The Best eLearning Development Software in 2021

Choosing the right software can take a lot of time. In this article, we’ll take a look at the five best authoring tools to help you create your eLearning course.

What Are Authoring Tools?

But first, let’s start with the basics. An authoring tool is a software that allows you to create, modify and manage a variety of digital content that can range from simple text documents to complex graphic design elements. Such software is often used in various companies to create adaptation courses for new employees. However, the matter is not limited to this, and eLearning development software is actively used to create online training courses for various audiences that want to expand their knowledge.

There are several types of authoring tools, and each type has its strengths and weaknesses.

Types of eLearning authoring tools

Since we’ve dealt with the theory part, it’s high time to proceed to our main topic.

Top 6 Best eLearning Development Software

We’ve done our market analysis and reviewed many popular course creation solutions. And from all this variety, we’ve selected five the best. We’ll consider each eLearning development software separately, discuss strengths and weaknesses, thereby making it easier for you to choose an eLearning development tool for your needs.

#1. Elucidat

Elucidat is a cloud-based online course creation software that simplifies and speeds up eLearning creation. However, don’t assume that if the main goal is simplicity, then the functions are limited. This eLearning development software is ideal for any need since you can create your course by choosing ready-made templates from a vast library or develop an online course entirely from scratch based on your needs and vision.

Elucidat allows multiple authors to simultaneously work on course creation through a user-friendly role system with its cloud-based structure. These advantages are framed in an eye-appealing interface made according to the “what you see is what you get” ideology.

Elucidat Pros

• Massive library of pre-made templates which speeds up course creation

• User roles system for simultaneous work

• Mobile-friendly responsive content

• Ease of course translation

• Great scalability

• Blue-prints system

• Social polling, gamification, and other interactive elements

Elucidat Cons

• Steep learning curve

Rather expensive if you are not creating eLearning content regularly

Pricing for Elucidat

Note: Elucidat doesn’t disclose its pricing policy, and the cost of the plan is calculated after negotiations with the client, depending on the specific case. However, Elucidat has four plans with some differences.

#2. Gomo

Gomo is an eLearning development software aimed primarily at mobile devices and novice users. Users can create various courses with an easy-to-use drag and drop tool and a variety of templates. The designed courses can be hosted online or offline using the official application.

Gomo is a cloud-based eLearning development software,as a result, it fully supports multi-author collaboration on a course. And these authors can be located in any country, and there will be no problems with creating a multilingual course. Thanks to the multi-store feature that allows creators to store different language versions of the course in one package.

Gomo Pros

• Cloud-based flexibility

• Responsive content made for mobile devices

• Separate mobile app for offline course access

• Ease of multi-language course creation

Gomo Cons

• The limited content layout, customization, and field for creativity

• Not so user-friendly interface

Pricing for Gomo

#3. Adobe Captivate

Captivate is a treasure trove of helpful eLearning features like all Adobe products. This eLearning development software is compatible with other Adobe products, making this tool stand out from others and the most powerful on this list.

Adobe Captivate allows users to create both simple courses based on prepared templates and complex courses with various interactive elements. Besides, all courses can quickly adapt for mobile devices thanks to recognizing such mobile gestures as pinch, zoom, swipe, and others. Also, it’s possible to create content such as simulations, podcasts, screencasts, games, lessons, and import images, PowerPoint presentations, videos, .flv, and audio into any slide in the project.

Adobe Captivate Pros

• Create complex interactions

• Mobile-device gestures support

• Create VR-based learning courses

• Compatibility with other Adobe products

Adobe Captivate Cons

• To make complex content, you need to put some hours into onboarding

• Desktop limitations

• Tricky update process

• Linear course structure

Pricing for Adobe Captivate

Note: The following prices are in British pounds. USD prices may differ.

 #4. Adapt

Adapt is a free, open-source eLearning development software geared towards creating responsive HTML5 content. Adapt’s structure supports both beginners that want to create their first course and professionals looking for new tools to create a unique eLearning experience. However, to make anything custom in this tool, you need to know specific HTML, JavaScript, and CSS technologies.

Users can create engaging content using pre-built theme templates or create their themes using the built-in content block grid. Adapt can be easily expanded to suit your needs using various ready-made add-ons or by creating your add-on by choosing one of four types: Components, Extensions, Menus, and Themes.

Adapt Pros

• This eLearning development software is free.

• If you’re tech-savvy or have a team of developers, you can create your custom interactions and layouts.

• User-friendly interface.

• HTML5-based responsiveness.

Adapt Cons

• Content block grid leads to the generic look of all content

• Tricky installation process

#5. Easygenerator

Easygenerator is a cloud-based platform whose name speaks for itself. The main goal of this eLearning development software is to provide users with convenient tools to create straightforward e-learning content quickly. Courses can be created from scratch while providing a responsive design for various devices’ screens. If you’re short on time, you can use ready-made templates with full content. You just need to take care of your learning part.

Onboarding is quick and easy, as the platform guides the user through a series of steps to create each element of the course. The onboarding process allows the user to focus on a specific task not forget anything important along the creation process.

Easygenerator Pros

• An excellent choice for eLearning starters

• Ease of creating mobile-friendly courses

• PowerPoint import support

• Close-to-community development team that creates updates based on feedback

Easygenerator Cons

• Not all content types are fully optimized for mobile screens

• Limited features

• Word-limit on some forms

• Pricing plan-related content restrictions

Pricing for Easygenerator

Note: The following prices are in euros. USD prices may differ.

#6 iSpring Suite

iSpring Suite is a full-featured authoring toolkit that allows you to create online courses fast and hassle free. Its core authoring tool works as a PowerPoint add-in, making it easy for novice content developers to learn to use it. Other tools include a quiz maker for assessments, a video studio for creating video tutorials and screencasts, a dialogue simulator for building role-plays, and a tool for creating interactive catalogs, timelines, FAQs, and glossaries.

To make the course authoring process even faster and easier, you can leverage the iSpring Content Library that provides tens of thousands of course templates, characters, backgrounds, and icons. If you work on eLearning projects in a team, there’s an online space where you can store your courses and share them with stakeholders, collaborate on the content, and get feedback from your colleagues.

iSpring Suite Pros

• Simple familiar interface for rapid content development

• Built-in dialogue simulator with branching scenarios

• Professional video studio

• Content library with 69,000+ assets

• Web service for fast content sharing and collaboration

iSpring Suite Cons

• PowerPoint needs to be installed

• Only works in Windows

Pricing for iSpring Suite

Note: iSpring provides discounts for multi-seat licenses, as well as discounts for educators, non-profit organizations, and governmental institutions.

However, in our opinion, the future of eLearning development is a transition to LMS, as it is more prevalent in 2021. Using just one tool to design training severely constrains your options, while LMS provides a more comprehensive solution to the problem. For example, let’s compare one of the most popular LMS systems on the market, Open edX, with one of the most popular authoring tools, Elucidat. You can see that LMS can provide much more opportunities in comparison with authoring tools.

Open Edx vs Elucidat

Wrapping Up

We’ve brought you the five best representatives of the eLearning development software, and as you can see, the variety is excellent. Some tools are suitable for knowledgeable professionals, while others are made for beginners. Some software has more advanced functions, while other software is aimed at simplifying the course creation process. We hope this article helped you decide, but if you still have questions about the eLearning implementation, drop us a line, and our representative will consult you on all your questions.

If you want to know more about Open edx, check out the two great articles below that describe the Open edx technology:

• Open edX: What Is It And Why 19 Million People Use It?
• Is Open edX the Next Big Thing in Custom LMS World?