Genially vs Shorthand (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Genially grades higher than Shorthand: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Genially grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Genially
Interactive presentations, quizzes, games and learning content
Which one is for you
Pick Genially if
- Fits if you teach or train and want lessons people click through, not just watch
- Works for eLearning teams publishing courses to an LMS, on the €40 Author plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need a PDF of your work for free, as downloads start at Pro
- Pricey if you want quiz results per student, because tracking needs Master at €20 a month, billed annually
- Not for you if you want prices in dollars up front, since Genially shows euros and prices vary by country
- Tight if you lean on AI on the free plan, as it gets 500 credits a year and image generation starts at Master
- Watch out: Master and Author are billed annually only, and single sign-on and groups need Enterprise
Pick Shorthand if
- Fits if you make long visual stories for a communications team
- Works for publishers who want stories on their own CMS
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a price, because none is published
- Tight if you publish a lot, as Core includes 12 new stories a year
- Watch out: a published story uses a credit that is not returned if you unpublish it
- Watch out: unused publishing credits expire at the end of each yearly cycle
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAGeniallyFair | 2.2GPAShorthandFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro is €6 a month billed annually, or €10 monthly, and an archived copy of Genially's US price file puts the paid plans at $120, $300 and $600 a year, so Pro lands about the $9.99 middle here. The parts teachers want cost more: quizzes with tracking need Master at €20 a member, LMS packages Author at €40. | CNo plan price is published; Core, Unlimited and Enterprise are arranged with sales, so it sits at C. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree gets 2 GB, 1,000-plus templates, every interaction and animation, file import and live sessions for up to 50 people. Then the wall: you can't download anything at all, and AI is 500 credits a year. | CBuilding stories is free, but a paid plan is needed to publish or export them, so you cannot ship anything on the free plan. |
| Features | BThe whole interactive job: clickable hotspots, animations, games, branching scenarios, live sessions with polls, quizzes with per-student tracking, and SCORM, xAPI or LTI publishing to a learning platform. Which plan you need for each is the catch, not whether it's there. | CA story editor, publishing, branding, collaboration and analytics. Core includes only 12 new stories a year, and publishing a story spends a credit that is not returned. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and the work is building the interactive thing yourself: hotspots, paths, questions. A template, an AI prompt or an imported PowerPoint, PDF or Google Slides file gets you a starting point. | CNo store rating is on record, and designing a story page by page takes learning. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no phone or desktop app listed. It does connect where teaching happens: Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard, Schoology and D2L Brightspace. | BWeb, with WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore, Contentful and Adobe Experience Manager listed. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | clickable lessons, quizzes and games for a class | scrolling web stories like annual reports |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Genially and Shorthand. How we grade
Where they differ
- Genially also covers surveys.
- Shorthand also covers documents.
At a glance
| Genially | Shorthand | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | €6 per month, billed annually (Pro) | Not published |
| Free plan | 2 GB of storage, 500 AI credits a year, 1,000+ free templates, all interactions and animations, file import and live sessions of up to 50 participants. Downloads need a paid plan. | Creating stories is free; a paid plan is needed to publish or export them. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Genially Web, S.L. | Shorthand |
| Price read from | genially.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Genially
- The Free plan has no downloads: PDF, JPG and video start at Pro, HTML at Master, and SCORM or xAPI packages at Author.
- Brand kit, metrics, surveys, quizzes and tests need Master or higher, and Master and Author are billed annually only.
- Prices show in euros by default and vary by country; an archived September 2026 copy of Genially's price file lists US prices of $120, $300 and $600 a year for the paid plans.
- Single sign-on, groups, domain restriction and activity history are limited to the Enterprise plan.
Shorthand
- No plan prices are published: Core, Unlimited and Enterprise are arranged through the sales team, so pricing is recorded as unverified.
- Core includes 12 new stories per year, and publishing a story uses one credit that is not returned if you unpublish.
- Unused publishing credits expire at the end of each yearly cycle.
- Shorthand says it is SOC 2 Type II compliant and ISO 27001 certified.
Key features
Genially
- Interactions and animations
- Any element can be made clickable or animated without code, and every plan includes all interactions, effects and animations, plus games, challenges and branching scenarios.
- Genially AI
- AI Builder drafts a creation from a prompt, and other tools write text and questions. Use is metered in credits: 500 a year on Free, 2,000 on Pro. Image and voiceover generation start at Master.
- Live sessions
- Content can be projected in a live session with questions and polls answered in real time. Sessions hold 50 participants on Free and Pro and 200 on Master and Author.
- Quizzes, surveys and tracking
- Master adds surveys, open-ended questions, tests, quizzes and competitions, with metrics on each creation, individual tracking and a view of responses.
- Import, download and LMS export
- PowerPoint, PDF and Google Slides files import on every plan. Pro downloads PDF, JPG and video, Master adds HTML, and Author adds SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 and xAPI packages.
- Collaboration and brand kit
- Real-time collaborative editing and comments are on every plan. Master adds a brand kit with logo variations and palettes, team templates, spaces, and roles and permissions.
Shorthand
- Story editor
- Stories are built from sections and layouts in a browser editor, and can be embedded into existing pages.
- Publishing options
- Shorthand-hosted publishing on annual plans, or self-hosted through S3, WordPress, Drupal plugins or API.
- Branding
- Themes carry a team's logos, colors and fonts across stories.
- Collaboration
- Editors, designers and developers work in one shared workspace.
- Analytics
- Built-in cookieless analytics, plus Google Analytics, Tag Manager and other trackers.
- AI Creative Companion
- An AI feature the site describes as turning a rough draft into a designed story.
Plans
Genially
Free€0
2 GB of storage, 500 AI credits a year, free templates, all interactions and animations, and import of PDF, PowerPoint and Google Slides files.
Pro€6
per month, billed annually (€72); €10 billed monthly
Individual plan: 7.5 GB, 2,000 AI credits a year, premium templates, PDF, JPG and video downloads, private sharing, password protection and folders.
Master€20
per member / month, billed annually (€240)
25 GB and 5,000 AI credits per seat, brand kit, team spaces, metrics and responses, surveys, quizzes and tests, and live sessions of up to 200 people.
Author€40
per member / month, billed annually (€480)
50 GB and 10,000 AI credits per seat, SCORM and xAPI downloads, LTI connection to a learning platform, video upload, AI translation and version recovery.
EnterpriseCustom
Single sign-on, a custom subdomain, groups, domain restriction, activity history, a team library and a dedicated success manager.
Shorthand
Pricing could not be confirmed. See shorthand.com.
Ways to pay less
Genially
- Annual discount
Pro is 40% cheaper on annual billing
Pro is €72 a year (€6 a month) on annual billing. The monthly price in the plans page's price data is €10, which makes annual billing 40% cheaper.
- Education
Education plans for teachers and schools
Teacher plans run from EduPro at €4.99 a month to Edu360 at €25 per teacher a month, billed annually, with unlimited students invited free. A Campus plan is quoted on request.
- Education
StudentPro plan for students
A students-only StudentPro plan costs €1.25 a month, billed annually (€15), with 2,000 AI credits, premium templates and downloads.
- Nonprofit
Up to 50% off for nonprofits
Genially's plans FAQ offers non-profit organizations up to 50% off the Master, Author or Enterprise plan after they send proof of NGO status to support.
Shorthand
- Nonprofit
Discounts for charities and NGOs
Shorthand says it offers discounted plans for registered charities and NGOs, and free educational plans for universities and colleges.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Genially or Shorthand?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Genially starts at €6 per month, billed annually (Pro), and Shorthand has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Genially or Shorthand?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Genially and Shorthand have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.