Open Badge Factory vs Openbadges.me

Open Badge Factory is an online platform for organisations to create, issue, and manage Open Badges. Badge applications are custom questionnaires attached to badges, where applicants submit information and evidence for review. Organisations can share badges and applications, endorse other organisations’ badges, and report on how badges were issued, received, shared, and ranked by target groups. Badges can be created and issued in multiple languages. The Pro plan includes verifiable PDF badges that recipients can share online or offline without a badge wallet account. Plans set annual issuance limits: 5,000 for Basic, 15,000 for Premium, and 50,000 for Pro; larger quantities can be discussed with the maker. Integrations include an API, LTI, and plugins such as Moodle, while Zapier automation requires Pro. The maker says the platform is certified to Open Badges v3.0 and complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation. Its privacy notice says personal data is not transferred outside the EU/EEA. Basic costs €220 per year, Premium €700 per year, and Pro €1,280 per year; Enterprise pricing is by quote. A 60-day trial is listed, but no free plan is available.

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.