MadCap Flare vs Paligo
MadCap Flare
madcapsoftware.com
Paligo
paligo.netSide by side
| Figure | MadCap Flare | Paligo |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $262.50/mo | $416.67/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 6 |
| Spec score · Help Authoring Tools | 8.0 (#9) | 8.6 (#3) |
| Spec score · Knowledge base software | 8.1 (#67) | 8.9 (#9) |
| Spec score · Technical Documentation Software | 8.0 (#19) | 8.5 (#5) |
| Spec score · Technical Writing Platforms | 8.1 (#15) | 8.6 (#6) |
| Collaboration | Flare Online supports browser-based content review by subject matter experts and non-Flare users, including concurrent authoring and real-time collaboration. | Authors, contributors and reviewers work through role-based workflows, assignments, comments and review interfaces. |
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes |
| Founded | 2005 | 2015 |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, USA | Solna, Sweden |
| Integrations | The product page says Flare can publish directly to Salesforce, Zendesk, and ServiceNow, and the pricing page lists ChatGPT integration for Flare Online authoring. | Official integrations include Zendesk, Freshdesk, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure Repos, Amazon S3, Algolia, Phrase, Slack, Microsoft Teams and many others. |
| Publishing | Flare publishes to multiple formats, including responsive HTML5, high-end print, Microsoft PowerPoint, PDF, Word, SCORM, and more. | Paligo can publish content to PDF, HTML5, eLearning, and GitHub Flavored Markdown. |
| Security certification | MadCap’s About page displays a SOC 2 Type II Certified designation. | Paligo states that its information-security management system complies with ISO 27001:2022. |
Plans
MadCap Flare
- Starter — Flare Desktop Only$3,150 a year
- Flare Online — IndividualPrice not published
- Flare Online — TeamPrice not published
- Flare Online — BusinessPrice not published
- Starter — Flare Desktop Only$3,150 a year
- Flare Online - BusinessPriced on request
- Flare Online - IndividualPriced on request
- Flare Online - TeamPriced on request
Paligo
- Business$15,000 a year
- Nexus Portal$5,000 a year
- Nexus Portal free tierFree
- Nexus Answers$6,000 a year
- Nexus Answers free tierFree
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
MadCap Flare
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.
Paligo
Paligo is a cloud-based component content management system for creating, managing, translating, and publishing technical documentation and knowledge assets. Structured authoring includes topic-based content, reuse, variables, version branching, revision history, and workflow management. Teams can publish to PDF, HTML5, eLearning, and GitHub Flavored Markdown. Paligo says it serves organizations in software, manufacturing, and regulated industries managing technical documentation, policies, procedures, and other knowledge content. Listed integrations include Zendesk, Freshdesk, GitHub, GitLab, Amazon S3, Slack, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Phrase; some may require a separate subscription. A REST API supports external connections and task automation. Paligo states its information security management system is certified to ISO 27001:2022, and that service data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS. Business costs $15,000 a year, billed annually per author, from $15,000 per year; it includes two authors and two languages. There is no free plan, but a free trial is available. Upload integrations have a 500 MB limit, except GitHub at 100 MB; the general limit can be raised on request.