Adobe Captivate vs. Articulate 360

Articulate 360

Overview
Product	Rating	Most Used By	Product Summary	Starting Price
Adobe Captivate	Score 6.4 out of 10	N/A	Adobe 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
Articulate 360	Score 9.3 out of 10	N/A	Articulate 360 is an e-learning platform for creating workplace training. Users can build engaging courses with AI-enhanced authoring, simplify collaboration, and quickly share content. A subscription includes robust onboarding resources and access to a community of 1.5M pros.	$1,124 per year

Pricing

Adobe Captivate

Articulate 360

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

Articulate 360 Standard - Academic - Teams Plan: $1,124
per year
Articulate 360 Standard - Personal Plan: $1,199
per year
Articulate 360 AI - Personal Plan: $1,449
per year
Articulate 360 Standard - Teams Plan: $1,499
per year
Articulate 360 AI - Teams Plan: $1,749
per year

Offerings

Pricing Offerings
Adobe Captivate	Articulate 360
Free Trial
Yes	Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No	No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No	No

Entry-level Setup Fee

No setup fee

Optional

Additional Details

—

If you’re new to Articulate 360, you can try it out free of charge for 30 days. After the trial period is over, you can subscribe to one of our packages. Articulate 360 is available on the Articulate website and through Articulate Authorized Resellers.

More Pricing Information

Pricing Info

Community Pulse
	Adobe Captivate	Articulate 360
Considered Both Products	Adobe Captivate Tracy Ford Corporate Trainer Chose Adobe Captivate Articulate 360 offers a both Storyline and Rise as eLearning authoring tools, as well as a Stock Library with over 100,000 images for $1200/year. Adobe Captivate is a stand alone product for $30/month. If you are only using eLearning authoring tools the cost is significantly … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Adobe Captivate Adobe Captivate is an okay software program, but it is not something I'd pick over Articulate Storyline or Articulate 360. I only selected Captivate because it was mandatory for my course plus I wanted to explore it to find out how it worked. But after using it, I didn't find … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Manager Chose Adobe Captivate I prefer Articulate 360 over Adobe Captivate. While Captivate does have more features overall, Articulate 360 is much easier to navigate and nice, clean courses can be created in a fraction of the time. Incentivized Helpful? EW Emma Wright Learning and Development Specialist Chose Adobe Captivate 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 … Incentivized Helpful? KM Kevin Medina Director, Digital Learning Chose Adobe Captivate Adobe Captivate is perfect for advanced users or users who want to create innovative content. The restrictions are limited to how much/how little a user knows about Adobe Captivate and its features. On this note, beginners may have an easier time getting familiar with and … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Adobe Captivate I think Captivate has more features to customized learning. However, Articulate 360 is more straight to the point and less hassle to use because of the limited features. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Technician Chose Adobe Captivate I did not select Captivate, it was selected for me. Articulate 360 is easier to use and has a better flow. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Adobe Captivate Adobe Captivate is superior in 360 view courseware development. It's outstanding and a delight to work with. That's about it. Unfortunately, Articulate dominates in everything else. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Employee Chose Adobe Captivate Captivate is feature-rich and easy-to-use. Incentivized Helpful? Christine Iwamuro-Wilson Training Specialist Chose Adobe Captivate I use Camtasia for video editing, however, we have Premier Pro and are now learning to use it. Camtasia and Snagit we use for smaller projects. For bigger projects, we use them all. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Director Chose Adobe Captivate We are looking for easier templates, automated features, simulations, interactivity activities, and collaboration features. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User C-Level Executive Chose Adobe Captivate Articulate currently has some benefits over Captivate in flexibility and responsive design, but I think these are being addressed in the next version of Captivate. Articulate is also more fiddly. Mac support is important to our users, who are majority Mac users. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Employee Chose Adobe Captivate Adobe Captivate is very easy to navigate. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Consultant Chose Adobe Captivate Adobe Captivate is much more powerful than the Articulate products. It can take your training much further. If you can imagine it, you ca create it in Captivate. It also makes it easy to maintain simulations as they are recorded a individual pages making it easy to make a quick … Incentivized Helpful? MM Maureen Matsumoto Senior Analyst Chose Adobe Captivate I teach our employees how to use both Adobe Captivate and Articulate and have found users find Articulate easier to learn. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Employee Chose Adobe Captivate While I prefer Storyline for its ease of use, I also use Captivate to accomplish advanced learning training. Incentivized Helpful? RA Richard Avenius Senior Instructional Designer Chose Adobe Captivate Adobe Captivate has more robust functionality than any of its competition. It is truly an all-in-one content creation tool that lets you create everything from the most simple to the most advanced eLearning modules. Moreover, it allows you to have more minute control over every … Incentivized Helpful? Relton McBurrows eLearning Technology Systems Analyst Chose Adobe Captivate Whereas Articulate offers previews of production slides for mobile screen size, Captivate lets you design and edit content in a simulated mobile display. The ability to decide how content will behave when it encounters a mobile screen is immeasurably valuable. This is the … Incentivized Helpful? Mark Campbell, M.A. Digital Education Designer \| Office of Digital Education Chose Adobe Captivate Articulate Storyline and 360 are far better than Adobe Captivate. Camtasia is used for specific projects as Adobe Captivate is in some regards. Incentivized Helpful? Sam Sternman Director, Technology and Learning Development Chose Adobe Captivate There is no comparison (in my humble opinion). My production cycle is much faster with Articulate products (all of them) and I don't have the issues with YouTube playback that I do with Captivate 9. It's a simple matter of not wanting to expend time and effort to fix … Incentivized Helpful?	Articulate 360 Verified User Employee Chose Articulate 360 It is light years ahead of Adobe Captivate with way better functionality and design capability. Incentivized Helpful? Andrae Farquharson Content Developer II Chose Articulate 360 I used Adobe Captivate when I first started my role as an ID. After doing some research, I found Articulate 360 and have been hooked since. I immediately sold my leader on the idea to invest in the tool. Incentivized Helpful? Aaron Huffman Senior Instructional Designer Chose Articulate 360 No comparison. Much, much better in every way Helpful? RP Randall Polliard Senior Instructional Designer Chose Articulate 360 Articulate 360 is the industry leader for e-learning authoring. While we use the Adobe Creative Suite for artistic support, we find that when it comes to authoring tools, Articulate products are superior in both design and accessibility. Articulate 360 has strong support … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Program Manager Chose Articulate 360 Articulate 360 is much more intuitive and user-friendly than other products. If you can imagine it, you can probably build it in Storyline, but it won’t take you weeks' worth of learning and reading to figure it out. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Contributor Chose Articulate 360 Articulate 360 is easier to use out of the box. It is much more intuitive and does not require as much specialized knowledge. It makes learning design simple and fun. It also allows for just as much customization and looks just as good. It really is a seamless piece of software. Incentivized Helpful? John Morley instructional designer Chose Articulate 360 The functionality, which includes layers, triggers, states, and variables, provides flexibility and creative possibilities that can’t be found in any other authoring tools. Helpful? Verified User Consultant Chose Articulate 360 Articulate 360 offers more variety and is easier to use. For me, if you can use PowerPoint, you can use Storyline. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Contributor Chose Articulate 360 Articulate 360 leaves Captivate in the dust. The look and feel of Articulate 360 products is so much more sleek and flexible. Captivate feels constrained and clunky in comparison. Incentivized Helpful? Steve Schwartzman Instructional Designer - Sales Enablement Chose Articulate 360 The wide breadth of options that Articulate 360 offers is very real boon. Being able to implement simple, Cloud based builds and more robust, from scratch trainings and modules all in one place across different offerings is very helpful. I enjoy that it is easy to implement … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Articulate 360 Articulate 360 is versatile. Helpful? Verified User Program Manager Chose Articulate 360 No comparison captivate is fairly difficult. In my opinion Incentivized Helpful? Chanda Boone Sr. Learning Architect Chose Articulate 360 In my opinion, there is no comparison. Articulate 360 is feature-rich, intuitive, visually appealing, and flexible. The customer and technical support are also stellar. Incentivized Helpful? LJ Leslie Johnson Instructional Designer Chose Articulate 360 Again Captivate is just was a very clunky very difficult user interface it took a long time to learn people really struggled with it whereas Articulate 360 just has a very super easy interface Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Account Manager Chose Articulate 360 Articulate 360 is good. But like i have said, Articulate 360 is losing ground on me because I can make things so easy with vibe coding and have things be exported as a SCORM package from other AI platforms Incentivized Helpful? SR Saeko Reed Media Developer Chose Articulate 360 We use some of the other ones too, but Articulate suite seems to be most comprehensive and nicely packaged. Also, multiple people working together is a lot easier with Articulate. Incentivized Helpful? Jenifer Weiss Instructional Design Consultant Chose Articulate 360 Articulate is the easiest to use, the fastest to create in, and has the best help available when I hit a block or something I don’t know how to do Helpful? SS Sophia Strickfaden Senior Instructional Designer Chose Articulate 360 So easy! Also fills a niche they don’t Incentivized Helpful? CA Carlos Alfaro COO Chose Articulate 360 Articulate 360 is easier to use and is more commonly used. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Manager Chose Articulate 360 I find Articulate 360 has a better UI experience Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Manager Chose Articulate 360 They are light years ahead of Adobe for design, tools, and usability as well as speed. Incentivized Helpful? Nancy B. Gibbins, CPC Instructional Designer Chose Articulate 360 Articulate is far superior to all other development tools I’ve used Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Employee Chose Articulate 360 I like Articulate 360 better Incentivized Helpful? Frank Casso Instructional Design Manager Chose Articulate 360 Captivate’s features do not seem as robust or easy to use. It can be difficult to even find some simple things. Storyline is very similar to Microsoft PowerPoint, so if you are familiar with that, you’ll have a much better time learning it. Incentivized Helpful?

TrustRadius Insights
	Adobe Captivate	Articulate 360
Highlights	Research Team Insight Published July 29, 2020 Adobe Captivate and Articulate 360 are both Corporate Learning Management Systems with a focus on eLearning content authoring. They are both most commonly used by large businesses and enterprises but have some users across company sizes. Adobe Captivate focuses on providing more advanced eLearning authoring tools, including support for VR, improved accessibility, and interactive content. Its goal is to facilitate highly engaging and interactive content for creators with the proper experience. In contrast, Articulate 360 provides sub-applications designed to support all levels of creator experience and expertise. This can make Articulate ideal for larger groups with creators across the skill spectrum. Features Adobe Captivate and Articulate 360 differentiate by their ideal skill level, with features tailored to each target audience. Adobe Captivate excels at providing knowledgeable creators with the widest range of content creation capabilities. In particular, Captivate prioritizes supporting interactive content, including branching content paths within courses. This focus allows creators to make highly engaging content for end-learners. It also offers strong reporting capabilities within courses. Articulate 360 differentiates by making content creation more accessible to a wider range of creators and users. Its sup-applications, such as Storyline and Rise, provide options to serve creators at various skill levels. Rise in particular serves less experienced creators and has a much lower learning curve. Articulate also emphasizes its accessibility across mobile devices and for disabled folks. Limitations Adobe Captivate and Articulate 360’s respective specializations also come with some limitations worth considering. Adobe Captivate’s advanced capabilities come with a steep learning curve. Many reviewers argue that the platform is intimidating for beginners and takes time to learn how to make the most of the tool. This curve often means that Captivate is not ideal for rapid eLearning development. Captivate is also priced separately from the rest of the Adobe suite, which limits the cost benefits of bundling some Adobe products. In contrast, Articulate 360 may lack some of the more advanced features that Captivate offers. Additionally, collaboration for creator teams within the platform is still limited and difficult to use according to many reviewers. Updates to the product have also been known to create new errors in preexisting courses, so users should be conscious of possible change management that may be necessary. The pricing can also be high if the organization is not making courses at volume. Pricing Adobe Captivate offers 3 pricing systems for new buyers. Users can subscribe to Captivate for $33.99/month, or purchase a perpetual license for $1,299. Students or teachers can purchase Captivate for $399 instead. Adobe also offers a free 30-day trial. Articulate 360 is priced differently for companies, freelancers, and academics. For companies, the Teams Plan costs $1,299/user/year, with additional collaboration and support features available. The Personal Plan costs $999/user/year. For academics, the Person Plan costs $499/user/year and the Teams Plan costs $649/user/year.

Features

Adobe Captivate

Articulate 360

Learning Management

Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
	Adobe Captivate 9.1 31 Ratings 7% above category average	Articulate 360 - Ratings
Course authoring	8.030 Ratings	00 Ratings
Course catalog or library	9.018 Ratings	00 Ratings
Player/Portal	8.024 Ratings	00 Ratings
Learning content	9.024 Ratings	00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications	9.026 Ratings	00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics	9.019 Ratings	00 Ratings
Social learning	10.014 Ratings	00 Ratings
Gamification	8.02 Ratings	00 Ratings

eLearning Content

Comparison of eLearning Content features of Product A and Product B
	Adobe Captivate 8.4 1 Ratings 0% below category average	Articulate 360 - Ratings
Multi-Lingual Support	7.01 Ratings	00 Ratings
Structured Learning	10.01 Ratings	00 Ratings
Historical Metrics	8.01 Ratings	00 Ratings
Cloud-Based Content	10.01 Ratings	00 Ratings
Automation & Integration	7.01 Ratings	00 Ratings

Best Alternatives
	Adobe Captivate	Articulate 360
Small Businesses	iSpring LMS Score 8.9 out of 10	iSpring LMS Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies	Infosec Skills Score 9.9 out of 10	iSpring LMS Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises	Infosec Skills Score 9.9 out of 10	Absorb LMS Score 9.1 out of 10
All Alternatives	View all alternatives	View all alternatives

User Ratings
	Adobe Captivate	Articulate 360
Likelihood to Recommend	8.9 (128 ratings)	9.3 (518 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew	7.0 (9 ratings)	9.7 (25 ratings)
Usability	8.0 (8 ratings)	8.8 (374 ratings)
Availability	1.8 (1 ratings)	9.1 (5 ratings)
Performance	7.3 (1 ratings)	8.7 (4 ratings)
Support Rating	5.8 (18 ratings)	9.1 (31 ratings)
In-Person Training	- (0 ratings)	6.0 (1 ratings)
Online Training	- (0 ratings)	9.1 (3 ratings)
Implementation Rating	2.7 (2 ratings)	8.6 (9 ratings)
Configurability	5.5 (1 ratings)	8.7 (2 ratings)
Ease of integration	8.6 (2 ratings)	7.3 (1 ratings)
Product Scalability	8.2 (1 ratings)	9.1 (4 ratings)
Professional Services	- (0 ratings)	7.3 (1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale	8.2 (1 ratings)	7.3 (1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale	8.2 (1 ratings)	7.3 (1 ratings)

User Testimonials
	Adobe Captivate	Articulate 360
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 Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. I have encountered very few scenarios where at least one tool in the Articulate suite was not the appropriate solution. My team uses Rise to make job aids. We use storyline to create longer courses, interactive knowledge checks, immersive 360 degree scenarios, or even just animations with voice over to insert into Rise. I've even used storyline to create apps and "websites" for training repositories Incentivized CM Cameron Miller Creative Services Manager 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 Pam Pierce Founder Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. It provides training for new users and opportunities for users to continue to develop their skills in this space. It provides a community for its users to collaborate and solve problems together as needed. It allows for collaborative work between users on the same team and makes the review process simple and easy. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous 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 Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. Feature suggestions take a long time to be added to the software Would like to see deeper options for some of the learner engagement activities (Drag and drop, sliders, etc. ) Occasionally will not save as expected, and you have to create a copy to keep working on a project Incentivized RP Randall Polliard Senior Instructional Designer 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 Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. I haven't seen any other platform for developing learning materials that is as comprehensive or as reliable as Articulate has proven to be for our use. Because our group has a number of PowerPoint power users, the PowerPoint integration with Articulate is particularly beneficial. Incentivized Tom Pile Creative Director 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 Tracy Ford Corporate Trainer Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. Usability is where Articulate shines. Anyone who has ever built a PowerPoint can open the tool and quickly understand how to use it. The more complex aspects of the tool are also very user-friendly, but you can build great content without ever going into advanced variables or JavaScript. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Reliability and Availability	Adobe No answers on this topic	Articulate Global, Inc. I love how when there is any downtime that the user can still access the tool Incentivized BA Bonnie Ankle Instructional Designer Read full review
Performance	Adobe No answers on this topic	Articulate Global, Inc. Pages load fast, the videos play normally, and I haven't seen any delays in the system Incentivized BA Bonnie Ankle Instructional Designer 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 Michael Whatley Senior Manager, Instructional Design Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. I rate the overall support for Articulate 360 with a 9. On the one hand because of the smooth and accurate support from Articulate's support team (usually within 24 hours) and on the other because of the commitment / use of a community (e-learning Heroes) where I have all kinds of insights from other helpful users. Paul Alders Owner/Founder Read full review
In-Person Training	Adobe No answers on this topic	Articulate Global, Inc. The instructors don't know how to use it. Incentivized BA Bonnie Ankle Instructional Designer Read full review
Online Training	Adobe No answers on this topic	Articulate Global, Inc. The online training options given by the online tutorials, forums, and "E-Learning Heroes" community are simply awesome. Examples galore, easy to understand descriptions including step-by-step guides, images, occasionally videos, and the "Articulate Insiders" sub-community give you more materials to learn about Storyline than you are likely to be able to read. Guido Roessling Researcher and Educator Read full review
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 Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. Outside of having to dedicate a powerful enough PC for the installation and having to update Flash in our browsers there really isn't much pain involved in using Articulate. For the most part this is an easy to implement and roll-out product. The installation occurs quickly and smoothly with no additional steps needed. Refugio "Gio" Jones \| M.A. Learning Designer & Developer 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 EW Emma Wright Learning and Development Specialist Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. Articulate 360 has a very high skill cap, but it has the ability to develop a lot more and give you grading or results feedback when it comes to demonstrating and distributing out different information. The creative design behind it allows for a classroom to be virtual in your hand or somewhere on the go or even designing it for other people to use. This is the thing that I like most about the other product, such as the camp PowerPoint, which doesn't have accessibility. Incentivized Lealand Sellers CEO Holistic Life Coach/ Instructional Designer Read full review
Scalability	Adobe No answers on this topic	Articulate Global, Inc. Easy to use. Cheap. It has a lot of features. Ionut Marin Ofiter Suport Aplicatii 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 Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Articulate Global, Inc. Ease of use and the built in accessibility features are awesome Ability to create modules quickly and efficiently Ability to share modules with our training committee via Review 360 has made tracking suggestions easy The version tracking is Rise 360 makes it very easy to see changes over time. Incentivized MK Michelle Kiefer eLearning Training Associate Read full review
ScreenShots		Articulate 360 Screenshots

Features

Limitations

Pricing