Adobe Captivate vs. iSpring Suite

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Captivate
Score 6.8 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
iSpring Suite
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
iSpring Suite helps users build courses that are mobile-ready and adaptive. It’s integrated with PowerPoint, so users can create the…
$470
per year per user
Pricing
Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
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
Academic. iSpring Suite
$470
per year per user
Freelancers. iSpring Suite
$490
per year per user
Academic. iSpring Suite Max
$670*
per year per user
Freelancers. iSpring Suite Max
$690
per year per user
Business. iSpring Suite
$770.00
per year per user
Business. iSpring Suite Max
$970.00
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details—Academic, non-profit, government and volume discounts are available. *iSpring Suite Max is discounted to $370 per year for educators while the company's back-to-school offer is in effect.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
Considered Both Products
Adobe Captivate
Chose Adobe Captivate
We are looking for easier templates, automated features, simulations, interactivity activities, and collaboration features.
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.
Chose Adobe Captivate
Captivate for us is another tool, overall is slower than the competition but it has a version specifically for the Macs we used, it's a very powerful tool that matches the competition apps.
Chose Adobe Captivate
Adobe Captivate has so many features and advantages that other competitors don't have. That is why I chose it. Captivate authoring can be purchased monthly - LOVE that! Captivate is by far the best solution for small business on a limited budget.

I think if you are a larger …
Chose Adobe Captivate
We actually use both programs. They both have some advantages over each other.
iSpring Suite
Chose iSpring Suite
Therer are several other interactive video creation tools out there, such as Camtasia, Adobe Captivate and even PowerPoint on its own, but none of them come close to offering the galaxy of features that is served up by iSpring Suite, and it's the easiest to learn and use with …
Chose iSpring Suite
We find Adobe Captivate looks outdated, is clunky, has a terrible user interface and is not flexible.
Chose iSpring Suite
The ability to update data independently is the best feature. It saves a lot of time.
Chose iSpring Suite
If you know PowerPoint, you know iSpring Suite. Not only is there a big learning curve with the other software, it also meant to us to start from scratch with our PowerPoints, which would have taken weeks to do. I can't state enough how big of a deal it is that it's all within …
Chose iSpring Suite
Captivate was, I feel, for my experienced users and for a more professional level of course that our organisation did not require at this time. It was too daunting to learn it all to create simple courses fast Easy Generator - too expensive for our needs. iSpring Suite has a …
Chose iSpring Suite
We need Powerpoint compatibility because we can develop the training modules faster. Compared to all the authoring tools we have tried, iSpring is the most Powerpoint-friendly.
Chose iSpring Suite
I think iSpring Suite is just soooo much easier to learn and use than Captivate. It just adds a plugin to PowerPoint and is very intuitive to use. I found Captivate difficult to figure out, and a lot more expensive.
Chose iSpring Suite
iSpring Suite is wayyyy easier to use and does all I need.
Chose iSpring Suite
Is less words the offline system presents only these having to generate the scorm files which had conflicts and upload them and test them and test and test and test, while the creation of the scorm offers a feasibility to preview the scorm without the need to upload it to the …
Chose iSpring Suite
Captivate is too complicated to use, you need a lot of knowledge in this tool to get good results, it is also quite expensive and you need a very powerful computer for it to work. Articulate is easier to use than Captivate, but it is also expensive and the learning curve is …
Chose iSpring Suite
Ultimately, I selected iSpring Suite because of the ease of use and small learning curve. I needed to be able to start creating content immediately, and after doing trial periods with iSpring as well as some of the other options, it was clear that I could be up and running the …
Chose iSpring Suite
Very similar in terms of features and functionality but iSpring is more cost effective.
Chose iSpring Suite
I chose iSpring because of its minimal learning curve and all its automated features.
Chose iSpring Suite
iSpring is superior in ease of use and speed of development.
iSpring is easier to learn and implement.
iSpring has the best support of any tool I have used.
Chose iSpring Suite
iSpring Suite is easier to use, as robust, but in a format that makes it easy to share with customers.
Chose iSpring Suite
iSpring Suite is much easier to use. It is compatible with all other systems we are using for learning.
Chose iSpring Suite
So much easier to get up and running. The video editing I think is better. The only thing I think was better in Captivate was the graphics and clip art.
Chose iSpring Suite
iSpring is much more user-friendly and converts items much cleaner, faster, and easier.
Chose iSpring Suite
Producing e-learning is a member service, and not a core objective of our association, so we have a small staff and a limited budget. iSpring Suite costs less than other premium products that build e-learning. It's much easier to learn how to use. We can also take PowerPoint …
Chose iSpring Suite
We found that the price point comparison was vastly different from some competitors. iSpring is a relatively cheap authoring tool but delivers so much capability for the price. It may not have the capability of some other tools, but it also has a very small learning curve, …
Chose iSpring Suite
Slightly cheaper, maybe not so powerful but easy to use straight away on day 1. We had to make a quick decision and so didn't have time or resources to test and compare products. We looked at reviews and decided to try one on a free trial basis. It worked well so we bought it.
Chose iSpring Suite
Articulate 360 offers Storyline in their suite, which is a much better tool for customized and advanced e-learning development, iSpring could compete with them in the field of responsive authoring tool (iSpring Page) and tools for stakeholder's reviewing.

Considering conversion …
Chose iSpring Suite
During the pandemic, iSpring seemed the most understanding of the difficulties facing the education industry and they made their SasS products either a) reasonably priced or b) extended the period of time over which one could receive the education discount. It was simply a …
Features
Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Captivate
9.1
31 Ratings
7% above category average
iSpring Suite
-
Ratings
Course authoring8.030 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.018 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal8.024 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content9.024 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.026 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.019 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning10.014 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
eLearning Content
Comparison of eLearning Content features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Captivate
8.4
1 Ratings
0% below category average
iSpring Suite
-
Ratings
Multi-Lingual Support7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Structured Learning10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Historical Metrics8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud-Based Content10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Automation & Integration7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
Small Businesses
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 9.5 out of 10
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Infosec Skills
Infosec Skills
Score 9.9 out of 10
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infosec Skills
Infosec Skills
Score 9.9 out of 10
Articulate 360
Articulate 360
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(128 ratings)
9.1
(118 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(9 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(8 ratings)
8.2
(60 ratings)
Availability
1.8
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.8
(18 ratings)
10.0
(17 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.7
(2 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Configurability
5.5
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.6
(2 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
Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
iSpring Suite gives me a platform to easily create training courses for any number of subjects, custom-designed to fit my workplace. I can include quizzes that allow me to track both the completion rate of the course and the success rate of the training. Its user-friendliness stands out and makes my role as Training Director much easier on a day-to-day basis.
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
  • Great range of images to use to show real people in the slides across the slideset because of the number of different actions they are doing
  • Support is easy to access and always helpful with easy to understand advice as well as links to further knowledge
  • Recording narration and editing within the iSpring Suite presentation makes it easy to use this function as a novice.
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
  • More facial expressions of the characters.
  • Update independent of my prompting/box checking.
  • Add details on what the customized play includes when the mouse hovers over the icon. It took a bit of time to realize that this was where we could select different layouts.
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
I would give it 10 but I also like to try new solutions.
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
iSpring Suite is a perfect tool overall to create contents in collaboration with colleagues. There are some difficulties though in usability but the usability is OK in total. We are fully satisfied with the customer support. There are simple online tutorials and a team of competent support colleagues. The support content is sometimes not simply accessible, you need to search for them longer.
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
Great software is only exceeded by their fantastic support. Prompt responses, complete with clearly outlined steps to follow, are just the beginning. There are tremendous resources and continual webinars to challenge what we think we know about the iSpring Suite. I often use PowerPoint to lay out marketing slides, add music and narration, then publish them as an MP4 video. I can count on iSpring support to assist me when I need help.
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
Ultimately, I selected iSpring Suite because of the ease of use and small learning curve. I needed to be able to start creating content immediately, and after doing trial periods with iSpring as well as some of the other options, it was clear that I could be up and running the quickest with iSpring. I don't see any features that are missing for what I need, and it was also the cheapest option.
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.
Read full review
iSpring Solutions, Inc
  • The ROI on this product has been great
  • It has enhance my reputation personally within the organization. This has led to other departments requesting me by name to head up eLearning development projects, even delaying their own deadlines to ensure that I am involved.
  • Other than a few duds (I let some inexperienced vocal talent slip thru in the heat of multiple conflicting deadlines), learner feedback has skyrocketed over that developed before I became involved and standardized the effort on iSpring
Read full review
ScreenShots

iSpring Suite Screenshots

Screenshot of iSpring SuiteScreenshot of the customizable course player — the layout can be changed as desired.Screenshot of a role-playScreenshot of course interactionsScreenshot of the online collaboration toolScreenshot of Video lessons and screencasts