In today’s business landscape, there is a growing trend of companies utilizing authoring tools to quickly produce high-quality content at a lower cost. These eLearning authoring tools enable Learning and Development (LD) teams to create various digital learning materials such as lessons, training materials, courses, assignments, exercises, and simulations. This allows instructional designers and LD professionals to develop engaging and interactive online training content with ease.
The corporate eLearning market is experiencing rapid growth, with an expected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 20% from 2022 to 2028, according to Global Market Insights in 2022. This can be attributed to the numerous benefits that eLearning authoring tools offer, making it easier for businesses to deliver online training and facilitate efficient learning and information absorption. Additionally, using these tools saves valuable time and resources compared to traditional content development methods.
To help businesses take advantage of these benefits, our research team has compiled a list of the most popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) for authoring. This includes detailed information on the features, benefits, and pricing of each tool, allowing businesses to make informed decisions about which tool best suits their needs.
eLearning Authoring Tools Statistics
Staying up-to-date with current statistics in the eLearning industry is crucial in order to keep pace with the constantly evolving landscape of modern education and training. The use of eLearning authoring tools has become a fundamental aspect in this field, allowing for the creation of innovative and engaging digital learning materials.
Companies increasingly adopt authoring tools to design and produce up-to-date content in hours as a cost-effective and efficient solution. With eLearning authoring tools, L&D teams can create digital learning content, including lessons, training materials, courses, assignments, exercises, and simulations. As a result, instructional designers and learning and development (L&D) professionals can develop engaging and interactive online training content with ease.
With benefits such as the abovementioned, it is no longer surprising that the corporate eLearning market continues to grow rapidly, with a projected expansion of over 20% CAGR from 2022 to 2028 (Global Market Insights, 2022). After all, businesses can use eLearning authoring tools to streamline online training delivery for easy and efficient learning access and information absorption. At the same time, using content authoring tools save valuable time and significant financial resources compared to traditional content development methods.
To help you begin to reap the benefits that these tools offer, our research team collated the most popular LMS for authoring, including detailed information on each tool’s benefits, features, and pricing.
eLearning in the Education Department
In the realm of online education, eLearning authoring tools have become essential due to the transformative impact of technology. This is evidenced by the impressive engagement of 220 million learners in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in 2021. In response to this demand, providers have launched a wide range of 3,100 courses and 500 microcredentials (EdSurge, 2021).
Furthermore, the global eLearning market is expected to experience significant growth, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2% from 2022 to 2028. This will drive the market size from $27.41 billion in 2022 to $46.547 billion by 2028 (Globe News Wire, 2023). Additionally, with the majority of students using mobile devices, the mobile learning market is estimated to reach $60.7 billion, driven by a compounded growth of 23.7% (Globe News Wire, 2020).
| Market Name | Market Size in 2022 | Market Size in 2028 | Expected CAGR (2022-2028) |
| Global eLearning Market | $274.10 billion | $465.47 billion | 9.2% |
eLearning in the Corporate World
The accessibility of online learning has not only attracted students, but also professionals who are looking to improve their skills. A large majority (87%) of working adults recognize the importance of continuous training and skill acquisition in order to adapt to changes in the workplace and stay competitive (Pew Charitable Trust, 2020). This data highlights the growing awareness among workers of the need for lifelong learning and upskilling. As a result, the corporate eLearning industry is experiencing significant growth, with an estimated market size of $225 billion in 2021. It is projected to continue expanding at an average annual rate of 10.5%, reaching nearly $45 billion by 2028 (Statista, 2023).
As a result, eLearning development software has become an essential tool for educational and corporate institutions seeking to enhance the learning experience. Course authoring software allows these institutions to digitize their education process, increasing its effectiveness and competitiveness. This platform has also proven beneficial for entrepreneurs looking to establish an online school.
List of eLearning Authoring Tools
iSpring Suite 11 Toolkit
iSpring Suite 11 is a comprehensive authoring toolkit that utilizes PowerPoint as its foundation, empowering users to develop interactive learning materials such as slide-based courses, quizzes, simulations, screencasts, and video lectures. The resulting courses are published in HTML5 format, ensuring compatibility with various LMS that supports SCORM, AICC, xAPI, and cmi5 standards. With its integration with PowerPoint, iSpring Suite offers a user-friendly experience, allowing individuals familiar with PowerPoint to quickly adapt and utilize the tool effectively.
iSpring Suite 11 Authoring Tool Key Features
- Converts PowerPoint presentations into online mobile-ready courses
- Creates tests with branching, adjustable scoring, and 14-question templates
- Quickly records webcam recordings or voiceovers for screencasts
- Crafts conversational scenarios to improve communication abilities
- Shares materials and gathers feedback all within the iSpring cloud
Price
iSprint Suite 11 is priced at $770 per year.
TalentLMS Tool Built for Success
TalentLMS authoring tool offers an intuitive interface, ensuring a seamless training experience right from the start. With easy accessibility on any device, learners can engage anytime and anywhere, enhancing flexibility. This user-friendly tool allows for effortless course creation, user addition, and quick deployment, enabling organizations to go live within a day. It customizes the training to align with your branding and localizes it for a personalized touch. This tool supports various file formats, facilitates content creation, and has import/export capabilities in multiple formats.
TalentLMS Authoring Tool Key Features
- Compatible with various file formats — PDF, PPT, DOC, XLS, ODT, ODP, and others
- Imports and exports eLearning content in SCORM, HTML5, xAPI, or TIN CAN file formats
- Comes with a user-friendly interface for easy customization and support for multiple content types
- Integrates with other tools to enhance course development and delivery
- Fine-tunes courses through real-time data of learner’s progress and feedback
Price
TalentLMS offers free eLearning authoring tools through its trial version. The paid version of the authoring tool starts at $89.00 per month.
LearnWorlds Crafting Learning Experiences Customers Love
LearnWorlds is an exceptional online course platform designed for creating, marketing, and showcasing online courses. As an eLearning authoring tool, it empowers users to develop captivating and interactive eLearning content, including lessons, training modules, assignments, exercises, and simulations. As an all-in-one solution, this platform accelerates the eLearning development process, enabling users to create compelling courses in minutes. LearnWorlds authoring tool offers flexible output formats, supporting SCORM, HTML5, xAPI, and TIN CAN files, ensuring seamless integration with various eLearning environments.
LearnWorlds Authoring Tool Key Features
- Provides a user-friendly interface
- Converts videos into automatically extracted quizzes, tables of contents, and transcripts
- Offers beautiful themes for free, private, paid, curated, or drip-fed course pathways
- Delivers personalized support and a new AI assistant
- Supports SCORM compliance
Price
LearnWorlds starter plan costs $24 per month.
Articulate Storyline 360 The Best eLearning Authoring Tool for the Best Companies
Articulate Storyline 360 offers a seamless and optimized eLearning experience across all mobile devices. With Articulate Storyline 360, creating interactive courses is a breeze. Simply publish your course, which automatically adjusts to any device, ensuring a beautiful and consistent playback experience. With this tool, there is no need to customize your course for different device breakpoints manually—the responsive player takes care of it all. This authoring tool also has a responsive player that supports touchscreen gestures, allowing learners to engage with the content through swiping, dragging, and pinch-to-zoom actions on tablets and mobile devices.
Articulate Storyline 360 Authoring Tool Key Features
- Has an intuitive user interface
- Offers easy translation for learners around the world
- Publishes material for LMS SCORM, AICC, and Tin Can API 1.0 compliant
- Supports WCAG, Section 508, tables, and skippable player navigation
- Utilizes 25 different questions for assessments and imports preexisting questions
Price
Articulate Storyline 360 personal plan starts at $549 per year.
Elucidat Cuts Costs to Achieve Impact
Elucidat is a cloud-based eLearning authoring platform that enables ambitious teams to create large-scale workplace learning solutions. With its user-friendly interface and collaborative features, businesses can quickly respond to changing needs and deliver smarter digital learning experiences. This authoring tool supports a range of eLearning formats, including HTML5, video, SCORM (1.2, 2004), and xAPI (TinCan), making it compatible with both Windows and Mac OS. With Elucidat, organizations can streamline their learning initiatives and drive impactful results.
Elucidat Authoring Tool Key Features
- Allows for easy collaboration and access from anywhere
- Offers a powerful authoring tool, in-app support, and a dedicated customer success team
- Provides a WYSIWYG editor and project structuring interface
- Offers ready-made templates, interactions and features, and flexible permissions and user roles
- Provides various collaborative features—review feature, guided authoring, and advanced user management
- Utilizes 12 different questions for assessments and imports preexisting questions
Price
Elucidat pricing plans are available by request.
SmartTutor 360 For Fastforward eLearning
SmartTutor 360 eLearning authoring tool offers comprehensive capabilities to create diverse content using a single platform. With the new Quick Start Projects, ready-to-use slides, and pre-built interactions, users can effortlessly produce visually appealing and mobile-ready courses in minutes. Course creation is accelerated through automated branching and object styling duplication. Enhancements include the ability to edit SVGs, convert them into buttons, incorporate overlay videos triggered by VR hotspots, and insert multiple overlay slides within interactive videos. SmartTutor 360 seamlessly integrates with SCORM 2004, SCORM 1.2, and TinCan-compliant LMS.
SmartTutor Authoring Tool Key Features
- Offers PowerPoint to mobile learning
- Comes with auto-migration from non-mobile to mobile
- Quickly records webcam recordings or voiceovers for screencasts
- Has excellent HTML5 publishing
- Delivers text-to-speech support
- Has responsive motion effects without programming and drag-and-drop interactions
Price
SmartTutor’s pricing plan starts at $179 per year.
EasyGenerator Everything You Need to Create
EasyGenerator comes with a user-friendly design, enabling the efficient creation of online training courses in minimal time. This robust tool provides creative elements, including quizzes, fill-in-the-blank questions, and true-or-false exercises, empowering creators to build engaging and interactive learning experiences. EasyGenerator also seamlessly integrates with numerous LMS, ensuring the smooth delivery of eLearning content to learners. By offering both simplicity and compatibility, EasyGenerator streamlines the course development process and facilitates effective training within any LMS environment.
EasyGenerator Authoring Tool Key Features
- Offers employee-generated learning
- Delivers a responsive design optimized for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices
- Has real-time collaborative authoring
- Comes with custom branding
- Offers results tracking
Price
EasyGenerator plans start at $108 per month.
Gomo Learning Makes Building Easy
Gomo Learning is a cloud-based eLearning authoring tool that promotes collaboration and responsiveness. This tool enables users to create visually stunning and multi-device compatible learning content effortlessly. With Gomo Learning’s intuitive interface, anyone can readily use it without requiring extensive technical skills. Gomo Learning offers advanced customization options and features that cater to the needs of even the most discerning learning designers. It uses HTML5 and cutting-edge web technologies to ensure seamless functionality across various devices.
Gomo Learning Authoring Tool Key Features
- Offers automatic HTML5 conversion
- Comes with multi-language support
- Provides analytics and reporting tools to track learners’ progress and results
- Is SCORM-compliant and integrates with most LMS
- Offers easy-to-customize content for consistent branding
Price
Gomo Learning pricing plans are available by request.
KREDO Accelerates Businesses
KREDO is a user-friendly eLearning authoring tool designed for creating dynamic and captivating learning content. As a cloud-based platform, KREDO offers convenient access without software downloads, enabling users to work flexibly from anywhere. KREDO allows users to develop interactive eLearning courses that are SCORM-compliant to ensure seamless integration. KREDO empowers users with accessibility and interactivity and simplifies the process of creating engaging and effective online learning experiences.
KREDO Authoring Tool Key Features
- Comes with an intuitive interface
- Offers customizable and interactive templates
- Allows for multiple and collaborative authoring
- Delivers a responsive design
- Offers analytics and reporting
Price
KREDO pricing plans are available by request.
Lectora Online The Most Powerful Tool to Create
Lectora Online is a cloud-based authoring tool that offers an HTML5 version, ensuring compatibility with various devices. It offers course creation, including responsive design, automated versioning, interactive elements, branching, quizzes, and customizable course templates. Lectora Online supports SCORM, xAPI, HTML5, AICC, and cmi5. It also facilitates seamless integration with LMS and enables the delivery of engaging eLearning content. Whether designing interactive courses or incorporating assessments, this tool provides the necessary functionalities for efficient eLearning content development.
Lectora Online Authoring Tool Key Features
- Is easy to use and understand
- Offers different editing features
- Integrates with Camtasia and Snagit
- Comes with a built-in asset library
- Uses text-to-speech to generate audio in various dialects and personas
Price
Lectora Online costs $119 per month.