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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Adobe Connect

    Score6.7 out of 10
    N/AAdobe Connect is a web conferencing platform that enables users to create presentations, online training materials, and learning modules. The product is entirely Adobe Flash-based and has several add-ons for customizing its software to suit each users’ unique needs.

    $50

    per host/per month

    Top Hat

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ATop Hat supports student engagement for higher education. Grounded in learning science, the platform and content solutions help educators create interactive, personalized learning experiences with the goal of boosting student engagement, belonging, and success.

    $35

    per semester per student

    Pricing
    Adobe ConnectTop Hat
    Editions & Modules
    Meetings
    $50
    per host/per month
    Webinars & Learning
    $130
    per host/per month
    Small Meetings
    Free
    Forever free for up to 3 participants
    1 term
    $35
    per semester per student
    1 year
    $58
    per year per student
    4 years
    $96
    48 months per student
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Adobe ConnectTop Hat
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Adobe ConnectTop Hat
    Considered Both Products
    Adobe
    No answer on this topic
    Top Hat
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    76%
    Would buy again
    25 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    83%
    Delivers good value for the price
    20 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    29 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    77%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    82%
    Implementation went as expected
    18 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Adobe ConnectTop Hat
    Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
    Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Adobe Connect and Top Hat
    Feature
    Adobe Connect
    7.7
    66 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Top Hat
    -
    Ratings
    High quality audio8.065 Ratings00 Ratings
    High quality video7.065 Ratings00 Ratings
    Low bandwidth requirements6.855 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile support9.042 Ratings00 Ratings
    Screen Sharing
    Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Adobe Connect and Top Hat
    Feature
    Adobe Connect
    7.5
    65 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Top Hat
    -
    Ratings
    Desktop sharing7.065 Ratings00 Ratings
    Whiteboards8.055 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Adobe Connect and Top Hat
    Feature
    Adobe Connect
    5.6
    66 Ratings
    37% below category average
    Top Hat
    -
    Ratings
    Calendar integration6.042 Ratings00 Ratings
    Meeting initiation5.057 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with social media4.029 Ratings00 Ratings
    Record meetings / events6.061 Ratings00 Ratings
    Slideshows7.052 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Adobe Connect and Top Hat
    Feature
    Adobe Connect
    6.7
    65 Ratings
    19% below category average
    Top Hat
    -
    Ratings
    Live chat7.063 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audience polling7.056 Ratings00 Ratings
    Q&A6.053 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of Adobe Connect and Top Hat
    Feature
    Adobe Connect
    8.4
    61 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Top Hat
    -
    Ratings
    User authentication7.953 Ratings00 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions8.061 Ratings00 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list9.348 Ratings00 Ratings
    VoIP system collaboration
    Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Adobe Connect and Top Hat
    Feature
    Adobe Connect
    6.5
    1 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Top Hat
    -
    Ratings
    Video conferencing8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audio conferencing7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Video screen sharing8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Instant messaging3.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Adobe ConnectTop Hat
    Small Businesses
    ClickMeeting
    Score9.5 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    JioMeet
    Score9.8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.7 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe ConnectTop Hat
    Likelihood to Recommend
    5.5
    (94 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (27 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (38 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.5
    (31 ratings)
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.9
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Adobe ConnectTop Hat
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Adobe
    Adobe Connect is wonderful for repeatable branded learning experiences or webinars. They allow for creating an event with a series of similar layouts. The ability to alter these are easy, and duplicating layouts makes for fast alterations. Changing between layouts also creates visual interest as learners see things shift. Adobe Connect also is great for accessibility, the captions allow for resizing and placing the captions in various sections. The recordings also can have a searchable transcript to get to the information you want fast. Adobe Connect allows for running fun games/events as well, there are lots of apps that make the experience unique, and allows for managing content on screen as you'd like.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    Top Hat is well suited for courses where students are comfortable with utilizing online learning management system as part of their course contents. It is more appropriate to use Top Hat as a stand-alone learning management system or if the school happens to have it integrated to the system. It is not recommended to use Top Hat and another platform or system for students as this would be too much for students.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Adobe
    • It's a quick method to exchange files, file, documents, and videos from a web app. Real-time conversation, and screen-sharing are all supported. It has a highly user-friendly interface. It is really simple to assist the teams.
    • Even team engagements is beneficial since it allows them to share their expertise with others, and the big benefit is the security of the rooms' access is fairly simple to manage.
    • The interface, which include features like notes, chat, pods, etc. When we're trying to gather rapid and exact information, simplify our work as much as possible.
    • Adobe Connect's features since they allow team members to express their ideas during meetings without causing disruptions, thereby bypassing the current international boundary of distance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    • I use Top Hat as a discussion tool where the students can write what they have learned or what they haven't.
    • Exams are taken in class and are totally paperless with grades available immediately.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Adobe
    • Nonetheless, Adobe Connect lacks the engagement monitoring, which can be critical for the management to oversee.
    • Besides, Adobe Connect has no certification management, which is essential in the current education or training field.
    • Lastly, Adobe Connect has no offline editing tool, hence, when the internet connection is not there, many things can not be conducted effectively.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    • If students are paying, it's a confusing onboarding process for students and instructors and could be better streamlined.
    • The Android app not as well polished as iOS.
    • A better, free, or ad-supported model might be more palpable to students.
    • Integration directly with PowerPoint -- not requiring instructors to upload their slides to Top Hat.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Adobe
    The longer you use Adobe Connect, the longer you are likely to use it. Because you can build more and more resources over time, creating rooms that you re-use, recorded content you can repurpose, and tools that form the basis of ever increasing productivity, the more you use Connect, the more productive you become. Unlike competing products where, with every meeting you essentially start over -- setting up your resources for each meeting -- in my Connect rooms, I have highly tuned tools to accomplish my knowledge transfer goals. When I want to conduct another session - I send a link out to the appropriate room and instantly we are all focusing on getting a job done together. This ability of Adobe Connect to make you productive at an ever quickening rate is a competitive advantage
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Adobe
    I gave it a 6 because it does have lots of functionality, has a strong brand and reputation following, etc. but it does have its glitches and experiences with low bandwidth issues. I believe it has more features than my organization fully leverages, so some of those pieces haven't been explored yet. But there are opportunities for improvement in their online resource support, stability at high usages as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Adobe
    The customer support of Adobe connect is professional and well-skilled for resolving our minor and major issues. Moreover, it has almost all the features that will provide you a secure connection, with people across the world. Education institutes can also implement this software. On the basis of its quality and technology, I will surely advise you to try it once.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    They are very helpful and fast to resolve any issues
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Adobe
    The ability to have most of the functionality of a full LMS at a fraction of the cost is huge. I can create manage and deploy both synchronous and asynchronous training based on the situation and all of my training is tracked through a series of easily created reports
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Adobe
    Prices do not seem to vary much among resellers of the Adobe Connect hosted license; the only price variation you're likely to find are among the audio providers. When implementing, you may also wish to look into expanding the amount of storage you are allowed on the server to avoid any problems later on as your library of files starts to build up
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Adobe
    Actually, it was the other way around....we were using Adobe Connect, company-wide, then switched over to Zoom, mostly, I think, as a cost-cutting measure. But some Learning & Development folks campaigned to be allowed to retain some Adobe Connect licenses (for example, one L&D area had literally over 250 room layouts that their course facilitators could just jump into and use to deliver a course on short notice), which also allows some of us to continue to publish Presenter and Captivate modules to the Adobe server. (But, even those of us who still have Adobe Connect licenses use Zoom for most regular business meetings.)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    Top Hat generally stacks up pretty well against other industry leading or popular learning management systems. Top Hat is comparable to learning management systems used in most educational institutions. The features such as allowing the educator to create an interactive experience by leveraging tools such as quizzes and polls is comparable. Data on student performance is also a helpful feature that is comparable to that of other similar learning management systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Adobe
    • Save on time - our instructors and people that use the platform can teach more classes and more often than in-person training and time traveling.
    • We cut down on spending. When we offer training using Connect - we do not have to spend on meals, hard copy materials, and reserving a venue to deliver training.
    • We increase our training sales significantly but offering Connect as an alternative - any unforeseen cancellations to a public class can result in transferring to a remote online Connected class.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    • One of the better ways to track attendance in a mostly secure and automated way.
    • Promotes more active learning, especially in large classrooms.
    • Unpopular if students have to pay.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots