Team sites assume:
- A relatively small, defined membership.
- High write-to-read ratio — lots of people contributing files and edits.
- Quick links and shared dashboards rather than polished marketing pages.
- Members and Owners groups inherited from the underlying Microsoft 365 Group.
The default home page is utilitarian: news, document library, activity feed, links.
Communication sites
A communication site is for broadcasting information to a wider audience — an intranet landing page, an HR portal, a brand hub, a company news site. Communication sites assume:
- A small set of authors writing for a broad audience of readers.
- Low write-to-read ratio.
- Polished page design with hero images and modern layouts.
- Permissions tilted toward read-only for most of the org.
Communication sites are not connected to a Microsoft 365 Group, which means no shared mailbox, no team, no Planner. That's fine — they're publishing tools.
How to choose
| Use case | Site type | | --- | --- | | Project workspace, 5–50 people contributing | Team site | | Department intranet, broadcast to whole company | Communication site | | Teams channel (auto-created) | Team site | | Company news hub | Communication site | | Manager toolkit, edited by HR, read by managers | Communication site | | Customer-facing site | Neither — use Power Pages or another platform |
Hub sites
Both can be associated with a hub site, which provides shared navigation, theme, and search across many sites. Most modern intranets use one or more hub sites with a communication site at the centre and dozens of team and communication sites associated to it.
A practical rule: if you find yourself adding a "site visitors" group to a team site so half the company can read it, you probably want a communication site instead. Trying to make a team site behave like a publishing site means fighting the product the whole way.
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