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Creating digital certificates with Virtualbadge.io
You may have researched a long list of digital credentialing platforms, and looked to compare Accredible vs. Credly – two big names in the industry.
So, which one is right for you? The following detailed comparison guide holds your answer.
Accredible and Credly are both scalable digital credential management tools offering outstanding customization. But here's the spoiler alert: They are both pretty expensive for SMBs and companies with limited budgets.
But regardless of their price points, we shall explore each tool to draw a detailed comparison.
Let’s dig in.
Accredible is a unified digital credentialing platform that aims to help businesses and universities create and manage digital credentials using a dedicated certificate, badge designer, and premade templates.
It lets you grow your brand’s visibility throughout participants' learning journeys with its customization and white-labeling.
Accredible easily integrates with your learning management system so you can create frictionless certificate distribution workflows.
Accredible has a 4.8/5 rating (115 reviews) on G2 and a 4.5/5 rating (18 reviews) on Capterra.
Most reviewers say Accredible is very straightforward and easy to use, and they love its integration with their internal LMS, Zoom, and WooCommerce. Also, the biggest cons reviewers faced were the difficulties with setup and its expensive price points.
Credly is a great enterprise-specific digital credentialing platform. Its features and prices are tailored for larger enterprises and agencies looking for an integrated solution to transform their employees’ skills and recognize their achievements by issuing digital credentials.
Credly offers detailed insights so you can plan your workforce more efficiently skill-wise.
Credly’s Acclaim platform is for organizations looking to create, manage, and monitor their badge program.
Credly has a 4.8/5 rating (229 reviews) on G2. Most users love that Credly is easy to implement and great for showcasing digital credentials. Also, users highlight that Credly has a clean and easy user experience.
However, most users complained of a lack of enough customization options for digital credentials and its exorbitant price point that’s unsuitable for smaller companies.
P.S.: We highly recommend you try Virtualbadge.io as an alternative to Credly and Accredible. It is a more feature-rich automated solution to digital credentials and does not break the bank.
Accredible provides an extensive platform for any business starting its credentials journey. But there are some features that stand out. Let’s discuss them in brief:
Credly, too, has some noteworthy features you could check out:
So far, Accredible vs. Credly has been a tough battle to find a clear-cut winner. So, let’s review some more features side by side.
Accredible has a user-friendly UI/UX once you get the hang of it. However, some users, especially non-tech-savvy professionals, complain about a considerable learning curve during tool setup.
We found the designer’s drag-and-drop interface to be pretty beginner-friendly, with seamless navigation.
Credly has no free trial or plan, so we couldn't analyze how user-friendly the platform was. However, we peaked into its Help Center and found its UI is quite similar to Accredible’s. But some of its users complain that it’s not very user-friendly and can take time to adapt.
A digital credential platform must allow stress-free credential issues and management. For instance, you must be able to access your issued certificates, set up email campaigns for certificate issues, and integrate with your internal systems seamlessly.
So, how do our two tools fare?
Accredible lets you issue credentials manually in batches by uploading a spreadsheet or automating the process by integrating it with LMS tools.
The tool also has a structured dashboard that allows users to easily create certificates and badges and access insights and reports.
Credly has a bulk certificate issuance feature. However, users accessing badges are required to log in and request access with Credly’s Acclaim platform, which is time–consuming.
Credly offers separate dashboard access for issuers and recipients. Here, recipients can share their badges or certificates with their network.
Customizable credentials let you align your digital certificates and badges to your brand’s unique aesthetic and voice. So look for advanced customization features when you’re choosing a digital credential platform.
Accredible offers pretty basic customizations. There are not many available elements but just enough to customize your digital certificates by adding text, images, backgrounds, and icons.
Also, the free and basic plans don't offer enough customization options. For example, primary branding, where you can use your own logo on credentials, is not available for the Launch plan, which costs $996/year.
Some of Credly’s users find the editor quite basic and wish there was a larger template library to support certificate customization. Most of them look for external design tools to customize their certificates or badges.
However, Credly's biggest plus is its premium white-labeling package, which offers rich customization options that can help credentials look on-brand.
Accredible is great for growing businesses and SMBs with mid- to large budgets, such as brands within EdTech, non-profits, and other corporations. Some technical knowledge could help businesses navigate Accredible.
Credly is tailored for enterprises and larger agencies with bigger budgets. SMBs and solo business owners may find its price point quite high. Also, the platform has an additional set-up and licensing fee, which is an additional burden.
Accredible has revealed only the price of its starting plan - Launch, which costs $996/year and up.
Launch lets you send digital credentials to just 250 recipients a year and basic branding. You cannot access their marketing reach insights, create email campaigns, or even perform basic integrations with Canva or Zapier.
The other plans, Connect and Growth, are custom-priced. You should contact their sales team for a customized quote, which we assume could be double or triple the cost of Launch.
Our opinion? Most SMBs would love a mod-tier plan that includes the best of Launch and Connect at a more affordable price, which is clearly missing in Accredible’s pricing plans.
Credly, on the other hand, does not reveal its prices, which is a major drawback for most businesses. Also, there’s no free plan or trial to test the tool’s compatibility. You can only request a free demo and not get a hands-on feel of what the tool may be like.
The verdict: Credly offers premium plans for enterprises, which are more expensive than Accredible's. If you’re an SMB or on a stricter budget, you could try Accredible’s Launch plan.
Now, before we select a winner, let’s quickly discuss each tool’s potential drawbacks.
Here are some of Accredible’s flaws you must be aware of:
Some of Credly’s flaws worth noting:
So, here’s our final verdict: Accredible and Credly are both versatile digital credentialing platforms that strive to offer extensive functionalities. However, despite its cons, we believe Accredible is better for all types of industries. Credly is for only larger agencies or enterprises needing a super premium experience.
Still not happy with what these tools offer? We have something for you.
Virtualbadge.io offers a fully automated solution for digital credential management with its extensive features and easy-to-use interface.
You can not only create, send, and manage digital certificates and badges but also set up a training module where you can add new training programs and create certificates for them.
Unlike Credly, Virtualbadge.io is not just tailored for enterprises. Coaches, trainers, solopreneurs, online academies, and SMBs can benefit from the tool's dedicated trainer module and plenty of advanced design and branding options.
You can now cut down the manual effort that goes into digital attendance tracking for certificate issues. Virtualbadge.io’s quick and easy QR code scanning lets your participants log their attendance and safely access their credentials without logging in to the platform.
All this at a flexible and affordable price point. Virtualbadge.io’s prices start from as low as $12/mo.
But before you commit, you can try Virtualbadge.io at no cost. Sign up for the 7-day all-access free trial today!
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Content writter
Mar 13, 2024
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