Document360 vs MadCap Flare (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Document360 if

• Fits if you're a software company publishing a help center for customers
• Works for teams needing a public knowledge base and a private one side by side, with review workflows

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to see a price before talking to sales, because none are published
• Not for you if you want to sign up and try it tonight, as the trial starts with a booked demo and has no stated length
• Pricey if you want the AI chatbot or the AI Premium Suite, which are add-ons to whatever you're quoted
• Skip it if you want a desktop or phone app; it's the browser plus a Chrome extension

Pick MadCap Flare if

• Fits if you write large product manuals on Windows and publish to several formats
• Works for teams that import older help projects from RoboHelp or FrameMaker

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you are a solo writer, as $3,150 per author per year is the entry price
• Watch out: Flare Online is licensed per user with a 12-month commitment, and its prices are not published
• Watch out: refunds are not given for cancellations or downgrades during a subscription term
• Skip it if you use a Mac, since the pages read mention only Windows

Document360

• Document360 publishes no prices: every plan is a custom quote based on team accounts, workspaces, languages, security needs and AI usage.
• The free trial is started by booking a live demo, and the site does not say how long the trial lasts.
• The AI chatbot and the AI Premium Suite (screen capture, step-by-step guides, interactive demos and video recording) are listed as add-ons.
• The site lists no desktop or mobile apps; the product runs in a browser, with a Chrome extension for searching articles.

MadCap Flare

• Flare Online is licensed per user, billed annually with a 12-month commitment, and its prices are not published.
• Refunds are not given for cancellations or downgrades during a subscription term.
• Extra Flare Online storage is sold in 10 GB increments.
• The Windows listing comes from the product page's structured data; the pages read do not mention a Mac version.

Document360

Markdown and WYSIWYG editors

Articles are written in a Markdown editor or an advanced WYSIWYG editor, and revision history tracks every change so an earlier version can be restored.

Public and private projects

A project is a complete knowledge base with its own users, custom domain and branding. Private projects are read by people who log in with reader accounts.

Eddy AI

The AI features include a writing agent that drafts articles from prompts, videos and files, conversational search that cites its sources, glossary generation and an MCP server.

Review and publishing workflows

A custom workflow builder automates task assignment, review cycles and publishing, and scheduled reminders prompt reviewers to audit older content.

Analytics

Reports cover articles and categories, searches, reader feedback, authors, links and page-not-found hits, with a breakdown by country.

API and integrations

Customer API v3 offers more than 180 endpoints with scoped keys and OAuth 2.0. Integrations include Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, Slack, Microsoft Teams and GitHub.

MadCap Flare

Topic-based single sourcing

Content is written as reusable topics, with variables and snippets, and reused across guides, help sites and training.

Import from other tools

Import wizards bring in Word, Excel, Confluence, FrameMaker, RoboHelp and DITA content.

Multi-channel publishing

Outputs include HTML5, PDF, Word, PowerPoint and SCORM, with direct publishing to Salesforce, Zendesk and ServiceNow.

Browser review

With Flare Online, subject matter experts can edit and review content in a browser without installing software.

Translation workflow

Several languages can be published in one output, including right-to-left languages such as Hebrew and Arabic.

Analytics

Flare Online reports topic views and searches with no results; the desktop tool reports broken links and unused content.

Document360

• Custom planCustom

  Quoted from the number of team accounts, workspaces and languages, SSO and security needs, public or private access, and AI Premium Suite usage.

MadCap Flare

• Starter (Flare Desktop only)$3,150

  per author / year

  On-premises topic-based authoring and publishing, with free introductory training and unlimited tech support.

• Flare Online - IndividualCustom

  For 1-2 authors. Includes Flare Desktop for each author, 20 GB of cloud storage and 1 reviewer seat per author. Price not published.

• Flare Online - TeamCustom

  For 3-5 authors. Adds 2 reviewer seats per author and 250 GB of storage. Price not published.

• Flare Online - BusinessCustom

  For 6 or more authors. 5 reviewer seats per author and 500 GB of storage; onboarding costs extra. Price not published.