Top 9 Free eLearning Authoring Tools in 2024

There are many impressive eLearning authoring tools available on the market today that offer a comprehensive suite of instructional design features. But sometimes you need to test a tool before investing resources, or you might not have sufficient funds for these options.

While there are also many free eLearning content creators to choose from, finding the right one for your project can require a significant investment of time and energy.

We’ve selected 9 different free eLearning tools that can be used to create interactive training modules free of charge. Each one stands out for a particular feature or use case, giving you the best chance of finding the right tool for your needs.

Read on to discover the best free eLearning authoring tools. But first, let’s recall what an eLearning authoring tool is and how it can help you with your tasks.

What Is an eLearning Authoring Tool?

An eLearning authoring tool is a software that enables you to create digital educational content, other known as eLearning output, to share with learners via a learning management system or on the Web. This learning content can be used in business and non-business spheres for employee training, onboarding, sales training, etc.

With authoring tools, you can create various training materials, including e-courses, video lectures, quizzes, simulations, etc., and save them in the eLearning formats. Some tools are focused only on building one type of training content, such as video tutorials or assessments. In contrast, others comprise a set of tools under one roof that cover a lot of tasks instructional designers or educators might need to deal with.

When speaking about free solutions, it should be noted that their functionality is quite limited compared to paid eLearning software. But let’s look at what they offer.

The Top 9 Free eLearning Authoring Tools in 2024

Here’s a list of the best free eLearning authoring tools to date. We’ve summarized their pros and cons and provided actual user reviews to help you navigate the market of free authoring tools with agility. 

1. iSpring Free

iSpring Free, as the name implies, is the free version of iSpring Suite, a popular course authoring toolkit for instructional designers and teachers. It’s a free eLearning tool for creating interactive slide-based courses. 

iSpring Free allows you to create or convert your existing PowerPoint presentations into eLearning content for free. The tool is easy to use and helps you produce professional-looking instructional content in the SCORM format that works on any device, with no watermarks.

While iSpring Free allows you to choose from 3 different interactive quiz types, the main limitation is that you miss out on the majority of iSpring Suite’s great features. As such, the free version of the app doesn’t allow you to create screencasts, add pre-designed course templates, drag-and-drop activities, or many of the interactive elements that you can add in the full version.

Best for:

• Educators
• Beginners
• Anyone with slide-based courses

iSpring Free user’s feedback on G2 – 5 out of 5

“With iSpring, it is easy to convert a simple-looking PPT presentation into something to interact with. SCORM packages that I can create with iSpring Free fit into my learning management system Moodle flawlessly. By doing so, iSpring helps me track the students’ understanding with quizzes.”

Ahmet Fatih Y., lecturer

2. Udutu

As eLearning software goes, Udutu has been around for a while, but with regular updates, it has become a feature-rich option for course creators. While it’s a free authoring tool, Udutu also has a paid LMS that you can use to host your finished courses. The salient features of Udutu are the pre-designed templates and the interactive elements.

Like other free eLearning authoring software, Udutu offers templates that you can use to begin creating your educational material. However, Udutu has some of the best course templates around. Aside from the templates, Udutu offers a great selection of features for making your eLearning material engaging and interactive. This includes case studies, quizzes, assessments, and, perhaps most impressive of all, branching scenarios.

In contrast to other free eLearning tools, Udutu features branching scenarios. They’re an excellent way to increase the effectiveness of your instructional material. Another great feature is that it allows multiple authors to develop the same course from multiple places – something not offered by most free authoring tools.

Where Udutu falls short is that you can’t export your material as SCORM, only upload it to the paid LMS. Moreover, all of your work will include an Udutu watermark. This severely limits the usefulness of this choice for anyone wanting to make professional instructional content.

Best for:

• Those who want to develop authoring skills

Udutu user’s feedback on G2 – 4.3 out of 5

“The legacy method for creating the HTML5 for any presentation was tough, but the new converter can help us do it quickly. The time taken for every single slide can be updated very easily. We can also add the converter as a plugin to the PowerPoint.”

Ashick Romario C., Senior Software Engineer

3. IsEazy

IsEazy is a freemium product; it’s free to download and use, but many of its features are behind a paywall. This can be frustrating, as you may not want to be reminded of the features you don’t have access to. What makes this option stand out is its ease of use and lack of design skills needed.

Like other free eLearning tools, IsEazy is simple to use, as implied by the name, allowing anyone to create free interactive training materials without having to build elements from scratch. Many authoring tools allow you to add premade elements and designs.

This authoring tool offers two distinct course formats: Classic, for long-form courses, and Express, for shorter courses akin to microlearning. If you don’t have an eye for good visual design or simply don’t have time to think about how each slide should look in detail, then this might be the right free course maker for you.

IsEazy prides itself on how little time it takes to create visually appealing learning material within its editor, and while other tools are easy and fast to use, IsEazy is the pick of the bunch because it makes the design choices for you.

Simply choose from one of their many designs and templates and drop in your own text, image, video, or audio content in order to create your courses with modern design. Along with its ease of use and ease of design, IsEazy comes with an image bank, interactivity, and gamification options. It can also publish your course as a SCORM file.

The free version of IsEazy is limited to 3 projects and 0.3 GB of data storage and comes with 4 style templates. Perhaps the biggest limitation is the addition of an IsEazy watermark on all of your courses made in the free version. If you try the free version of isEazy and you like it, then you can, of course, upgrade to the paid version, but the price jump is quite large, with no intermediate options.

Best for:

• Quick course creation
• Exploring design choices

IsEazy user’s feedback on G2 – 4.9 out of 5

“I had some reservations at first because I didn’t have any technical or programming know-how… but the way the contents are organized into folders and sections and the ease of editing were a pleasant surprise. I thought it would be more complicated to start creating e-learning content.”

Patricia L., Digital PR Specialist

4. Adapt

Adapt is an open-source eLearning authoring tool. This one makes our list for its custom authoring experience and vertical course design.

Adapt offers a very simple course builder that is suited to longer courses with a linear design. It doesn’t follow the pattern of most authoring tools that use slides as a base; instead, your course scrolls vertically like a web page.

Whereas the course designer itself is fairly simple, as it is open source, Adapt has many plugins that can help you add more features to your courses. You can find lots of tutorial blogs and videos showcasing the different plugins available.

Adapt is definitely not as straightforward as some free content authoring tools, but it also isn’t as complicated as you might expect. You don’t need to know how to write code to use Adapt, but you will need a little tech know-how to get going.

Finding the right plugins and getting them to work to achieve your desired result can be challenging for someone with little knowledge of authoring tools or a non-technical person, but when used in the right way, it can be a powerful course creator.

Adapt has a lot of the features that we expect from other free authoring tools, such as SCORM export, interactivity, and multiple device compatibility.

Best for:

• Tech-savvy creators

Adapt user’s feedback on Reddit

“I LOVE that there is an open source authoring software in Adapt, and I have it installed and it looks great; however, so far I have run into a number of smaller issues (such as not being able to preview/publish a course), and I know that there is a lot more to learn (plugins, hosting, etc.).”

Rabbidearz, freelancer

5. GLOMaker

GLOMaker differs somewhat from many other free eLearning content creators in that it divides the authoring process into two distinct parts: planning and design.

This makes it a great free eLearning tool for those who want to do extensive planning for their instructional courses before they begin the design phase, or perhaps if different people take on these different stages of the process.

The design stage of GLOMaker is simple and easy to use, and it offers two design patterns that you can use. Both of these patterns follow established learning principles to help you achieve successful course creation.

GLOMaker can help you storyboard your course and offers guidance on the best ways to set up your course. So, if you’re new to course creation and are just learning the basics of instructional theory, then this may be the free authoring tool for you.

The design stage of GLOMaker is similar to other slide-based authoring tools, with a variety of templates and multiple customization options. While the design part of this course builder may be a little underwhelming when compared to alternatives, the planning stage is where it stands out.

GLOMaker includes interactive quiz options, exports to SCORM, and allows for multimedia in your slides. However, the design of the software is a little lacking, and it isn’t the most intuitive app to use. Nor does GLOMaker offer the convenience of multiple device compatibility.

Best for:

• Beginners wanting to plan extensively

GLOMaker user’s feedback

No feedback is available on the Internet.

6. H5P

H5P is another example of free course development software that’s very different from the others on our list. What sets H5P apart is the fact that it’s a plugin.

H5P allows you to create instructional material directly on websites like those using WordPress, or in LMSs such as Moodle, Canvas, Brightspace, or Blackboard. This means that if you already have a website, and you want to develop an eLearning module that is accessible directly on the site, then H5P will do the job.

Just like many open-source eLearning authoring tools, H5P is cloud-based, so all your work is saved and can be accessed from any device and by any number of authors. And yet, unlike other open-source options, this one is really easy to use.

If you have any background in simple web page design, then H5P will feel natural to you. And even if you’re a complete beginner, you won’t have any trouble using H5P’s simple interface and straightforward design. 

This free eLearning software is also packed with a good number of features. You can expect to find quizzes and flashcards, but also branching scenarios, which is uncommon for a free authoring tool.

Where H5P may let you down is in the limited freedom it gives you to customize the design and content of your course. If you want to get creative with your course, then this may not be the tool for you.

However, if you have some dependable coding skills and some time to invest, you can work around this limitation by writing your own code to include more custom design in your course.

Best for:

• Experienced developers

H5P user’s feedback on G2 – 4.5 out of 5

“H5P activities help to add interactivity to an online course. The assignments can boost learner engagement and prevent a class from feeling ‘stale.’ There are a lot of different activity types to choose from. It is a relatively easy system to use.”

User in Higher Education

7. AdaptiveU

Unlike most other eLearning tools on this list, AdaptiveU is a combined authoring tool and LMS that is available to use for free.

With other authoring tools, you need to create your course and then either upload it to an LMS or host it yourself on a website. There are free LMSs available, but the most suitable options can require some investment. AdaptiveU offers the ability to share your courses for free.

First of all, the benefits of an integrated authoring tool and LMS mean that it simplifies the entire process of creating your course, sharing your course, and assessing your learners, because it all takes place in one app, for free.

This means you don’t need to learn how to export your courses or how to use more than one app. Moreover, AdaptiveU is a very simple app to use. With the free version of AdaptiveU, you are limited to a total of two courses and five learners, with a total of 1GB of storage. This is a severe limitation for most businesses or educational institutions.

This free eLearning tool could be useful for very small businesses, for instructional designers wanting to learn the basics of learning management, or perhaps even to showcase the advantages of an LMS to colleagues.

As a freemium product, AdaptiveU removes all limitations for paying customers, and the price is not as high as some of the other options on the market. This makes AdaptiveU one of the more affordable options for paid eLearning tools. This authoring tool has an intuitive UI, a good selection of design features and assessment options, but none of these features are outstanding.

Best for:

• Small teams and simple design needs

AdaptiveU user’s feedback on G2 – 5 out of 5

“AdaptiveU is a software that can be used in training, learning, and for fun. The User Interface is very easy to navigate. The types of badges that can be created as well as the approval possibilities make this a very adaptable tool.”

Kris L., Integration Specialist

8. Moovly

Moovly is a cloud-based video editor.

Moovly is the most unique free interactive training software that we have included in this list. It is not an authoring tool in the sense that you would use it to design slides for learning material, but you would use it to create instructional videos for free.

As anyone who has ever watched a YouTube tutorial video will tell you, video is a great way to teach something. Every instructional designer will have some understanding of how effective video can be in enhancing the learning experience. 

With Moovly, you can upload presentations, videos, images, and audio, or use the built-in media library to create your own videos. Your videos can be part of a wider instructional course, or be stand-alone educational content.

The authoring tool also allows you to make your videos in various styles and comes with a number of ready-made assets to get you started. The free version of the app doesn’t allow you to record your screen, webcam, or audio, but you can simply use any other free screen recording software first, and then upload the video into the editor.

Read more → The 6 Best Screen Recording Software in 2024 [Free & Paid]

Moovly’s editor is easy to use and comes with a good selection of features to make instructional videos, but it does, of course, have its limitations as a free eLearning tool. For example, your videos are limited to 2 minutes of footage, and the quality is limited to standard definition. Moreover, your videos will come with a watermark.

Best for:

• Those wanting to create short, non-professional instructional videos
• Those wanting to learn basic video editing

Moovly user’s feedback on G2 – 4.5 out of 5

“What I like the best about Moovly is that even if you are not a video expert, you can still use this tool to make videos with the help of its resources like video templates and images.”

Som Dutt S., Information Technology Support Specialist

9. EdApp

EdApp is a learning solution that focuses on making it easy to deliver professional quality microlearning to your audience. The platform is a cloud-based app that is designed to be mobile-friendly, and it’s basically a good fit for learning on the move and accessing an LMS.

In terms of designing your learning material, EdApp supplies you with a huge selection of premade courses and templates to choose from, some requiring little to no customization at all. You can simply add your branding to their designs, and away you go.

Edapp also allows you to track and monitor your learners’ progress through the app and provides a number of ways to engage your audience with gamification and numerous interactive elements. However, EdApp doesn’t give you the traditional instructional design tools that other platforms provide, and may not be the first choice for longer courses.

This free authoring tool is meant for shorter courses and is designed to be a time-saving solution.

Best for:

• Those wanting to create short, professional courses
• Those with limited or no training budget

EdApp user’s feedback on G2 – 4.7 out of 5

“One of the things I love about EdApp is how easy it is to develop a new course. Another thing that I love about it is the support they give, in a matter of minutes you can solve any question with a real human being.”

Samuel G.

Key Considerations When Choosing a Free Authoring Tool

Here are some important things to consider if you want to save time when choosing a free authoring tool for your project. Before you make a decision, ask yourself these questions:

How easy is it to use?

It’s pointless to use a tool that you don’t know how to use. So, unless you are a seasoned expert and the sole author of your instructional content, make it a point to choose intuitive, easy-to-use free eLearning software. This will definitely help you get the results you need out of it. 

What features does it have?

One of the main drawbacks of any free eLearning content creator is that it usually has a limited set of features compared to paid versions. This may not be a problem for your case if many of the paid options include features you are unlikely to use. However, make sure that the tool you select has all the features you intend to use.

What export formats does it offer?

Before you embark on any course creation project, you must know how your learners will access it. Will it be hosted on a web page? Do you already have access to an LMS? Will you upload it to YouTube? Once you know the answer to this question, you can then work out which export format you need, and then choose accordingly.

What devices does it work on?

Nowadays, people work on multiple devices, so your eLearning content probably should too. You need to envision what devices your learners will access the content on, and plan your authoring accordingly.

Does it allow for multiple authors?

You might work alone, and the responsibility for creating eLearning content is yours and only yours. Alternatively, if you have colleagues who will share the work with you, then they need to be able to access the course creation software too.

What are the limitations of the free plan?

There are many reasons you might need a free tool, or many cases where the limitations of a free tool will not limit your designs or goals. However, it is important to understand the limitations of any tool you plan to use before you start using it. There’s no point investing time creating your eLearning content only to realize you can’t do what you want to do without paying.

Which Free Authoring Tool Should You Choose?

So, which tool is right for you?

We provided a list of some of the best free authoring tools available and highlighted the salient features of each software. With these picks, you should be able to find an option that works for your project.

Alternatively, these free tools may be the perfect way to introduce you to the paid versions, and you just need a handy summary of what they offer.

However, test-drive a powerful, full-featured authoring toolkit if the basic features aren’t sufficient for your ambitions and intended learning experiences. A tool like iSpring Suite will allow you to develop professional online courses with quizzes, video tutorials, engaging dialogue simulations, and interactive modules. You can use it for free for 14 days.