Microsoft HTML Help vs CHM Reader

Struggling to choose between Microsoft HTML Help and CHM Reader? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Microsoft HTML Help is a Office & Productivity solution with tags like help, documentation, authoring, html.

It boasts features such as Authoring tool to create HTML Help files, Supports HTML, images, multimedia, Context-sensitive help through special HTML tags, Full text search, Table of contents, Index, Hyperlinks, Integration with Visual Studio and Microsoft products and pros including Easy to create help content with HTML, Good integration with Microsoft ecosystem, Full text search allows quick access to content, Navigation features like TOC and index, Multimedia support allows images, audio, video etc, Wide adoption in Microsoft products.

On the other hand, CHM Reader is a Education & Reference product tagged with chm, help-files, documentation, ebook, reader.

Its standout features include View CHM files, Navigate table of contents, Search contents, Copy text, Print pages, View in fullscreen, Customizable interface, and it shines with pros like Free and open source, Simple and easy to use, Good CHM support, Lightweight, Customizable.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

Microsoft HTML Help

Microsoft HTML Help

Microsoft HTML Help is a Microsoft proprietary format for writing help content. It allows creating help files with HTML, providing features like full text search, index, table of contents. It integrates with Visual Studio and other Microsoft products.

Categories:
help documentation authoring html

Microsoft HTML Help Features

  1. Authoring tool to create HTML Help files
  2. Supports HTML, images, multimedia
  3. Context-sensitive help through special HTML tags
  4. Full text search
  5. Table of contents
  6. Index
  7. Hyperlinks
  8. Integration with Visual Studio and Microsoft products

Pricing

  • Free
  • One-time Purchase

Pros

Easy to create help content with HTML

Good integration with Microsoft ecosystem

Full text search allows quick access to content

Navigation features like TOC and index

Multimedia support allows images, audio, video etc

Wide adoption in Microsoft products

Cons

Proprietary format limited to Microsoft platform

Limited styling capabilities compared to HTML/CSS

Not responsive for mobile devices

Lacks features of newer help formats like responsive UI, embedded videos etc

Authoring requires Microsoft HTML Help Workshop

Not actively developed anymore


CHM Reader

CHM Reader

CHM Reader is a free, open source program for viewing CHM files on Windows. It provides a simple interface for browsing .chm documents and their contents. Useful for accessing old help files and documentation.

Categories:
chm help-files documentation ebook reader

CHM Reader Features

  1. View CHM files
  2. Navigate table of contents
  3. Search contents
  4. Copy text
  5. Print pages
  6. View in fullscreen
  7. Customizable interface

Pricing

  • Free
  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Simple and easy to use

Good CHM support

Lightweight

Customizable

Cons

Windows only

Limited features compared to paid alternatives

Development seems inactive

Some stability issues