Adobe Captivate vs FrameMaker comparison

Adobe Captivate and FrameMaker are both solutions in the Publishing Software category. Adobe Captivate is ranked #4, while FrameMaker is ranked #1. Adobe Captivate holds a 14.7% mindshare in PS, compared to FrameMaker’s 21.1% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Adobe Captivate users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of FrameMaker users who would recommend it.

Adobe Captivate

Read 4 Adobe Captivate reviews

614 Views
117 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

FrameMaker

Read 2 FrameMaker reviews

313 Views
250 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

Adobe Captivate

FrameMaker

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Adobe Captivate and FrameMaker based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Publishing Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Adobe Captivate vs. FrameMaker Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Adobe Captivate vs. FrameMaker

March 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 884,873 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Adobe Captivate

Ranking in Publishing Software

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

eLearning (14th)

FrameMaker

Ranking in Publishing Software

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Publishing Software category, the mindshare of Adobe Captivate is 14.7%, down from 15.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FrameMaker is 21.1%, down from 29.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Publishing Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
FrameMaker	21.1%
Adobe Captivate	14.7%
Other	64.2%

Publishing Software

Featured Reviews

Vishu Aggarwal

Freelance Corporate Trainer at Freelancer

Enables you to create many complex E-learnings

The older or classic version of Adobe Captivate needs much improvement because everything looks very old. It needs to improve how it works. Also, new features are missing too. The latest version is very good and unique in terms of work, but the level of complexity you can achieve it limited.

Read full review

it_user432606

Documentation Department Manager with 10,001+ employees

The valuable features for us are format control and professional and clear output.

There should be some training for Chinese customers. This is maybe because only a few Chinese documentation engineers are using FrameMaker, so it is difficult to find solutions through the Internet and there is little training about FrameMaker. Most of the features of FrameMaker are not used because we don't know how to use them. I think Adobe should provide more training for Chinese customers.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It helped us bring in-house what would have otherwise been extremely costly projects."

"Automatic responsive designs allow us to not have to code for any eLearning modules."

"The most valuable features are the templates that come with the package, the recording features, as well as the surveys and quizzes that you can create with it."

"We use Adobe Captivate 5.5 with Adobe Technical Communication Suite 3.5 to produce technical how-to videos."

"Adobe Captivate is a complex software. You can create many complex learnings with it. T"

"It helped us bring in-house what would have otherwise been extremely costly projects."

"The valuable features for us are format control and professional and clear output."

"However after a little ramping up, most get used to it and often uncover some very cool features that you can use when you have to manage large volumes of multiple documents with single source content and chapter and book modularity."

Cons

"Getting started with Captivate has been a struggle for two of us on our team."

"The voice sounds automated and I would like to have a more natural-sounding voice."

"I would love to see a "For Dummies" option. It gets pretty extensive in its level of intricacies and options offered."

"The older or classic version of Adobe Captivate needs much improvement because everything looks very old."

"I would love to see a "For Dummies" option. It gets pretty extensive in its level of intricacies and options offered."

"I would love a quick widget which walks novices through the process along with descriptive output options."

"One thing that bugs me about FrameMaker is that when you are dealing with large files, it sometimes hangs and can seize up your local PC or VM resources."

"We had some stability issues and it was often corrupted before we installed some patches."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This product is part of the larger Adobe Creative Cloud offering, which costs about $600 USD per year."

Information not available

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

eLearning

March 2026

Download Adobe Captivate product report

Buyer's Guide

Adobe Captivate vs. FrameMaker

March 2026

Download FrameMaker product report

Also Known As

Captivate

No data available

Overview

Adobe Captivate software reimagines the way interactive eLearning is created for a multi-device world. Develop any-screen mobile learning without programming using all-new responsive authoring.

Adobe

Adobe FrameMaker is a complete solution for bidirectional technical content. Publish natively across channels, mobile devices and formats and author with best-in-class XML/DITA support. Collaborate seamlessly with experts, and manage content using integration with leading CMSs.

Adobe

Sample Customers

GAAP Dynamic, Ceresti Health, ThinkBuzan, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Design Goat, meLearning Solutions, The BRITE Initiative, Kineo

HaCon Ingenieurgesellschaft, ANA (All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd.), IBM, Marcia Riefer Johnston, Novell, AFNOR Publishing

Buyer's Guide

Adobe Captivate vs. FrameMaker

March 2026

Free Report: Adobe Captivate vs. FrameMaker

Find out what your peers are saying about Adobe Captivate vs. FrameMaker and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

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We monitor all Publishing Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.