Help & Manual
Help authoring tools (HAT)
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$569 per license
Free Trial
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What is Help & Manual
Help & Manual is a Windows-based help authoring tool used to create and maintain end-user documentation such as online help, knowledge base content, and manuals. It targets technical writers, product teams, and software vendors that need structured authoring with multiple output formats. The product centers on a single-source project model with an integrated editor and publishing pipeline for common help formats.
Multiple output formats
Help & Manual publishes to several common documentation outputs from a single project, including web-based help and printable documents. This supports teams that must deliver the same content across different channels. The tool’s publishing workflow is designed around repeatable builds rather than ad hoc exports.
Structured authoring features
The product provides topic-based organization, templates, and reusable elements to keep documentation consistent across large projects. It supports indexing and search-related metadata typically required for help systems. These capabilities align with documentation teams that manage long-lived product help rather than short-form articles.
Offline, Windows-native workflow
Help & Manual runs as a desktop application, which can suit organizations with strict network controls or offline authoring needs. Local project storage can simplify work in environments where browser-based tools are restricted. Desktop performance can be beneficial for large projects compared with purely web-based editors.
Windows-centric deployment
Help & Manual is primarily a Windows desktop tool, which can be limiting for teams standardized on macOS or Linux. Cross-platform collaboration often requires additional process or tooling outside the application. This can be a constraint compared with browser-first documentation platforms.
Collaboration depends on process
Real-time multi-author editing and workflow features (such as in-app reviews, comments, and approvals) are typically less central in desktop HAT tools than in modern cloud knowledge base systems. Teams may need external version control and review processes to coordinate changes. This increases operational overhead for distributed documentation teams.
Web publishing requires setup
While it can generate web outputs, hosting, access control, and analytics are generally handled outside the authoring tool. Organizations that want an integrated hosted knowledge base experience may need additional software or services. This can add complexity when compared with end-to-end hosted documentation platforms.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Edition | $569 per license (perpetual) | Essentials for single authors: create online help, PDF and printed manuals. Does not include translation support, version control or multi-user editing. Maintenance included for 12 months. |
| Professional Edition | $899 per license (perpetual) | Full feature set (HTML Help, WebHelp, eBook publishing), translation support, version control, multi-user editing. Recommended for professional authors and small teams. Maintenance included for 12 months. |
| Floating License (concurrent) | $1,569 per concurrent license (perpetual) | Concurrent floating license for Terminal Server/Citrix; feature set identical to Professional Edition; licenses shared among users; can be checked out for offline use. |
| Premium Pack 5 (add-on) | $179 per license | 40+ professionally designed skins and advanced WebHelp/HTML layout features (add-on). |
| Help+Manual Translation Assistant (HMTA) (add-on) | $398 per license | Stand-alone translation tool for H+M projects; includes DeepL plugin; concurrent floating license. |
| HelpXplain Single User (companion product) | $249 per license | Tool for animated step-by-step instructions and HTML slideshows; integrates with Help+Manual. |
Notes: Perpetual (one-time) licenses. Maintenance (updates & support) included for 12 months. 30-day money-back guarantee stated on vendor site.
