Dokiel vs MadCap Flare

Dokiel is a free authoring tool for technical documentation and training media. It can produce user guides, tutorials, installation guides, specifications, reference websites, e-learning modules and self-assessments. Authors organize content into reusable pieces such as concepts, operating processes, interactive screens and synoptic trees. A single source can be published as PDF, web content or SCORM, and updates to reused pieces propagate to documents that use them. Variables, conditions, profiling and skins let teams adapt content and visual identity. Dokiel supports writing, review and validation in a client-server environment, and uses XML standards to store and exchange content. It can run on an organization's infrastructure or be hosted by a service provider. Options include the Dokiel desktop application, SCENARIchain or the MyScenari desktop application and service. MyScenari online production is available to Scenari association members, and it permits only Opale, Dokiel and OptimOffice document models.

MadCap Flare is an authoring and publishing platform for technical documentation, online help, knowledge bases, policies, training materials, and API documentation. Topic-based authoring and single-sourcing let teams reuse material across versions and output formats. Flare can publish responsive HTML5, print, PowerPoint, PDF, Word, SCORM, and other formats; it also imports content from Word, Excel, Confluence, FrameMaker, RoboHelp, and DITA. Flare Online adds browser-based review for subject matter experts and non-Flare users, concurrent authoring, and real-time collaboration. Publishing can connect directly to Salesforce, Zendesk, and ServiceNow. Flare supports Unicode, double-byte, Cyrillic, and right-to-left languages, while Flare Online analytics can track topic views, searches without results, and user behavior. The Starter desktop plan costs $3,150 a year, billed at $3,150 per author per year. A free 30-day trial is available without a credit card. Flare Desktop requires Microsoft Windows; Flare Online offers browser-based authoring and review.