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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

    Windward Core

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Windward’s low-code document generation solution embeds into any application, enabling users to populate data-smart documents within the familiar landscape of Microsoft Office. It's a solution from PDFTron since the April 2021 acquisition.

    $190

    per month

    Pricing
    Microsoft PublisherWindward Core
    Editions & Modules
    Microsoft Publisher
    $139
    one time purchase
    Windward Hub Standard
    $19.00
    Per User, Per Month (10 user minimum)*
    Windward Hub Premium
    $49.00
    Per User, Per Month (10 user minimum)*
    Windward Core Pro
    $547.00
    per month*
    Windward Core Flex
    $605.00
    per month*
    Windward Hub Enterprise
    Custom Pricing
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft PublisherWindward Core
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—*Pay annually: 15% discount 10% discount for quarterly payment of Windward Core.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft PublisherWindward Core
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Apryse
    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 PublisherWindward Core
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    Score9.2 out of 10
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    Score7.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
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    Score9.2 out of 10
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    Score7.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Conga Composer
    Score7.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft PublisherWindward Core
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (13 ratings)
    9.1
    (25 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    9.1
    (16 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.5
    (7 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (7 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft PublisherWindward Core
    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
    Apryse
    Great for Technical Users. It's great for people a bit more on the technical side. It allows developers to quickly create and modify reporting templates without having to modify source code or make updates to a repository. Potentially Difficult for Non-Technical Users. Making substantial changes to the data portions of reporting can be a bit difficult for non-technical users. While Windward's tools for this are great, it still requires an understanding of the database schema which not all users will have.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Apryse
    • Native Office output -- not nested tables and/or horrible RTF like other tools generate.
    • Ease of use -- once the data sources are set up, creating tables is as simple as drag and drop (okay, maybe not exactly that simple, but you can certainly create a table of data using drag and drop, then format it and manipulate it as needed).
    • Responsive developers and support -- when I've had questions, they've been addressed VERY quickly and professionally.
    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
    Apryse
    • It is hard to pick out the tags if they are mixed in with a block of text.
    • Using report variables in select statements causes the selection list of available fields to not show anything.
    • The color themes do not match the office selection and it feels very disconnected.
    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
    Apryse
    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
    Apryse
    For the most part, the Windward report designer is intuitive for our users; but there are a few areas where it is less intuitive. In these cases, our users need to search Windwards support wiki site, or even contact their support technicians. This can also be due to the short time we've had Windward and our lack of knowledge.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Apryse
    Support is something they take pride in. Once an issue is raised, they are quick to respond and provide details on a fix. No complaints on support here.
    Read full review
    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
    Apryse
    We evaluated several other products to integrate with our new software, but Windward Studios was an obvious standout above the majority. Other applications required some level of software development knowledge and experience to create templates and a much steeper learning curve. After consideration of ease of use, as well as a cost-comparison between different products, Windward Studios was the most suitable product to meet our needs.
    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
    Apryse
    • As a fully integrated solution, the ROI is impacted when a client gets stickier with our solution because they see the benefit of Windward.
    • Support has been fantastic for our development team so that as we integrate the solutions we have a clear and clean design.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Windward Core Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshot