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What is the difference between a SharePoint team site and a communication site?

By Suresh Girinathuni

Quick answer

A team site is a collaboration workspace: members co-author files, track lists, and usually get a connected Microsoft 365 group and Teams team. A communication site is a publishing surface: a small author group shares news, policies, and showcases with a large readership, without group membership overhead. Choose by authorship — many co-authors means team site, few authors with many readers means communication site — and connect related sites of either kind with a hub.

Key takeaways

  • Team sites collaborate; communication sites broadcast.
  • Authorship pattern decides — count the authors, not the readers.
  • Hubs connect families of either type.

Detailed Explanation

A team site is a collaboration workspace: members co-author files, track lists, and usually get a connected Microsoft 365 group and Teams team. A communication site is a publishing surface: a small author group shares news, policies, and showcases with a large readership, without group membership overhead. Choose by authorship — many co-authors means team site, few authors with many readers means communication site — and connect related sites of either kind with a hub.

Limitations and considerations

Picking wrong costs rework: broadcasting on a team site spams members with access they should not need, while collaborating on a communication site fights its permission model.

This Q&A page is the short-answer layer for “What is the difference between a SharePoint team site and a communication site?” Use the related guides below when you need implementation steps, architecture trade-offs, or troubleshooting detail.

For broader context, visit the SharePoint Hub. It connects this topic to surrounding Microsoft 365, Power Platform, SharePoint, Copilot Studio, Dataverse, migration, and Dynamics 365 guidance.

When to use it

Default to team sites for work groups and projects; commission communication sites for departments, leadership, and intranet publishing.

Practical example

The migration project runs in a team site (plans, RAID log, Teams chat), while the program announces cutover windows from a communication site all staff can read.

Related Questions

What is SharePoint Online?SharePoint Online is Microsoft’s cloud platform for document management, intranets, collaboration, and information sharing.How do SharePoint permissions work?SharePoint permissions control access to sites, libraries, lists, folders, and items, usually through inherited access unless unique permissions are required.What is SPFx?SPFx (SharePoint Framework) is Microsoft’s client-side development model for extending SharePoint, Teams, and Viva Connections with modern web technologies such as TypeScript and React.SharePoint List vs Document Library: what's the difference?A SharePoint list tracks structured records such as tasks or requests; a document library stores files with versioning, check-out, and document-focused metadata.

Related nextM365 Guides

SharePointSharePoint Hub Sites Explained: Architecture, Planning, and GovernancePlan SharePoint hub sites with architecture, navigation, search, permissions, and governance patterns that scale beyond single team sites.SharePointSharePoint Online Tutorial for BeginnersLearn SharePoint Online from scratch with a beginner-friendly tutorial covering sites, pages, document libraries, lists, permissions, metadata, Teams integration, and practical Microsoft 365 use cases.

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