E-Learning has now become an indispensable part of the corporate world. Businesses around the world have started using the latest tools and technology to train their employees. These tools aid in giving a fantastic learning experience by including a variety of built-in features and useful add-ons.
Individual learners were already enlisting for online courses in large numbers, but the coronavirus pandemic has increased the popularity of these courses, as well as the platforms that deliver them, among educational institutions as well. This sudden shift has made the e-learning industry even more lucrative.
So, if you are a subject matter expert, now is the right time to put your knowledge to use and earn huge profits. You can easily create attractive online courses using various authoring tools available in the market and then sell them at the price of your liking. However, while choosing a suitable authoring tool you should not focus only on its features. The pricing of the tool also plays an important role. After all, you wouldn’t want to invest more than what the tool proposes to return.
Therefore, when choosing an authoring tool to create your online courses, you should evaluate not only the features but also the pricing structure of all the available options.
However, different brands follow different pricing models. Sometimes, tools from a single brand can also come with different pricing models. This is bound to cause some confusion among buyers. So, in this blog, we will list out some common authoring tool pricing models to help you make an informed decision.
1. Free Authoring Tools
If you are a beginner, it is only natural if you do not wish to invest heavily in an authoring tool. Fortunately, there are quite a handful of vendors in the market that offer authoring tools, free of cost. However, such tools generally come with limited features and little or no support services. This means that in order to draw the most out of these tools, you need to have a complete understanding of their features and how to operate them. In addition to this, many vendors also offer free monthly plans as well as free trials of their authoring tools. Adobe Captivate pricing is a great example of the same. It offers 30 days free trial without any requirement of the credit card information.
2. Pay Per Author
This is one of the most common pricing models used for cloud-based authoring tools. It entails a monthly subscription fee which is based on the number of users that require access to the tool. For enterprises working with a limited budget or users who don’t want to waste their time updating the software, this pricing model is a fantastic option.
When using such tools, all you have to do is log onto the platform and begin developing the online courses and activities for your students. However, one of the major downfalls of this model is that if you want to grant access to numerous authors, the cost might rise exponentially in some time.
3. Time-Based Licensing
This is a pricing model that lets customers purchase an authoring tool’s licence for a set amount of time. This is usually done on a monthly or annual basis. The vendor charges you a fee for the set length of time, regardless of how many users access the tool. This means that you can collaborate with any number of authors. Furthermore, the storage capacity is usually limitless. Thus, a time-based licence may be your best option if you’re working on a large eLearning project with a sufficient budget.
4. One-time Licensing
This can be understood as the more committed version of the above-mentioned pricing model. It entails making a one-time payment to purchase the license of the authoring tool. Then you are free to use the platform as much as you want. You won’t have to pay any monthly fees, and your licence will never expire. For a monthly or annual charge, the supplier may even host the authoring tool and all your eLearning projects for you.
Conclusion
There is no one-size-fits-all pricing model of authoring tools. Thus, one should take time to explore the market and make an informed decision.