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Adobe Captivate vs. Adobe Learning Manager vs. TalentLMS

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Adobe Captivate

    Score5.9 out of 10
    N/AAdobe Captivate is an elearning authoring and course design tool (or LCMS). It supports mobile HTML5 content. Captivate’s users are commonly midsized businesses to enterprises. Adobe Captivate includes some prebuilt assets as well as customizable workflows.

    $33.99

    per month

    Adobe Learning Manager

    Score7.6 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Adobe Learning Manager is a Learning Management System developed by Adobe Inc. that offers personalized learning at scale to employees, partners and customers alike. Compliant with GDPR guidelines, SOC2 TYPE 2 and FedRAMP Certifications, Adobe Learning Manager integrates with Adobe Experience Manager Sites, Adobe Commerce, Marketo Engage with out-of-the-box components and any other application through Open APIs, offering hybrid learning programs and detailed analytics.…N/A

    TalentLMS

    Score8.2 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    TalentLMS is an LMS built for training success, presented as fully customizable and easy to manage, so that teams embrace training while feeling right at home. It is used to provide the right training to any team and every use, while giving expert guidance and support every step of the way.

    $149

    per month 1-40 users

    Pricing
    Adobe CaptivateAdobe Learning ManagerTalentLMS
    Editions & Modules
    Subscription
    $33.99
    per month
    Student & Teacher Edition
    $399
    one-time fee
    Upgrade
    $499
    one-time fee
    Pereptual License
    1,299
    one-time fee
    No answers on this topic
    Core
    $149
    per month 1-40 users
    Grow
    $299
    per month 1-70 users
    Pro
    $579
    per month 1-100 users
    Enterprise (Custom plan)
    Custom
    annual plan Starts at 1000 users
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Adobe CaptivateAdobe Learning ManagerTalentLMS
    Free Trial
    YesYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsUsers can stay on the Forever Free plan and upgrade, or downgrade or cancel at any time. Higher volume plans available at additional cost. Discount available for annual billing, and for nonprofits.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Adobe CaptivateAdobe Learning ManagerTalentLMS
    Considered Multiple Products
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Captivate is SIGNIFICANTLY more user-friendly than Storyline or Flash. We found Storyline challenging and not as integrated as Captivate and Flash made it much harder to make edits to older content. While Storyline is viable we just don't feel it has the same capability or …
    Incentivized
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe Learning Manager
    There is no comparison. ALM is in a class all by itself.
    Incentivized
    Epignosis
    Chose TalentLMS
    Out performs and is less expensive than any of the other top LMS platforms in the industry!
    Incentivized
    Chose TalentLMS
    Among all of the options that we evaluated TalentLMS presented the best value for the features that we required. In this tier of event management software tell him TalentLMS was one of the few that offered all the features that we needed at a reasonable price.
    Incentivized
    Chose TalentLMS
    TalentLMS is user friendly and simple to learn. It is a well functional tool for professional development. It is stable and allows us to offer courses for 3 different types of learners by utilizing 3 different branches. Canvas was more cumbersome.
    Incentivized
    Chose TalentLMS
    In my opinion, TalentLMS is so much better, it is not even in the same realm of ALM. The ease of use of the interface. Creating Groups. Enrolling Group. Reports!!!!!!!!!
    Incentivized
    Chose TalentLMS
    We had to evaluate several platforms, some local in our country and then Adobe and neither could accommodate our business processes. Therefore, we went to a less academic and more commercial-based LMS in order for our business process to work.
    Incentivized
    Chose TalentLMS
    Excellent platform. More user friendly and adaptable than Adobe and Ispring. More adaptable than either of these programmes. Better analytics and better reporting that give better information to managers.
    Incentivized
    Chose TalentLMS
    We evaluated vendors quite a while ago so I don't remember all but there was a shortlist I've added here. TalentLMS was either significantly more cost-effective and/or had a much better feature set. This remains true today from what I've seen at a high level. I mean this when I …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    87%
    Would buy again
    75 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    55 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    50 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    69 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    43 Answers
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    49 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    84%
    Happy with the feature set
    72 Answers
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    55 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    51 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    87%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    48 Answers
    90%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    36 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    50 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    53 Answers
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    36 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    47 Answers
    Features
    Adobe CaptivateAdobe Learning ManagerTalentLMS
    Learning Management
    Comparison of Learning Management features of Adobe Captivate and Adobe Learning Manager and TalentLMS
    Feature
    Adobe Captivate
    9.1
    31 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Adobe Learning Manager
    7.6
    144 Ratings
    8% below category average
    TalentLMS
    8.5
    50 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Course authoring8.030 Ratings8.1126 Ratings8.634 Ratings
    Course catalog or library9.018 Ratings8.0139 Ratings8.334 Ratings
    Player/Portal8.024 Ratings7.8134 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning content9.024 Ratings7.0127 Ratings8.231 Ratings
    Progress tracking & certifications9.026 Ratings6.0135 Ratings9.049 Ratings
    Learning reporting & analytics9.019 Ratings7.0133 Ratings8.847 Ratings
    Social learning10.014 Ratings8.0114 Ratings7.322 Ratings
    Gamification8.02 Ratings8.025 Ratings7.624 Ratings
    Mobile friendly00 Ratings6.8117 Ratings8.744 Ratings
    Assignments00 Ratings7.8125 Ratings8.546 Ratings
    Compliance management00 Ratings8.0107 Ratings8.842 Ratings
    Learning administration00 Ratings7.0132 Ratings8.949 Ratings
    Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning00 Ratings9.029 Ratings8.826 Ratings
    eLearning Content
    Comparison of eLearning Content features of Adobe Captivate and Adobe Learning Manager and TalentLMS
    Feature
    Adobe Captivate
    8.4
    1 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Adobe Learning Manager
    -
    Ratings
    TalentLMS
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-Lingual Support7.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Structured Learning10.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Historical Metrics8.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cloud-Based Content10.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automation & Integration7.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Adobe CaptivateAdobe Learning ManagerTalentLMS
    Small Businesses
    Pluralsight Skills
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Tovuti LMS
    Score6.7 out of 10
    Tovuti LMS
    Score6.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Renaissance myON
    Score10 out of 10
    iSpring LMS
    Score9.6 out of 10
    iSpring LMS
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    A Cloud Guru (discontinued)
    Score8 out of 10
    Bridge LMS, Skills & Performance Management
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Bridge LMS, Skills & Performance Management
    Score7.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe CaptivateAdobe Learning ManagerTalentLMS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (128 ratings)
    7.0
    (149 ratings)
    8.9
    (51 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (9 ratings)
    6.0
    (12 ratings)
    9.2
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    7.0
    (45 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    1.8
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.8
    (18 ratings)
    3.4
    (9 ratings)
    8.8
    (44 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.7
    (2 ratings)
    1.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.3
    (28 ratings)
    Configurability
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    8.5
    (30 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    8.5
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    8.7
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    5.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Adobe CaptivateAdobe Learning ManagerTalentLMS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Adobe
    Captivate is well suited for instruction designers who want to build attractive, personalized, interactive, energetic lessons. It's also a good choice for someone who wants to build something innovative because Captivate gives the developer so much control over so many aspects.
    But if someone wanted something built quickly, generically and didn't care about holding the viewer's attention, then Captivate might be an expensive tool. That person might be more satisfied with a cheaper and easier to learn authoring tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    It's good if you have a good use case for that feed. I do know that you have to incorporate it in a process in isolation. It's not you don't realize the full value, so you have to incorporate it into an overall improvement process. I would say the pro cases are marketing optimization with respect to campaigns. And I would say that the areas it's not well suited is in distilling attribution. So if you were to take all of the improvements that it suggested, the numbers exceed revenue, which isn't real, but that's a hard problem to solve. Nobody's really solved that problem well. So distilling the attribution piece would be good. And it is well suited for marketing campaigns in the ideation phase of so
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    TalentLMS is user-friendly enough for someone new to LMS management can get a site up and running in a relatively quick manner. It is rather intuitive to operate. My needs have been a rather small scale of 400 learners and TalentLMS more than meets the need to produce a professional-looking and operational website to send customers and staff. The point here is that although I do not know how well it can be up-scaled, it certainly delivers for small to medium organizations to need to get content online
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Adobe
    • Quickly adding in graphics, text, and interactive buttons.
    • Has extensive variables and branching for additional customization, beyond the competition.
    • Has 360 degree capability which competitors don't offer (I have not used this feature).
    • High degree of customization and personalization.
    • True responsive screen display on all devices, viewable as you are creating the training. This is different than some competitors - some just shrink the screen, but Adobe Captivate allows actually removing or moving or changing items at different screen sizes.
    • If you like Flash, it has Flash output, although it's going away in 2020. Personally, I think this is an outdated technology.
    • Many advanced capabilities. I chose this product due to the capabilities.
    • Comes with assets, templates, people, head shots, and full body—excellent.
    • Adobe Captivate is the authoring tool. It integrates with Adobe Captivate Prime - which I highly recommend if you want to truly take advantage of all of its features in reporting, administration, compliance, and social learning. (I didn't use Prime because you essentially need 100+ students to affordably use Prime.) If you look at my chart of what Captivate is capable of, I can't say that Captivate has a lot of the reporting features because they are part of Prime/SCORM, although, with Captivate's customization, you might be able to do most of them if you are up to it, but I did not.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    • Rich and engaging learning experiences that capture employees' attention.
    • Is multi-device capable so our teams can take classes where it's most convenient for them during the day, especially if they don't have an assigned static workstation?
    • Allows us to personalize compliance training based on where our employees are at in the organizational chart, competencies, and requirements.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    • Report creation and distribution
    • Course creation, launch, and individual assignments
    • End user friendly for people with little computer skills
    • API integration with such platforms as ADP, Microsoft.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Adobe
    • Clunky interface, it takes a lot of extra clicks to get places compared to other Adobe apps and competitor's eLearning software.
    • Would be nice if it was part of creative cloud, or at least in the group of apps you can add through Creative Cloud.
    • More regular and meaningful updates. Compared to flagship apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Captivate is like the read headed step child. Competitors excel at providing regular updates with clear change documentation. How are we still using Captivate 2019 in 2022?
    • The interface feels like it is still stuck in the 90s, would be nice if it was more modern and better in-line with flagship adobe offerings.
    • Variables and associated menus are a nuisance to work with vs some of the clever drop down and content-sensitive options in Articulate Storyline.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    • High initial set-up cost and licensing fees for all employees at one go
    • Once a courses been enrolled by employee, there's no function to remove those courses by themselves.
    • Mobile version not working very well and some contents not able to load, e.g. Leaderboard, Level.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    • Email notifications have arbitrary limits on what information can be included. For example, you cannot include the user password in any notification email regarding course enrollment, group enrollment, etc.
    • Notification emails are not sent out in a reasonable time frame. Sometimes, it takes over 20 minutes for a new user to get their registration email.
    • It would be nice to get reports in the base domain containing customer user fields from various branches.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Adobe
    We have hundreds of courses that were created in Adobe Captivate. It will take us a while to convert to Articulate. We'll need a license for another year and/or until Adobe comes out with a true update to the software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    Currently, our company uses this program and another competitor for our learning management software. We like the adaptability of this program and appreciate the customer service that Adobe provides, however the other program is starting to turn out to be a better value for our company as they improve their compatibility.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    The ease of use, the robustness of the offering, and familiarity. It does everything we need and probably more. We likley don't utilize all the functionality it has as it does what we want it to without having to dig that deep into its tools. Their course library also has saved us some time in terms of saving time from creating some basic courses.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Adobe
    Adobe Captivate does take some getting used to. There are features that are much more convoluted than they need to be, but overall it is a great product with a some excellent features. Being in a pretty small market, Adobe Captivate and Articulate Storyline dominate the space. They are not the same software, but allow for eLearning authoring. Each has their benefit and their downside, but, for me, Adobe Captivate edges out Storyline.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    In general, the user experience in Adobe Learning Manager is very satisfactory. The layout of the interface, the structure and the order of the available functionalities make it very intuitive and usable. The adaptation to mobile devices is very convenient since most of the participants connect through these electronic devices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    The system is intuitive. It does not have a lot of features that are hidden behind secret menus or elsewhere. There are often multiple ways to get to the same place through different menus without having to go back to the home or root menu. It makes things pretty easy. Additionally, if there is something I can't figure out, there is documentation available to help with that.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Adobe
    On a few occasions, I've logged in to issue a test to a staff member and my course would just spin. I've had to reschedule several test attempts due to this. In my opinion, the issue was not resolved by Adobe
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    I have never run into an issue with downtime in 5 plus years.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Adobe
    The performance of Adobe Captivate Prime is also extremely good. The user interface is fast and easy to load. The complexity is not nearly as bad as some of the other programs on the market. Speed was not impacted.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    It loads fast. Screen transitions are quick. Nothing seems to ever lag.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Adobe
    It is difficult to get in touch with Adobe Captivate support. With a seemingly limited number of resources, mostly outsourced, getting in contact with someone to help troubleshoot an issue is challenging. Typically wait times are long, and the desired path to resolution is to use an existing knowledge base or a self-help guide. It is certainly not a user-friendly experience.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    I think they have a competent, friendly and "resolving" team. I have only ever been met with a willingness to assist any and every query I have come across. Roy who is one of the technical people is amazing, and so is my Customer Success Manager, Hema! I do not know what I would do without them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    Quick answer, comprehensive, and customized. I sent an email with multiple questions and feedback about their new UI, and the agent addressed all of them directly and honestly no sugar-coating and no call center lingo. Most questions can also be addressed directly in their UI with a really good help center widget.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Adobe
    Training by my staff was quick. Could have been a bit longer. Had to pick up on things myself
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Adobe
    I'm only aware of the problems Adobe Captivate had with SumTotal LMS and Upside LMS, requiring extensive contact with both internal and external support staff to fix the problems. We had no problems at all with Articulate.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    Trial period was great, and It let me plenty of time to try the different feature of the platform. However, when we decided to move forward, the ADOBE team was slow and not reactive at all. Actually after 2 years, I am still waiting for answers which is quite unacceptable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    Implementation was relatively easy. When we set up a second branch, we needed a little help. But the support area is well-detailed. My clients had no experience with an LMS and their digital skills were limited. We had a long way to go. Nevertheless, it was relatively easy. It was rather quick!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Adobe
    I think that Articulate360 is more user-friendly and has a cleaner, more updated look. If you can edit a PDF, then you can use Articulate 360. Adobe Captivate may be more challenging for the designer, but it has more features. We chose Adobe Captivate because we want the option to create interactive learning environments. Adobe Captivate plays well with the other Adobe design products including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premier. Additionally, Adoe Captivate is highly compatible with Cornerstone, our preferred Learning Management Systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    360 keeps up the Adobe learning manager. It even outclasses it in certain parts, but with a huge stalwart tech giant like Adobe, it is hard to keep up. Many of the features are present, but there's always that final touch missing. And it is always trying to play catchup.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    Both are good, but the pricing and general value proposition of Talent LMS are better than Trainual in my opinion. Trainual is a bit more modern and cleaner looking from a user interface perspective, but it comes at a higher cost. Both platforms provide very similar features in the way of general functionality and user experience, but Talent LMS wins because of its better pricing model.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Adobe
    The product's overall scalability and flexibility is extremely good. I wish that the other products our company uses were this flexible! The product is easy to deploy across multiple departments and teams as needed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    The product can create as similar or unique experiences for different branches as you want for training purposes
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Adobe
    • Adobe Captivate has allowed our instructors to engage students in ways we never have before.
    • Instructors who have used Adobe Captivate in our organization have reported higher levels of engagement with their courses and their students, theoretically leading to improved assessment of student performance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    • We are a small organization, so for now, we aren't quite sure if our ROI is working. But are confident in how this system will help us grow.
    • Our consumers have been truly delighted about the LMS and view us at a much more professional level now.
    • High level of security is very positive.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epignosis
    • Managers have used this internally to get new employees up to speed and trained faster. It's a great onboarding tool.
    • Externally, we help our customers better self-serve when they understand the software they are using. This reduces calls to Customer Support.
    • We've used training as an added incentive for our customers to maintain a higher level of service, resulting in increased ARR.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Adobe Learning Manager Screenshots

    Screenshot of the platform for all learning needs.Screenshot of guided learning journeys.Screenshot of gamification.Screenshot of actionable insight from analytics.Screenshot of learning that’s engaging.Screenshot of measurable analytics.

    TalentLMS Screenshots

    Screenshot of TalentLMS' learner view of a courseScreenshot of TalentLMS' training reportsScreenshot of TalentLMS's AI-powered Content CreatorScreenshot of the TalentLMS dashboardScreenshot of where to customize the TalentLMS portal