Articulate 360 vs Xerte

AArticulate 3609.4Visit Xerte7.4Visit

Higher score A Articulate 360 #1 in Course Authoring Software 9.4/10 14-day trial Free trial✓ 6 of 6 features Visit Articulate 360

vs

Xerte #17 in Course Authoring Software 7.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 6 of 6 features Visit Xerte

• Articulate 360 fits best

  Teams wanting Rise and Storyline together

• Xerte fits best

  Free shared authoring with SCORM

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Side by side

Feature	AArticulate 360 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Xerte 7.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	7.4
Ranking	#1 in Course Authoring Software	#17 in Course Authoring Software
Best for	Teams wanting Rise and Storyline together	Free shared authoring with SCORM
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free plan
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Desktop	Self-hosted, Browser extension
Platforms	Web, Windows	Web
Support	Email, Live chat, Docs	Community, Docs
Integrations	6 integrations	3 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Articulate 360 6/6 · Xerte 6/6
Interactive content	✓	✓
Assessment builder	✓	✓
SCORM export	✓	✓
Responsive output	✓	✓
Team collaboration	✓	✓
Content library	✓	✓
Specs
Author seats	1 authors	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Combines responsive Rise authoring with custom Storyline interactions Exports courses in SCORM, xAPI, cmi5, and AICC formats Adds review workflows, collaboration, assets, and AI-assisted creation	Free and open source with browser-based authoring Exports SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 packages Supports sharing, co-authoring, LTI, xAPI, and responsive HTML5
Cons	Authoring-focused plans are paid per seat annually Storyline authoring is tied to Windows desktop applications The broad feature set may exceed the needs of simple course projects	Requires web-server installation for organizational use Ongoing maintenance generally needs IT support Not a conventional SaaS product with managed hosting
Our verdict	Articulate 360 is a workplace-training authoring platform for instructional designers, learning teams, and organizations. Its two central authoring tools serve different needs: Rise creates browser-based responsive courses, while Storyline… Read the review →	Xerte is a free, open-source course authoring toolkit for teachers, tutors, and organizations creating teaching and learning materials. Authors work in a browser through template-driven forms, interactive activities, automatically scored… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Articulate 360 — where it wins

  • Combines responsive Rise authoring with custom Storyline interactions
  • Exports courses in SCORM, xAPI, cmi5, and AICC formats
  • Adds review workflows, collaboration, assets, and AI-assisted creation

  Where it doesn't

  • Authoring-focused plans are paid per seat annually
  • Storyline authoring is tied to Windows desktop applications
  • The broad feature set may exceed the needs of simple course projects

• Xerte — where it wins

  • Free and open source with browser-based authoring
  • Exports SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 packages
  • Supports sharing, co-authoring, LTI, xAPI, and responsive HTML5

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires web-server installation for organizational use
  • Ongoing maintenance generally needs IT support
  • Not a conventional SaaS product with managed hosting

• AArticulate 3609.4/10 · 14-day trial

  A broad authoring suite pairing responsive Rise courses with custom Storyline interactions.

  Visit Articulate 360Full verdict →
• Xerte7.4/10 · Free plan

  A free, self-hosted authoring toolkit with SCORM, collaboration, and responsive delivery.

  Visit XerteFull verdict →