H5P vs Xerte
H5P
h5p.org
Xerte
xerte.org.ukSide by side
| Figure | H5P | Xerte |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $130/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 2 |
| Spec score · Interactive Lesson Makers | 9.0 (#3) | 8.2 (#13) |
| Spec score · Course Authoring Software | 8.8 (#6) | 8.2 (#13) |
| Accessibility | H5P.com maintains an overview of the accessibility of H5P content types. | The project says accessibility was developed with accessibility specialists and people with special needs. |
| Integrations | Official integrations include Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard and Moodle through LTI, plus WordPress, Drupal and Moodle plugins. | The site describes SCORM, LTI, and xAPI support for integrating with learning technologies; xAPI reporting requires a configured Learning Record Store. |
| Purpose | H5P lets authors create, share, and reuse interactive content such as videos, presentations, games, and quizzes. | Xerte is a browser-based authoring suite for creating interactive learning materials. |
| Security | H5P validates package files against an allowed-extension list and sanitizes author input server-side. | A May 2026 security notice says public-facing installations should not contain the initial-installation setup folder and identifies updated versions 3.15.5 and 3.14.6. |
| Self-hosting | Free core plugins maintained by the project are available for WordPress, Drupal and Moodle. | Xerte is installed on an organisation's web server and is designed for a LAMP stack using Linux, Apache, MySQL or MariaDB and PHP. |
| Support | The self-hosted plugin has no support included; H5P.com paid plans include standard support. | Support is offered through forums, technical and developer mailing lists, GitHub issues and listed commercial providers. |
| What it does | H5P creates, shares and reuses interactive HTML5 content such as videos, presentations, games and quizzes through a browser and an H5P-enabled site. | Xerte is a browser-based suite for creating interactive learning materials and online learning objects. |
Plans
H5P
- H5P open-source softwareFree
- Pro$1,560 a year
- Premium$1,570 a year
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
H5P
H5P lets authors create, share, and reuse interactive content such as videos, presentations, games, and quizzes. Featured content types include Interactive Video, Course Presentation, and Branching Scenario, and a browser is enough to view or edit content. Core team plugins support WordPress, Drupal, and Moodle; H5P.com adds LTI integrations including Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard, and Moodle. H5P.com content can also be embedded where iframes are supported or shared by direct link. The free self-hosted software uses an MIT license but requires Drupal, WordPress, or Moodle, and its plugin does not include content types or support. H5P.com’s 30-day trial requires an application and approval. After the trial, users have 14 days to buy a plan or save and export content; activities become inaccessible afterward unless exported. H5P validates package files and sanitizes author input, but evaluates answers on the client side, which can let technically knowledgeable users cheat.
Xerte
Xerte is a browser-based authoring suite for interactive learning materials, aimed at teachers and tutors as well as organisations delivering teaching and learning. Authors assemble content with forms and templates, while developers can use JavaScript and CSS to change its appearance and functionality. The Xerte Online Toolkit has over 70 templates. Output is responsive, standards-compliant HTML5 for modern browsers and devices, with keyboard accessibility, a colour contrast changer, and compatibility with text-to-speech and most screen-reader tools. Projects can be exported as standalone ZIP files for web-server deployment or as SCORM packages. Xerte also supports SCORM, LTI, and xAPI integrations, though xAPI reporting requires a configured Learning Record Store. The software is free and open source, but requires installation on a web server. The described setup uses Linux, Apache, MySQL or MariaDB, and PHP; Windows servers with IIS can also be configured. Community forums are the main support channel, and support there is voluntary.