At FlowShare, we deal with companies of all sizes and from a wide range of industries on a daily basis.
Many of those companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, have one challenge in common: the inevitable need to transfer information about best practices and digital processes. For that purpose, the companies create documentations or step-by-step guides – however, this is frequently done without any tools. IT administrators or application managers manually create software documentation and step-by-step instructions for colleagues, team members or customers. They do so, for example to explain the functionality of software to customers, to streamline their IT support or to get new employees on board.
Anyone who has ever manually created a user documentation with screenshots knows: This is far from easy. Taking screenshots, putting them together in a document, adding texts and descriptions – to summarize software use comprehensively and in a comprehensible way is extremely time-consuming without a suitable tool. The creation of those manuals costs a lot of time, it’s a pain for the creators – and often the result is extremely disappointing. Instead of being uniform and clear, the created instructions are confusing and hardly helpful. Does this pain sound familiar to you?
If so you are definitely not alone, and we’re here to help.
Even if you never documented processes before.
What is software (user) documentation?
Software documentation is the capturing of digital processes that can be used to explain software or areas of software. A distinction is made between different types of documentation, usually varying according to the target group. The latter ranges from software architects and developers to customers and end users.
User documentation comes in many forms, from detailed user manuals to microlearning “nuggets”, to context-sensitive help Performance Support System, Digital Adoption Platform). The choice of format depends primarily on how complex the conveyed user knowledge is and how much skill the end users need for the successful handling of software. Generally, instructions should be kept as long as necessary and as short as possible.
In a business world in which software is becoming increasingly diverse and complex and is constantly being changed and developed, it makes sense to periodically refresh necessary software basics in formal learning settings and to supplement with decentralized learning mechanisms.
What are the different types of Software Documentation?
To understand which tools suits your needs best, you may need to check what type of documentation you actually need. There are different ones for different purposes.
If you already know and can’t wait for the tools – skip the first part and start right here.
Technical Documentation
Technical documentation is critical for developers and testers to understand the system’s architecture, code, and how different parts of the system interact with each other. It can include system specifications, architecture diagrams, API documentation, database schemas, and code comments among others.
Example: In a complex software project, technical documentation might include architectural diagrams that show how the system is structured and how different components interact. For instance, in a microservices architecture, a diagram showing how different services communicate, along with API documentation detailing the endpoints, request/response formats, and authentication mechanisms would be crucial. This documentation is vital when onboarding new developers or when planning for system upgrades.
It is often created by Technical Writers, System Architects, or Developers who have deep technical knowledge of the software.
User Documentation
User documentation is aimed at helping end-users understand and operate the software efficiently. Especially in the case of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, which is often customized to meet the specific needs of an organization, user documentation becomes a critical resource. This could be created by the software vendor or in-house by roles like First Level Support, Application Managers, or even User Experience Designers who have a good understanding of the user interface and functionalities.
Example: Suppose a manufacturing company has customized ERP software to manage its operations. The user documentation, likely created in-house by application managers, might include manuals explaining how to enter and track orders, tutorials on how to generate and interpret various reports, and FAQs addressing common issues like correcting data entry errors or troubleshooting access issues. This documentation would be indispensable for training new staff and serving as a reference for existing staff.
Process Documentation
Process documentation in a business setting can encompass documenting processes carried out within different applications to ensure consistency, accuracy, and compliance.
Example: In a finance department, there might be processes that involve data entry in an accounting software, followed by approval in a workflow application, and then reporting using a business intelligence tool. Documenting these processes can include creating step-by-step guides explaining how data should be entered, approved, and reported, ensuring that all staff understand the correct procedures, which in turn helps in maintaining data accuracy and compliance with financial controls.
Quality Assurance Documentation
This type of documentation ensures that the software meets the required quality standards and compliances. It includes compliance documents, quality checklists, and audit reports.
Example: In a project requiring adherence to ISO 27001 standards, a compliance document showing the checks performed, the standards met, and any deviations along with corrective actions would be prepared. This documentation is essential for audit purposes and maintaining the quality and compliance of the software.
Project Documentation
Project documentation provides an overview of the project goals, scope, timelines, and resources, helping to ensure that everyone involved understands the project’s objectives and requirements. Project Managers or Project Coordinators are often responsible for this documentation, ensuring that project goals, timelines, and resources are well-documented and communicated.
Example: A project plan for developing a new mobile application might include the project goals, milestones, timelines, resource allocations, risk management plans, and communication plans. This documentation is crucial for project management, stakeholder communication, and ensuring that the project stays on track.
Interactive Guides and Self-Service Knowledge Bases
These are modern types of documentation facilitated by tools like Screensteps, enabling the creation of interactive guides and centralized repositories of instructional content often created by Customer Support Specialists or Documentation Specialists who aim to provide self-help resources to users.
Example: A company might create a self-service knowledge base for its CRM software, containing interactive guides on how to create new contacts, manage sales pipelines, or generate reports. This repository could include articles, FAQs, and videos, allowing users to find solutions independently and reducing the load on customer support
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs):
SOPs are formal, written instructions to achieve uniformity in the performance of specific tasks. They outline routine activities, often step by step, and ensure that processes are carried out consistently to maintain quality and compliance. Typically, SOPs could be created by Process Managers, Quality Assurance Managers, or Operations Managers who have a thorough understanding of the business processes.
Example: An SOP might detail the steps for processing customer returns in a retail management software, ensuring that all staff handle returns in a consistent, compliant manner.
Team User Manuals:
Team User Manuals are tailored to meet the specific needs and workflows of a particular team within an organization. They provide instructions, guidelines, and protocols for using software applications pertinent to the team’s functions. These manuals could be created by Application Managers, Team Leaders, or designated Documentation Specialists within the team. In some cases, a collaborative effort from the team members who use the software daily could also contribute to creating and maintaining this documentation.
Example: A Sales Team User Manual may contain guidelines on how to use the CRM software to log contacts, track leads, and manage sales pipelines.
Automated How-To Guides
Tools like FlowShare, Scribe or Tango automate the creation of how-to guides, capturing processes as they are performed and generating step-by-step guides.
Example: A team using FlowShare to document the process of generating monthly sales reports in a specific software could perform the task while FlowShare captures each step, automatically generating a detailed guide with screenshots, annotations, and text descriptions. This guide can then be shared with other team members in multiple formats, ensuring consistency in how the task is performed and making it easy for new team members to learn the process
While these guides can be generated automatically, they might require oversight or editing by the subject matter experts.
Why Choosing the Right Software Documentation Tool is Crucial your Business
We have never met anyone who likes to create software documentation by hand – and yet documentation is so important and helpful in the everyday life of companies to foster and share knowledge and information. It enables end-users to succeed working with software, streamlines the IT-support, standardizes internal processes and gives subject matter experts and key-users more time to work on valuable tasks.
That’s why there are solutions for quick and easy software documentation and well designed user manuals. There are numerous software documentation tools on the market that save a lot of time and effort when capturing. Their resulting documentations and instructions are targeted towards end-users (not programmers – for these look for “developer documentation” or ”system documentation”) and often have a high quality. In the following article we present some of these end-user documentation tools to you. Armed with this information you can make an informed decision which is the best software documentation tool for your specific use case and business needs.
Top 10 List of the best Software Documentation Tools for User Guides
1. FlowShare: The Smart Documentation Solution
FlowShare is a powerful software documentation tools that allows you to automatically create step-by-step guides:
Just execute the process in any application you want to be captured as a guide on your computer. You can document any software or application you want, in the browser or desktop, even complex or custom applications like ERP-systems, as long as it’s on Windows – FlowShare captures them all.
FlowShare automatically recognizes and captures every click. All steps are summarized in a document with screenshot, arrow and a short text description. You can edit your user documentation afterwards using features like bulk blur, cropping areas, adding additional annotations.
Key Export & Sharing Features:
After you’re done catpuring and refining your process, you can share documentation either through local exports or online – on your customer portal or via an integration. FlowShare offers various local formats, like PDF, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, HTML, xAPI, SCORM or OpenRPA and allows you to customize the design or use a custom Word or PowerPoint template to fit your branding.
Among static formats you can also create interactive demos or if you do not only want to save your documentation locally you can use one of the direct integrations to directly publish the documentations in knowledge base software or E-Learning platforms such as or Confluence, WordPress, Avendoo.
FlowShare is available in English, French and German and has a multilanguage-function that enables translation in over 30 languages.
Due to the high degree of automation and the simple operation, the time saving with FlowShare is enormous:
Instructions are created up to nine times faster than manually by hand. The software runs on Windows and is available from $32 per month. In order to find out whether FlowShare really fits your needs, you can try out the software free of charge.
Create an unlimited number of guides, free for 7 days.
No restrictions, no obligations, no credit card needed. Only pay if you love it after your trial.
2. iorad: The Online Documentation Tool
Iorad can record clicks made in the browser and merge them into an interactive step-by-step guide.
Besides the browser extension, they also have a desktop capture tool for download available. When documenting, the screenshots and texts are generated automatically by iorad. Additionally, users can edit them afterwards if desired.
The finished tutorials are stored in the cloud, users can share them via link, publish them on their website or embed them in their desired learning platform. Moreover, iorad created “The square” which is a community-powered platform where people can ask and answer application-related questions with the help of iorad. While iorad offers a quick software documentation tool, with all its other features it can be considered more as a digital adoption platform than a documentation solution alone. With prices starting from $200 per month for one license, the software is rather a premium product. However, iorad offers discounts for non-profit and educational organizations. It is available at https://www.iorad.com/.
Source: iorad.com
3. Tango: Browser-Based Capture with Chrome Extension I
Other than FlowShare or other desktop tools, Tango is a Chrome extension and therefore operates directly in the browser as an online documentation tool. Tango is especially developed to capture web-based products on a Chrome or Edge browser, yet the Pro version also includes capturing native apps with the desktop app of the software.
As FlowShare, Tango auto-generates a step with text and visuals for each click you make.
However, during our tests we noticed that Tango cannot automatically extract text data to generate the descriptions for the created user manual. We tested it with Microsoft Word which is a standard application where other capturing tools have no problems with. While it shines for web-based documentation, the desktop version falls short. You may keep that in mind when evaluating the right tool.
The default capture language is English, text in other languages needs to be translated manually.
Users can customize finished guides, for example with their logo, annotations, or drawing. Afterwards they store all workflows as editable files in their Tango workspace. This means that the data is stored in the cloud and cannot be saved locally. Users can share the instructions via link or embed the guide in a knowledge base or web page. Tango has a free version. For advanced features you can purchase the Pro version for $16 per month per user at https://www.tango.us. Tango offers discounts for non-profit organizations and students.
Source: www.tango.us
4. Scribe: Chrome Extension II for Automated Guides
Scribe also originally is a Chrome extension to automatically create how-to guides for digital work processes.
Similar to Tango, Scribe also provides a desktop version of its software, for Mac and for Windows.
Once a workflow has been captured, Scribe offers several editing options through a WYSIWYG editor.
These include among others blurring, deleting, moving, copying steps and a customization of the guide matching your brand. All generated data with Scribe is stored in a workspace in Scribe’s cloud, local data storage is not possible.
Users can share their guides via email, they can embed it in their wiki for example on confluence, Microsoft Teams or HelpScout, or they export it to PDF. Scribe has a free basic version, the Pro version starts at $23 per person per month and can be purchased here: https://scribehow.com. The company offers discounts for non-profit and educational organizations.
Source: scribehow.com
5. Snagit: Mastering Screen Recording
Snagit is a screen capturing software from Techsmith.
It easily allows you to take screenshots, including horizontal scrolls and scrolling webpages. Afterwards the recorded screenshots can be edited with a wide range of possibilities. For example, users can add arrows, shapes and steps on the screenshots. In addition, Snagit offers a video recording feature and various layout templates for created manuals.
Its real strengths lie in the image editing and capturing, and while it does offer templates that can be applied on the images it captured, Snagit does not automatically create text descriptions. While it does offer a variety of export formats and ways to apply templates to the images its core functionality is not the creation of an entire software documentation but rather giving a headstart to create the images for a software documentation and finish the document elsewhere, for example in Microsoft word. At least in our experience and that of our customers.
Snagit’s users can include a video of their face in the screen recording, explaining the steps of the manual and making the explanations more personal. The documentation can be shared with others via a short URL or via the cloud.
Snagit is available from €68.21 for a single license at https://www.techsmith.com/.
Source: www.techsmith.com/screen-capture
6. Folge: The Technical Editor’s Choice
Folge is a desktop app that is available for Windows and Mac, which means, you get to keep all your data and processes.
Similar to FlowShare, Folge allows you to capture a workflow by taking screenshots for each click you make. It also enables you to capture only a specific area of the screen. After recording the clicks, you can edit the steps in Folge, for example blurring parts of the screen, or highlighting specific areas. If you would like to have a written explanation coming with the screenshots, you need to add the description at the respective steps.
After editing, users can export their generated documentation. Folge offers the export to PDF, HTML, Powerpoint, Word, JSON and Markdown. The software includes different export templates and fonts.
Folge seems to be a popular choice for technical documentation because it offers a variety of editing tools and export formats like Markdown that make it a great solution for technical editors.
Those who still remember and miss Clarify for Mac (which is discontinued as the developers focused on their more versatile solution Screensteps), will be more than happy that Folge exists.
If you, however, need to capture many processes at scale without having the knowledge and skills of a technical editor and want to automate the process of writing the text descriptions as well, you may be happier with a different solution.
You can try out Folge and export five guides for free.
For exporting an unlimited number of guides you can purchase the software for €69 (personal use), respectively €130 (commercial use) at https://folge.me. Folge offers a discount for academic institutions.
Source: folge.me
7. Screensteps: Integrating Knowledge Base with Documentation
Screensteps is actually a knowledge base software, but its roots lie in software documentation. It is a tool to create structured guides with screenshots and organize these guides in a knowledge base.
The tool includes screen capture as well as various subsequent editing options such as adding arrows, text, videos, GIFs, and collapsible chapters. Screensteps offers many add-ons, like courses or a browser extension for contextual help.
With screensteps, you can collect and organize all your created workflows in an online knowledge base with analytics tools. Employees can browse this knowledge base portal or use a search engine to find a desired work instruction. Screensteps allows you to create various forms of software documentation, like end user-facing documentation and share it in its very own knowledge base solution (public and private).
Screensteps can be purchased from €239 per month for 25 monthly active users. More information at http://www.screensteps.com.
Source: www.screensteps.com
8. Stepsy: The Revamped Tool from Stepshot Legacy
Users that have already created manuals for a long time might still remember the tool “Stepshot”.
Stepshot could take screenshots at the click of a mouse and put them together into a step-by-step guide. In 2019, Stepshot was acquired by UiPath and focused more on Robotic Process Automation (RPA). The old product Stepshot was only supported until 2020.
Now the Stepshot-founder is back, this time with a browser-based solution as well: Stepsy allows to automatically capture digital processes and share the created guides for example with colleagues. The tool is perfectly designed for example for processes in Google Drive. Finished manuals can be exported to PDF or Word, they can be shared in GDrive or their images be saved in a zip file, or as a static HTML page. Stepsy has a free version and costs $9 per month in the Pro version which can be acquired here: https://stepsy.co.
Source: stepsy.co
9. Greenshot: The Classic (and Almost Free) Solution
Greenshot might look a bit old-fashioned at first glance, but it still enjoys great popularity among some longtime users.
It is a nice free documentation software (for Windows, Mac-users pay the small fee of $1.99) that allows you to take simple screenshots of the whole screen or selected areas. The screenshots can be enhanced with graphic elements or labels in the editor and then be saved.
Greenshot cannot create the entire software documentation or user guide for you – but it can help you create the images and screenshots for it. You still need to do the heavy lifting of creating an actual document, writing the text descriptions and doing the layout. If you are very fast with Word and want to have the most flexibility over how your document looks like – and want to use a free tool, then Greenshot may be the right choice for you.
However, the last available version of Greenshot is from 2017, so the tool hasn’t been developed further afterwards.
Overall, Greenshot is a basic tool to create and edit screenshots, free for Windows users and available for $1.99 for Mac users.
If you opt-in for Greenshot, you should not expect too much automation or modern usability in this software product which you can get here: http://getgreenshot.org.
Source: getgreenshot.org
10. Windows (Problem) Steps Recorder: The Underutilized Free Documentation Software
Almost every Windows user has it installed on his computer, but hardly anyone knows it: The Steps Recorder, formerly “Problem Step Recorder”. With this windows tool users can record processes using screenshots, add comments and save and share the finished documents as zip files.
As already declared in the name, the recorder is designed to record problems – and subsequently send to a person that helps with the troubleshooting.
As a creative solution, you could also use the tool for creating a short tutorial and software documentation. However, the design of the finished manual is not very user-friendly. It was never designed or intended to offer beautiful software documentation but rather a tool for developers and technical manuals. The manuals don’t show the exact click positions and the written descriptions of each step can be found at the very end of the document instead of being placed under the appropriate screenshots.Therefore, the Steps Recorder is rather an emergency option for manuals than a comprehensive software documentation tool. It is pre-installed on most Windows computers. Where you can find the recorder and further information can be found on the Windows website.
Source: support.microsoft.com
Overview: 10 Best Software Documentation Tools
| Tool | Desktop or Browser-based | Supported Languages | Export Formats | Integrations | Own export templates possible? | Price |
| FlowShare | Desktop | English, German, French (automatic translation into over 30 languages soon available) | PDF, Word, PowerPoint, HTML, PNG, SCORM, xAPI, OpenRPA | Avendoo, Confluence, WordPress, Synthesia, Nugget Creator | Yes | $40 per user per month |
| iorad | Browser | English and over 20 languages | PDF, Word, HTML, GIF, GDOC, Video, SCORM | Canva, Confluence, Notion among others | No | $200 per user per month |
| Tango | Browser | English | PDF, HTML | Notion, SharePoint, Zendesk among others | No | $16 per user per month |
| Scribe | Browser | English | PDF, HTML, Markdown | Confluence, Notion, SharePoint, Embed | No | $23 per user per month |
| Snagit | Desktop | English | PDF, PNG, JPEG, MP4, GIF, Powerpoint, SNAG among others | Sharable link | No | €68.21 (perpetual license, one year maintenance) |
| Folge | Desktop | English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese | PDF, HTML, Powerpoint, Word, JSON and Markdown | Yes | €69 (personal use), €130 (commercial use) | |
| Screensteps | Desktop | English | PDF, HTML | Screensteps knowledge base, Slack, Teams, Salesforce, among others | No | €239 per month for 25 users |
| Stepsy | Browser | English | PDF, Word, zip file (images), HTML | integrations planned but not there yet | No | $9 per user per month |
| Greenshot | Desktop | English | JPEG | – | No | free for Windows/$1.99 Mac |
| Windows Steps Recorder | Desktop | English | Zip-file | – | No | free |
These are only some of the existing documentation tools on the market. You can also find other providers in current software tests.
Now what? Finding the Best Software Documentation Tool for Your Needs
In this comprehensive guide, we’ve highlighted some of the top software documentation tools available, diving into their features and unique benefits. The essence of effective knowledge transfer lies in the quality and clarity of content. So, when choosing the best documentation software, consider the following questions:
- Which software do you need to document: desktop or browser-based?
- How frequently will you be documenting?
- Which is more crucial for you: automation level, flexibility, or both?
Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, test those tools. Most offer a chance to use them before you commit to a purchase.
Embark on Your hassle-free Software Documentation Journey
While we’ve spotlighted tools that specialize in creating documentation, there’s a broader landscape of knowledge base solutions to discover. If you’re curious about these solutions, delve into our in-depth article on the best knowledge base tools.
Now we’re keen to hear from you:
- How have you been capturing your screen and crafting manuals?
- Do you have any unique methods or tools for software documentation success?
- Might there be overlooked tools in the software documentation field we haven’t mentioned?
Your insights and experiences are invaluable to us. Share them at info@getflowshare.com.
Are you interested in a seamless, automated documentation process? Explore FlowShare. We have a free 7-day trial where you can create as many guides as you want. Dive into FlowShare’s realm of automated software documentation and leave world of Snipping Tools and Word behind.
Create an unlimited number of guides, free for 7 days.
No restrictions, no obligations, no credit card needed. Only pay if you love it after your trial.
