Digitary is a respected platform for verifying academic credentials internationally, but its institutional pricing and official-record focus make it a mismatch for many digital badge and certificate programs. Here is how the alternatives stack up.
Digitary (now part of Infinitas Learning) is a digital credential platform focused on verifying academic credentials, primarily degrees, diplomas, and academic achievement records for universities and higher education institutions. It has strong adoption in international education markets, particularly in Europe, Australia, and the Asia-pacific region.
Digitary's core strength is providing universities with a secure way to issue and share official academic records that employers and other institutions can verify. The "Digitary CORE" platform is used by registrar offices for credential issuance and sharing at the institutional scale.
Organizations evaluating Digitary alternatives typically fall into two categories: institutions looking for a different institutional credential platform, and, more commonly, departments, programs, or non-institutional organizations that want to run badge and certificate programs that Digitary is not built to serve.
Most universities that run successful digital credentialing programs operate two parallel systems:
These serve different stakeholders with different needs. Official records go to registrars and compliance processes. Badge programs go directly to learners, who share them on LinkedIn, include them in portfolios, and use them to demonstrate competencies to employers before graduation.
| Platform | Open Badges 2.0 | Open Badges 3.0 | Free Plan | Bulk Issuance | Official Degree Verification | REST API | Best For | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IssueBadge.com | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Badges, certs, events, training |
| Digitary | Check site | Check site | No | Yes | Yes (core feature) | Limited | Yes | Academic degree/transcript verification |
| Parchment | Limited | Check site | No | Institutional | Yes | Limited | Yes | Academic transcript exchange |
| Credly | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Enterprise certification badges |
| Badgr | Yes | Partial | Yes | Limited | No | Yes | Yes | Higher education Open Badges |
| Accredible | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Professional education |
Rather than replacing Digitary, IssueBadge most naturally complements institutional official record systems by covering the credential types that Digitary is not designed for. Here is how it addresses the specific needs of academic badge programs:
Student affairs divisions, career centers, and leadership development programs increasingly use digital badges to recognize learning that happens outside the formal academic curriculum. Leadership workshops, career readiness programs, community service hours, and professional mentorship participation all benefit from verifiable digital credentials that students can share before graduation. IssueBadge handles this without requiring institution-wide IT procurement, a department can start independently.
Universities run hundreds of conferences, seminars, and workshops where attendees, students, faculty, and external professionals, deserve a verifiable record of participation. IssueBadge's bulk CSV issuance makes this straightforward: export your attendance list, upload it, and issue credentials to all participants at once.
Continuing education divisions and faculty development programs issue certificates for workshops, training sessions, and professional learning communities. These do not belong in the official academic record system but do need to be verifiable and shareable. IssueBadge's certificate format and QR verification covers this workflow completely.
As universities explore digital identity wallets for students, allowing learners to store all their credentials in a portable, institution-independent format, Open Badges 3.0's alignment with the W3C Verifiable Credentials model becomes important. IssueBadge's 3.0 support positions credentials issued today for compatibility with the digital identity infrastructure universities will be building in the next three to five years.
IssueBadge's free plan works at the departmental level, no institution-wide procurement needed. Build your first badge template and issue today.
Start FreeDigitary has earned its position in the international academic market through specific capabilities:
| Feature | IssueBadge.com | Digitary |
|---|---|---|
| Open Badges 2.0 | Yes | Check site |
| Open Badges 3.0 | Yes | Check site |
| Free departmental plan | Yes | No |
| Drag-and-drop designer | Yes | Check site |
| Bulk CSV issuance | Yes | Yes |
| LinkedIn sharing | Yes | Limited |
| QR verification | Yes | Yes |
| Official degree verification | No | Yes (core) |
| REST API | Yes | Yes |
| Departmental access | Yes | Institutional only |
Digitary (now part of Infinitas Learning) is a platform for issuing and verifying digital academic credentials, primarily degrees, diplomas, and transcripts for universities. It is well-established in the international academic market, particularly in Europe and Australia.
Digitary focuses on official academic credential verification for degrees and transcripts. IssueBadge is better suited for Open Badge-based programs, course completion badges, professional development certificates, event attendance credentials, and micro-credentials that run alongside official academic records.
Yes. IssueBadge issues Open Badges 2.0 and 3.0 compliant credentials with QR verification, suitable for skill badges, course certificates, and achievement credentials. For official degree and diploma verification at the level Digitary provides, IssueBadge serves a complementary rather than identical function.
Yes. IssueBadge offers a free starter plan suitable for university departments running digital badge programs for professional development, events, and co-curricular achievements without the institutional procurement requirements of platforms like Digitary.