TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    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

    Pricing
    Adobe Captivate
    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
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Adobe Captivate
    Free Trial
    Yes
    Free/Freemium Version
    No
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    No
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Adobe Captivate
    Considered Both Products
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Adobe Captivate outshines all of these other tools -Camtasia, Snagit, Powtoons, After Effects, PowerPoint - when it comes to software demonstrations, simulations and/or training videos that contain software demonstrations ( hybrid video containing software demonstrations). But …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    1 common platform for reporting & tracking of completion for mandatory trainings. Ability to create own training and mandatory trainings are available & accessible for all employees + contractors
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Intuitive portability
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    SWAT (internal LCMS) - more flexible but not common to many and difficult to keep up to date Adobe Connect - great for webinars and online classes with live instructor.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    At the time Storyline seemed easier to use, but I was already committed to a project and investing time in learning Captivate for it. I also felt some loyalty to Adobe because I had received free Creative Cloud courses through the Adobe Education Exchange.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    I use both. Both have their strengths and weaknesses but they complement each other.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Very effective.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Adobe Captivate easily outputs to HTML5 and give you a programming timeline. Lectora does not have a timeline which is a disadvantage when trying to program animations or any other time based interactions. Lectora does have programming capabilities, but at times is difficult to …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Adobe Captivate is the best software for the price, functionality, resources, and training.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    It's the absolute worst. Bottom of the barrel. I would never select it. The FBI selected it so my consulting agency has to use it for them.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Captivate is slightly behind storyline but still a good contender.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    I selected Adobe Captivate because I can add html features and interactivity to my courses.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    I've only ever authored in Adobe Captivate.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Adobe Captivate is a MAC based application that allows for local secure development. A big sell for MAC users.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Captivate is feature-rich and easy-to-use.
    Incentivized
    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
    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
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Can't touch Authorware. Too bad Adobe killed it. I'd love it if Authorware could be resurrected, modernized and export to HTML5. THat would be the ultimate tool. Animate can do a lot more but it takes a lot more time to build.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Adobe Captivate has more availability and content to be able to change around. Again, I like Adobe Captivate more because of all the content that is available and the pre-made options.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    While Captivate has some awesome niche features for some circumstances, currently it cannot beat the ease of use with Storyline. Whether it's content, variables, quizes, etc. things are just "easier" in Storyline. Even something as simple as triggering an event when the …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    I haven't had experience with any other authoring tool.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    We are looking for easier templates, automated features, simulations, interactivity activities, and collaboration features.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    Captivate is more difficult to figure out. However, once you get passed the learning curve it offers more variety and options than Camtasia. It allows for interactions, simulations, and the likes.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    There is a lot more editing/customization capability in Captivate. Zoom is incredibly limited with what you can do within the software.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    87%
    Would buy again
    75 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    69 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    84%
    Happy with the feature set
    72 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    87%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    48 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    53 Answers
    Features
    Adobe Captivate
    Learning Management
    Comparison of Learning Management features of Adobe Captivate
    Feature
    Adobe Captivate
    9.1
    31 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Course authoring8.030 Ratings
    Course catalog or library9.018 Ratings
    Player/Portal8.024 Ratings
    Learning content9.024 Ratings
    Progress tracking & certifications9.026 Ratings
    Learning reporting & analytics9.019 Ratings
    Social learning10.014 Ratings
    Gamification8.02 Ratings
    eLearning Content
    Comparison of eLearning Content features of Adobe Captivate
    Feature
    Adobe Captivate
    8.4
    1 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Multi-Lingual Support7.01 Ratings
    Structured Learning10.01 Ratings
    Historical Metrics8.01 Ratings
    Cloud-Based Content10.01 Ratings
    Automation & Integration7.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Adobe Captivate
    Small Businesses
    Pluralsight Skills
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    365 Data Science
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    A Cloud Guru (discontinued)
    Score8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe Captivate
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (128 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (9 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    1.8
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.8
    (18 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.7
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Adobe Captivate
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    ScreenShots