Adobe Captivate vs. KnowBe4 Compliance Plus

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting 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
KnowBe4 Compliance Plus
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
KnowBe4's Compliance Plus training combines interactive real-life simulated scenarios to help teach users how to respond in a challenging situation. The content addresses difficult and sometimes chaotic topics like sexual harassment, diversity and inclusion, discrimination, and business ethics. Compliance Plus includes various types of media formats and reinforcement materials to support an organization's compliance training program.
$0.54
per month (billed annually) per seat
Pricing
Adobe CaptivateKnowBe4 Compliance Plus
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
3001-5000 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$0.54
per month (billed annually) per seat
2001-3000 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$0.62
per month (billed annually) per seat
1001-2000 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$0.71
per month (billed annually) per seat
501-1000 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$0.82
per month (billed annually) per seat
101-500 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$0.93
per month (billed annually) per seat
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe CaptivateKnowBe4 Compliance Plus
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFor organizations larger than 5,000 seats, please contact KnowBe4 for a quote. Compliance Plus is a monthly per seat price, billed annually.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe CaptivateKnowBe4 Compliance Plus
Features
Adobe CaptivateKnowBe4 Compliance Plus
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Captivate
9.1
31 Ratings
7% above category average
KnowBe4 Compliance Plus
8.2
59 Ratings
4% below category average
Course authoring8.030 Ratings6.822 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.018 Ratings7.257 Ratings
Player/Portal8.024 Ratings8.256 Ratings
Learning content9.024 Ratings9.158 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.026 Ratings9.759 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.019 Ratings9.758 Ratings
Social learning10.014 Ratings7.014 Ratings
Gamification8.02 Ratings7.645 Ratings
eLearning Content
Comparison of eLearning Content features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Captivate
8.4
1 Ratings
0% below category average
KnowBe4 Compliance Plus
8.4
61 Ratings
0% below category average
Multi-Lingual Support7.01 Ratings8.335 Ratings
Structured Learning10.01 Ratings9.558 Ratings
Historical Metrics8.01 Ratings7.958 Ratings
Cloud-Based Content10.01 Ratings8.553 Ratings
Automation & Integration7.01 Ratings8.453 Ratings
Course Searches00 Ratings7.858 Ratings
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Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
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User Ratings
Adobe CaptivateKnowBe4 Compliance Plus
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(128 ratings)
9.3
(57 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(9 ratings)
7.9
(5 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(8 ratings)
8.7
(13 ratings)
Availability
1.8
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
5.8
(18 ratings)
7.6
(3 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.7
(2 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Configurability
5.5
(1 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe CaptivateKnowBe4 Compliance Plus
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
KnowBe4
The entire suite does well to accommodate any compliance training needs my organization has. It is easy to configure, maintain, and create reporting on. We have it enabled to be managed by our HR team for HR related trainings and our tech admins oversee any other requirements that our teams may have. Overall a solid product.
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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
KnowBe4
  • Easy to find training modules
  • Modules are short enough to keep user attention span
  • Material within those modules are easy to understand
  • The quizzes aren't stressful to the point of fearing to fail
  • Content stays fresh, modules retire and new ones that are updated are released
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
KnowBe4
  • perhaps some pre-built content packages as template starters would be helpful
  • some better explanation of what features exist in which places and how they work
  • content customization of what topics I want under my eyes and which I do not - to cut down on the selections ("Do not show this again" or "Hide this" or "Save as a Favorite")
  • more functionality to save content topics into personal collections for later use
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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
KnowBe4
KnowBe4 Compliance Plus has been a reliable, easy-to-manage platform that checks a lot of boxes for us—security awareness, compliance, onboarding, and ongoing training. The content is well-made and accessible across departments, and it’s helped us build a stronger culture of accountability. The only reason it’s not a 10 is because we’d like a bit more customization around reporting and tighter integration with our existing systems. But overall, it’s been a strong investment and we fully expect to renew.
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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.
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KnowBe4
KnowBe4's bread and butter is end-user usability. Its designed to be completed by all individuals in your company, regardless of technical skills. We have maintenance crew members on our team that are able to complete this training directly on their tablets without any help from the IT team. I would give this an 11 out of 10 if possible
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Reliability and Availability
Adobe
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
It's always available. We have rarely encountered any issues at all. The fact that we have an assigned account manager, ensures we are getting very rapid responses and acknowledgement. This person quickly escalates any issues to the technical team and we usually get a resolution within a day or two
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Performance
Adobe
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
Everything loads quite rapidly, and this has never been an issue. The automated summary reports that are sent to me remove me from even having to go run them. I love this platform. It's changed the way I work, and we have used a few different platforms in the past. Anybody looking should look no further. This is the best! Forget the rest.
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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.
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KnowBe4
Our Customer Success Manager is amazingly helpful and responsive. She meets with us every month to go over new features and help us with campaigns. Also, when we email her with questions, she usually turns around an answer in a couple of hours and never longer than a day. KnowBe4 Compliance Plus has dedicated people who really take care of their customers after the sale.
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Online Training
Adobe
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
Great modules geared to adults
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
KnowBe4
It was goood. It required tech support from both sides but it was not hard
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.
Read full review
KnowBe4
KnowBe4 Compliance Plus has a massive an customizable library for a really fair price, where competition may charge more and include tools and features you may not use. I've felt that the depth of KnowBe4 Compliance Plus training library more than makes it worth a whole package. I feel that as an admin I have more insight and control over my security.
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Scalability
Adobe
No answers on this topic
KnowBe4
We love the variety of training available. The training is available in available in numerous languages for our international business. There is always new training is constantly being released. Our users find the training entertaining yet informative. We love pushing out training on a monthly basis and making it smaller chunks. This really resonates with our busy employees. It's great that we have so much selection and that it is broken down in small chunks. I get excited when I see new training. It really gives me comfort knowing that KnowBe4 is staying on top of current and evolving trends, and rapidly releasing content. AI is occurring almost everywhere we look these days, and it's great to see freshly released content coming out a very regular basis. Being able to target different divisions within our organization with targeted job specific training is a game changer. We even have our board of directors taking training designed for executives. The tracking and the reporting also really help show the improvement, and those that need more work. The fact that we can automate training that are launched when users start within our organization also eliminated the need for manual intervention, giving me my time back as an administrator
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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
KnowBe4
  • The time saved looking for, reviewing, distributing and tracking learning/training sessions has greatly reduced as we moved to KnowBe4 Compliance Plus Dashboard. Everything is in one place and new content comes out often.
  • Individualized, train at your own pace, sessions have been a big plus for our employees. No more sitting in a classroom with others. They can now do it whenever it fits their schedule/workload.
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ScreenShots

KnowBe4 Compliance Plus Screenshots

Screenshot of the Compliance Plus library, which includes content from multiple training publishers and comes with various types of media formats.Screenshot of the Compliance Plus training module, which is accessible through the ModStore.