Absorb LMS vs. Articulate 360

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Absorb LMS
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Absorb LMS aims to empower organizations to train employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. The LMS software focuses on aligning learning needs with business demands.N/A
Articulate 360
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Articulate 360 is an e-learning course development subscription offering. It includes every Articulate authoring tool, including the latest version of Storyline and Rise, a web-based app for creating inherently responsive courses. The vendor offers a 30-day free trial.
$549
per year
Pricing
Absorb LMSArticulate 360
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Academic - Personal
$549.00
per year
Academic - Teams
$699.00
per year
Freelancer - Personal
$1,099.00
per year
Teams
$1,399.00
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Absorb LMSArticulate 360
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional DetailsArticulate 360 is available on the Articulate website and through Articulate Authorized Resellers. The Articulate 360 Teams plan is available for $1,399 per user, per year, and individual subscriptions perfect for freelancers are available for $1,099 per user, per year (all prices USD). Eligible educational customers receive a 50% discount on list prices.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Absorb LMSArticulate 360
Considered Both Products
Absorb LMS
Chose Absorb LMS
Absorb LMS was a lot more intuitive and user friendly, it also provided a much better user experience. The analtyics were a vast improvement as well.
Chose Absorb LMS
Our organization previously used LMS365, which did not support eCommerce and had difficulties supporting external users. (My understanding is the issues with external users may have been directly related to our Microsoft implementation and not directly LMS365's fault, but it …
Chose Absorb LMS
We felt Absorb LMS best fit our needs.
Chose Absorb LMS
I think Absorb LMS is, by far, the most clean and visually appealing platform, while being easy to use and still providing powerful functionality.
Chose Absorb LMS
We vetted several web-based systems, but I don't recall all of the names.
Chose Absorb LMS
We were very disappointed with D2L and Workday's ability to customize what or how content is shown to users. The platforms can be robust but the onboarding time for new administrators is much longer than Absorb. Workday's current offering (2023) for external learners is …
Chose Absorb LMS
Absorb LMS has all the functionality that is now expected from a premier LMS. But it also has superb customer support. At a fair price point
Articulate 360

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Absorb LMSArticulate 360
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
8.5
61 Ratings
4% above category average
Articulate 360
-
Ratings
Course authoring9.148 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.255 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal9.255 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content8.043 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.941 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.256 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments8.450 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management9.246 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration9.659 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.156 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning6.926 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification6.425 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning8.439 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Absorb LMSArticulate 360
Small Businesses
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
iSpring Suite
iSpring Suite
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
iSpring Suite
iSpring Suite
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
iSpring Suite
iSpring Suite
Score 9.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Absorb LMSArticulate 360
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(63 ratings)
9.3
(72 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(5 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(1 ratings)
9.1
(9 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(50 ratings)
8.6
(16 ratings)
Online Training
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Absorb LMSArticulate 360
Likelihood to Recommend
Absorb Software Inc.
Absorb LMS is appropriate for any continuing education organization or company that wants a reliable platform to host enduring educational content. It has been a great experience in terms of building and designing courses, monitoring learner progress, and as another touch point for learners to access other resources our organization offers.
Read full review
Articulate Global, Inc.
I am not a fully trained instructional designer, but I found the user experience to be enjoyable. I have crafted my own revision of a course using Articulate 360 and while the process was lengthy, I found edits and changes to be relatively easy to implement. I also had a great deal of fun making tweaks, organizing and adding imagery. I think with regard to creating online courses/products for students to utilize, this is a great program and serves several levels of instructional design well (from me being brand new to this, to my supervisor who is newly certified, up to a longtime LD). I don't know that this is wholly relevant to courses that are live, be they in-person or virtual (Zoom webinars for example). Most of the material created in Articulate 360 tends to sit on the side of an on-demand, at-your-own-pace as far as coursework is concerned. A live course with an instructor, while it could be utilized in a live setting, the way it would be used I am unsure would be as dynamic or worthwhile as other more traditional options.
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Pros
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Usability - Both the User and Admin Experience is so simple and intuitive. The admin tools are clearly defined and laid out, yet the functionality makes it still powerful.
  • Integration - We used the Scheduled Data Imports and Exports to connect with our HRIS tool. After the initial configuration, it has worked reliably and gives me all the custom data I need to make assignments and reporting a breeze.
  • Design - I know it's covered a little bit in the Usability above, but the site just looks fantastic. There are a lot of options to customize and fit your branding requirements and all of the thumbnails/posters/billboards/etc give a very visual and appealing look to the LMS. Much better than I've seen in other products.
Read full review
Articulate Global, Inc.
  • Rise is clean and professional. It looks polished to users and is easy for learners to follow.
  • They have outstanding support.
  • Storyline allows you to create some very engaging intricate interactive learning.
  • Generally, their products are user friendly.
  • They are considered the Gold standard in elearning authoring.
  • Their courses can be read on phones, tablets computers. etc.
  • They also have a powerpoint add in for making really nice slides.
  • Their review tool, allows you to easily send the courses to reviewers who can update in course.
Read full review
Cons
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Uploading documents is perceived as hard for employees, especially with video uploads.
  • Sometimes the program lacks and then an employee has to start all over.
  • Spacing courses is possible but not with a certain amount of time, which would be useful if the next course could open after a week/month instead of when the employee finishes the previous course.
Read full review
Articulate Global, Inc.
  • I'd like to see more variety in the types of interactions available. The ones that exist now (hot spot, drag n' drop, flip cards, etc.) are useful, but it would be nice to have more options without having to build something custom in Storyline to pull over. For example, I'd like a more elaborate sorting activity, customizable drag and drop activity, game options such as crosswords, options that allow user response, and more variety in the quizzing and assessment.
  • The built-in branching scenario feature requires a bit of trial and error. I'd like to see a snapshot, at-a-glance view of the scenario so it easier to see where the branching is, or where its missing.
  • The built-in assessment features are pretty limited - the Knowledge Check block has only multiple choice, multiple response, fill in the blank and basic matching. There is the option to pull in a test bank which is great, but it would be great to have more options built-in without having to develop something more elaborate in Storyline.
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Likelihood to Renew
Absorb Software Inc.
We have no plans to move away from Absorb at this time. It has all of the functionality we are looking for in a learning management system and we have a lot of info stored in our LMS system for trainings including all of our current and past employee transcripts. It is also getting easier to manager with being able to connect the LMS to ADP to update employee reporting/department/location/etc. We don't have a need or reason to move away from Absorb at this time.
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Articulate Global, Inc.
Articulate 360 is an essential tool in our organisation's workflow. The money that we make through its use, far outweighs the cost of renewing our licenses. Articulate 360 has exposed us to new clients that we may not have otherwise encountered if we did not subscribe to the Articulate services.
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Usability
Absorb Software Inc.
It's a great place to house our trainings and keep things interesting for our associates.
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Articulate Global, Inc.
I rate the overall usability of Articulate 360 ​​with an 8, because of the many possibilities the software offers me. The software ensures that almost anyone without knowledge of coding can develop an interactive online course in a fairly simple and pleasant way.
Read full review
Support Rating
Absorb Software Inc.
I know the support team is hard at work! We are currently dealing with a confusing issue where our buttons don't connect to the pages we assign them, and they have been looking into this for a number of weeks. I hope they will unravel the issue soon so we can role out our modules!
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Articulate Global, Inc.
It took forever to get someone to respond--either by email or by phone--directly to a pricing and licensing question. It is unfortunate that a company that has such potential as a streamlined course building/authoring tool not only missed the boat with service but also proves itself to be all fluff and no substance.
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Online Training
Absorb Software Inc.
I meet and do training with my absorb support every week. and I have all my questions answered! it's great
Read full review
Articulate Global, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Absorb Software Inc.
No answers on this topic
Articulate Global, Inc.
It is pretty straight forward and easy to implement is you are already creating eLearning. If you have old courses created in other versions of Articulate I recommend you update them to the new version even though it is not necessary (especially From Storyline3 to 360) but if you don't you may find difficulty opening and keeping things straight
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Alternatives Considered
Absorb Software Inc.
Our organization previously used LMS365, which did not support eCommerce and had difficulties supporting external users. (My understanding is the issues with external users may have been directly related to our Microsoft implementation and not directly LMS365's fault, but it was nonetheless a deal breaker for us.) Docebo was the runner up in our LMS selection process and I spent significant time chatting with the team at Docebo. It seemed like a strong competitor to Aborb. Ultimately, Absorb was both slightly more cost-efficient for our scenario.
Read full review
Articulate Global, Inc.
Adobe Captivate has a ton of incredible functionality. You're able to fully customize user experiences through interactive elements, buttons, transitions, hiding and activating various elements, and so on. But overall Captivate is insanely difficult for someone new to the tool to learn. Most of what I learned about Captivate, I had to do by trial and error or by watching Paul Wilson's YouTube videos. I find Articulate 360 to be far more intuitive
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Return on Investment
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Course enrollments and completions have increased by 500% since implementation
  • Employee visits to our learning centre have increased by 300% since implementation
  • Cost saving from a time perspective as we can automate a lot of the admin work we used to do.
  • Pre Absorb we had about 3 or 4 e-learnings that were available. We now have over 100 that are accessible to all employees
  • Ability to seamlessly integrate with Workday and Udemy allowing all learning to be in one place, people data to be imported from WD, and very comprehensive reporting
Read full review
Articulate Global, Inc.
  • I am an independent user so far so no ROI; however it has clearly made a positive impact on my course as my students love the clear navigation interface and know exactly where to find content.
  • On point to consider is that it has no forum option on its lesson option so this hinders some asynchronous users from interacting with others on the course.
  • Users have expressed many positive feedback from using Articulate 360 which increases productivity and engagement.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Absorb LMS Screenshots

Screenshot of a company's unique identity with a training interface that is custom-designed for the brand.Screenshot of a company's image and values with a training interface that is tailored to the brand's specific needs.Screenshot of the course creation workflow, that offer a diverse set of formats, including instructional videos, quizzes, and assessments.Screenshot of Absorb's course details page, accessible from the course catalog dashboard, used to give learners an understanding of the course material.Screenshot of learners' progress insights, used to make data-driven decisions with the reporting capabilities of Absorb LMS.Screenshot of course creation with Create AI Beta.

Articulate 360 Screenshots

Screenshot of Creating a course in RiseScreenshot of Articulate 360Screenshot of Storyline 360Screenshot of Rise 360Screenshot of Content Library 360Screenshot of Review 360