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

    iSpring Suite

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/AiSpring Suite is an authoring tool with AI-assisted features for creating slide-based online courses, quizzes, and video lessons in Microsoft PowerPoint. Instructional designers, corporate L&D and HR teams, educators, and independent course developers can build training content without relying on multiple specialized tools. iSpring Suite enables users to: Generate a course from a topic. Users can describe what to teach or upload subject…

    $970

    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
    No answers on this topic
    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 DetailsAcademic, non-profit, government and volume discounts are available.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
    Considered Both Products
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    We are looking for easier templates, automated features, simulations, interactivity activities, and collaboration features.
    Incentivized
    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
    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.
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Captivate
    We actually use both programs. They both have some advantages over each other.
    Incentivized
    iSpring Solutions Inc
    Chose iSpring Suite
    We find Adobe Captivate looks outdated, is clunky, has a terrible user interface and is not flexible.
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    iSpring is much more intuitive than both Adobe Captivate as well as Prezi. iSpring is also much easier for me to teach others to use.
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    The ability to update data independently is the best feature. It saves a lot of time.
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    iSpring Suite is wayyyy easier to use and does all I need.
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    iSpring was easier to use and had a lower cost.
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    Very similar in terms of features and functionality but iSpring is more cost effective.
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    I chose iSpring because of its minimal learning curve and all its automated features.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    iSpring Suite is easier to use, as robust, but in a format that makes it easy to share with customers.
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    iSpring Suite is much easier to use. It is compatible with all other systems we are using for learning.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Chose iSpring Suite
    iSpring is much more user-friendly and converts items much cleaner, faster, and easier.
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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, …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    87%
    Would buy again
    75 Answers
    99%
    Would buy again
    119 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    69 Answers
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    110 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    84%
    Happy with the feature set
    72 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    115 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    87%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    48 Answers
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    104 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    53 Answers
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    109 Answers
    Features
    Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
    Learning Management
    Comparison of Learning Management features of Adobe Captivate and iSpring Suite
    Feature
    Adobe Captivate
    9.1
    31 Ratings
    5% 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 Adobe Captivate and iSpring Suite
    Feature
    Adobe Captivate
    8.4
    1 Ratings
    2% 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
    Pluralsight Skills
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Thinkific
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Renaissance myON
    Score10 out of 10
    Articulate 360
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    A Cloud Guru (discontinued)
    Score8 out of 10
    Articulate 360
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe CaptivateiSpring Suite
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (128 ratings)
    9.0
    (123 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (9 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.3
    (65 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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    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
    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.
    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
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    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
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    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
    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

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotScreenshot of the online collaboration toolScreenshot of video lessons and screencasts