Why choosing the right authoring tool is crucial to your eLearning success
Authoring tools with a different focus
Are you looking for the right authoring tool for your online courses that optimally meets your specific requirements? The right choice will not only make the creation and management of your online courses much easier, but will also significantly reduce your day-to-day workload. The more precisely you know your needs, the better you can select the tool that will satisfy you in the long term. Get to know the three best authoring tools with their different focuses so that you can make an informed decision.
The 3 best authoring tools
Articulate 360 is ideal for users who want to create interactive courses based on existing templates quickly and easily.
Knowledgeworker Create is suitable for companies that want to collaboratively create complex, dynamic and globally applicable eLearning courses.
Lectora is ideal for experienced developers who need detailed control and maximum flexibility when designing e-learning courses.
Articulate 360 and Lectora, both tools from American companies, are convincing with their ready-made templates and assets, which a single author can use to create an online course very quickly. However, if you want to make individual adjustments, you need to plan a lot of time and, in some cases, have developer skills. Team collaboration and translation options are not integrated. However, this may not be relevant for small companies.
In contrast, the authoring tool Knowledgeworker Create, a German tool, offers a very high degree of flexibility and scalability for the collaborative development of complex, dynamic and globally applicable e-learning courses. Among other things, it offers GDPR compliance, accessibility, integrated task and review management, integrated translation management and integrated AI for content creation.
Articulate 360
For small, national companies with only a few training courses each year
Articulate 360 is a comprehensive eLearning suite that provides intuitive tools for creating interactive and responsive courses. It is suitable for small, national companies and the education sector, and is known for its extensive template library.
- PowerPoint feel (limited slide size with fixed element positions)
- integrated AI
- quick creation of online courses based on ready-made templates
- technical support and regular updates
- desktop or cloud-based web application
- integrated AI for creating content structures, texts, questions and images
- interactive templates and elements
- highly accessible online courses
- partial responsivity
- extensive range of interactions and quiz options
- integrated screen capturing
- SCORM, xAPI, AICC, cmi5
- great effort required to adapt design
- no directly integrated task and review management system
- no collaborative working
- no translation management
- no AI-supported translation
- courses are not fully accessible
- learning content cannot be reused
- no fully automatic responsivity
- no fully automatic learning progress indicator
- no mandatory questions
Due to its focus on templates, Articulate 360 is ideal for users who want to create interactive courses quickly and easily.
Knowledgeworker Create
Suitable for national and international, medium-sized and large companies
Knowledgeworker Create is a cloud-based learning content management system that has been specially developed for creating bespoke, fully responsive eLearning content. It offers a high degree of customizability and is ideal for companies that require specific and multilingual learning content.
- dynamic, responsive design without a fixed slide structure
- integrated AI
- quick and easy course creation with template-based process, templates, assets, and AI
- collaborative course creation, translation, and review
- technical support, comprehensive eLearning services, and regular updates
- cloud-based web application
- integrated AI for creating content structures, texts, questions, and images
- interactive templates and elements
- fully accessible online courses
- content is made fully responsive automatically
- compliance with EU data protection regulation
- extensive interactions and quiz options
- integrated task and review management
- integrated translation management
- integrated role and rights management
- AI-supported translation into many languages
- easy reusability of all content
- change log
- separation of content and CI-compliant design
- global design customization for all existing courses
- storage, management, and linking of all elements via a central database (media, course content, questions)
- mandatory questions
- SCORM, xAPI, cmi5
- No integrated screen capturing
- online-only
Knowledgeworker Create has made a name for itself with its cloud-based collaboration features, ability to cater to multiple languages, content reusability, and responsivity, which makes it particularly attractive for international and collaborative projects.
Lectora Online
For medium-sized, national companies with only a few training courses each year
Lectora is a versatile eLearning authoring tool that offers both pre-made templates and extensive customization options. Users can quickly work with existing layouts or customize each element, providing flexibility in creating bespoke learning content.
- PowerPoint feel (limited slide size with fixed element positions)
- integrated AI
- fast creation of online courses using design templates and style packs
- collaborative working
- technical support and regular updates
- cloud-based web application
- AI-supported creation of content structures, quiz questions, and texts
- interactive templates and elements
- highly accessible online courses
- partial responsivity
- extensive interactions and quiz options
- collaborative working
- external role and rights management
- integrated screen capturing
- SCORM, xAPI, AICC, cmi5
- Great effort required to adapt designs
- no integrated task and review management
- no translation management
- no reusability of learning content
- no change log
- no global design adaptation for all existing courses
- no automatic learning progress indicator
- no mandatory questions
Lectora is ideal for experienced developers and organizations that require detailed control and maximum flexibility over the design and development of their eLearning courses.
The most important functions of a good eLearning authoring tool
Optimize the creation and learning process with the right tools
An effective eLearning authoring tool makes the difference when it comes to implementing training efficiently and effectively. This applies both to the creation of online courses and to their success with learners. This overview contains all the really important features that the authoring tool should have.
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Use this free authoring tool finder to help you make your decision. You will answer 18 key questions and at the end you will receive an evaluation of which authoring tool (Articulate, Knowledgeworker Create or Lectora) best meets your requirements.
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FAQ authoring tools
Using an authoring tool offers numerous advantages. It saves time and resources as you don't need any programming skills. You can also create high-quality, interactive learning content that improves your users' learning experience and increases engagement.
Yes, authoring tools are ideal for beginners. Most of these tools are intuitively designed and offer step-by-step instructions to help you create professional content without prior knowledge. There is also extensive support documentation and community forums to help with questions.
You can learn the basics of an authoring tool quickly with practical onboarding courses or simply by using it intuitively. For a quick and effective introduction to the authoring tool of your choice, we recommend a training course for your authors. Depending on the tool and number of users, you will receive onboarding from experienced instructional designers and e-learning consultants.
Depending on the authoring tool, different functions are included. The authoring tools we have presented include these features, among others:
- Simple drag-and-drop operation
- Integrated multimedia support (videos, audio, images)
- Interactive quiz and evaluation options
- SCORM and xAPI compatibility for Learning Management Systems (LMS)
You can find a detailed comparison of the authoring tools and their features in our authoring tool comparison
Absolutely! Authoring tools offer flexible customization options that allow you to create content that is tailored to the needs of your learners. You can customize the elements according to your CI.
You do not need any additional software to export the e-learning courses created in the authoring tool and publish them on your website, for example. However, if you want to use the authoring tool effectively as part of digital personnel development and want to measure the learning outcomes of your employees and store them in an audit-proof manner, you will also need a learning platform (LMS). We will be happy to provide you with comprehensive advice on the right combination of LMS and authoring tool.
Thanks to the user-friendly interface and ready-made templates, you can create an eLearning module in no time at all. Depending on the complexity of the content, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days.
The cost of an authoring tool depends on which of the three top tools you choose, the number of licenses required and additional features. After an individual needs analysis, we will be happy to make you an offer tailored to your requirements.