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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Ceros Studio

    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Ceros Studio is a content marketing software platform that enables designers and marketers to create interactive web content, without the need for coding or developers.

    $36,000

    per year

    Shorthand

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AShorthand enables the user to create interactive multimedia stories for any online audience — all with no code. The vendor boasts that Shorthand is used by hundreds of publishers, brands, non-profits, and more — including the BBC, Honda, Business Insider, and Doctors Without Borders.N/A
    Pricing
    Ceros StudioShorthand
    Editions & Modules
    Annual Subscription
    36,000
    per year
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Ceros StudioShorthand
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Ceros StudioShorthand
    Content Creation
    Comparison of Content Creation features of Ceros Studio and Shorthand
    Feature
    Ceros Studio
    8.0
    4 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Shorthand
    9.0
    1 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Ideation10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Approval workflows4.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content collaboration9.04 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Network for content licensing/production9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Publishing
    Comparison of Content Publishing features of Ceros Studio and Shorthand
    Feature
    Ceros Studio
    5.7
    4 Ratings
    31% below category average
    Shorthand
    6.8
    1 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Content hub9.03 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Forms / Gated content3.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Embedded CTAs8.04 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Content distribution4.03 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Content promotion8.03 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Content automation2.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Content Reporting & Analytics features of Ceros Studio and Shorthand
    Feature
    Ceros Studio
    3.7
    4 Ratings
    66% below category average
    Shorthand
    -
    Ratings
    Audience profiling and targeting1.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Closed-loop tracking and reporting1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content performance analytics5.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Campaign optimization dashboard2.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitive analytics9.72 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Ceros StudioShorthand
    Small Businesses
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    PathFactory
    Score8.3 out of 10
    PathFactory
    Score8.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Ceros StudioShorthand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Ceros StudioShorthand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Ceros
    Ceros is fantastic for companies who can afford it. It's not ideal for startups who don't have the budget for it. If your company or agency is interested in creating interactive content, but you don't have the skill sets in-house to develop or code them properly, Ceros is for you
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    Shorthand is ideally suited to visual stories where you have a good number of images and/or embeds or video to include. It is well-suited to long-form stories, where you wish to keep the readers' attention longer than usual. It can help to differentiate particularly important or intriguing stories from others on your website - and for this reason, it could be used as a premium content tool, perhaps for subscribers. It can also be used to showcase stories about awards you've organised, giving them special treatment. It is less suited to breaking news, or very time-sensitive news stories, as it can take some time to prepare, post or update shorthand stories. And it doesn't work well for stories with strong accompanying imagery
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Ceros
    • Easy to use and adopt user interface. If you know basic Photoshop, you can use this.
    • Encouraging roadmap - the product has gotten better every year. The company obviously listens to client feedback.
    • Smart, dedicated client team - always checking in, comes with new ideas, generally nice people. We always love our meetings with them!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    • Enabling visual storytelling with multiple pictures
    • Embedding rich media within a story, including video
    • Engaging readers for longer than average dwell times
    • Making it easy to create striking article design without coding experience
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Ceros
    • A direct to consumer model
    • Price point is high, but understandably
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    • Additional flexibility in how text is overlaid on pictures would be welcome so that there are more choices on what images to use with particular layouts
    • Enabling users to control the path of text - for example, enabling runaround - could enable some excellent designs
    • Adding additional section templates could speed up design
    • More flexibility in caption placement would be helpful
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Ceros
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    I have never known it to be down during my use of it. All you require is an internet connection to log in and you can use it on multiple devices. Adding ease of accessibility, there are simple ways to log in. I've also never known a Shorthand story to go down once live on our site.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Ceros
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    Due to the integration with our content management software, there is a short delay on our site while it loads, which may cause some readers to drift away. However, I've seen other sites where it instantly loads articles, so I believe this to be down to the content management software behind our site more than Shorthand itself. Once that brief initial period is over, it doesn't require additional loading time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Ceros
    Our CSMs have always been 100% and their support team typically responds within an hour or two. Their design/build team also worked with us on perfecting several experiences and are always mindful of how a project is going. One of their designers didn't really understand one of our requests and the project took more rounds of revisions than in previous projects, but they rectified the issue and the project came out well in the end. That outcome probably only happened in the time it did due to our CSM consistently checking in and getting feedback throughout the project - unfortunately, not something that happens enough with all our partners.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Ceros
    Ceros takes what would be difficult to accomplish in the Adobe suite of products and makes it easy. When it comes to user experience, user interface and customization options, Ceros is a much better alternative than Adobe. However, Adobe is the trusted name and some may be more comfortable with Adobe products
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    Ceros
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    As a web-based service, it is easy for users to log into from anywhere. Content can easily be shared, as you can set up teams that enable access to each other's work as required. And content can be reviewed by others before publication using the sharing function. You can also view how an article will look on different devices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Ceros
    • Increased win rate during presentations.
    • Elevated content appearance.
    • Engaged audience more.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    • Helped us create one of our top 10 most-read and most-shared stories in the last year
    • Enabled us to elevate key pieces of content, boosting dwell time on our site
    • But can also be time-consuming to adopt for some stories, meaning you need to choose well what stories really deserve the investment in time
    • Boosted collaboration between teams via its ability to share, including offering the chance for others to preview content prior to publication
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Shorthand Screenshots

    Screenshot of Easily add sections and adjust styling.