Heights Platform

I consider Heights to be one of my most promising AppSumo purchases for the long term. Here are the pros and cons from my perspective for anyone on the fence.

PROS

* Hands-on, competent founder and outstanding support. This is huge for a company's long-term success and my #1 criterion when evaluating software and services. Bryan is on the ball and seems committed to taking the platform to new heights.

* Mature and functional software. Upon using Heights for a bit, it is clear to me that the platform is well thought out, and it just works. This is not some half-baked solution that was put together last month as a money grab.

* Built-in certificates. It is great to be able to handle issuing certificates directly within Heights without having to deal with an external service.

* API access. If you like automating things, as many Sumolings do, having access to Heights API and Zapier support will make your life easier.

* The price is right. Using Heights will require me to pay a small monthly fee to get unlimited products and video hosting. But, I am happy to do it as the cost will be a fraction of what I would pay for a competing service of the same caliber.

CONS

* UI is not stellar. While entirely usable, the user interface looks dated and does not have the polish you can find in some of Heights' competitors. Specifically, UI components look cramped together and slightly cluttered, with shadows and other styling choices that feel a bit dated when compared to modern design trends. BUT, a huge advantage here is that Heights allows custom CCS. With some love and effort, it should be possible to overcome some of Heights' shortcomings in this area.

Modernizing the UI would likely be near the top of my priority list if I were running Heights. First impressions matter 😉

* No built-in assessments. While it is possible to work around this to an extent with external embeds, I think it is vital to have powerful assessment capabilities in an LMS. Based on Heights' answers to questions, I am slightly concerned that this may not happen in the near future.

* No single sign-on. This may not be a big deal for solo creators that plan to only provide training. But, if you have a more diverse business where you engage with customers on various platforms, having SSO to tie the logins together is essential. I really hope this gets implemented soon.

* No support for SCORM or xAPI. If you do not know what these are, you probably have nothing to worry about in the short term. This was a slight concern for me but not a deal-breaker.

Overall, this is a five-taco deal for anyone in the market for an LMS. Don't sleep on it!