European Digital Credentials for Learning vs Openbadges.me

European Digital Credentials for Learning provides tools for organisations to create, issue, view, store, share, and verify credentials for degrees, diplomas, micro-credentials, participation certificates, and other learning records. The Online Credential Builder makes reusable templates; the EDC Issuer can issue from those templates or take existing JSON credentials for sealing and delivery. Credentials may be emailed or sent to Europass and other EDC-compliant wallets, and holders can share links when their wallet supports them. The viewer checks matters including format, seal, owner, revocation, accreditation, and validity. Credentials need an advanced or qualified electronic seal, and the viewer checks its integrity. The infrastructure says it does not store the personal information layer added for recipients. It issues JSON-LD credentials aligned with W3C Verifiable Credential v1.1 and uses the European Learning Model. The web tools require free NexU software, which runs only on Windows. Issuer, Viewer, and Wallet components are open-source software for integration into an organisation’s own infrastructure. The infrastructure is free; the listed platforms are web and Windows.

Openbadges.me helps educators and organisations recognise achievement by designing and issuing digital badges and credentials. Organisations can define badges to their specifications, manage administrator permissions and issue credentials on behalf of multiple issuers. A rules-based engine can automate issuing from numerical scores, text input or event data. Recipients can show verified badges on LinkedIn, online and on social media, or access them from email or a free backpack account. Features include enhanced reporting and multilingual badges that support non-English characters. Integrations include Google Sheets and Forms plugins, an API for organisational software, and reporting exports to systems such as Power BI. White labelling can apply an organisation's branding and URLs to badge pages and remove Openbadges.me branding. The service is offered on the web and through an API. The STARTER plan is free for up to 10 badge recipients, with unlimited badges per year. Paid plans start at $55 a month for up to 500 recipients; enterprise package pricing is by enquiry.