MadCap Flare vs XMLmind XML Editor
MadCap Flare
madcapsoftware.comXMLmind XML Editor
xmlmind.comSide by side
| Figure | MadCap Flare | XMLmind XML Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $262.50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 8 |
| Spec score · Help Authoring Tools | 8.0 (#9) | 7.8 (#13) |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, USA | Rambouillet, France |
| 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. | The editor integrates Saxon 6 and Saxon 9 for XSLT and provides FTP and WebDAV access to remote files. |
| Purpose | MadCap Flare is an authoring and publishing platform for technical documentation, online help, knowledge bases, policies, training materials, and API documentation. | XMLmind XML Editor is a strictly validating, near-WYSIWYG XML editor aimed at technical writers, engineers, and scholars working on large, complex, modular documents. |
| Trial | MadCap offers a free 30-day Flare trial without requiring a credit card. | Personal Edition includes Professional Edition conversion and DOCX import features in evaluation mode, which generate altered output. |
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
XMLmind XML Editor
- XMLmind XML Editor Personal EditionFree
- DITA Editor User License (1–4 users)$195, paid once
- DocBook Editor User License (1–4 users)$195, paid once
- XML Editor User License (1–4 users)$390, paid once
- XML Editor Web Edition License (1–2 xxeservers)$1,950, paid once
- XML Editor Site License$11,000, paid once
- XML Editor Developer License$17,000, paid once
- XML Editor Corporate License$34,000, paid once
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.
XMLmind XML Editor
XMLmind XML Editor is a validating, near-WYSIWYG editor for technical writers, engineers, and scholars working with large, modular documents. It supports DITA 1.3, DocBook, XHTML5, and MathML, with synchronized styled, tag, tree, and source views and an inline MathML equation editor. It can import DOCX and convert content to HTML-based formats, PDF, PostScript, Microsoft Word, and OpenOffice or LibreOffice formats. Saxon 6 and Saxon 9 support XSLT integration, while FTP and WebDAV provide access to remote files. Customization is available through XML configuration files or a documented Java API. Personal Edition runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and other Java 11+ platforms; Web Edition runs in a browser without local installation. Personal Edition is free, though Professional conversion and DOCX import run in evaluation mode and produce altered output. Paid licenses are listed from $195.00 per user once. XMLmind says its products will be maintained until April 3, 2027, after which they will be discontinued, with the company closing a few months later.