Articulate 360 vs Disco

Articulate 360 is the e-learning authoring suite from Articulate Global, founded in 2002 by Adam Schwartz, who still leads it as CEO and executive chairman. General Atlantic invested $1.5 billion in the company in 2021. Articulate says about 125,000 organizations in 187 countries use its products, including every Fortune 100 company. The suite's core job is letting instructional designers and subject experts build interactive online courses and publish them to any LMS.

The suite includes Storyline, a Windows desktop tool for custom interactions, triggers and simulations; Rise, a browser-based builder for responsive courses; Review for stakeholder feedback; Localization for translation into 80+ languages; and Reach, a lightweight LMS for sharing and tracking. AI features cover course drafting, avatar videos, training kits, an AI tutor for learners and the Nova agent. Plans are sold per seat per year (Personal and Teams), with Frontline as an unlimited-seat, credit-based tier.

Articulate 360 fits L&D teams and freelance instructional designers who build courses regularly. It is expensive for occasional use, has no monthly billing, and Storyline needs Windows (Mac users run it through virtualization). Docebo, TalentLMS and 360Learning bundle simpler authoring inside a full LMS, which can be enough if you mainly deliver standard training.

Buying tip: Teams includes Reach for 300 active learners per year, while larger audiences need Reach 360 Pro from $3,600 per year. Translation and some AI workflows consume credits, so check the allowance during the 14-day trial.

Disco is a learning platform from Disco Inc., a remote-first company based in Toronto and founded in 2020 by Candice Faktor, formerly of Wattpad, and Chris Sukornyk. It raised a $15 million round led by GSV Ventures in 2022. Disco helps organizations build branded academies that mix self-paced courses, live cohorts, events and community in one place, for customer education, member programs, partner enablement or employee training.

Admins can generate a program outline with AI, then build lessons with video, assignments and quizzes, run live events, and keep members engaged with channels, threads, DMs, groups, leaderboards and smart nudges. AI tools include a curriculum builder, quiz generator, video transcripts and summaries, audio narration, image generation, community moderation and Ask AI, which answers learner questions from program content. Payments run through Stripe, and Enterprise adds API and webhooks, SAML SSO and branded iOS and Android apps. The public plans are Organization and Enterprise.

Disco fits associations, training companies and businesses running cohort programs where community matters as much as content. Circle and Mighty Networks are stronger pure community tools with lower entry prices, Thinkific is a simpler course store, and Skool is far cheaper for creators. At $399 per month and up, Disco is priced for organizations rather than solo creators.

Ask AI lets learners query program knowledge directly. The 14-day trial is the best way to test the AI course builder on your own material before committing to annual billing.