When creating a new SharePoint site, one of the first decisions is choosing the right type of site.

At a high level, modern SharePoint is built around two main site types:

• Team sites – for collaboration
• Communication sites – for publishing and sharing information

There are also several important variations and architectural concepts, such as hub sites, Teams channel sites and home sites.

This quick guide explains what each one is, when to use it, and the main advantages and disadvantages.

Quick Comparison

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Microsoft describes Team, Communication and Hub sites as the main building blocks of a modern SharePoint intranet.

1. Team Site

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Best for

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Use a Team site when a group of people need to actively work together.

Examples include:

• Project teams
• Engineering teams
• Working groups
• Operational teams
• Case management
• Shared document repositories
• Power Apps or Power Automate solutions

A Team site is primarily designed for collaboration rather than publishing. Members would normally create, edit and work with content rather than simply read it.

Example

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Infrastructure Project
│
├── Documents
├── Project Risks
├── Actions
├── Technical Documentation
└── Project Updates

Everyone in the project team can work with the content.

Microsoft 365 Group-Connected Team Site

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When you create a normal modern Team site, it is normally connected to a Microsoft 365 Group.

That provides additional Microsoft 365 resources such as:

Microsoft 365 Group
│
├── SharePoint Team Site
├── Shared Mailbox
├── Shared Calendar
├── Planner
└── Microsoft Teams

Microsoft recommends managing membership of these sites through the associated Microsoft 365 Group or Microsoft Teams team.

Pros

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• Excellent for collaboration
• Integrates naturally with Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft 365 Group manages membership
• Good for document co-authoring
• Supports SharePoint Lists
• Works well with Power Automate and Power Apps
• Easy to expand with Planner and other Microsoft 365 services

Cons

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• Creates additional Microsoft 365 resources
• Permissions can become confusing if SharePoint permissions and Teams/Group membership are managed separately
• Usually not ideal for large information portals
• Members normally have relatively high contribution permissions

2. Team Site Without a Microsoft 365 Group

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There is another useful variation: a Team site that is not connected to a Microsoft 365 Group.

This can be useful when you need SharePoint functionality without needing:

• Teams
• Planner
• A group mailbox
• A group calendar
• Other Microsoft 365 Group services

For example:

Power Platform Application Data
│
├── Configuration List
├── Contacts
├── Job Log
└── Application Documents

A non-group-connected site can be useful for SharePoint-backed applications and solutions where you want more direct control over SharePoint permissions. Microsoft’s Microsoft 365 community guidance specifically identifies app data, lists, libraries and scenarios with differing permissions as potential uses.

Pros

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• Simpler when only SharePoint is required
• Greater flexibility over traditional SharePoint permissions
• Good location for application data
• Useful for Power Apps and Power Automate solutions
• Avoids unnecessary Microsoft 365 Group resources

Cons

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• No automatic Teams integration
• Membership must be managed separately
• No associated group mailbox or Planner
• Users may find it less obvious where the site belongs organisationally

3. Communication Site

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Best for

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Use a Communication site when a small number of people publish information to a much larger audience.

Think:

Few people create - many people read.

Typical examples include:

• HR portal
• IT support portal
• Department homepage
• Policies and guidance
• Internal news
• Service catalogue
• Corporate communications
• Project information portal

Microsoft describes Communication sites as being designed for broad communication, where relatively few contributors create content for many readers.

Example

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Technology Department
│
├── Latest News
├── Services
├── Policies
├── Support
├── Projects
└── Useful Links

Most employees would have Read access while a smaller group maintains the site.

Pros

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• Excellent for publishing information
• Designed for visually rich pages
• Good for large audiences
• Strong use of News, Hero and Quick Links web parts
• Straightforward Owners / Members / Visitors permission model
• Excellent foundation for an intranet
• Does not automatically create a Microsoft 365 Group

Cons

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• Not designed primarily for day-to-day team collaboration
• Doesn’t automatically provide Teams, Planner or a shared mailbox
• Requires proper content ownership to prevent information becoming outdated
• May require additional planning around navigation and publishing

Team Site vs Communication Site

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A very simple rule is:

Are people WORKING together?

        YES
         ↓
     Team Site

versus:

Are a few people PUBLISHING information
for many people to consume?

        YES
         ↓
Communication Site

For example:

Finance employees collaboratively preparing the annual budget

→ Team site

Finance publishing expenses guidance for all employees

→ Communication site

That distinction solves most SharePoint site-selection decisions.

4. Hub Site

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A Hub site isn’t really a completely separate site template.

Instead, an existing Team or Communication site can be registered as a Hub by a SharePoint administrator.

Hub sites are used to connect related SharePoint sites.

For example:

Technology Hub
│
├── Infrastructure Team
├── Power Platform Team
├── Service Desk
├── Cyber Security
└── Architecture

Each team can maintain its own SharePoint site while the Hub provides a shared structure.

What a Hub Provides

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Hub sites can provide:

• Shared navigation
• Consistent branding
• Aggregated news
• Aggregated content
• Search across related sites
• Logical organisation of sites

Microsoft describes hubs as the connective tissue used to organise families of Team and Communication sites.

Importantly, joining a site to a Hub does not automatically change the permissions of either site.

Pros

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• Excellent for organising large SharePoint environments
• Sites remain independent
• Provides consistent navigation
• Helps users discover related sites
• Can aggregate news and information
• Avoids creating complicated subsite structures

Cons

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• Requires governance and planning
• Normally requires SharePoint Administrator involvement
• Does not automatically standardise permissions
• Poorly designed hubs can create confusing navigation
• Not every site necessarily needs to belong to a Hub

Avoid Building Everything with Subsites

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Older SharePoint environments often looked like this:

Corporate
│
└── Technology
    │
    └── Infrastructure
        │
        └── Cloud

Modern SharePoint architecture generally favours separate site collections connected using Hub sites instead.

Microsoft recommends hubs rather than subsites for organising modern SharePoint environments.

A modern structure might therefore look like:

Technology Hub
│
├── Infrastructure Site
├── Cloud Site
├── Development Site
└── Service Desk Site

This makes sites easier to restructure later.

5. Microsoft Teams Channel Site

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Microsoft Teams and SharePoint are closely connected.

Every Microsoft Team has a SharePoint Team site behind it.

For normal Standard channels, documents are normally stored within folders in the Team’s main SharePoint site.

However:

Private channels and Shared channels create separate SharePoint sites.

For example:

Microsoft Team: Technology Project

Main SharePoint Site
├── General
├── Planning
└── Documentation

Private Channel: Project Leadership
        ↓
Separate SharePoint Site

Best for

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These sites are automatically created when Teams requires isolated membership.

Typical examples:

• Leadership channels
• Confidential project groups
• Cross-organisation Shared channels
• Restricted working groups

Pros

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• Membership follows the Teams channel
• Provides isolation from the parent Team
• Automatically created and managed
• Useful for restricted collaboration

Cons

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• Can significantly increase the number of SharePoint sites
• Users may not realise that another SharePoint site exists
• Permissions should generally be managed through Teams rather than directly in SharePoint
• Can make governance and administration more complicated

Best Practice

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Avoid manually changing the permissions of Teams channel sites unless you understand the implications.

Manage membership primarily through Microsoft Teams.

6. SharePoint Home Site

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A Home site is a Communication site that has been designated as a central organisational landing page.

It can act as the front door to an organisation’s SharePoint intranet.

For example:

Organisation Home
│
├── Corporate News
├── HR
├── Technology
├── Finance
├── Policies
├── Applications
└── Useful Links

Users can then navigate into different Communication, Team and Hub sites.

Best for

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• Corporate intranets
• Organisation-wide navigation
• Corporate news
• Important organisational resources
• Viva Connections experiences

Pros

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• Provides a recognisable central entry point
• Good for organisation-wide news
• Supports global navigation scenarios
• Integrates with broader intranet architecture
• Can reinforce organisational branding

Cons

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• Requires considerable content planning
• Usually needs central ownership
• Poor navigation design can make the intranet difficult to use
• Not intended as a replacement for individual Team or Communication sites

Think of a Home site as:

The front door to your intranet

rather than the place where every piece of content should live.

7. Classic SharePoint Sites

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You may also encounter Classic SharePoint sites.

These are mainly associated with older SharePoint architectures and solutions.

They may contain things such as:

• Classic web parts
• Older publishing functionality
• Subsites
• Custom master pages
• Older SharePoint customisations

Microsoft still supports classic functionality in various scenarios, but modern Team and Communication sites are the preferred foundation for new SharePoint Online solutions. Microsoft specifically recommends using Hub sites instead of building new architectures around subsites.

Pros

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• Supports existing legacy solutions
• May be required for older SharePoint customisations
• Organisations may already have significant content built on them

Cons

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• Older user experience
• More difficult to integrate with modern Microsoft 365 experiences
• Often relies heavily on subsites
• Can be more difficult to maintain
• Generally not the best starting point for a new SharePoint Online solution

Best Practice

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For a new solution, start with modern SharePoint unless there is a specific technical requirement for classic functionality.

Which Site Should I Choose?

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Use this simplified decision tree:

What are you trying to build?
        │
        ├── A team or project workspace
        │        ↓
        │     Team Site
        │
        ├── Information portal / department site
        │        ↓
        │  Communication Site
        │
        ├── Collection of related sites
        │        ↓
        │      Hub Site
        │
        ├── Organisation-wide intranet landing page
        │        ↓
        │      Home Site
        │
        ├── Restricted Teams channel
        │        ↓
        │   Teams creates a Channel Site
        │
        └── SharePoint storage for an app/automation
                 ↓
        Consider a Team Site without
        a Microsoft 365 Group

Some Practical Examples

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Scenario 1

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Ten engineers need somewhere to collaborate on documentation and project files.

Use: Team site

Scenario 2

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HR needs somewhere to publish policies and employee guidance to 5,000 employees.

Use: Communication site

Scenario 3

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HR has separate sites for Recruitment, Learning, Payroll and Policies but wants common navigation.

Use: Hub site

HR Hub
├── Recruitment
├── Learning
├── Payroll
└── Policies

Scenario 4

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A Power App needs several SharePoint lists for configuration, logging and reference data.

Consider: Team site without a Microsoft 365 Group

This avoids creating Teams, Planner and other collaboration resources that the application does not require.

Scenario 5

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A Teams project has a private channel that only senior managers should access.

Use: Private Teams channel

Teams automatically provisions the associated SharePoint channel site.

Scenario 6

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The organisation needs one main place where employees can find news, services and departmental portals.

Use: SharePoint Home site, typically supported by Hub and Communication sites underneath it.

Recommended Modern SharePoint Architecture

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A larger organisation might eventually look something like this:

                     Organisation Home
                            │
          ┌─────────────────┼─────────────────┐
          │                 │                 │
       HR Hub         Technology Hub     Finance Hub
          │                 │                 │
     ┌────┼────┐       ┌────┼────┐       ┌────┼────┐
     │    │    │       │    │    │       │    │    │
   HR   HR   HR      IT   IT   IT       FIN  FIN  FIN
 Sites Sites Sites  Sites Sites Sites    Sites Sites Sites

Individual project and collaboration Team sites can then sit alongside this structure where required.

The principle is:

Collaborate → Team Site

Communicate → Communication Site

Organise → Hub Site

Organisation Landing Page → Home Site

Best-Practice Checklist

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Before creating a SharePoint site, ask:

• Who is the audience?
• Are users mainly reading or editing content?
• Does the site need Microsoft Teams?
• Does it need a Microsoft 365 Group?
• Is this an independent project or part of a wider department?
• Should it be associated with an existing Hub?
• Who will own the site?
• Who will maintain its content?
• What should happen to the site when the project finishes?
• Is another existing site already suitable?

Creating a site is easy.

Maintaining hundreds or thousands of unnecessary SharePoint sites is considerably harder.

Good SharePoint architecture starts by creating the right site for the right purpose.