The Shorthand alternative with no template ceiling
Looking for an alternative to Shorthand? Here’s a clear, matter-of-fact comparison so you can choose the platform that actually scales with your needs.
Delivering sustainable growth through creativity and innovation.
Annual Report
Luca
Paige
Elena
What is Shorthand? A content builder for templated visual storytelling. Shorthand is fast and accessible for standard long-form pieces, but teams report hitting its limits quickly—the fixed section format means every piece is constrained by the same structural options, and custom theming typically requires paid services or a higher-tier plan.
What is Vev? The enterprise-first no-code platform for interactive content. Vev does everything Shorthand does—scrollytelling, visual long-form, immersive editorial—and removes the template ceiling entirely. Build any format, at any level of complexity, and publish as clean HTML/CSS/JS directly into your CMS. With AI built into the canvas, your team moves from brief to published faster without adding tools or headcount.
Pitch deck
Quiz
Annual reports
Sports marketing
Science communication
Sponsored content
Brand storytelling
Campaign landing pages
Microsites
Presentations
Live, interactive decks that don’t feel flat.
Annual reports
Scrollable reports stakeholders actually read.
Sponsored content
Polished, on-brand partner content built fast.
Quizzes
Engaging experiences that capture leads.
Presentations
Live, interactive decks that don’t feel flat.
Annual reports
Scrollable reports stakeholders actually read.
Sponsored content
Polished, on-brand partner content built fast.
Quizzes
Engaging experiences that capture leads.
Sports marketing
Engage fans and deliver ROI for partners.
Science communications
Complex ideas with visual storytelling.
Campaign landing page
Campaign pages shipped in hours, not weeks.
Microsites
The go-to format for marketing campaigns.
Sports marketing
Engage fans and deliver ROI for partners.
Science communications
Complex ideas with visual storytelling.
Campaign landing page
Campaign pages shipped in hours, not weeks.
Microsites
The go-to format for marketing campaigns.
Campaign landing page
Campaign pages shipped in hours, not weeks.
Science communications
Complex ideas with visual storytelling.
Presentations
Live, interactive decks that don't feel flat.
Annual reports
Scrollable reports stakeholders actually read.
Campaign landing page
Campaign pages shipped in hours, not weeks.
Science communications
Complex ideas with visual storytelling.
Presentations
Live, interactive decks that don't feel flat.
Annual reports
Scrollable reports stakeholders actually read.
Sports marketing
Engange fans and deliver ROI for partners.
Quizzes
Engaging experiences that capture leads.
Sponsored content
Polished on-brand partner content built fast.
Microsites
The go-to format for marketing campaigns.
Sports marketing
Engange fans and deliver ROI for partners.
Quizzes
Engaging experiences that capture leads.
Sponsored content
Polished on-brand partner content built fast.
Microsites
The go-to format for marketing campaigns.
See how Vev compares
Creative freedom
Free drag and drop canvas like Figma; build content with a wide selection of animation presets and native interactions.
Pre-built sections only. Content could easily look similar across brands.
Templates
Build your own branded library; reuse across markets and brands.
Relies on fixed section templates and themes. Custom theming usually requires Shorthand services or higher-tier plans.
Collaboration
Real-time multi-player co-editing, element-level comments with @mentions, and version history.
Comments can only be pinned to sections. Undo/redo conflicts can happen as acknowledged in their own documentation.
AI features
Vev AI is built into your production workflow. Element AI generates fully editable custom interactive elements from a text prompt, natively on the canvas. Describe it, watch it appear, refine it with the tools you already use. AI Page Draft creates full on-brand layout drafts from your libraries in seconds. No separate tools, no extra steps. Everything happens where you already build and publish.
Shorthand has introduced AI Creative Companion alongside existing AI tools for layout generation and translation. AI outputs apply to content and layout assistance within Shorthand's fixed section structure—there is no native generation of custom interactive elements.
Hosting
Flexible hosting: host with Vev or your own servers with embeds, webhooks, and automatic DNS support built in.
Subdomain and custom domain hosting, but no webhook support and only basic DNS setup.
Code Flexibility
Extend with custom React components. Developers build them; designers tweak them visually without touching code.
Only minor changes in CSS and JavaScript are supported.
Embedding in CMS
Vev uses Shadow DOM embeds: stable, isolated, and fully customisable. Your editorial team publishes through Vev; your readers never know the difference.
Shorthand's basic script embeds can conflict with your existing styles and scripts; this can be a real problem when your site has a complex publishing stack.
See how Vev compares
Creative freedom
Pre-built sections only. Content could easily look similar across brands.
Free drag and drop canvas like Figma; build content with a wide selection of animation presets and native interactions.
Templates
Relies on fixed section templates and themes. Custom theming usually requires Shorthand services or higher-tier plans.
Build your own branded library; reuse across markets and brands.
Collaboration
Comments can only be pinned to sections. Undo/redo conflicts can happen as acknowledged in their own documentation.
Real-time multi-player co-editing, element-level comments with @mentions, and version history.
AI features
Shorthand has introduced AI Creative Companion alongside existing AI tools for layout generation and translation. AI outputs apply to content and layout assistance within Shorthand's fixed section structure—there is no native generation of custom interactive elements.
Vev AI is built into your production workflow. Element AI generates fully editable custom interactive elements from a text prompt, natively on the canvas. Describe it, watch it appear, refine it with the tools you already use. AI Page Draft creates full on-brand layout drafts from your libraries in seconds. No separate tools, no extra steps. Everything happens where you already build and publish.
Hosting
Subdomain and custom domain hosting, but no webhook support and only basic DNS setup.
Flexible hosting: host with Vev or your own servers with embeds, webhooks, and automatic DNS support built in.
Code Flexibility
Only minor changes in CSS and JavaScript are supported.
Extend with custom React components. Developers build them; designers tweak them visually without touching code.
Embedding in CMS
Shorthand's basic script embeds can conflict with your existing styles and scripts; this can be a real problem when your site has a complex publishing stack.
Vev uses Shadow DOM embeds: stable, isolated, and fully customisable. Your editorial team publishes through Vev; your readers never know the difference.
Myth:
"Vev has a steeper learning curve than Shorthand."
Myth:
“Shorthand is the fastest option for quick long-form stories."
Facts:
Designers pick Vev up fast, saying it feels like Figma. Marketers use content-only editing modes and Libraries to update and publish without touching the design layer. The learning curve is shorter than most teams expect.
Facts:
Vev's scrollytelling component replicates everything Shorthand does—and more. The same piece can include horizontal scroll, custom animations, interactive data, and embedded components, all in the same build. You're not choosing between speed and capability.
Your existing stories come with you.
Vev's team helps recreate your most important pieces so your workflow doesn't have to start from scratch.
Migration support for enterprise plans.
We handle the heavy lifting so your team can stay focused on publishing, not rebuilding.
Leave with more than you arrived with.
Libraries, shared components, and a design system mean every story after the move is faster to produce and more consistent across the team.
Switching from Shorthand? We'll help you move.
TThe most common reason teams stay on Shorthand longer than they'd like isn't loyalty—it's the weight of existing content. Years of stories, established templates, a workflow the team knows. Starting over feels expensive even when staying put has a cost too.
That's why we don't just tell you to switch.
We help you do it.
Talk to us about migrating →
Your next launch could be faster
Book a 1:1 session to see Vev in action. We’ll walk you through how it fits your creative workflow and content strategy.