Microsoft HTML Help vs WinCHM

Struggling to choose between Microsoft HTML Help and WinCHM? 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, WinCHM is a Office & Productivity product tagged with help-files, documentation, manuals.

Its standout features include WYSIWYG editor for adding text, images, tables, links, etc, Compile CHM help files, Supports HTML and CSS, Table of Contents pane, Index and Search functions, Supports multiple languages, Export to PDF option, and it shines with pros like Free and open source, User friendly interface, Good for quickly creating help files, Active development and updates.

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


WinCHM

WinCHM

WinCHM is a free tool for creating CHM help files for software documentation and user manuals. It has an easy to use WYSIWYG editor for adding text, images, tables, links etc. Good for quickly building software help files.

Categories:
help-files documentation manuals

WinCHM Features

  1. WYSIWYG editor for adding text, images, tables, links, etc
  2. Compile CHM help files
  3. Supports HTML and CSS
  4. Table of Contents pane
  5. Index and Search functions
  6. Supports multiple languages
  7. Export to PDF option

Pricing

  • Free
  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

User friendly interface

Good for quickly creating help files

Active development and updates

Cons

Limited customization options compared to commercial tools

No version control or collaboration features

Lacks some advanced features like context sensitive help