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Shorthand review (2026): is it worth it?

Scrolling web story and report publisher

Free planPresentationsChecked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
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Shorthand, as pictured on shorthand.com
How Shorthand presents itself. Image from shorthand.com.

Shorthand report card

2.2GPA

Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026

Best for scrolling web stories like annual reports

Shorthand builds scrolling, visual web stories such as annual reports and digital magazines, then publishes them on its hosting or your own site. Creating is free but publishing needs a paid plan, and no plan price is published.

Who Shorthand is for

  • Fits if you make long visual stories for a communications team
  • Works for publishers who want stories on their own CMS

Who Shorthand is not for

  • 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
See the alternatives

Why Shorthand gets a 2.2

Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.

  • CValue for moneyNo plan price is published; Core, Unlimited and Enterprise are arranged with sales, so it sits at C.
  • CFree plan and trialBuilding stories is free, but a paid plan is needed to publish or export them, so you cannot ship anything on the free plan.
  • CFeaturesA 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.
  • CEase of useNo store rating is on record, and designing a story page by page takes learning.
  • BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, with WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore, Contentful and Adobe Experience Manager listed. No desktop or phone app.

What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Shorthand's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.

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Shorthand: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA

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Where Shorthand stands among presentation tools

Shorthand's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 37 of the 89 other presentation tools we grade, and level with 15.

It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 46 of 89) and worst on ease of use (C, above 6).

Each grade against the category

Every bar is all 90 presentation tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Shorthand’s own letter is outlined.

  • CValue for moneyAbove 22 of 89, level with 39
  • CFree plan and trialAbove 14 of 89, level with 48
  • CFeaturesAbove 8 of 89, level with 67
  • CEase of useAbove 6 of 89, level with 68
  • BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 46 of 89, level with 39

Keep Shorthand, or make your own?

Keep it

The plain part of Shorthand you could make: templates and documents. What surrounds it you could not. The 4 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.

What you could make

  • Templates and documents: an app builder makes these well.

What you could not

  • A slide editor.
  • Several people working in it at the same moment.
  • It plugs into other products, WordPress, Drupal and Sitecore among them.
  • AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.

What this rests on. Shorthand’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.

What is Shorthand?

Shorthand is a platform for building scrolling, visual web stories such as annual reports, feature articles and digital magazines. Stories are built in a browser editor and published to Shorthand's hosting or to the customer's own site or CMS. Publishing is sold through plans arranged with the vendor.

Worth knowing

  • 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

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.

Shorthand pricing

We could not confirm Shorthand’s current pricing from its own site, so we are not listing plans here. See shorthand.com for current prices.

Ways to pay less

  • NonprofitDiscounts for charities and NGOs

    Shorthand says it offers discounted plans for registered charities and NGOs, and free educational plans for universities and colleges.

    Stated on shorthand.com

Works with

Shorthand alternatives

All Shorthand alternatives comparedAll presentation tools

Common questions

Does Shorthand have an Android app?

No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Shorthand is listed for Web.

Does Shorthand have an iPhone app?

No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Shorthand is listed for Web.

Is Shorthand open source?

Shorthand is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.

Sources for this page

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.