# Best Numbered Headings App for Confluence — 2026 Comparison April 18, 2026 · 7 min read [NGPilot](https://ngpilot.com) Long Confluence pages need structure. When your documentation runs past ten headings, readers lose track of where they are. Numbered headings — like "1. Introduction", "1.1 Background", "2. Methods" — give every section a clear position in the hierarchy. Technical docs, legal documents, SOPs, and compliance reports all rely on them. Confluence doesn't number headings out of the box. A handful of marketplace apps fill this gap, but the market is small — Appfire's **Numbered Headings** dominates with 5,484 installs. We built **Modern Numbered Headings for Confluence** to bring a fresh approach with live preview, one-click TOC insertion, and five numbering styles. In this post we compare it against the alternatives. ## Why You Need Numbered Headings[​](#why-you-need-numbered-headings "Direct link to Why You Need Numbered Headings") If your team writes any of these in Confluence, numbered headings help: * **Technical documentation** — API references, architecture docs, runbooks * **Standard operating procedures** — Step-by-step processes that need clear section references * **Legal and compliance documents** — Contract sections, policy chapters, audit reports * **Training materials** — Course outlines, onboarding guides * **Meeting notes and proposals** — Structured documents shared with stakeholders Without numbered headings, you get "see the section about authentication" instead of "see Section 3.2." The second is precise. The first is ambiguous. ## What's Available on the Marketplace[​](#whats-available-on-the-marketplace "Direct link to What's Available on the Marketplace") Only five apps do numbered headings for Confluence. The market is concentrated: | App | Vendor | Installs | Rating | Last Updated | Hosting | | ------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | --------------- | ------------------- | ------------ | ----------- | | Numbered Headings | Appfire | 5,484 | 3.6/5 (113 reviews) | Mar 2026 | Cloud | | Numbered Headings for Confluence | Kolekti (Adaptavist) | 290 | 4.0/5 (1 review) | Apr 2026 | Cloud | | Easy Numbered Headings | Appfire | 272 | 3.3/5 (12 reviews) | Apr 2026 | Cloud + DC | | Numbered Headings (easily number) | Easy Apps | 44 | — | Sep 2025 | Cloud | | Auto Numbered Headings | Hivestone | 37 | 4.0/5 (4 reviews) | Jan 2026 | DC + Server | | **Modern Numbered Headings for Confluence** | **NGPILOT** | **Coming soon** | — | **Apr 2026** | **Cloud** | *Data from Atlassian Marketplace, April 2026.* **Appfire dominates** with two apps totaling 5,756 installs. Their original **Numbered Headings** (5,484 installs) is the clear market leader — Cloud Fortified, bug bounty program, 113 reviews. But it requires macros on every page. **Easy Numbered Headings** (also Appfire) takes a different approach — no macros needed, it works automatically. But only 272 installs suggest it hasn't caught on despite the Appfire brand. **Kolekti/Adaptavist's** entry (290 installs) recently migrated from Connect to Forge — a modern architecture choice but very early adoption. **Hivestone's Auto Numbered Headings** (37 installs) is the only option for Data Center/Server teams who want numbering beyond just headings (it also numbers tables and images). But no Cloud version. ## Feature Comparison[​](#feature-comparison "Direct link to Feature Comparison") | Feature | Modern Numbered Headings (NGPILOT) | Numbered Headings (Appfire) | Easy Numbered Headings (Appfire) | Numbered Headings (Kolekti/Adaptavist) | Numbered Headings (Easy Apps) | | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | **Numbering styles** | 5 (Decimal, Roman, Alphabetic, Outline, Mixed) | Multiple (decimal, Roman, Latin, Greek, custom) | Custom patterns (e.g. "1-A.4(a)") | Standard | Standard | | **No macro needed** | Yes | No (macro required) | Yes | No | Yes | | **Live preview** | Yes | No | No | No | No | | **One-click insert** | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | | **One-click remove** | Yes (smart detection) | No | Yes | No | Yes | | **Heading level filtering** | Yes (H1-H6 customizable) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | **Hierarchical indentation** | Yes | No | No | No | No | | **Mobile responsive** | Yes | No | No | No | No | | **PDF/Word export support** | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | | **Table/image numbering** | No | No | No | No | No (but Hivestone does) | | **Forge-based** | Yes | No (Connect) | No (Connect) | Yes | Yes | | **Cloud Fortified** | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | **Data Center support** | No | No | Yes | No | No | ### Where Modern Numbered Headings Stands Out[​](#where-modern-numbered-headings-stands-out "Direct link to Where Modern Numbered Headings Stands Out") **Live preview** — See your numbered headings update in real-time as you change styles and settings. No other app offers a live preview. With competitors, you configure a macro, save the page, and check if it looks right. If not, edit the macro again. **Five professional numbering styles** — Decimal (1, 1.1, 1.1.1), Roman (I, I.I, I.I.I), Alphabetic (A, A.A, A.A.A), Outline (1., 1.A., 1.A.i), and Mixed (combinations). Covers every standard document format. **One-click TOC with smart removal** — Insert a complete table of contents with one click. Remove it with one click. The app uses smart detection ("magic markers") to find and clean up its own TOC without leaving artifacts. **Hierarchical indentation** — Indent sub-headings to visualize the document structure. Makes long documents scannable at a glance. **No macros** — Unlike Appfire's market leader, you don't place a macro on every page. The app generates the TOC directly, which means fewer page edits and less maintenance. **Mobile responsive** — The TOC works on every screen size. Your documentation is readable on phones and tablets, not just desktop browsers. **Forge-based architecture** — Built on Atlassian's modern Forge platform. Runs entirely within Atlassian's infrastructure — no external servers, no data leaving the Atlassian ecosystem. ### Where We Could Improve[​](#where-we-could-improve "Direct link to Where We Could Improve") * **Not on marketplace yet** — We're preparing for launch. Appfire's apps have a combined 14+ years of market presence. * **No PDF/Word export integration** — Appfire's Numbered Headings integrates with Confluence's PDF and Word export so numbering is preserved in exported documents. Our app doesn't support this yet. * **No Data Center support** — Cloud-only. If you're on Confluence Data Center, Easy Numbered Headings by Appfire or Auto Numbered Headings by Hivestone are your options. * **No Cloud Fortified status** — Appfire's apps are Cloud Fortified. We're working toward this. * **No custom numbering patterns** — Easy Numbered Headings supports complex patterns like "1-A.4(a)". We offer five preset styles but not freeform patterns. * **No table/image numbering** — Only Hivestone's app offers numbering beyond headings (tables, images), but it's DC-only. ## Honest Comparison: NGPILOT vs Appfire (Market Leader)[​](#honest-comparison-ngpilot-vs-appfire-market-leader "Direct link to Honest Comparison: NGPILOT vs Appfire (Market Leader)") Appfire's **Numbered Headings** has 5,484 installs and years of development. Here's how we differ: | | Numbered Headings (Appfire) | Modern Numbered Headings (NGPILOT) | | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | | **Installs** | 5,484 | Coming soon | | **Rating** | 3.6/5 (113 reviews) | — | | **Approach** | Macro-based — add macro to each page | One-click TOC generation | | **Live preview** | No | Yes | | **Mobile responsive** | No | Yes | | **PDF/Word export** | Yes | No | | **Custom numbering patterns** | Yes | No (5 preset styles) | | **Numbering formats** | Decimal, Roman, Latin, Greek, custom | Decimal, Roman, Alphabetic, Outline, Mixed | | **Cloud Fortified** | Yes | No | | **Architecture** | Connect | Forge | | **Best for** | Teams that need export integration | Teams that want fast, visual TOC creation | Appfire's app is the right choice if you need numbering preserved in PDF/Word exports or want highly customized numbering patterns. It's proven and reliable. Our app is for teams that want a simpler experience — click to add a TOC, see it live, pick a style, done. No macros to maintain, no configuration pages. The live preview and one-click workflow save time on every document. ## Which App Do You Need?[​](#which-app-do-you-need "Direct link to Which App Do You Need?") | You need... | Use this | | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | The established, proven option | Numbered Headings by Appfire | | Numbering preserved in PDF/Word exports | Numbered Headings by Appfire | | Automatic numbering without macros | Easy Numbered Headings by Appfire | | Data Center support | Easy Numbered Headings by Appfire or Auto Numbered Headings by Hivestone | | Number tables and images (not just headings) | Auto Numbered Headings by Hivestone (DC only) | | Live preview and one-click TOC generation | **Modern Numbered Headings for Confluence** | | Mobile-responsive table of contents | **Modern Numbered Headings for Confluence** | ## Related Posts[​](#related-posts "Direct link to Related Posts") * [Code Blocks for Confluence — Which Syntax Highlighting App Should You Choose?](/blog/code-blocks-confluence-monaco-editor.md) * [Markdown Editor for Confluence — Which App Should You Choose for Writing Docs?](/blog/confluence-markdown-editor-comparison.md) ## Get Started[​](#get-started "Direct link to Get Started") * **Modern Numbered Headings for Confluence** — Coming soon to the Atlassian Marketplace. [Read the docs](/docs/Modern-Numbered-Headings-for-Confluence/user-docs.md) Have questions or want early access? Reach out to us at — we'd love to hear from you. ## Related guides * [How to Create Mermaid Diagrams in Jira](/blog/how-to-create-mermaid-diagrams-jira.md) * [Export Jira Issues to Excel or CSV](/blog/export-jira-issues-to-excel.md) * [Bulk Download Jira Attachments](/blog/bulk-download-jira-attachments.md) * [How to Migrate Confluence Content](/blog/how-to-migrate-confluence-content.md) * [How to Add a Block Quote in Confluence](/blog/block-quote-confluence.md) Explore NGPILOT[Browse Solutions](/solutions.md)[All Apps](/apps.md)[Atlassian Marketplace →](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/vendors/1226848/?utm_source=ngpilot.com\&utm_medium=blog\&utm_campaign=hub-links) **Tags:** * [numbered-headings](/blog/tags/numbered-headings.md) * [table-of-contents](/blog/tags/table-of-contents.md) * [confluence](/blog/tags/confluence.md) * [documentation](/blog/tags/documentation.md) * [toc](/blog/tags/toc.md) * [heading-numbering](/blog/tags/heading-numbering.md)