Froala vs. CKEditor: Comparing JavaScript Rich Text Editors  

A developer working on a laptop symbolizes software development and coding.

When you choose a rich text, WYSIWYG, JavaScript editor, there are a number of issues you need to take into consideration. These include features, support, scalability, plugins, and of course, cost. With many options on the market, here we compare two of the most popular — CKEditor and Froala Editor.

Froala is a streamlined software editor for resourceful JS developers who want to get more done with drag-and-drop code blocks. The Rich Text Editor helps you build intuitive web apps for your users. With its complete documentation guide, designed framework plugins, and a handful of examples for integration. Froala is continuously working to add new features and take the Javascript web WYSIWYG editing capabilities beyond their current limits. It also comes with a free, lightweight demo to customize at your leisure.

Read on to see how it stacks up against CKEditor.

On which bases should we compare rich text editors?

Before we start comparing these editors, we should first set each basis in comparing them. In other words, we need to determine the characteristics of an ideal editor. It’s important to do so, because these bases lead to better and less subjective comparisons. 

Features

The first basis we need to consider when comparing rich text editors is their features. After all, they dictate what your users will and won’t be able to do when using your rich text editor. The more features you have, the more versatile and accommodating your rich text editor will be. Similarly, the less features your editor has, the less use cases it can accommodate. You should consider whether you need some advanced features (for instance, skins and icons pack). This is because although some features sound great, they can add up to the total size of your application. However, there are some advanced editors that have plenty of features while being lightweight and fast. So, you should always maximize the number of features in your editor while also minimizing app size and load time. 

Speed

Another important factor in rich text editor comparison is speed. Of course, users will have a better interaction with and impression on faster apps. And this also goes for rich text editors. Would you want your users to wait a few seconds before your editor loads or have them work right away? The obvious answer is that your editor should load as fast as possible. But how do you know which ready-made editor is the fastest? You’d have to check their sites for information on speed or test them out yourself. However, do note that some editors could be really fast because they lack tons of features. Hence, it’s wise to look for an editor that’s both feature-rich and lightweight

UI Design

The design of a user interface is just as important as features because of their direct contribution to user experience. Suppose we have a near-perfect, feature-rich, and fast rich text editor that has an archaic design. Would users still love it? Probably. But what if users find another near-perfect, feature-rich and fast editor that has a sleek, modern, and intuitive interface? They will most likely love that better. That’s because aesthetically pleasing and intuitive designs let users work more efficiently. They also greatly lower the learning curve for users to familiarize themselves with the editor. Additionally, you have to make sure that your editor is responsive and mobile-friendly. Finally, an organized editor toolbar lets users find the features they want more easily. 

Developer-friendliness

When looking for and comparing rich text editors, it would be wise to choose one that’s developer-friendly. This means that the editor should have the ability to be integrated easily with applications, regardless of the language or framework used. A rich text editor would greatly contribute to efficiency if it can be integrated in a matter of minutes or even seconds. 

Affordability

The not-so-great news about some premium rich text editors is that they have much higher prices. Thus, it’s essential that you find an editor that has great/numerous features, is fast, and still within your company’s budget. Discounts, especially for startups, greatly help as well. Lastly, you should avoid editors that have additional charges based on editor loads/number of users or additional features you have to pay for. 

Support and documentation

The last rich text editor comparison basis is how good its support and documentation are. The cheaper and more helpful and reachable its support is, the better it is. And the more comprehensive and easy to understand the documentation is, the better the experience will be for developers and users alike. 

What are the key benefits of the Froala Editor?

On the surface, many other vendors appear to offer all-in-one rich text editor packages. This is true to a point; however, they often overlook an important issue for consumers. In essence, they lack scalability in their plans for non-enterprise clients. These include clients with less demanding workloads to replicate on fewer servers.

This is where Froala differs from the other offerings, which makes it a great CKEditor alternative.

Froala’s core principles are founded on creating manageable and affordable software. This means we don’t overwhelm our users with overly advanced tool sets that require confusing tutorials to implement. Despite its ease of use, Froala also offers its users all kinds of powerful features. These features include, but are not limited to:

  • Hosting on our servers for unlimited active users
  • Full access to all Froala editing tools regardless of the plan you choose
  • Free updates for up to 1 year with fixed annual pricing
  • 24/7 live support whenever you encounter technical issues

How does Froala annual pricing compare against CKEditor ?

Cost Matrix — Pricing Overview

Comparing Froala Editor with CKEditor, highlighting features and interface differences

 

Save on annual costs with Froala

Froala’s annual pricing is certainly less expensive than CKEditor.  Although it depends on your use case, most users save 200% – 600%  by choosing Froala over similar tools. More importantly, Froala delivers more value than you would expect. It delivers an efficient and feature-rich workspace where you can edit all types of content for your blog, mobile platform, SaaS needs or business cloud.

What are the main features of the Froala Editor?

Aside from having almost no learning curve, Froala tools handle tiny details with greater precision than other editors. Essentially, what Froala offers is a way to easily set up and use the latest built-in rich text extensions available today.  Another unique feature of Froala is real-time collaborative editing you won’t find on CKEditor. Our API also has a greater variety of fonts for styling your ideas without making the toolbar intrusive.

Froala is a feature rich JavaScript text editor

In addition, Froala creates a robust environment for co-authoring or writing whenever you need to peer-review and track past revisions of your digital content. Another huge benefit of Froala is having your documents in sync among all team members — you know exactly what went on with each custom block. 

Froala Editor vs. CKEditor Features

At first glance, Froala and CKEditor are quite similar. CKEditor, like Froala,  is a WYSIWYG text editor for writing JS content on web pages and in digital apps. 

This CKSource platform has an advanced Drupal module for cross-integration with other editors. It also provides many widgets, including image captions, code snippets, and math formulas, that allow users to paste content straight from Word or filter content searches. 

Although the CKEditor has over 100 extensions managed by the team, this comes with a downside. That downside is a much heavier dependence on plugins and a DLL build to operate. The result is that upgrading to  CKEditor Premium is much more expensive than Froala. This is especially inconvenient if you only require more basic features like running a simple read/write from a file or computing data table formulas.

According to customer reviews, Froala Editor is currently rated at 4.4/5 stars. 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the Froala editor’s performance against CKEditor on customization, content, and functionality. 

Customization, Content and functionality. Froala vs Ckeditor

Are you ready to install the Froala WYSIWYG HTML Editor?

Don’t take our word for it, test the Froala Editor yourself by downloading the free trial. Or better yet, let us walk you through  our rich text editing and premium options. 

Thinking of making the change to Froala Editor? Here’s how to migrate onto our next-gen WYSIWYG Editor from CKEditor.

FAQs

What is a rich text editor?

A rich text editor, or WYSIWYG HTML editor, is a component that lets users make content in a special way. With these editors, users can format and style content using buttons. They can even allow the uploading of media files such as images and edit how they’ll be displayed. The best part is that users won’t even have to worry about coding. These features make rich text editors perfect for apps and websites with a lot of user-generated content. Some use cases for rich text editors are blogs, Content Management Systems (CMS), email platforms, and more. 

How can I use a rich text editor?

Using rich text editors is pretty straightforward, and the best editors are intuitive enough for users to easily learn. Each button corresponds to either an editing feature or a toggle button for a collapsible part of the toolbar. Each button also has a tooltip to guide users on what the button does. To start using a rich text editor, just normally type your desired content, use the buttons to format and style content, insert images/links, and so on. The best way to learn how to use a rich text editor is by reading its documentation page

How can I create a rich text editor in HTML?

Using a rich text editor is easy. However, creating one from scratch using HTML and other front-end and back-end frameworks or languages is a lot tougher. You would need to consider every feature your users need and implement it using HTML and JavaScript. Alternatively, you can integrate a ready-made rich text editor into your application in a few minutes or even seconds. This saves plenty of time and gives your users the complete editing features that can accommodate any use case.

Posted on June 15, 2021

Jennifer Luchu

Jennifer Luchu is an expert technical writer focusing on JavaScript WYSIWYG HTML Editors.

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