The 13 Best FREE eLearning Authoring Tools in 2024

There are many impressive eLearning authoring tools available on the market today that offer a comprehensive suite of instructional design features. We’ve selected the 13 best free eLearning tools that can be used to create interactive training modules. Each one stands out for a particular feature or use case, giving you the greatest chance of finding the right solution for your needs.

Read on to discover the best free eLearning authoring tools in the eLearning industry.

The Best 13 Free eLearning Authoring Tools

Here’s a list of the best free eLearning authoring tools to date. We’ve summarized their pros and cons and provided actual user reviews to help you navigate the market of free course builders with agility. You can find detailed overviews of each platform below the comparison table.

Free eLearning Authoring Software: Comparison Table

We’ve given each course builder a score across several factors: user reviews, authoring features, ease of use, and content customization capabilities. The user rating scores range from 1 to 5, where 1 is the lowest rating, indicating poor performance, and 5 is the highest, indicating excellent performance or capabilities.

1. Free eLearning authoring tool #1 – iSpring Free

iSpring Free, as the name implies, is the free version of iSpring Suite, a popular course authoring toolkit for instructional designers and teachers. It allows you to create or convert your existing PowerPoint presentations into online learning courses for free and enhance them with quizzes. The platform is easy to use and helps you produce professional-looking instructional content in the SCORM format that works on any device, with no watermarks. You can publish the courses on your training platform right away.

Best for:

Ideal for novice course creators and seasoned eLearning developers who want to create slide-based courses with quizzes and upload them to the LMS.

iSpring Free user’s feedback on G2 – 5 out of 5

“With iSpring, it is easy to convert a simple-looking PPT presentation into something to interact with. SCORM packages that I can create with iSpring Free fit into my learning management system Moodle flawlessly. By doing so, iSpring helps me track the students’ understanding with quizzes.”

Ahmet Fatih Y., lecturer

2. Free eLearning authoring tool #2 – Udutu

While Udutu is a zero-fee authoring tool, it also has a paid LMS that you can use to host your finished courses. The tool offers templates that you can use to begin creating your educational material and offers a great selection of features to make your eLearning material engaging and interactive. This includes case studies, quizzes, assessments and, branching scenarios.

Where Udutu falls short is that you cannot export your material as SCORM, only upload it to the paid LMS. Moreover, all of your work will include a watermark.

Best for:

Perfect for educators and those who want to start developing their authoring skills.

Udutu user’s feedback on G2 – 4.3 out of 5

“The legacy method for creating the HTML5 for any presentation was tough, but the new converter can help us do it quickly. The time taken for every single slide can be updated very easily. We can also add the converter as a plugin to the PowerPoint.”

Ashick Romario C., Senior Software Engineer

3. Free eLearning authoring tool #3 – IsEazy

IsEazy is a freemium product; it’s free to download and use, but many of its features are behind a paywall. This tool offers two distinct course formats: Classic, for long-form courses, and Express, for shorter courses akin to microlearning. If you don’t have an eye for good visual design or simply don’t have time to think about how each slide should look in detail, then this might be the right free course maker for you.

The free version of IsEazy is limited to 3 projects and 300 MB of data storage and comes with 4 style templates. Perhaps the biggest limitation is the addition of an IsEazy watermark on all of your courses made in the free version.

Best for:

A good choice for novice instructional designers who want to develop their design skills.

IsEazy user’s feedback on G2 – 4.9 out of 5

“I had some reservations at first because I didn’t have any technical or programming know-how… but the way the contents are organized into folders and sections and the ease of editing were a pleasant surprise. I thought it would be more complicated to start creating e-learning content.”

Patricia L., Digital PR Specialist

4. Free eLearning authoring tool #4 – Adapt

Adapt is an open-source eLearning authoring tool. It offers a course builder that is suited to longer courses with a linear design. It doesn’t follow the pattern of most authoring tools that use slides as a base; instead, your course scrolls vertically like a web page.

As Adapt is open-source, it has many plug-ins that can help you add more features to your courses. But this tool is definitely not as straightforward as some free content authoring tools. You’ll need some tech know-how to get going.

Best for:

Well-suited for tech-savvy course creators who want to create courses with linear design.

Adapt user’s feedback on Reddit

“I LOVE that there is an open source authoring software in Adapt, and I have it installed and it looks great; however, so far I have run into a number of smaller issues (such as not being able to preview/publish a course), and I know that there is a lot more to learn (plugins, hosting, etc.).”

Rabbidearz, freelancer

5. Free eLearning authoring tool #5 – GLOMaker

GLOMaker differs from many other free educational content creators in that it separates the authoring process into two distinct parts: planning and design. This makes it a great free eLearning tool for those who want to do extensive planning for their courses before they begin the design phase, or perhaps if different people will execute these different stages of the process.

GLOMaker includes interactive quiz options, exports to SCORM, and allows for multimedia in your slides. However, the design of the software is a little lacking, and it isn’t the most intuitive app to use. Nor does GLOMaker offer the convenience of multiple device compatibility.

Best for:

A solid solution for those who want to do extensive planning for their courses. Also, a good choice if different people perform planning and design stages of the authoring process.

GLOMaker user’s feedback

No feedback is available on the Internet.

6. Free eLearning authoring tool #6 – H5P

H5P is another example of free course development software that’s very different from the others on our list. What sets H5P apart is the fact that it’s a plug-in. H5P allows you to create instructional material directly on websites like those using WordPress, or in LMSs such as Moodle, Canvas, Brightspace, or Blackboard.
Where H5P may let you down is in the limited freedom it gives you to customize the design and content of your course. If you want to get creative with your course, then this may not be the tool for you.

Best for:

Perfect for those who need to create instructional material on websites or in LMSs such as Moodle, Canvas, Brightspace, or Blackboard.

H5P user’s feedback on G2 – 4.5 out of 5

“H5P activities help to add interactivity to an online course. The assignments can boost learner engagement and prevent a class from feeling ‘stale.’ There are a lot of different activity types to choose from. It is a relatively easy system to use.”

User in Higher Education

7. Free eLearning authoring tool #7 – AdaptiveU

Unlike most other eLearning tools on this list, AdaptiveU is a combined authoring tool and LMS that is available to use for free. With other solutions, you need to create your course and then either upload it to an LMS or host it yourself on a website. There are free LMSs available, but the most suitable options can require some investment. AdaptiveU offers the ability to share your courses for free.

However, with the free version of AdaptiveU, you are limited to a total of two courses and five learners, with a total of 1 GB of storage. This is a severe limitation for most businesses or educational institutions.

Best for:

A good choice for small teams and those who have simple design needs.

AdaptiveU user’s feedback on G2 – 5 out of 5

“AdaptiveU is a software that can be used in training, learning, and for fun. The User Interface is very easy to navigate. The types of badges that can be created as well as the approval possibilities make this a very adaptable tool.”

Kris L., Integration Specialist

8. Free eLearning authoring tool #8 – Moovly

Moovly is the most unique free interactive training software on this list. It’s not an authoring tool in the sense that you would use it to design slides for learning material, but you could use it to create instructional videos for free. With Moovly, you can upload presentations, videos, images, and audio, or use the built-in media library to create your own videos.

The free version of the app doesn’t allow you to record your screen, webcam, or audio, but you can simply use any other free screen recording software first, and then upload the video to the editor.

Read more → The 6 Best Screen Recording Software in 2024 [Free & Paid]

Best for:

A good fit for those who want to create short, non-professional instructional videos.

Moovly user’s feedback on G2 – 4.5 out of 5

“What I like the best about Moovly is that even if you are not a video expert, you can still use this tool to make videos with the help of its resources like video templates and images.”

Som Dutt S., Information Technology Support Specialist

9. Free eLearning authoring tool #9 – CStraining

CStraining is a learning solution that focuses on making it easy to deliver professional quality microlearning to your audience. The platform is a cloud-based app that is designed to be mobile-friendly, and it’s basically a good fit for learning on the go and accessing an LMS.
In terms of designing your learning material, CStraining supplies you with a huge selection of premade courses and templates, some requiring little to no customization at all. You can simply add your branding to their designs, and away you go.

Best for:

Perfect for those wanting to create microlearning courses with ready-made templates.

EdApp user’s feedback on G2 – 4.7 out of 5

“One of the things I love about EdApp is how easy it is to develop a new course. Another thing that I love about it is the support they give, in a matter of minutes you can solve any question with a real human being.”

Samuel G.

10. Free eLearning authoring tool #10 – Genially

Genially is a lightweight tool designed for creating interactive and gamified learning content. It allows you to design fun, click-to-explore experiences by adding hotspots, hover-over labels, pop-up windows, click-to-play audio, interactive data visualizations, and more. The tool comes with a wide range of ready-made and easy-to-customize templates that make the authoring process extremely easy. However, with the free plan, you will have a very limited set of templates and resources.

Best for:

Ideal for businesses and educational institutions focused on interactive learning.

User feedback on G2 – 4.6 out of 5

“Genially is the best web-based design enhancement tool I’ve ever used. The media options, integration options, templates, etc. are absolutely top notch, and look incredible on any style of Genially you create!”
Seth F., Professional Learning Specialist

11. Free eLearning authoring tool #11 – CourseLab

CourseLab (v. 2.4) is an older freeware version of a commercial authoring tool, CourseLab (v2.7). Like the commercial software, it offers a programming-free WYSIWYG environment for creating interactive eLearning content but lacks several features, templates, and interactive objects. With CourseLab, you can build slide-based courses with images, videos, and quizzes. Although the vendor claims the course builder is easy to use, it may be a little complicated for novice developers because its interface is a bit outdated.

Best for:

• May be a good solution for experienced tech-savvy course developers.

CourseLab user’s feedback

“After using CourseLab for a while now, I can say that it’s a great tool. It needs to add some standard features. Overall it’s a great tool!”

Mikhail Okun

12. Free eLearning authoring tool #12 – Compozer

Compozer is a user-friendly tool that can help one create interactive learning content. It provides a large selection of predesigned fully customizable templates. Each template has pre-built interactions and is mobile optimized, so courses look perfect on any device, from desktops to smartphones. Compozer allows users to work on content as a team. You can share your work with others, get feedback, and collaborate in real time. Once a course is ready, you can publish it to SCORM or xAPI and upload it to your LMS.

Best for:

• Best for those wanting to create courses quickly and easily, as well as teams of content creators.

User feedback on Capterra – 5 out of 5

“In all honesty, I (and my team) LOVE this piece of software. Compozer has been a fresh of breath air for our organisation. Its easy-to-use interface and flexibility allow us to customise our courses to look amazing & different. Highly recommended!!!”

Lara H., Training & Solutions Manager

13. Free eLearning authoring tool #13 – CurrikiStudio

CurrikiStudio is a free platform for all creators and educators. It makes learning interactive with over 40 activity types. You can organize learning activities by dragging and dropping them into projects and playlists that you create and manage. The platform allows you to share your content directly with students or publish it to your LMS.

Best for:

• Best for teachers and other educators who want to create various types of activities.

User feedback on Capterra – 4.4 out of 5

“CurrikiStudio has allowed us to create virtual learning activities for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This has grown our online offerings tenfold while increasing accessibility.”

Kristen L., Instructor

Key Aspects to Consider When Choosing a Free Authoring Tool

Here are some important things to consider if you want to save time when choosing a free authoring tool for your project. Before you make a decision, ask yourself these questions:

How easy is it to use?

It’s pointless to endeavor to utilize a tool that you don’t know how to use. So, unless you’re a seasoned expert, make it a point to choose intuitive, easy-to-use free eLearning software. This will definitely help you get the results you need from it. 

What features does it have?

One of the main drawbacks of any free eLearning content creator is that it usually has a limited set of features compared to paid versions. This may not be a problem if many of the paid options include features you’re unlikely to use. However, make sure that the tool you select has all the features you intend to use.

What export formats does it offer?

Before you embark on any course creation project, you must know how your learners will access it. Will it be hosted on a web page? Do you already have access to an LMS? Will you upload it to YouTube? Once you know the answer to this question, you can then work out which export format you need and choose accordingly.

What devices does it work on?

Nowadays, people work on multiple devices, so your learning content probably should too. You need to envision what devices your learners will use to access the content and plan your authoring accordingly.

Does it allow for multiple authors?

You might work alone, and the responsibility for creating eLearning content is yours and only yours. Alternatively, if you have colleagues who will share the work with you, then they need to be able to access the course creation software too.

What are the limitations of the free plan?

There are many reasons you might need a free tool or many cases in which the limitations of a free tool will not limit your designs or goals. However, it’s important to understand the limitations of any tool you plan to use before you start using it. There’s no point investing time in creating your eLearning content only to realize you can’t do what you want to do without paying.

Which Free Course Authoring Tool Should You Choose?

We’ve provided a list of some of the best free authoring software available and highlighted the salient features of each. We hope that, with these picks, you’ll be able to find an option that works for your project. Alternatively, these free tools may be the perfect way to introduce you to the paid versions, and now you have a handy summary of what they offer.

If the basic features of free tools aren’t sufficient for your ambitions and intended learning experiences, you can often get a trial version of paid solutions. If you’d like to create professional online courses with quizzes, video tutorials, role-plays, and interactions, take iSpring Suite for a test-drive. You can use it for free for 14 days.