Articulate 360 vs Circle
Articulate 360 and Circle are both online courses & LMS tools. Articulate 360 is aimed at enterprise and small businesses, while Circle is aimed at creators and small businesses.
E-learning authoring suite with Rise, Storyline, AI tools and Reach
All-in-one community platform for creators and brands
| Pricing | Paid | Paid · $89 |
| Starting price | Not published | $89/mo |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Built for | Enterprise, Small businesses, Freelancers | Creators, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web, windows | web, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2002 | US · 2020 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Articulate 360 if
Corporate L&D teams and freelance instructional designers who create custom, interactive courses on a regular basis.
- Industry-standard tools that most instructional designers already know
- Rise produces mobile-friendly courses very quickly
- Storyline handles complex branching that LMS-native editors cannot
Look elsewhere if: Organizations that mainly need an LMS with basic built-in course creation (Docebo, TalentLMS, 360Learning).
Choose Circle if
Creators and companies who want a premium, branded community with courses and payments.
- Polished, flexible community experience
- Courses, events and payments in one
- Strong for creators and B2B communities alike
Look elsewhere if: Budget communities (Skool, Discord) or knowledge-heavy forums (Discourse).
Articulate 360 vs Circle pricing
Articulate 360
- 360 AI Personal$1,449/seat/yrRise, Storyline, Review and AI features for one creator
- 360 AI Teams$1,749/seat/yrAdds team tools and Reach LMS with 300 active learners/yr
- FrontlineFrom $500/yrUnlimited seats, 100,000 credits, AI-guided training
- Reach 360 ProFrom $3,600/yrLMS add-on for 1,200 active learners
- HybridCustomCombines 360 AI and Frontline; sales quote
Circle
- Professional$89/moBilled annually; unlimited members, 3 admins, 2% transaction fee
- Business$199/moBilled annually; 5 admins, 1% transaction fee, workflows, API
- Scale$419/moBilled annually; 10 admins, 1% transaction fee, AI agents
- Circle PlusCustomBranded mobile apps, unlimited admins, 0.5% transaction fee
Articulate 360 · Key features
- Storyline for custom interactions, triggers, variables and software simulations
- Rise web builder for responsive, block-based courses
- Export to SCORM and xAPI, plus PDF, web and video formats
- Review app for collecting stakeholder comments on drafts
- Translation of courses into 80+ languages with formatting kept
- AI course drafting, avatar videos and auto-generated training kits
Cons
- Annual billing only, with a high per-seat price
- Storyline runs only on Windows
- Reach is a lightweight LMS, not a full learning platform
Circle · Key features
- Spaces for posts, chat, events and courses
- Live streams and video rooms
- Paid memberships, tiers and gated spaces
- Workflows for automation and member journeys
- Branded mobile apps (Plus)
- AI agent, analytics and API
Cons
- Price plus transaction fees
- Branded app is a significant add-on
- Search and threading can be weaker than forums
Articulate 360 vs Circle: FAQ
Do Articulate 360 and Circle have a free plan?
Articulate 360 has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Circle has no free plan, a 14-day free trial.