Best Free Help Authoring Tools of 2025

FlowShare runs in the background, records every step you take in any software, then delivers a detailed guide on how to complete your task. You can focus on what really matters instead of wasting time with documentation. And get your staff trained in on complex tasks and processes in hours, instead of days or weeks. You get easy to distribute accurate information with all of your guides looking great - no matter who creates them! FlowShare AI-Powered assistant provides 24/7 instant help, ready to guide your end-users through troubleshooting and problem-solving independently. FlowShare Portal provides a Central Knwoledge Hub, making the solutions and step-by-step guides readily accessible, fostering an environment of continuous learning and collaboration.

Follow - A fast tool to create step-by-step tutorials, guides, and documentation. It's a desktop tool that allows you to capture steps with every click, customize screenshots, make annotations, and create the final guide in HTML or Word Document, PDF, PowerPoint slides and more. This app is ideal for anyone who wants others to be able to navigate products, applications and training. It's as simple as that: - Take screenshots from apps, any area on your desktop, or fullscreen. You can pause, adjust, or resume. Screenshots are available with every click - Give each step an appropriate name and description. You can reorder them, hide them and add new ones as you go. Guides can be organized in projects. Add shapes, lines, arrows and text to enhance your screenshots. Don't include sensitive information. Multi-step instructions can be facilitated by adding step icons. Export with just one click to simple HTML. Ready to be published to your help desk rich HTML, PDF, or other formats

ProProfs Knowledge Base serves as a powerful knowledge management tool designed to create easily searchable online FAQs, enhancing customer service and minimizing ticket volumes. This platform centralizes access to a wide array of files, documents, and instructional articles, allowing users to reach them from various devices and platforms. Organizations can seamlessly disseminate crucial information to train their sales, customer service, and support personnel effectively. Furthermore, it acts as a valuable resource for onboarding new employees, familiarizing them with company protocols and procedures. By significantly boosting productivity, ProProfs Knowledge Base enables both employees and customers to swiftly locate the information they seek, regardless of time or location. Additionally, this software alleviates the repetitive task of answering frequently asked questions, streamlining communication and efficiency within the organization. Ultimately, it enhances overall operational effectiveness by ensuring that knowledge is readily available when needed.

WinCHM is an intuitive and robust tool designed for creating help documentation. It allows users to effortlessly master the art of producing professional and visually appealing help files in formats such as HTML Help (CHM), web-based help, PDF manuals, and Word documents. With its advanced capabilities, you can generate a CHM file from the ground up or convert a collection of existing HTML files into a CHM format. Additionally, it offers the functionality to open and modify existing CHM files. The software supports templates, enabling users to create consistently styled HTML help files with ease. It also provides comprehensive features for web help development, including Contents, Index, Search, and Bookmark functionalities. An integrated WYSIWYG HTML editor eliminates the need for an external word processor, making editing CHM files straightforward. Moreover, the super table of contents hierarchy editor enhances organization, and features like multi-select moving and icon changes simplify the design process. WinCHM Pro is truly user-friendly, allowing anyone to utilize its powerful features without requiring extensive learning. Overall, it's an excellent solution for anyone looking to streamline the help authoring process.

Create documentation without the need for technical jargon and enjoy seamless hosting. Write in a familiar style that feels just like using a word processor! There’s no need to worry about complex syntax if you prefer simplicity. Publish your work instantly with just one click. Organize your content into chapters, sections, and pages with ease, allowing you to focus fully on your product. You don’t need any coding skills, making it possible for anyone to contribute to the writing process! Our documentation software offers hassle-free hosting solutions. You can either use your own custom domain or set one up through our platform. Select a theme, upload your logo, and tailor everything to align with your brand or website. Collaborate with your team by allowing them to assist in the documentation process. Control access by assigning roles and user privileges to ensure security. You can easily make your documentation private and password-protected for personal or internal use. Publish with confidence, knowing that your previous work is secure and has been backed up. You can download or restore your documents at any time, ensuring peace of mind. This documentation software is designed to simplify the process of creating and managing your documents. Furthermore, it empowers users to enhance their workflow while fostering collaboration across teams.

HelpNDoc offers a comprehensive set of features designed for crafting thorough help files and documentation. The platform encompasses everything from the table of contents to the final layout of the documentation, ensuring a complete solution. Its user interface is thoughtfully designed for clarity and efficiency, utilizing the familiar ribbon layout first established by Microsoft Office, while contextual editing tools, like those for images and tables, appear only when relevant, enhancing usability. With essential tools embedded within the software, including a table of contents editor, a WYSIWYG topic editor, a keywords editor, and a library, HelpNDoc streamlines the process of creating outstanding documentation. Additionally, the inclusion of a robust word processor allows users to feel instantly comfortable as they navigate through their writing tasks, making the overall experience even more enjoyable and productive. This makes HelpNDoc not just a tool, but a supportive environment for anyone looking to produce high-quality documentation.

HelpSmith is a comprehensive help authoring tool that enables users to generate CHM HTML Help files, Web Help systems, printed manuals, Adobe PDF documents, Microsoft Word documents, and ePub eBooks from one source. For those in search of a solution to create a CHM help file, an online Web Help system, or a PDF manual, HelpSmith offers an extensive array of features, including a robust word processor for drafting help topics and a built-in screenshot utility that can automatically capture help for dialog windows. With HelpSmith, you can effortlessly produce a CHM help file, a responsive Web Help system that works seamlessly on both desktop and mobile devices, a printed manual, a PDF document, an ePub eBook, and a Microsoft Word document all from a single source project. Additionally, the included word processor has a spell checker and supports dictionaries in various languages, making it easier to write clear and accurate content. This versatility makes HelpSmith an ideal choice for anyone needing to create comprehensive help documentation in multiple formats.

Introducing an innovative audio guide platform designed to be accessible for all users. Create smartphone-compatible audio guides in various languages for any destination, completely free of charge, directly via our website. Enjoy the benefits of your creations! The process is streamlined and efficient. Enhance inclusivity with automatic translations available in 11 different languages, ensuring high-quality audio guides that cater to the needs of partially sighted visitors. No technical skills or recordings are necessary! Authors have the opportunity to earn income through guide sales. We have transformed the audio guide industry by leveraging cutting-edge AI text-to-speech technology. Our platform empowers anyone to independently craft and distribute audio guides with just a script and a few images. Once published, your audio guide can generate passive income, allowing you to relax while it gains traction and sales! If you prefer, we can also assist you in creating your audio guide. Reach out to us to get started on this exciting journey! Your ideas can bring valuable experiences to countless explorers.

LockStep offers a user-friendly and swift authoring interface that incorporates all the integrated editors available in WinSequence Enterprise. It allows for direct image capture using compatible cameras, similar to WinSequence Enterprise. However, LockStep targets smaller businesses that require a straightforward, single-user desktop solution for creating and exporting formatted PDF instructions. Both LockStep and the enterprise offerings share the same data model, making it seamless to upgrade to the enterprise suite when necessary. This upgrade often occurs when there is a demand for a network-capable multi-user solution for writers, the need for electronic work instructions accessible via web browser in the production environment, or when integration with other IT systems is sought. Notably, WinSequence Enterprise maintains the same interface as the LockStep application, ensuring that only minimal additional training is needed to utilize the expanded functionalities of WinSequence. This makes the transition not only smooth but also efficient for users familiar with LockStep.

Your users can create effective help documentation by next week. Dr.Explain is a help authoring tool that allows you to create help files, user documentation, and online help manuals in HTML, PDF, WORD, WORD, and CHM formats. Your product is great, but users continue asking the same questions every day. Your support team is overwhelmed and your email inbox is full. You have to spend all of your time calling customers, even though your product is flawless. You receive constant requests for online demos. You can create user-friendly help documents for your customers using Dr.Explain in just two days. This will cut down on your support team's workload up to half. Your customers can make the most out of your product without you having to help. This saves you time, money, effort, and effort. You can create help documentation once with Dr.Explain, and then publish it in many formats, including a help center integrated into your mobile app or desktop, or an online repository integrated with your website.

FAR HTML is a suite designed for help authoring and file management, ideal for those who need to efficiently handle HTML, XML, and ASCII text files, as well as create help documentation for various formats like HTML Help 1.x and MS Help Viewer. Utilizing FAR HTML can lead to significant savings in both time and resources when working on help projects. It integrates seamlessly with MS Workshop and SDK, allowing for simultaneous use. Additionally, FAR HTML can function in batch mode, enabling unattended operations. You can try the full version with a 30-day free trial. It also supports the creation of WebHelp through straightforward HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The software boasts partial translations in Japanese, German, and Simplified Chinese, making it accessible to a wider audience. FAR HTML fills many gaps left by conventional tools, proving its worth in creating and maintaining high-quality documentation and help resources. Notably, while some competing tools are priced over ten times higher than FAR HTML, they often fall short in terms of features and reliability. Ultimately, FAR Tools are designed to enhance your productivity, allowing you to focus on your work with greater efficiency. Users can expect to experience a significant boost in their workflow due to the capabilities of FAR HTML.

An incredibly swift cloud-based Markdown editor designed specifically for technical writers, this tool enhances the user experience of our everyday content creation processes while eliminating the challenges often associated with writing. It features collaborative authoring on the same page along with draft links for teams, all aimed at fostering better cooperation among writers, developers, and the wider organization. Users can store their content in a dedicated repository equipped with robust search and tagging capabilities, alongside the assurance of complete version control. This system eradicates the issues of duplicate files and unclear version names. With the ability to publish modular content, you can tailor your approach to topic-based writing and single sourcing, thereby optimizing content reuse. Say goodbye to outdated wikis; your internal documentation is now more accessible and dynamic than ever. The platform supports company-wide private documentation as well as tailored role-specific guides for onboarding new employees or generating reports, all achievable with just a few clicks. Enjoy unlimited hosting for your documentation, with the added flexibility of a custom domain, seamless integration for publishing to external services, or options for self-hosting, ensuring that your content is always within reach. Embrace a new era of documentation that prioritizes efficiency and collaboration across the board.