Choosing the correct eLearning authoring tools is a lengthy process, and honestly, it entirely depends on your organizational needs. Some companies may only require a simple, linear rapid authoring creator. In contrast, larger companies may need a complete fleet of online training modules and courses to cope with their ever-growing employee learning needs.
When looking at the different eLearning authoring tools on the market to design and develop interactive online content, there are many things to consider, and sometimes it can feel overwhelming.
In this article, we will talk about the questions you need to ask yourself before making a purchase and reviewing the top 10 eLearning authoring tools from our perspective.
These authoring platforms are all available for US consumers; if you are looking at this article from outside the US, please be aware prices, products, and availability may differ.
I wanted to write this post because I have recently searched for an authoring tool at my company. I want to show my process that I took to find one that suited me in my role and allow me to meet the business learning objectives.
Lets’ have a look at other considerations.
This could be to design compliance training, e.g., privacy; it could be to introduce existing learning resources such as PowerPoint files into a modern, e-learning format, or to take things like older flash files and convert them for the modern online world into an engaging course.
Also, video is something that can be integrated into authored courses to increase interactivity with your content, and an authoring tool is a great way to manage this.
Other types of software such as video editing and screen-recording also get lumped into authoring tools as a group, but we will be focusing on eLearning Authoring Tools that specifically focus on SCORM or xAPI type of sharable content in this guide.
This is a real consideration you have to ponder, especially if your company will be paying for it; if you’re a freelancer, you have more scope and flexibility.
- The first thing you should do is map out what you are trying to achieve, what learning objectives you are trying to meet, and why would e-learning be an option to meet those goals.
- Next, work with a professional like a BA or PM and write down your high, medium, or low variants requirements.
- Narrow down your list of choices based on which requirements you have chosen. Check reviews, YouTube videos, e-learning resources such as eLearning industry and training industry
- Interview potential vendors
- Make your decision based on evidence and make sure your purchase meets the goals you are trying to achieve, not just because it’s the best or most expensive
Suppose you are already utilizing a blended approach to learning, or you are moving toward this approach. In that case, an e-learning authoring tool could very well be a necessary platform to acquire.
An authoring tool is a lot more than can you make good e-learning content with it. Remember, if you compare what an L&D department needs vs. what a freelancer may require could be very different, and you should make sure your needs are at the forefront of your decision.
Is it easy to use?
When developing e-learning content, the learning curve of new eLearning authoring tools should be pretty small. Spending too much time trying to learn the system can detract from creating great content. Is it easy to navigate, and can you develop interactions and courses without looking at 50 tutorials?
Also, what is the layout of the platform like? Is it easy to pick up, is it similar to what people have used previously, or are they trying to reinvent the wheel? Being user friendly is a crucial consideration of buying a tool like this, especially if the content or learners are not tech-savvy.
Will content be mobile responsive?
This of course, is a significant, big consideration as content that, when exported, will only work on a desktop is a net negative nowadays. Shift learning has found that 80% of the learners surveyed prefer to use mobile devices or a mixture of tools, including tablets; sole desktop users only accounted for 14% of their survey respondents.
Ensuring your eLearning authoring tools can adapt to different layouts and screen sizes can genuinely engage your students and make learning a much more enjoyable experience.
Is there a free trial?
Free trials are super important to be able to explore and test a system before making the purchase. This is a great way to test the user interface and what features are available.
Another good thing to try would be to create a course, try out the functionalities, add some scenarios, and then switch between admin and learner modes to see different viewpoints.
Can I convert my existing resources?
Do you have an abundance of PowerPoint presentations, have you made a bunch of standalone video tutorials or interview style videos and want to include them in you new e-learning courses?
These are big considerations you need to think about as it can really impact the usability of the program long-term. Are they only flash compatible or are they in current Microsoft or Adobe formats?
What about quizzes, assessments and tests?
Related: 8 Qualitative eLearning Assessment Methods To Track Online Learners Progress
Having a robust assessment engine is vital in an e-learning authoring tool. In fairness, you may want the quiz to come from your LMS, and that is possible, but it is always better to have tested your knowledge sections throughout the course itself, as well as quizzes at the end to check the knowledge retention of your learners.
Will these assessments communicate correctly with an LMS you may be using, or will they have to be used with little to no tracking, e.g., standalone.
What types of engaging interactions can you create?
There are numerous types of interactions that these programs can achieve; some require very little to no interaction, some are a bit more linear, e.g. click to reveal, and some have branching aspects where depending on what answers you select will dictate how you progress through the course. The type of interactions in a tool like these depends on what your needs are.
Will you be using this with an LMS or be exported to the web?
If you have a Learning Management System, you will be able to upload via SCORM, TinCan, or xAPI which allows analytics to track learner user data. This should be the preferred method if you wish to develop an all-encompassing online learning strategy.
If you don’t possess an LMS at your company, your only other realistic option is to export it to the web, usually a website. This is not preferred since you have minimal ways to track and utilize analytics except with a tool like google analytics, although this is a very sub-par method for learning.
Lastly, what is your budget?
Your budget is one of the most defining decision factors there is. Remember, you don’t always need to buy the most expensive, most feature-rich, or newest eLearning authoring tools.
When looking at platforms, make sure the features available meet the requirements you laid out in your planning, support structure, etc.
Numerous types of platforms are available for you to choose from. Usually, these can be desktop downloads, cloud-based, or open-source.
Desktop Download
The downside of a desktop download authoring tool is that upgrades and updates have to be done manually by your IT team as it is not cloud-based, and the authoring tool company cannot access your version of the program but can allow you to upgrade or update the system yourself.
It also means an internet connection is not necessary, as it is installed on your device. This has its advantages around not being halted from working because your Wi-Fi connection has dropped out temporarily.
Pricing models for this type of install are usually one-off payments or annual subscriptions.
Cloud-based solution
Lots of platforms, especially rapid authoring tools (to be discussed below), are cloud-based, which means that it’s easily accessible by remote workers, who can access content by using a username and password to log in. This makes it easier for collaborators, SME’s and other users to access the platform and edit or make recommendations on courses currently being developed.
When it comes to data, using a cloud-based solution, data will be stored on the e-learning tool servers, wherever they are stored. This may be a local, state, or federal law to ensure it is kept in specific regions or on a company by company basis, usually public businesses or NFP organizations).
Related: Will we live in the cloud or the desktop
The cloud is a fantastic invention that allows all data and content created on your account to be backed up at different intervals online. Cloud systems will enable you to log in at any time, create and edit content without worrying about data loss, as there is always a backup.
When it comes to pricing models, most cloud platforms are bundled into software as a service or (SaaS). This means that typically you will be paying a monthly or annual subscription based on how many users you have accessed the platform to create content.
Depending on how many users you have, pricing can rise, although this usually can be controlled by making sure only content creators have licenses for the program. Lastly, SME’s or approvers of e-learning courses, in some cases, can be given a link and can review the content without needing a license, which keeps costs down.
Lastly let’s talk about open source platforms
One of the most famous open-source authoring tools (which is an LMS) is Moodle. Open source means the source code (what makes the program function the way it does) can be edited and adapted with some decent technical knowledge.
This means that you may need a developer to assist with this, but it also means that the system can be highly configurable and customizable to your wishes. In contrast, desktop downloads and cloud-based solutions will be left as the vendor initially intended unless you ask and pay for specific customizations. The vendor’s team(s) would usually have to do it themselves.
Most open-source platforms like Moodle are free, as most of the work and coding have to be conducted by you or your organization. Remember though, just because they are free doesn’t mean there are no costs down the road. Costings like IT support, developers can rack up the $$$ if you’re not careful. Usually, you are not provided with ongoing support or customer success teams to coach you through the implementation process. This service is mostly provided through forums, groups, or communities.
So as I mentioned, open source can work if your budget is lower, but you will need to consider all potential costs and long-term requirements.
How do you know which ones are good and not so good?
Honestly, research, research, and did I forget to mention, research. Look at reviews from legitimate sites, g2, Capterra, etc for starters, as well as YouTube tutorials, which can give you a good idea of what you will be getting. Once you have narrowed down your list of choices, see if there is a free trial, or if not, can you get a test environment of the system (sometimes called a sandbox). This allows you to try before you buy.
Do they have numerous years of proven excellence in the e-learning space? Do the vendors have case studied, testimonials, and integrated to stay ahead of current and upcoming trends? Do they do what everyone else does, or do they push the envelope (a few years ago, this was branches)?
Do they have most or all of your high rated features on your requirements list? You don’t want buyer’s remorse, so make sure you are happy with the functionality before buying.
Lastly, what kind of support infrastructure do they have? Do they have 24/7 support, or do you get a forum? This is crucial to know, especially if you are new to e-learning or L&D as a whole, as the learning curve could be considerable.
Now it’s game time, let’s check out our top 10 e-learning authoring platforms.
Articulate 360
Articulate 360 products, services, and community is one of the most used e-learning platforms in the world with an abundance of support resources, 7+ million elements, and numerous platforms for content design and delivery.
Articulate 360 is a world-leading e-learning package of software solutions. That’s right, not just one, but multiple aimed at accomplishing different e-learning outcomes.
What separates Articulate 360 over all other authoring platforms is its two leading authoring apps, Storyline 360 and Rise 360. E-learning designers need to create engaging and highly interactive content and provide the most extensive online support communities in the industry to help with any questions or issues that arise while using the articulate 360 subscriptions.
Also, experts like David Anderson and Tom Kuhlmann provide excellent webinar tutorials on a wide variety of topics for using their system(s) and getting the most out of your e-learning design. Tom also runs the rapid authoring blog, which has some fantastic insights into how rapid authoring can be a great companion to more advanced interaction led authoring.
Articulate is also mobile responsive, so using any device will work great; although some Articulate products work better than others on mobile devices, on the whole, they are some of the best products out there for mobile use.
As mentioned above, when you purchase the 360 subscription, you get a full package of e-learning software products, but one of the best things you receive is the articulate 360 live and on-demand training. This gives you pre-recorded and live webinars to provide you with professional training on some of Articulate’s most essential topics and functionalities.
As mentioned, there are two leading authoring platforms in the Articulate 360 subscription; let’s talk about them more:
Storyline 360
Articulate Storyline is the flagship e-learning platform from the 360 subscription.
Storyline allows you to deliver interactive courses to every device—without tweaking a thing. You create your course in Storyline 360, then click publish. That’s it. Your course auto-magically plays everywhere, beautifully.
Rise 360
Articulate Rise is Articulate’s newest platform, a lightweight web-based cloud tool, and has been a complete game-changer in the world of rapid authoring. You should use Rise if you want to make beautiful, responsive e-learning courses that are super simple and slick to use, adapt to any device, and be built with simple to use blocks.
Another joy of Rise is how quickly you can create e-learning content. You can easily create content in days rather than weeks or months. The flip side to this is some of the advanced interactions found in Storyline are not found in Rise, but I feel this is part of Rise’s appeal.
The other significant element is you can import “storyline blocks” into Rise to have more advanced functionality without having to author in the flagship platform.
Review 360
Articulate Review is also a fantastic addition to the 360-subscription package.
This platform allows stakeholders or clients who don’t have an Articulate 360 license but can access your hosted course and add comments similar to social media on their thoughts, recommendations, and annotations to help course creators make better courses more aligned with stakeholders and SME’s needs.
Pricing
Articulate 360 gives freelancers and members of L&D teams alike all the functionality and abilities needed to make beautiful, creative content for clients and employees.
They have moved (like most tech companies) to a teams subscription/licenses for organizations with larger L&D departments and more staff, but also have licenses for freelancers in L&D and training as well as education discounts.
Teams = $1,299 USD annually
Freelancer (Personal) = $999 USD annually
Freelancer (Teams) = $1,299 USD annually
Academic (Personal) = $499 USD annually
Academic (Teams) = $649 USD annually
Specific eligible educational clients can receive a 50% discount on standard pricing
Try the Articulate 360 60-day free trial
Final thoughts
Articulate 360 is honestly my favorite of pretty much all eLearning authoring tools out there. It gives you an immense amount of resources including Storyline, Rise, Review, training resources, content library and access to one of the best online communities I have been a part of.
Articulate 360 definitely prides itself on continuous improvement and listens to what its users need, from development ideas, to technical support, I feel you will be happy with all of the support on offer.
One question that is worth answering is, when should you use the main 2 authoring platforms, Storyline and Rise. Articulate Rise is the rapid authoring tool in the package, and is great for probably 90% of the eLearning projects you will be taking part in, either as part of a company or freelancer. Whereas Storyline is best used when more advanced interactions, branching, and more interactivity is required for a particular course.
The only other thing I wish is if Articulate would spit out Storyline and Rise as if all you need is a stripped-back rapid authoring tool, $1,299 a year is expensive, but with everything included is a good deal.
Overall I would say buy, buy, buy, if you need a comprehensive eLearning platform that meets all of your needs, Articulate 360 is what you’ve been looking for.
Adobe Captivate
Adobe Captivate is a leading e-learning solution that aims to provide e-learning and instructional designers with all the tools required to develop stunning e-learning content and give designers simple to use functionality but with more than enough complexity to create advanced interactivity.
Publishing and managing e-learning content is made easy by Captivates simple to use UI, rapid authoring functionality, and forward-thinking responsive design to make L&D teams’ lives truly exciting.
Virtual Reality
One thing that separates Captivate from every other e-learning authoring platform is the ability to create virtual reality-based content in your courses. Immersive learning experiences using virtual reality can take a wide variety of forms, including; 360 office walk-throughs, first-aid situations, health, and safety simulations.
Using VR within e-learning can assist you in the development process, especially with experiential learning, placing employees or clients into scenarios that other learning forms are complicated to emulate.
Responsive Design
Adobe Captivate is exceptionally adept at giving L&D professionals all the tools they need to create responsive mobile-ready content.
The pre-designed Captivate slides help with making sure that content is fully adaptable on all devices.
Related: 9 Tips For Converting Content to Mobile Using Adobe Captivate
Pricing
There are numerous pricing models and plans for Captivate, let’s explore:
- Individual Subscription: US $33.99/month
- Perpetual License Price: US $1299
- Student Teacher Edition: US $399
- Upgrade Price: US $499
Remember you have other options to consider too, these include, individual subscriptions, Team subscriptions, Perpetual licenses, and Enterprise licenses for large organizations.
Want to give Captivate try, check out Adobe’s 30-day free trial
Final Thoughts
Adobe Captivate is definitely in the top 3 of great eLearning authoring tools on the market today.
One of the elements where Adobe have really pushed ahead is with virtual reality, for content like virtual tours etc, they are miles ahead of the competition.
On the usability side of the coin, the UI could do with some work, as it can look a bit dated, although this is subjective of course. If you have used adobe products extensively you will probably find Captivate’s learning curve smaller than others, elements like the hotkeys, overall layout, and asset-selection process. One of the biggest comments from users is they wish the license would be included in the adobe Creative Cloud package as right now it is a separate license to pay for.
To sum up, if you are a beginner to the world of eLearning then Captivate may have a steep learning curve for you, but it can pay off hugely with it’s enhanced interactions and engaging learning tools. It is equally excellent for an eLearning veteran with enhanced functionalities, ability to create beautiful, and deep eLearning courses and initiatives to assist you or your employees in a wide range of training types.
If you’re interested, check out Adobe’ free trial and give it a test run, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Elucidat
Elucidat is a British e-learning authoring platform that empowers L&D teams to be at the forefront of the learning industry and to be able to scale e-learning across small to large organizations seamlessly.
They also want to make e-learning faster, more comfortable, and more cost-efficient.
The fact that Elucidat is cloud-based makes it easy to design, develop, and rollout online training at the drop of a hat that puts users front and center of their own learning experiences.
Elucidat prides itself on giving you the ability to crowdsource e-learning, being flexible to client needs as well as updating their award winning platform to include the newest e-learning trends into their program to give the best creation experience for L&D professionals.
Let’s talk about some of Elucidat’s highlights and why you should consider them:
Engaging Content
Elucidat has a deep authoring tool engine, with a heap of features to give you the ability to continually stretch your imagination when creating course content. Everything from polling, hotspots, and branching content.
Quizzes and Assessments
Having a diverse amount of quiz and assessment elements is key to assessing your learners and to understand what they’ve learned and how well they will retain the knowledge amassed throughout your course. Elucidat allows you to set a passing score, pull from question pools, as well as adding gamification, badges, medals, etc., to give something for learners to work towards and complete.
Related: Learn Elucidat
Pricing
Elucidat is not very forthcoming on their website when it comes to pricing. Through our own digging, the most basic plan can work for up to 2000 learners.
All the different pricing plans offer the Elucidat program’s key functionality and should allow you to scale up your plan based on your business needs, headcount, etc.
If you want to know more, you are best served to contact Elucidat directly, of which they will be happy to help.
If you want to check out Elucidat, find out more here (They do not share their pricing online)
Final Thoughts
When we talk about Ellucidat, we are referring to an eLearning authoring tool that tr4ies to give you everything, and almost get’s there.
For people who do not want Articulate or Captivate this may be the best no. 3 there is.
With great, advanced functionality, in-built authoring tools (no 3rd party tools needed) and a beautiful, repeat, beautiful user interface for admins and learners, this could be the tool for you.
Arguably the best feature of Elucidat is the responsive slider tool that lets you scroll through your pages to mic what it would be like for a leaner on any device. Also the gamification for your courses is very robust and should meet your needs around badges and certificates.
So what are the downsides?
Firstly, Elucidat’s functionality doesn’t include the ability to record video or your screen, which compared to Articulate and Captivate is a thumbs down.
Lastly, and potentially the biggest flaw, is the price, and oooh the price is very, very high in comparison to its competitors. even with all it’s beautiful, generally easy to use tools, the price makes it very hard to recommend…but I will.
Overall, if you can deal with the sticker shock and lack of video recording, the beautiful UI, advanced functionality and ability to author stunning courses may win you over. All in all a phenomenal tool, but the price needs to be evaluated.
Lectora Online Introduction
So, we have now arrived at Lectora Online. Lectora is an all-in-one eLearning authoring solution made by Trivantis, a company specializing in eLearning and VR authoring tools, so you know you’re in good hands.
To give some perspective, Trivantis was recently bought by the eLearning brothers organization, along with Edulence, who create the Knowledge Link LMS. Anyone worth their salt in the eLearning space will have heard of eLearning brothers, most notably for their user-focused webinars and eLearning templates to use in your individual and commercial eLearning projects.
Lectora Online
Lectora Online is a cloud-based e-learning authoring solution that gives the author simple to more complex courses and for multiple users to collaborate on a single course together. As a platform, it has almost everything you could need from a functionality perspective to design and create a variety of
e-learning projects, from interactions, to games, all the way to offering different mediums of learning.
You can also record your screen and make screencast training videos and video simulations, which will be hugely beneficial if you work in a training or L&D team.
Lectora Online also gives you the ability to use their desktop version as well; if you are already using the desktop variant, Lectora allows an easy process migrating course content across to Lectora Online for continuous and seamless creation.
Lectora publishes as SCORM, xAPI, HTML5, AICC, & cmi5 directly to SABA, Docebo, Healthstream, KnowledgeLink, and any PENS-enabled LMS such as SCORM Cloud.
Features
The features list for Lectora online is robust, to say the least. Remember that, like Storyline and Captivate, Lectora is a slide-based application. Due to its immense functionalities and a host of eLearning brothers additions, including templates and resources, you will be locked into the PowerPoint style of working, which is cool because a lot of eLearning is still made this way can work well.
If you are looking for rapid authoring, you probably need to look at more lightweight options like Articulate Rise, Captivate Spark, or Co-assemble.
Mobile Responsiveness
Lectora Online works across all major devices, including mobile and tablet. Your content’s layout should adapt seamlessly and work for any user in any situation.
Pricing
The pricing model for Lectora Online is different from how the desktop version used to be. As you can see below, pricing starts at $899 USD for the silver suite package, which includes Lectora Online; also you get ReviewLink (online course review product, similar to articulate review) and the eLearning brothers asset library, which equates to around $4000 worth of goodies..
Final thoughts
Lectora Online by eLearning brothers is a strong and robust eLearning authoring tool. Although it uses traditional slide-based learning ala Storyline, it proves itself very well with heaps of functionality to meet any eLearning designer’s needs.
The drag and drop ability of Lectora is definitely near the top of the industry, as well as the ability to make multiple pieces of content in a simple manner makes Lectora an authoring tool worth your consideration for sure.
The cloud-based nature of Lectora online means there is no need for data storage per se, updates conducted by the vendor. This also allows you to collaborate easily with co-workers, SME’s and stakeholders.
If you are looking for an all in one eLearning solution with lots of advanced functionality, a wealth of template and library resources from eLearning brothers, and for people with a lower budget, Lectora is definitely worth your time.
Koantic
I got to be honest, I like Koantic; I like its ease of use, how in-depth it can be in the right ways, but also it has a simplistic way of working that is great for beginners and complex enough for seasoned instructional designers.
Why should you consider Koantic
I got to be honest, I like Koantic; I like its ease of use, how in-depth it can be in the right ways, but also it has a simplistic way of working that is great for beginners and complex enough for seasoned instructional designers.
Web-Based Platform
Firstly, it’s a totally web-based platform, which gives it a host of advantages, including ease of collaborative working, quicker updates, no desktop download required, and is more lightweight and fewer storage solutions, i.e., no on-site servers.
- Access your content from any device with a web browser
- No PC/MAC incompatibility issues
- Easily share accounts with course reviewers
- More efficient to work with due to fewer complex features
Cloud-Based Solution
The fact Koantic is a cloud-based solution that opens up numerous avenues for you as a user and administrator.
- No need to worry about large files taking up space on your computer
- Enables powerful real-time collaboration features
- No long waits for rendering; it all takes place on the cloud.
- No updates to install — they’re automatic.
- Shared library of content (videos, images, audio, etc.)
- Reuse content from other authors
Some of the other features available in Koantic are the following:
- Intuitive real-time collaboration tools
- All in one (No premium additions), everything you need is available
- UI is all in one window (no multiple tabs)
- Fully responsive across all devices
- HTML5 output available
- Fully complaint / SCORM, AICC, xAPi
If you are looking for a lightweight, cheaper, and easier to use cloud-based e-learning platform with a specialism in interactive video content, Koantic could very well be the right platform for you.
But…if you require advanced interactions, in-depth branching, and just more complex e-learning abilities, then something like Storyline or Captivate may be best for your needs.
Pricing
Let’s talk about pricing and see what plans are available to you:
As you can see, there are three main plans, which are based on the number of user accounts available. One is more based on an individual contributor. The others are based on teams licenses, which gives more scope for multiple authors to work collaboratively with co-workers and with additional storage.
Overall the pricing is below the industry average, especially compared to the top-rated e-learning authoring platforms like Storyline, but to be honest, programs like Koantic are operating on a different level, which is closer to rapid authoring but with elements of slide-based authoring design.
Final Thoughts
Koantic is a relatively new eLearning tool but has definitely carved out a niche in the eLearning marketplace.
I like how you have the ability to make wither a pure video lesson where you can edit everything from audio to the video or making a video within a video, all the way or a multi-page course which brings it closer to a more standard learning platform.
Also, the amount of functionality, animations, and customization available is pretty good considering the lightweight nature of the platform.
The fact it’s mobile responsive allows it to reach a wider audience considering over 65% of people learning by phone nowadays, and this is definitely a tick in the pro’s column.
Lastly, due to recent development, Koantic is quite feature-rich, although there is room to grow I think adding Koantic t your eLearning suite is definitely a great idea.
iSpring
If you have already been looking online for authoring tools, one thing you’ll notice on google is iSpring have a fantastic marketing team. They have many articles, high on google’s search pages, with numerous informative case studies and information about how iSpring is better than all the other authoring tools and LMS platforms. But…can you trust a business that always ends up at the top of the rankings on their lists? Let’s take a look…
iSpring is a robust, standalone e-learning authoring platform that started its existence and still is a PowerPoint add-on. The primary platform (iSpring Suite) starts its pricing at $770 USD per year with the ability add a host of additional services for a higher price; this package is called iSpring Suite Max ($970 USD) and includes: a content library, iSpring Space, Online Storage, a new Review Tool (coming soon) as well as 24/7 support.
As I mentioned earlier, iSpring is very astute at being a PowerPoint add-on or converting your PowerPoint materials into a more interactive e-learning format and fully integrates with PowerPoint to make e-learning a seamless experience.
How does it work with PowerPoint
When you first install iSpring and open Microsoft PowerPoint, you will find the iSpring Integration in the toolbar’s top right. From here, you can utilize iSpring’s in-depth functionality to revolutionize your e-learning using PowerPoints slide-based structure.
What about quizzes and assessments
Spring Suite comes with 14 pre-set question types you can use to ascertain your users’ knowledge and learning. The question templates included are sequence, drag and drop, and a lot more.
What other features are wirth speaking about
There are numerous other features of iSpring that really show how it can be the newest authoring tool in your e-learning toolbox; let’s have a look at what else is possible…
- Slide based or rapid authoring e-learning creation
- Add video into your courses, screencast tutorials, software simulations, and in-built video editing tools
- Interactions with branching scenario’s
- Content library with thousands of templates to use in your projects.
- Collaboration online space for you and other collaborators.
- SCORM compatible
- Responsive across all devices
- Included LMS – iSpring Learn
Pricing
As mentioned earlier, iSpring Suite retails at $770 USD, and iSpring Suite Max comes in at $970 USD annually. For the price, you are getting a huge amount of quality and quantity of e-learning software to assist you in creating terrific online learning creations.
Remember to utilize their 14-day free trial to see if it comes up to standard with your organizational or individual needs.
Final thoughts
When you really look at iSpring Suite, it has a huge amount of similarities with Articulate Storyline 360, including the main platform and a rapid authoring component too. iSpring Suite Max has more platforms than I have really seen in any other platform and e-learning software package and will definitely be a great addition to your e-learning arsenal.
Just be aware, though, if you are like me, and would prefer to develop your e-learning content from scratch and not through PowerPoint, then a product like Articulate or Captivate would probably be best served. The fact that iSpring markets itself as a PowerPoint add-on can be both a pro and a con, although, for me, this is not a pro and has a few disadvantages which would prevent me from making this purchase.
Raptivity
Raptivity is relatively new on the market and prides itself on its lightweight method of creating e-learning material. Overall, it is not on the same field as heavy hitters like Articulate and Captivate, and it doesn’t pretend to be either.
If you require more complex interactions or scenario’s, then Raptivity probably isn’t the platform for you, although its best use case, in my opinion, is probably in addition to a more heavyweight solution so that you can utilize the quick e-learning elements and integrate them with your more advanced courses easily and simply.
Raptivity is perfect if you are looking to create simple interactions and would be a good option if you or your business is looking into microlearning as a way of training people in a fast and linear way on easy to understand topics.
Another thing to note about Raptivity is due to its lightweight nature, it is really best used in creating question banks, quizzes, and learning integrations at the end of existing content, most notably in your PowerPoint presentations.
Related: Product review:; Raptivity
Raptivity Linker
Due to the fact that Raptivity is really only useful for creating single page interactions, Linker is a software that has been developed to link multiple interactions together to emulate what a more comprehensive would be able to do.
I would say it does this with various degrees of success, and to be honest, if you want to make more comprehensive e-learning courses, you should probably make the investment in a heavier duty platform.
Interactions and UI
Interactions available are very varied can be created to cover a wide variety of topics. Some of the UI still needs to be cleaned up, to be honest, and some elements can seem a little too childlike, but on the flip side, all buttons, dials, and options are where you would expect them and look good for the most part.
There are some serious limitations, though, limited on how you can export to mobile devices, little to no freeform functionality, and no screen recording to enable screen castings, and no ability to create software simulations. The only saving grace here, to be honest, is the ability to do rudimentary video editing, but it’s nothing to write home about.
Pricing
The pricing model for Raptivity is very reasonable but in-line with other lightweight, singular-purpose e-learning platforms.
Initially, there is a 14-day free trial. It then moves up to $15 per month or $30 per quarter and lastly $99 USD per year.
Final Thoughts
Overall, one of the best parts of Raptivity as an e-learning platform is 100% its ease of use and how quickly you can get up and running, around 15 minutes, and you can have multiple single page interactions loaded, which would give learners some great, engaging experiences to try.
The program is based on the “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) methodology, which gives the ability to easily see changes and amendments made to interactions with the editor on the left side.
Remember to switch between viewpoints if you are building with the likelihood of rendering out as HTML5.
Lastly, think of this tool as an addition to existing e-learning authoring platforms you already have or may purchase in the near future. Don’t expect this to be your all in one solution for your e-learning needs as it just doesn’t have the abilities needed but is great as a support tool.
Coassemble
Coassemble is an all in one LMS and one of the up and coming eLearning authoring tools, which gives you a bunch of functionalities that you will need for developing online learning.
Coassemble is a private company founded in Newcastle, Australia, and has offices in Australia as well as the US.
The platform is an extremely simple to use platform for creating, storing, and analyzing learning content. Coassemble is unique in the fact it allows you to create and author content directly from within the platform, as well as having LMS features, like being SCORM compliant, being able to track learners progress, send auto-generate emails to users, run reports to understand how learners are doing and understand if any gaps exist, and if so what content may be needed moving forward.
Related: How this Aussie startup secured $4.4 million after a 350% revenue boost and a refocus to the US
One of the negatives of Coassemble is that it is not very deep functionally, and compared to high-end LMS platforms or authoring tools like Articulate 360.
User-Centric Design
Coassemble is extremely simple to use, with being able to build and launch courses. Over 40 interactive, drag, and drop templates to assist you in your authoring needs. The responsive design interface allows you to make sure that all content you create will be viewable and playable across every device. The design is really aesthetically pleasing and extremely easy to produce very quickly.
Once learners have completed a course, they can be provided with a certificate to show they have completed and passed a course on the Coassemble that have your company branding and colors.
On the flip side, though, gamification on Coassemble is decent, although definitely lacks more advanced functionality around badges and medals, etc., where other platform’s, specially dedicated LMS systems.
Mobile Responsiveness
Coassemble, as an LMS, gives you the ability to upload and host courses that can be played across all devices. This could be on your phone, or you could learn using your new iPad, as well as using your computer at home or within the office (pre-Covid-19). As with most platforms that are responsive, the content itself will adjust well to different screen sizes.
Coassemble Cons
I think the main con is that Coassemble is fairly basic in its design and usability. This can be good that it’s easy to use, but when you get things more advanced in your use, e.g., needing to create social learning components such as leaderboards, newsfeeds, social media sections, etc. As well as this, there is just a lack of advancements and development; although this may change in the future as more resources are put into the program, as of today, it is definitely more of a lightweight platform compared to others out there.
Pricing
The pricing of Coassemble is extremely reasonable when it comes to pricing. As it stands, you can purchase a license on a monthly or annual basis; check out the prices below.
- Monthly – $299 USD p/m
- Annual – $269 USD p/m
Final Thoughts
Overall, if you are a small to medium-sized company looking for a simple to use, and very quick to produce all in one authoring tool and LMS and have a smaller budget, Coassemble is the platform for you.
Being able to swiftly develop easy to use e-learning content using Coassemble’s onboard authoring functionality, as well as LMS Infrastructure gives you terrific bang for your buck. When making a purchase, you don’t need an authoring tool and LMS separately.
But with everything already stated, from the ease of use, to having an all-in-one e-learning solution, Coassemble hits the high notes. Suppose you have more advanced requirements, surveys, engagement tools, virtual classrooms, and leaderboards, amongst other elements. In that case, Coassemble may come up a bit short though, especially when you are engaging in vendor demos as the functionality may be a bit too lightweight for your needs.
To conclude, if you want an all in one e-learning solution for a relatively low price and do not have advanced authoring or learning management needs, then Coassemble is worth a look.
Adeptly
Adeptly is an e-learning authoring tool specializing in creating game-based learning to track, assess and change behavior.
The way adeptly works brings a new way of thinking to learning and development whether you are an individual or a business looking to ramp up your training infrastructure.
One of the best things about Adeptly is that it allows corporate training teams to mock-up pretty much any situation or scenario and simulate this in a game to truly engage learners in the workplace.
Features
Adeptly is an e-learning authoring tool specializing in creating game-based learning to track, assess and change behavior.
The way adeptly works brings a new way of thinking to learning and development whether you are an individual or a business looking to ramp up your training infrastructure.
One of the best things about Adeptly is that it allows corporate training teams to mock-up pretty much any situation or scenario and simulate this in a game to truly engage learners in the workplace.
1st step – Choosing a theme
Initially you will want to setup an adeptly theme to make sure that the look, feel and aesthetic align with your business brand and beliefs, as well as getting the correct vibe for your learners.
- Customizable themes to suit the needs of your business
- Create from default industry types including Finance, Travel and Construction and more
- Customize how scoring works
- Learners can make their own decisions in an adaptive way, learn from decisions made, feedback provided to make better decisions moving forward
2nd step – Add your learning content
Usually by this stage, you will have mocked-up a storyboard of your course / game, and potentially created a 1st stage prototype of what it will look like, now you are ready to create your content. The content creation tool is really different from most authoring tools, it asks you questions about how you would like the game to be designed and how it will evolve. As you answer the given questions, the AI will start to build the course.
- Easy to use editor
- Add chapters and pages
- Create decisions
- Set outcomes
- View and edit your decision tree
3rd Step – Measure behavior trends
Now you have built your corporate learning gaming experience you will want to find ways to analyze the results of employees quests through your quest. Now we are in step 3 we can look at evaluation and measurement methods.
- Easy to understand analytics
- See uplift in performance
- Assess each learner’s ability
- Gauge confidence
- Validate Training
Pricing
Final Thoughts
I like Adeptly and think it can be a great addition to your corporate e-learning strategy. I would say it is unlikely that adeptly can be your all in one solution as it is probably too lightweight and is focusing on a very specific methodology of training employees in a workplace setting.
The ability of Adeptly to give you very simple scenario’s to build out gaming content very quickly and easily is definitely where it comes into it’s own, and gives L&D teams a trusted partner to create content that is different from the norm but also extremely powerful at changing behavior in the workplace.
Something which would make the product even better would be if more games were able to be created within the license agreement, as you don’t get the opportunity to create many, but for smaller organizations this may be sufficient.
Overall, if the price is in your organization’s budget, and you would like a new and different way to educate your employees using gamification as a core fundamental, I would recommend Adeptly.
Talentcards
Welcome to one of the best microlearning platforms on the market today brought to you by the same people who provided TalentLMS. Talentcards is a cloud-based microlearning platform designed to take a linear topic, e.g., compliance and break it down into bite-sized chunks of information.
Talentcards is best served when you have a knowledge gap in your organization, and need to break down complex concepts, methods, or processes. Then turn it into something that lots of people can understand and learn and apply what they have learnt easily in their every day roles.
A huge benefit of TalentCards is it can help businesses mass-train their employees with easily-digestible content. Course developers can create beautiful training cards in seconds and deliver training over mobile to reach learners anytime, anywhere.
Mobile Delivery
When you have created your cards on the platform (desktop would be best) you can deploy the cards into your training course which can be accessed by your learners through a mobile application. When using Talentcards on mobile, the layout moves to a responsive view, allowing you to quickly learn on the move, when out and about and in a home or office.
Why use cards
You can develop learning cards online and deliver them via a mobile app to train people on any subject linear or non-linear. With TalentCards, users get easy-to-digest learning materials, learn all aspects in a fun and effortless way, take part in assessments to ascertain knowledge gained, use gamification elements to review learning performance, and train in a variety of topics, anytime. Anyone can utilize the app with upto 5 users and after that you need to sign up to a paid pricing plan.
Is there a free trial
Yes a free trial exists for up to 5 users
Pricing
Free Plan – up to 5 users – $0 USD per month
Small – Up to 50 users – $49 USD per month
Basic – Up to 100 Users – $79 USD per month
Plus – Up to 250 users – $179 USD per month
Premium – Up to 500 Users – $279 USD per month
Enterprise – Over 500 Users – Get quote
Final thoughts
Talentcards is a great program that can work for small, medium or large organizations.
One of the main benefits of the platform that doesn’t get spoken about enough is that Talentcards makes learning fun and enjoyable, which is sometimes missing from corporate training.
Talentcards is not an apple’s to apple’s comparison than the rest on this list, but I thought it was an important inclusion.
The reason for this is that Microlearning is rising in popularity at a rate of knots and the idea of simple and fun training put into bite sized pieces is in vogue right now and offers tangible benefits to your organization.
Overall, I would say that Talentcards should be on your list of potential e-learning authoring tools but not as your core platform, more as a supplementary solution due to Talentcards not having the functionality of a more comprehensive tool.
Related: How to integrate Talentcards and TalentLMS
One way to see if Talentcards will work for your organization is to pick a topic where needs exist, and ask people to take an initial assessment with key questions.
Start using the free trial, which gives you up to 5 users, and pilot it with a small project team and see the results. Then see where gaps exist, develop some content on Talentcards, and roll it out to the group. Afterwards ask for feedback and run an assessment to test the results. If the team gained in comprehension, it may be worth speaking to your stakeholders about purchasing it for more of the organization and your pitch should include the data you have collected.
If all goes well, you should have stakeholders and SME’s on board and should have everything in place to make Talentcards a successful inclusion into your e-learning architecture.
So what's Taughtup’s final conclusion
Even after all of this information we have provided, we know it can still be an awful lot of work and effort to choose an e-learning tool. There is so much to consider with authoring tools, full cloud-based, desktop download, Microlearning, all of these are valid options but choosing the correct choice is still very difficult.
Your choices are vast, including our top 10 on this list. You need to operate within your given project budget as well as meeting your authoring platform requirements.
Our advice would be to make sure you have a smallish project team with SME’s and IT resources when needed. Work through your requirements gathering, create proposals (if applicable).
Lastly, try to take up free trials, get a feel for what these e-learning authoring platforms can do, and if they meet your needs. Also, make sure they fit within your learning strategy (if you have one) to make the integration and content creation process as simple and seamless as possible.
Have fun with the process and with your eLearning journey.
Hey, I’m Kris Taylor. I’m a Learning and Development professional currently in the healthcare field, with over 8 years of experience in the area of corporate education. I have created numerous instructional content for various corporate projects including eLearning, in-person facilitation, and virtual training across a wide variety of learning interventions and sectors. On Taughtup, I discuss topics ranging from how to succeed through K-12 to college all the way to instructional design tips for L&D designers.
