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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Publisher

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application available with an Office 365 subscription, or as a standalone download.

    $139

    one time purchase

    Opal

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Opal is a platform for brands, used to plan, create, and calendar their content - across teams and channels. Opal aims to enable tight alignment and high levels of efficiency. Marketing teams from companies such as Starbucks, Microsoft, and Target use Opal to collaborate, plan, and visualize, while ensuring an always-unified brand voice. Users can: Plan every facet of the brand experience, to ensure consistency throughout every moment and across every…

    $8.29

    per month

    Pricing
    Microsoft PublisherOpal
    Editions & Modules
    Microsoft Publisher
    $139
    one time purchase
    Opal Pro
    $8.29
    per month
    Opal
    Free Forever
    Teams Pro
    Custom Pricing
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft PublisherOpal
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft PublisherOpal
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    OPAL
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    12 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    12 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    80%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft PublisherOpal
    Small Businesses
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    monday marketer (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Adobe Marketing Cloud
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Adobe Marketing Cloud
    Score9.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft PublisherOpal
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (13 ratings)
    9.2
    (5 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft PublisherOpal
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Publisher is well suited for almost any situation. It is something that I'm sure has far more advanced tools than I use or am aware of, but it is also very simple for entry-level users to create professional documents quickly. I have used it for very involved brochures in real estate scenarios and I have also used it for very simple "Construction Zone" signs at a job site under construction. There are so many uses for this program!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OPAL
    I honestly cannot recommend this tool enough. Opal is such a valuable tool for brand content creators and there is nothing like it available. If you're serious about content marketing and have a need to find ways to collaborate, plan and provide more visibility among teams, then Opal really is the only way to go. One more thing that's not being mentioned: The tool is simply amazing but it's only as amazing is the team behind the tool. Their customer support and willingness to quickly be in touch when needed is a key feature within itself. Seriously, such a good team of people.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Design of my quarterly full color magazine: (usually 28-56 pages in length)
    • Design of the quarterly planning system used by me and others in the annual conference.
    • Design and layout of any document that requires graphics/photos.
    • Simple to use with ample flexibility and strength of features
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OPAL
    • Content planning: you can look at one asset and see how it is being used across multiple channels by multiple teams.
    • Content collaboration: it is really easy to see what other people and teams are contributing to an asset, or how they are using it. We can also duplicate content that was created by another team to use as a starting point in our own content collaboration.
    • High level/big picture overview: Opal allows us to see content that is being created, planned and scheduled very easily; it goes beyond social content (which we can also see in Sprinklr) to show us content created across multiple channels.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Formatting in general. It's a pain to refine a layout in Publisher in my opinion.
    • Microsoft is so invested in their approach to software and making it look and feel like an Office 365 application that they inadvertantly cripple applications like Publisher.
    • Earlier versions of Publisher gave you a lot more latitude and creative freedom. They were also much easier to work with. Not everything has to look like it's part of Office 365. They did the same ... thing to Access.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OPAL
    • No publishing capabilities, for the most part.
    • No analytics tie-ins.
    • Rather pricey.
    • Requires someone to really manage the structure in order to keep the tool organized and use it effectively. When this is done right, though, it's worthwhile.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    We use this product 2-3 times a month and have not been able to find a comparable alternative.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OPAL
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Microsoft
    There are a few quirks with Microsoft Publisher that make some functions a little tricky for new users at first, but most of our employees are able to figure out the quirks and work around them to use the product for their job. It is relatively high on the scale of usability.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OPAL
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    While I have not directly used support for Microsoft Publisher, I have used their help files and found them to be useful. I have also found that most answers that I need can be found through simple web searches and chat platforms. In all though, there are very few times when the preloaded help files have not given me the answers that I need.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OPAL
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Publisher is more for beginners, or for basic needs, anyone with some familiarity with the Microsoft suite should be able to use it easily. If you’re looking to create something more graphic and advanced, you’d probably want to look into something like InDesign, which is not as user friendly if you’re not familiar with it at all. For basic needs the average employee should be able to use Microsoft Publisher with ease.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OPAL
    You get for what you paid for. Opal has more features
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • we have invested on our Microsoft license for our team and that has made a very big productivity for making banners and holdings for our projects as making it from third party would cost much higher and the return is very well over the comparison with third-party vendors
    • Functionality is very easy, so we don’t have to train much to get it in production and use it efficiently so we don’t have to invest much on training and learning things and we can work on it directly with a very basic knowledge as well
    • It has functionality to get stored and share things directly to the OneDrive and using curated links, which is very secure and reliable to transfer files without losing picture and banners quality and share them in lossless quality.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OPAL
    • Opal allows for more discipline in marketing as teams are better aligned on messaging and big moments.
    • Opal cuts down on communication breakdowns and mistakes, which in the end leads to more happy customers.
    • I think Opal provides the team with more confidence as everyone is on the same page. With everything in one place rather than communications being lost in emails, etc., everyone is more efficient and can work knowing that there is one source of truth.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Opal Screenshots

    Screenshot of Preview content exactly as it will appear in market to the audience. Collaborate with teammates and track changes in the  Chat & Activity window.Screenshot of View scheduled Moments across all campaigns on the Calendar -- by day, week, or month.Screenshot of Plan marketing content and campaigns using Boards, a free-form space for brainstorming, briefing, and scenario planning.