Best E-Learning software. See for yourself how Easygenerator can make course creation easier, faster and more cost-effective for your organization. Our cloud-based e-learning software has zero learning curve, making it simple for subject matter experts and those without e-learning experience to create courses and share knowledge.

As a corporate trainer, creating and designing training content forms a large portion of your workload. Your sessions need to be detailed, but at the same time they shouldn’t overwhelm learners with information.

In an e-learning setup, ease of use and learning flexibility become key. Your training content must be intuitive, easily accessible, and mobile friendly. You must also customize course elements based on the learning requirements of your trainees.

E-learning content authoring software is designed to help you manage these tasks efficiently. With this type of software, you can develop and publish tailored training content. You can also add different types of media elements (text, videos, slideshows, etc.) and assessments to your courses. These elements not only improve the quality of your training material but also make designing and publishing easier.

Some LMSs have content authoring functionality built-in, but if you’re seeking a stand-alone e-learning authoring tool, here are the five top solutions to get you started.

Products are presented here alphabetically. Read more about our selection methodology here.

1. Adobe Captivate

Adobe Captivate is one of the most well-known content authoring tools (based on the volume of Google search queries). It supports a wide range of media formats, such as images, videos, animations, and PowerPoint presentations. It also has various game templates, design layouts, and stock images available in its asset store.

Types of courses in Adobe Captivate (Source)

Adobe Captivate offers master slides and templates that help users maintain content guidelines and standards across training materials, which you can modify to fit your design and interaction needs. A key feature of the tool called “multistate object,” allows you to create multiple versions of an image/object for designing interactive courses. You can also create immersive simulations and use complex branching to direct your trainees on individualized learning paths.

The platform’s multidevice preview feature allows you to preview how your training courses will look on different devices. You can publish your courses on Adobe PhoneGap’s iOS, Android, and Windows apps. Based on the location of your trainees, you can even customize courses to offer different language options.

We analyzed user reviews for Adobe Captivate to understand what buyers like and dislike. Here’s what we found:

2. Gomo

Gomo is a cloud-based e-learning content authoring solution for businesses of all sizes. It allows users to design online training courses using customizable templates, collaborate with content creators, and create responsive content.

Content dashboard in gomo (Source)

Gomo’s course management feature lets you define training layouts and authoring tasks, as well as add rich media assets to your training material using a drag-and-drop interface. You can also create quizzes that have questions with different answer options, such as multiple choice, typed input, and numerical input.

The software follows a task-based approach for developing training courses, allowing you to assign content creation and editing tasks to different team members. And since the solution is cloud-based, comments made during a review are visible to all members in real time. You can also share your training courses via email or QR code.

We analyzed user reviews for gomo to understand what buyers liked and disliked. Here’s what we found:

3. iSpring Suite

iSpring Suite is an on-premise e-learning solution that offers different themes, animations, and effects to let users create online courses on Microsoft PowerPoint.

It lets users design training content using different elements, such as video narration, e-learning interactions, and assessments, and it offers mobile-responsive layouts to create mobile-supported learning content. Fanatec porsche 911 gt3 rs v2 clubsport edition. You can also embed webpages in your training content, so users don’t have to open a new window. With iSpring Suite, courses can be published in the HTML5, Flash, and MP4 formats.

PowerPoint integration in iSpring Suite (Source)

iSpring Suite also offers dedicated training apps for iOS and Android devices, allowing learners to download courses on their mobile devices and take them offline. Built-in screen capturing lets you record screencasts and paste them in slides. You can also use predefined templates to style training content in the form of books, stories, and FAQs, among others.

For training delivery, you can use the recommended settings or rely on separate sliders to compress image, audio, and video files as needed. You can also adjust all the panels and buttons in the iSpring player to customize guidance for individual learners.

We analyzed user reviews for iSpring Suite to understand what buyers liked and disliked. Here’s what we found:

4. Lectora Online

Lectora Online is a cloud-based content authoring tool that helps users design training material using conditional branching and sequential logic. Its automatic versioning feature lets users view all the versions of a designed training course. The tool also offers responsive design options to support mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

Getting started page in Lectora Online (Source)

The software has a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to move elements as you design your course. It features a centralized media repository for uploading and using media files across courses. It also lets you add notes and create assignments for team members so that you can delegate tasks and collaborate effectively.

In Lectora Online, you can preview your training courses before publishing by scanning a QR code with your smartphone. The tool also provides free access to online forums and how-to articles along with a toll-free customer support number.

We analyzed user reviews for Lectora Online to understand what buyers liked and disliked. Here’s what we found:

5. Storyline 360

Storyline 360 is an on-premise content authoring solution for businesses of all sizes. It supports only Windows OS and allows authors to design training material using templates and multimedia content. It also features motion path animations, action-based triggers, and interactive sliders.

Action-based triggers in Storyline 360 (Source)

The software lets you import course assets directly into its media library. It supports uncompressed videos, a beneficial feature if your training content requires high visual definition. It also offers dockable panels that you can move anywhere on the desktop or even to a second monitor.

The tool’s “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) text editor allows you to modify content as needed and view the real-time effect of the changes made. Software simulations and an assessment builder are also included in the package.

Articulate, Storyline 360’s software vendor, hosts “E-Learning Heroes,” a community where you can find free templates, guidance, and posts on software-related queries.

We’ve analyzed user reviews for Storyline 360 to understand what buyers liked and disliked. Here’s what we found:

Next steps

Now that you’ve read about these top five products, the next step is to find one that suits your e-learning requirements. To get started, use the following approach:

• Set an annual budget for a content authoring tool. Eliminate products that exceed your budget.
• Determine the content authoring features required for your business. Shortlist products that offer these features.
• Contact software vendors and set up a demo for each shortlisted product. You can also read user reviews on Software Advice to assess the usefulness of the product in your line of business.

Go through our e-learning software catalog to explore more solutions.

Product selection methodology

1. We shortlisted products from our e-learning software directory that offer these core features: content authoring, course tracking, and course management.
2. Then, we ranked the products in the shortlist based on monthly search volume to arrive at the top five products.

Note: Listed pros and cons are derived from features listed on the product website and product user reviews on Gartner Digital Markets domains (Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice). They do not represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Software Advice or its affiliates.

The world is awash in “free” these days.

“Free” consultations, “free” samples, “free” eBooks; they’re everywhere. Some of them are genuinely free, but many are just “free” and you don’t realize until it’s too late that they’re “free with the purchase of…” or “free for two weeks if you input a credit card first.”

I’m a simple guy. I like my “free” things to be free, period.

In the spirit of free, and not “free” I’ve put together a list of the best free tools you can use specifically for eLearning functions (for instance, I’m not a fan of saying Skype counts as a dedicated eLearning tool just because you can do face-to-face classes with it). I’ve organized them below into sections for course authoring, learning management systems, and mobile apps.

Course Authoring

A free version of a commercial authoring tool, authorPOINT Lite creates eLearning content by converting PowerPoint presentations. The free version does not include live video/audio functionality or the ability to save as a SCORM compliant flash presentation. This is installed, not web-based, software, and is used by a plethora of institutions of higher education.

A freeware version of the commercial product, CourseLab 2.4 allows eLearning content creation in a “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) programming-free environment. It’s installed software for Windows computers, and is available for download at the CourseLab website. Customers seem to be concentrated in academic, rather than corporate, eLearning organizations.

A web-based course authoring tool, EasyGenerator offers a limited free version of their software. The free version is limited to one author and ten courses, and only allows publication to the internet, not to an LMS. Aimed primarily at the corporate eLearning market.

This is an open source content authoring application that allows you to design eLearning courses without HTML or XML knowledge. It is SCORM compliant and can run on Windows, Mac, or Linux. eXe is meant primarily for use by teachers and academics.

An open source tool, GLO Maker is a free download that helps you build “GLOs,” or “Generative Learning Objects” which are “rich, interactive learning experiences.” It allows deployment to mobile devices. The software is generally aimed at academic eLearning course designers.

iSpring offers a free version of their online eLearning Suite course creation tool. The free version is limited in some ways (it doesn’t support videos or custom branding) but allows for SCORM compliant course creation through PowerPoint. Primarily aimed at corporate eLearning course authors.

The Learning Activity Management System is a free open source tool to create and deliver online learning activities. LAMS allows for SCORM compliant course creation, and includes integrations with many LMSs like Moodle, Sakai, and others. It caters to both academic eLearning and corporate training.

This open source tool creates SCORM compliant “learning objects” that can include video, audio, images and text. It includes an online demo which allows you to create test learning objects of videos and images.

An older open source project RELOAD (Reusable eLearning Object Authoring and Delivery) is managed by the University of Bolton and provides an editor to create SCORM compliant courses.

You can sign up for the free version of this hosted authoring software at their website. It provides an object-based authoring environment to make course creation intuitive and straightforward. Clients for SmartBuilder lean towards the corporate side of eLearning and training.

An online course authoring tool that supports video, audio, graphic, and text functionality within courses, Udutu also follows a “WYSIWYG” format to simplify eLearning content creation. It’s meant for use by either corporate or academic eLearning professionals.

An open source suite of browser-based tools, Xerte lets you to author content with no programming knowledge required. It allows for the creation of mobile compatible content that does not rely on Flash. It is currently in use by a variety of corporate and higher education organizations.

LMSs

This list is an in-depth breakdown of each of eight free, freemium, and open-source LMSs.

An open source LMS available for free download. This free tool has an active community of developers and continues to be updated. It is aimed primarily at the academic market and includes custom themes and web-based content delivery.

Not a traditional LMS, Morzino seems like a closed eLearning ecosystem where educators can create and publish eLearning content, and run a “virtual school” where they track student progress, assign work, and share custom-created apps. It is focused on academic, rather than corporate, eLearning.

A free LMS integrated and run through Google Apps, OpenClass is optimized for Higher Ed and K12 organizations. Mobile learning is a big focus, and it comes with course authoring and social learning functionality.

Mobile Apps

A design tool to create, modify, and share digital assets like presentation slides and images. Aimed at educators in an academic setting.

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A “personal LMS” for small businesses and educators with authoring, testing,a nd repoting. Free for 25 users.

A tool to create an online learning environment utilizing Google Apps. Free for five users.

A free, Google Apps gradebook and LMS. Aimed at the academic market.

A free Google Apps tool to create and track exams and tests.

An individual course management app for teachers.

What else?

Did I miss any cool, free (not “free”) tools?

Looking for Training software? Check out Capterra's list of the best Training software solutions.