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Articulate Storyline

Articulate Storyline

Overview

What is Articulate Storyline?

Articulate Storyline is a learning content creation platform. It provides prebuilt and customizable content, along with gamification capabilities. Articulate emphasizes user-friendliness, including mobile accessibility. It is offered on a perpetual license.

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Recent Reviews

Intuitively Impressive

10 out of 10
January 03, 2024
Incentivized
Articulate Storyline is utilized to create operations skills and knowledge training as well as transform current in-person training into …
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TrustRadius Insights

Intuitive User Interface: Many users have praised the intuitive user interface of Articulate Storyline, with several reviewers stating …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Storyline3

$1,398

On Premise

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://articulate.com/p/storyline…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

A Simple Animation Engine in Articulate Storyline 2

YouTube

Kineo Rapid Service for Articulate Storyline

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Add Custom Background Images to HTML Pages in Articulate Storyline

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New Elapsed Time Variables for Articulate Storyline 360

YouTube

Articulate Storyline 2 - Overview of new features!

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How to create animated buttons in @Articulate Storyline

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Product Details

What is Articulate Storyline?


Articulate Storyline is software for creating interactive courses. It's designed to be simple enough for beginners, yet powerful enough for experts, enabling users to create virtually any imaginable interaction, in minutes. The vendor further provides that with their new perpetual version of Storyline, users can deliver mobile and accessible courses with enhanced interactivity, faster.

Articulate Storyline Features

  • Supported: Get started building courses right away, without any training. Storyline is so intuitive to use, even beginners ramp up quickly.
  • Supported: Create engaging interactivity, easily. If you can imagine an interaction, you can easily build it with Storyline. Let learners click, hover over, or drag any object to trigger any action. Build engaging interactions in minutes with buttons, sliders, markers, and hotspots. And create dynamic, personalized interactivity with intuitive variables—no programming required.
  • Supported: Build immersive, engaging learner experiences with video and simulations. Record screen activity, add screencasts from Articulate Replay, and import any type of video. To create software simulations simply record your screen once, then edit whenever and however you want.
  • Supported: Assess learners any way you want. Turn objects on your slide into a decision-making activity–or use 25 different question types to create quizzes quickly. You can test throughout your course to get a clear view of performance, and combine results from multiple quizzes for a final score.
  • Supported: Make it easy for every learner to access your content. Storyline supports right-to-left languages and double-byte character sets and includes Section 508 and WCAG support.
  • Supported: Reach learners on virtually any device with HTML5 and Flash publishing options (Storyline 2) and a fully responsive player (Storyline 360 only).
  • Supported: Publish for learning management systems with Tin Can API 1.0, SCORM, and AICC support.

Articulate Storyline Video

Articulate Storyline Competitors

Articulate Storyline Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android

Frequently Asked Questions

Articulate Storyline is a learning content creation platform. It provides prebuilt and customizable content, along with gamification capabilities. Articulate emphasizes user-friendliness, including mobile accessibility. It is offered on a perpetual license.

iSpring Learn, Adobe Captivate, and Lectora are common alternatives for Articulate Storyline.

Reviewers rate Implementation Rating highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of Articulate Storyline are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(250)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Bo Folkmann ✔ | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Articulate Storyline 2 to develop and produce eLearning and blended learning for our customer.
  • It’s easy to use
  • It’s fast to produce and develop eLearning.
  • The supports from the community are excellent.
  • The down side of it is poor animation possibilities.

The key questions to ask during the selection process for eLearning tools are:

  • How easy is it to use the product?
  • How is the support, and how fast is it?
  • How is the design possibility? Does it have a possibility for moderns design?
  • Do I have access to different template I can use, and are the design modern? It’s fast to produce and develop eLearning.
  • In areas of quiz and scenario is Articulate Storyline 2 well suited?
  • Because it is easy to use we got a faster result and product.
  • We have easy access to everything on the same screen and don’t have to produce parts in other products e.g. PowerPoint.
2
2
Diane D'Amico | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
My department is responsible for providing training to our clients on the use of our software products. Over the past 5 years, I have continued to develop more and more of our e-Learning On Demand programs and our clients have both embraced this technology and keep requesting more topics. Last year, we hit an all-time high by processing over 3,000 registrations for our programs. By using Articulate, we have taken our training to a whole new level of professionalism and easy access by also utilizing Articulate Online to host all of our programs. Our senior management team is extremely pleased with the positive comments we have received from our clients and going in this direction has definitely been the right decision. I am now seriously considering the expansion of our library for e-Learning On Demand programs so that our customers can fulfill their training needs anytime, anywhere. Thanks you for such a great product and for the strong community of users.
  • Articulate Storyline allows you to easily integrate interactivity into your program
  • Articulate Storyline allows you to create a professional and effective eLearning product
  • Articulate Storyline has grown a strong community of users who are always available for input and sharing
  • Articulate is easy to learn and the more features you use, the more enhanced your learning experience can be
  • I would like Articulate to provide some stock graphics that are specifically designed for this use
It is easy to use, professional, and interactive. Those are key qualities for a product in this category.
  • Tremendous increase in our clients becoming trained on our software
  • Customer satisfaction since clients can view the program many times whenever they need to do so
  • Meeting a business objective to provide consistent and quality training programs for our clients
  • Capture
Articulate is a much more solid product, many more features, and produces a quality deliverable.
  • Implemented in-house
No
Change management was a minor issue with the implementation
  • Getting my co-workers to understand the impact
Get buy-in from managers
No
The amount of money that we are currently paying for Articulate Online is huge and I can't ask for any more.
I hardly ever get a response that solves my problem. As a matter of fact, I submitted a support call almost 2 months ago about a problem I was experiencing with Articulate Online (for which we pay a handsome amount every year) and, for the first month I had to keep following up and was told it was being sent to quality assurance to investigate. Well, I still have not received a response to my issue. In my mind, this is a huge fail on the part of Articulate and I am always disappointed with the lack of support I receive.
Yes
No.
One time I called to ask about getting an upgrade and was told that I was already entitled to it. So the representative gave me instructions on how to get the upgrade.
I enjoy the flexibility and customization that is available within Articulate Storyline. I do find that sometimes a little more automation would also be more convenient.
Jackie Van Nice | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I use Articulate Storyline to create e-learning for my clients. It's the one development tool I've chosen to specialize in. It's relatively easy to use; yet gives me enough depth to create a wide variety of effective training pieces.
  • Easy to learn. The learning curve to get going with Articulate Storyline and produce something usable is very short. But once you're ready for more depth - it's there.
  • It's stable. I can rely on it to be there when I need it and don't spend time having to deal with support issues.
  • It's a product that comes with its own community of users who are always offering up great ideas, free course assets, and great peer interaction. Is the community built into the software itself? No. Does using the community help you make far better courses in Storyline because it helps you be a better designer? You bet.
  • It would be great to have more than one Storyline file open at once. You can technically do it, but it involves opening an additional instance of the program for each additional Storyline file you want open simultaneously. Not a big deal, but it would be a nice feature to add.
As with any e-learning development tool, you'd want to establish the intended output before choosing it. If I had a particular device or environment I was going to launch it in, I'd do a test to be sure my result was going to be what I expected.
  • As an e-learning consultant and instructional designer it's had great positive impact on my business. I've chosen to only work in Articulate Storyline and it has helped me to easily and confidently develop and deliver solid, well-made courses to my clients.
The only other e-learning development tool I've used is Adobe Captivate. I abandoned it right about the time they dragged their feet on making it compatible with Windows 7 - so they effectively abandoned me as a user at that point. Adobe support has never been good, but this was a truly egregious moment for them. I had no choice but to find another product. Happily, that's what led me to Articulate and ultimately to Storyline.
  • Implemented in-house
  • Anything to do with animating objects on and off the screen, revealing additional information, layering information, etc., is a breeze.
  • Using the timeline to manage elements can make the most complex slides easy to handle.
  • Creating custom functionality with triggers is quite simple.
No
It's simply a breeze to use. I've never had a problem with it.
Melissa Jordan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

When my company was looking for software to help us develop eLearning, I knew I wanted something that was easy to use and cost-effective, but I also wanted the ability to be creative and produce engaging courses that were interactive and eye-catching. After reviewing many software options, I recommended Articulate Studio because it met my criteria, and then some. We’ve been Articulate fans ever since!

When I first heard about Storyline, I was really excited! Articulate had been listening to its users and working busily to provide us with a tool that offered many of the features we had been asking for.

Storyline allows us to cut costs by training many associates with one course, without the need for travel or missed time from work. Because the product is so easy to use, we are able to develop training efficiently.

  • One of the very best “features” of Storyline is the Articulate Community and the fact that Articulate listens! I feel that the company really stands behind its product. Not only do they want their users to be able to make the most of the software, but you get the feeling that they’re supporting us to be the best we can be through what we design.
  • The community offers so many valuable resources: Helpful community managers who always try to answer questions quickly and clearly. A way to network with other users, share insights and creative ideas, or just show off our work. Weekly challenges to keep us engaged and thinking. A whole library of downloadable content.
  • I couldn’t ask for a better community or product support! Tom Kulhman and David Anderson are phenomenal – they are experts in the field of eLearning and course design and are always eager to share their knowledge, ideas, and tips/tricks. I have learned so much from their blogs alone, and was fortunate enough to attend an in-person workshop hosted by the both of them a couple of years ago. I feel like I never stop learning, growing, and getting better because Articulate supports me. I’m not just a nameless software user – I’m a community member and they care about my success and my opinion.
  • Storyline scores a 10 out of 10 for ease of use. Its ribbon navigation and layout feel familiar and are easy to navigate. I love the ability to move different windows/sections of the software – it allows me to configure a personalized layout that enhances my productivity.
  • Everything is relatively easy to find – I rarely have to hunt for a feature, and if I do Articulate provides helpful tutorials for everything. So it’s never hard to make the software perform the way I want it to. The tutorials themselves are a wonderful resource – I like that they include a video demonstration AND a text version of each tutorial.
  • I love that Storyline comes with some pre-built slide layouts and interactions. Even a beginner can engage learners in their courses – Articulate has done the work for them! The software grows with the user – you can make your courses as simple or complex as you desire. Though the software is easy to use, Articulate has included some powerful tools (like variables) which allow us to create games, interactive content, whatever we can imagine. The sky is the limit – buttons, hotspots, markers – whatever interaction I can imagine, I can create! So don’t worry about outgrowing the software – there’s very little you can’t do.
  • Course creation is simple and for the most part straight forward. First-time users can get started with very little training or experience, and the software is pretty easy to figure out. It’s the most user-friendly eLearning development software on the market, with a very low learning curve!
  • You can easily import PPT files or other Articulate projects, so upgrading from an earlier Articulate software is a breeze. We’ve had no problem converting any of our older Studio projects into Storyline projects. Template creation works the same as PPT, so it’s familiar and easy. Reusable content is a huge time-saver, and Storyline makes it very easy to create and reuse content. See a template or interaction in the community that you’d like to use in your current course? Importing them is simple and fast.
  • Sometimes an "advanced" feature is a bit buried, and not completely intuitive to find. I usually don't have trouble finding it once I google or search the community, but it would be nice to have a couple of heavily used features easier to access. Like course duration - it's a little hard to find how to view Storyline's estimated duration and that's something we use for each course.
  • I'd love to have a few features that we had in Studio, like the ability to loop background music throughout the course.
  • We have a standard for our slide note text, and it's hard to apply the formatting because the formatting paintbrush does not work on slide note text. Having to manually change the formatting for each slide is a bit tedious.
Articulate is great for creating interactive content and demos of websites or software programs.
  • The ability to provide "on-demand" content that associates can view at their own pace has been very well-received.
  • Using Storyline has cut our training costs because we only have to create a course once versus hosting many instructor-led sessions. It also removes the need for travel expenses and time off the job.
  • Captivate,Lectora
Articulate is just hands down easier to use, while offering the ability to create the same cool stuff that the other software allows. Articulate's support and community is second to none. Storyline is also more cost-effective.
HR Training - we train on soft skills, software/systems, product knowledge
3
The software is easy to use, and our team of dedicated eLearning Designers help field questions about course design, building interactions, finding/using popular features, and to share tips and tricks we have learned.
  • On-demand training for compliance materials.
  • A way to "advertise" our training - we create short "commercials" using the software.
  • We have used it heavily in sales training and product knowledge training.
  • To generate "buzz" about our training.
  • To showcase information at department meetings.
  • As a gamification element
  • Mobile learning
We can easily convert our older content into Storyline 2 courses, which makes updates a breeze. We've been well-pleased with the software, Articulate's dedication to releasing bug fixes and new features, and the fact that it is well-received by our associates and stakeholders.
No
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Vendor Reputation
It was easy enough for a beginner to use, while powerful enough to grow with advanced users, and the community/support from the company is phenomenal.
I would not change a thing - we are very happy!
  • Implemented in-house
No
Change management was minimal
  • We honestly didn't have any.
No key insights - just install it and go.
I love the fact that both a demonstration AND text version of the tutorials are available. Our firewall was blocking the demos until I requested my company allow them! Having the text version available still enabled me to learn from the tutorials. They are very well done and informative, and there is a tutorial for just about anything you need to learn to do with Storyline. I have always been more than satisfied with the support and training available to us for all Articulate products and I love the community!
Yes
My manager made the decision to go with premium support when we upgraded from version 1 to 2 - but the regular level of support has been meeting our needs.
I feel that the company and it's employees honestly want to help me, they care about my success and my opinion.
No
Tom Kulhman and David Anderson are examples of exceptional support by Articulate - they employ these guys to eagerly share helpful information, insights, and creative ideas with the community, so I never stop learning and I never stop increasing my skills.
  • Recording software demonstrations
  • Designing interactive content
  • Text formatting can be a bit cumbersome at times.
Yes
We don't currently use it, but have tested it and were pleased with the translation from a standard course to a mobile version.
It is so darned easy to use - you just install and start developing. Virtually no learning curve.
It is easy to train new users and manage content. Being able to import older projects and PPT files makes it very easy to use for a lot of "moonlighters" in our department.
Refugio "Gio" Jones | M.A. | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Articulate's Storyline in the Learning & Development department of our organization. We implement training programs across the entire organization by using eLearning courses created with Storyline. We then either implement the courses on a secure website or our Learning Management System. The eLearnings he us maximize learner time and minimizing cost by letting us roll-out short and effective eLearning courses.
  • Articulate's Storyline allows for fast conversion of a PowerPoint training file into an interactive eLearning course.
  • The products enable fast integration of audio and video into eLearning lessons which in-turn improve the variety in eLearning courses.
  • Storyline allows for the most easy to use eLearning authoring tools when creating courses from original design concepts
  • Articulate could include responsive design capabilities into their products so that a single eLearning course or video product can work across all computing platforms.
  • Replay could use some improvement to keep up and perhaps surpass competitor products like Camtasia with the capability to edit video and audio while adding graphics.
  • It would be nice to include an integrated image capture/editing function into Storyline, which would make easier to integrate graphics into courses.
  • Right now Storyline does not allow for exporting of images. It would be useful to do so sometimes.
It's well suited when creating eLearning courses either from concept or from a template or an imported PowerPoint presentation where you want interactivity. Storyline is not a competitor for MS PowerPoint. PowerPoint is useful for presentation software. Articulate Replay is useful for simple editing of video, but if you are looking to create complex multi-screen videos you might need to look elsewhere.
  • We've seen ROI's of up to 600 for our Learning & Development department since we began using Articulate Storyline.
  • We've been able to convert processes into eLearnings in a matter of a couple of days and have created eLearnings with original content in as little as a week and a half.
  • The above mentioned improvements have helped minimize the impact on our staff by letting them access courses at their own leisure or at scheduled times.
  • Adobe Captivate,Web Development,Trivantis Lectora
Articulate provides the most comprehensive and easy to use eLearning software hands-down. When compared to Adobe Captivate there are definite differences in the way that the two products achieve the same tasks. It's the difference between stainless steel and laser scalpels. Both can do their job well, but one is slightly better than the other, under different circumstances. Where Storyline is great for precise actions, Captivate will offers a finer tuned approach to the same task. Does that make finer tuned better? In some cases yes, but in others no.

Lectora is much more of a metta eLearning platform that can easily house a Captivate or Storyline course within the bounds of a multi-chapter eLearning curriculum.

Original eLearning Web Development is by far the most flexible and/or detailed, but tried and true method for creating eLearning. The only problem is that an eLearning author needs to understand scripting languages in order to achieve what you may get in Storyline.
2
We're the Learning and Development group within an organization of over 120 people. We provide rapid learning solutions for our staff and outside partners. We also provide on-boarding for our new-hires and Storyline provides us the best way to reach our staff with a robust learning tool that helps us succeed at our jobs.
2
We're the Learning and Development group provide our own support for Storyline. Both of us have Masters Degrees in Educational Technology and so we're very familiar with computing systems and how to troubleshoot problems. We require top level computing skills as well as the ability to create code or scripts for use in our learning products.
  • On-boarding
  • Staff re-training
  • New learning initiatives
  • We now use it to roll out simple educational videos
  • We've begun to implement job aids and other learning tools using this product
  • We use it in lieu of creating complex training manuals when applicable.
  • We may use it to educate the public about what we do.
  • We may use it educate partners to use our web-portal to access information.
  • We may use it to build simple learning websites that will help potential donors learn about our services.
It goes without saying that Artculate's products are the easiest to use and offer a great deal of functions with flexibility. Once an eLearning author uses the product it becomes tempting to not use other methods, but one would be wise not to limit him or herself to a single learning authoring platform. On the other hand, if given a single choice of a tool for rapid eLearning development, Articulate's Storyline would be a top choice.
Yes
Before Articulate we were using MS PowerPoint and found that it could create decent learning courses, but without the interactivity that helps learners stay attentive and willing to learn. PowerPoint now has new and interesting features, but even the new features pale in comparison to the awesome functionality within Storyline and related Articulate products
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
  • Analyst Reports
  • Third-party Reviews
We chose Articulate because the product offers the best in-class products from a user standpoint. Among peers and other professionals in the field, we heard about the flexibility, power and speed at which we could create new learning products. So far, word of mouth, blogs, and the occasional review helped Storyline standout as an outstanding eLearning product.
At the time, there simply was no other product that paired up to Articulate's Storyline. Today, it would be much more necessary to examine current offerings from competitors because the competition is catching up. Never the less, we feel that Storyline will continue to serve our needs well into the future and we feel confident about our purchase.
  • Implemented in-house
No
Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled
Our move to using Articulate came about as a result of a major organizational change in our systems and processes. We felt that we needed to keep pace and exceed learning and development trends in order to make our organization a world class player in the non-profit space. Articulate has helped us achieve that by helping us overcome issues from learners that were unfamiliar or reluctant to move forward with the changes that lay ahead.
  • Committing to the dedicated systems that would house Articulate. We had to find dedicated PCs for the implementation.
  • We had to upgrade our PCs in order to be able to handle the demands of the software.
  • We had to update Adobe Flash within the web browsers of our older machines so that our eLearnings would be compatible with our Articulate products.
Outside of having to dedicate a powerful enough PC for the installation and having to update Flash in our browsers there really isn't much pain involved in using Articulate. For the most part this is an easy to implement and roll-out product. The installation occurs quickly and smoothly with no additional steps needed.
Articulate depends on both staff and individual users to support their products through their "ELearning Heroes" website. The site provides for a useful means by which customers can rise to the level of expert in solving problems or "Hero". Because requests for help are posted in either a support or user forum, you can expect to get answers quickly to problems. Sometimes the staff may be busy and so answers may take some time.
No
Yes, when I faced an urgent issue with an eLearning course that I created, I posted my situation on the ELearning Heroes support forum and within minutes I received no less than three suggestions that solved the problem. I was able to implement one of the three quickly and published my eLearning that morning. The speed and expertise they provided made the experience stand out in my mind.
  • Interactions
  • Integration of resources (graphics, video, audio)
  • Timing control of animations and slide transitions.
  • At times, the use of variables to trigger interactions may have created problems with our end-products, but this was quickly fixed by using state-changes as triggers for interactions.
  • The output from the authoring tool is not a one-size fits all. The integrated Flash programming may not work with all web-browsers (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox), which requires adjustments to individual browsers or browser types. This can be a lot of work if you have hundreds of users.
  • Creating a stack of layers on a base slide may be desirable for portability and for creating modular learning, but it can cause the system to slow down if the stack is too high. A more reasonable fix is to spread your layers across distinct slides and the problem goes away.
Yes
Well, Storyline does provide a means to create courses that are designed for mobile and potable devices, but the software does require that you create your eLearnings on a desktop or laptop. A mobile interface for creating eLearning would not provide access to the robust features provided by this product and so Articulate does not offer such a device.

On the other hand, Articulate does provide a portable player so that you can view eLearnings on portable devices like smartphones or tablets computers.
This is by far the most accessible product for creating eLearning. A new user can become quite competent in using Articulate in a short period of time and become proficient in less than a year. I imagine that becoming an expert may take two years or more of consistent use, but even that is a short period of time.
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