Which Are The Best Learning Management Systems For 2023?
The LMS market is expected to grow up to 25.7 billion USD by 2025 [1]. The highest proportion of revenue contribution is expected to be generated in North America [2]. 41.7% of global Fortune 500 companies now use some form of educational technology to instruct employees during formal learning hours [3]. Roughly half of all college classes will be eLearning-based [4]. It is more than obvious that eLearning has revolutionized and changed the way we look at knowledge and skill acquisition. Thereby, there is an increasing demand for Learning Management System solutions to systematically manage eLearning.
With 1000+ LMS vendors and too many LMS features to choose from, we can definitely say that Learning Management Systems are here to stay! In this article, we will help you find, choose, and compare the best LMS software in the eLearning Industry. Below you will find LMS highlights, use cases, case studies, and more!
That's all you need to keep into account when you are looking for an LMS. After checking the top list, make sure that you read our LMS selection tips!
*Note to all LMS vendors:
If you want to be considered for eLearning Industry's Top Lists, feel free to apply for the Top LMS Software Lists.
The Best LMS Platforms Ranked [2023 Winners]
![The Best LMS Platforms Ranked [2023 Winners]](https://cdn.elearningindustry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Best-Learning-Management-Systems-2023-800x702.png)
If your LMS is among the Best Learning Management Systems for 2023, feel free to add this badge to your website!
Docebo partners with organizations to realize their learning vision—drive growth, revenue, and engagement across all your learning audiences. Employees; check. Your customers; check. Partners; check. Members; that, too!
Are you ready to join over 3000 top-performing organizations that use Docebo to fuel their learning programs? Contact an expert today!
Check out Docebo LMS's customer reviews!
Highlights
- Save On Budget
- Align Learner Experience With Business Goals
- Scale Up Your Business
Highlights
- Save On Budget
Consolidate your L&D or enablement budget into a single partner in learning.
- Align Learner Experience With Business Goals
Design solutions with both your learner experience and business goals in mind.
- Scale Up Your Business
Cover your entire learning strategy end to end and scale as you extend learning to new audiences.
Plans And Pricing
Docebo offers flexible and scalable pricing based on a monthly active user plan. With our MAU model, a user is considered an active user when they access learning, not just because they happen to have a login—cool, eh?
Are you looking for an LMS solution that will help you turn your experts into champions? With 360Learning, you can do that for employee, customer, and partner growth! Onboard employees, train customers, enable sales reps, and more with the power of a modern LMS with unique collaborative learning capabilities.
Launch your very first course in less than 17 minutes. Automate the busywork of day-to-day tasks. Enable performance through learning.
Make sure to explore the reviews for 360Learning in our directory.
Highlights
- Create Your First Course In 17 Minutes
- Engage Learners With Real-Time Feedback
- Scale Your Impact Through Automation
Highlights
- Create Your First Course In 17 Minutes
If you're one of those who need to create engaging courses to train employees and customers quickly, you'll love 360Learning. Enable any expert to create learning content—no technical skills required.
- Engage Learners With Real-Time Feedback
Engage learners with relevant learning by giving them opportunities to connect with experts, contribute, and give feedback.
- Scale Your Impact Through Automation
An excellent LMS solution to automate the busywork of manual tasks and scale training. You can do so across your organization by syncing with your HR system and empowering managers to own learning.
Plans And Pricing
Whether you're a team of 10 or 100,000, getting started with 360Learning is easy. 360Learning has a team of experts that will help you pick the plan that is right for you—whether you're looking to onboard employees quickly, enable sales reps in real time, or train customers for success.
Easy to use. Easy to like. Easy to learn. TalentLMS is trusted by 70K+ teams as the all-in-one solution to build and offer engaging learning. Go live with training on anything from onboarding to employee upskilling by the end of the day!
With TalentLMS, training feels right from the very first click. Create your free account now!
Check out other eLearning Industry community members' reviews about TalentLMS here.
Highlights
- Go Live Fast
- Engage Your Teams
- Top Support At Every Step
Highlights
- Go Live Fast
Leave clunky LMSs behind with TalentLMS's easy-to-use tools. Drag and drop to bring training with you or create courses in just a few clicks.
- Engage Your Teams
Boost training adoption with the LMS that gets a yes from everyone. Admins, users, and learners alike will log in and lean into training on an intuitive platform.
- Top Support At Every Step
Not everyone's a tech wizard, and TalentLMS's support team gets that. Rely on unlimited support when you need your questions answered (yes, even on the free account).
Plans And Pricing
Try for free, upgrade when you're ready. TalentLMS comes with a forever-free account. Hence, you have the opportunity to test the platform for as long as you like. Then you can scale to a paid plan when you want. And, with 8 accessible price tiers, you can be sure you'll never pay for what you don't need.
Adobe, based in San Jose, is a leading Fortune 500 cloud-based software products firm with a focus on changing the world with digital experiences.
One platform powered by award-winning AI helps you deliver personalized learning experiences to your customers, partners, and employees alike.
Read Adobe Learning Manager reviews and discover how other eLearning Industry community members have experienced the software.
Highlights
- Seamless Content Browsing And Consumption
- Out-Of-The-Box Integrations
- AI-Based Recommendations And Engagement
Highlights
- Seamless Content Browsing And Consumption
It has an immersive browsing experience to select and choose content. An embedded fluidic player plays content across nine formats in one single player.
- Out-Of-The-Box Integrations
A headless platform that is integrated with Adobe Experience Manager Sites, Marketo Engage, Adobe Commerce, MS Teams, and other tools using low-code out-of-the-box components.
- AI-Based Recommendations And Engagement
Adobe's award-winning AI recommends content based on skills, learning history, and interests. A gamification module and social learning also drive engagement.
Plans And Pricing
Adobe Learning Manager is a SaaS platform that offers two different pricing options based on monthly active users or registered users. Also, if a customer uses an extended enterprise model, he/she can pool the licenses across all peer accounts at no extra cost.
iSpring provides high-quality eLearning solutions. Among them is a powerful LMS that's a perfect fit for corporate training. It's a single platform for creating, delivering, and tracking online learning.
To unlock the full potential of the LMS, book a free demo!
Explore iSpring Learn reviews on eLearning Industry and see what users have to say about this LMS.
Highlights
- Extensive Content Support And Learning Tracks
- Built-In Course Builder And Integrated Authoring Tool
- Advanced Reporting And Analytics
Highlights
- Extensive Content Support And Learning Tracks
You can upload SCORM and HTML5 courses, videos, presentations, and other types of content. All you have to do is combine them into learning tracks for each position!
- Built-In Course Builder And Integrated Authoring Tool
The LMS allows you to build simple courses right on the platform and create professional learning content with an integrated authoring toolkit.
- Advanced Reporting And Analytics
The system's reporting covers the entire range of the supported learning activities. There's also a visual dashboard to get a quick update on what's happening.
Plans And Pricing
Pricing plans can vary. It all depends on how many learners sign in to the platform in a month: from $3.66 per user for 100 learners/month up to $2.82 per user for 500 learners/month. iSpring Learn is a straightforward LMS that both trainers and trainees love.
Cornerstone powers the future-ready workforce with adaptive HR solutions. Everything is designed to inspire a work environment defined by individual growth and collective success. With this AI-powered, skills-forward, experiential system, you have all you need to make your business succeed. Cornerstone LMS helps grow your people and business more effectively. Take the next step to power the future-ready workforce.
Read Cornerstone LMS reviews.
Highlights
- Unified Platform
- Learning Anywhere
- Personalized Experience
Cornerstone is an excellent solution to target the right training to the right learners at scale. Plus, it allows you to report comprehensively across the organization. It's a holistic learning management solution for both assigned and optional learning. Best of all, it combines deep compliance and formal training functionality with machine learning, learning experience functionality, and content subscriptions.
- Unified Platform
With Cornerstone, you get a single system to automate assignments and provide version control, auditing, completion records, reports, and dashboards, in multiple languages.
- Learning Anywhere
The tool includes Cornerstone iOS and Android mobile apps and integrates with enterprise and partner apps like Microsoft Teams and Salesforce.
- Personalized Experience
Leverage admin or AI to guide, curate, and customize a personal learning experience and dynamic skills profile. Utilize built-in controls to easily connect to content subscriptions with Cornerstone's Content Hub or other third-party content.
Plans And Pricing
Cornerstone Learning is the gold standard for engaging, training, and advancing today's talent. It's one of the most configurable, scalable enterprise-grade platforms that targets the right training to the right learners and reports on skills and learning across organizations. For more on pricing plans, please visit their website.
As an online full-service training provider, Learning Pool helps 1100 organizations and 5.1 million learners worldwide deliver exceptional performance. They do so by offering pioneering online learning platforms, creative content, and powerful analytics.
Powerful. Innovative. Open-source and future-proofed. Discover why Learning Pool's LMS is trusted by more than 560 brands across the globe.
Check out reviews for Learning Pool LMS.
Highlights
Their LMS is a cost-effective software solution enriched with functionality to meet each customer's business needs.
- Streamline Reporting
- Dynamic Audiences
- Responsive Interface
Their LMS is a cost-effective software solution enriched with functionality to meet each customer's business needs.
Highlights
- Streamline Reporting
Users can leverage personalized dashboards and custom reports for completion tracking, digital certifications, badges, and leaderboards.
- Dynamic Audiences
Organizational and positional hierarchies mean you can assign learning to specific groups.
- Responsive Interface
Access your LMS on multiple devices through an intuitive interface.
Achievements/Case Studies
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A.G Barr
Currently employing 900+ employees across the UK, A.G. Barr recognizes the need to continually invest in their employees to increase skills, develop talent, and support the delivery of ambitious business objectives. They set out looking for a simple LMS. Learning Pool helped them create one that was not just a simple LMS, but one that was scalable and agile. They created an award-winning LMS (Learning Technologies, Best UK Learning Platform Implementation 2018), for which the judges said, "[it] was one of the most user-friendly LMS implementations we have seen: significant measured value through cost savings, more sales, and fewer health and safety incidents."
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The Entertainer
For over 20 years, The Entertainer provided a modular training system (known as modules) for retail sales assistants and supervisors in their store estate. However, until the autumn of 2017, the modules were paper-based. They comprised a checklist in booklet form with supporting documents. Print costs were high, curating change was difficult, and completion success relied upon the knowledge and coaching of each individual's line manager. Learner engagement suffered, as a result. In 2016, The Entertainer realized that there needed to be a more efficient and effective approach and chose Learning Pool's Learning Management System on the basis of their track record in providing blended learning solutions that would meet their current needs. It also offered plenty of scope to expand into additional learning opportunities.
As a result of implementing Learning Pool's LMS, The Entertainer delivered 100,000 course completions in the first 18 months whilst saving £8,000 in annual assessment costs and £1,500 in printed materials costs. In addition to this, an extra 56% of eligible staff completed their initial two modules versus the prior year. Modules are also being successfully completed more quickly due to ease of access to the online version at a time and on the device that's convenient for the learner.
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Saputo Dairy UK
Saputo Dairy UK is a producer of leading British food brands and value-added ingredients. Their success has been built on their links to the countryside and the people within the business. After reviewing a number of suppliers, Saputo Dairy UK chose Learning Pool's Learning Management System. The LMS, known as "My Development," was fully customized by Learning Pool in line with the Saputo Dairy UK brand. Saputo Dairy UK also selected Adapt Builder, Learning Pool's Foundation Skills catalog, and ILM Recommended Leadership Skills catalog to support their learning. They realized they could create an engaging and tailored experience for their learners, with minimal investment, designing their own content, and editing existing content that would be suitable for the new and changing business.
The introduction of the My Development platform has been a great success, and Saputo Dairy UK now has a total of 50 courses available for their learners, as well as other support materials, resources, and videos. To date, 90% of employees have accessed at least one course—an excellent number, considering that many employees are working within a production line environment and do not have regular access to a computer.
Plans And Pricing
Learning Pool offers tailored learning plans and programs to cover everything from initial onboarding to leadership training. Increase engagement and performance with 360 feedback. All tied together with powerful reporting, helping you to achieve your organizational goals.
The team at LearnUpon makes learning simple, so its impact can be big. Through learner-centric experiences and results-focused support, they make it easy for global businesses to centralize and build learning strategies that drive real results. Want to build learning strategies that drive real business results?
Contact their team today to get started with LMS training.
Visit our directory to read LearnUpon LMS reviews.
Highlights
- Put The Learner First
- Centralized Learning
- Drive Results Through Partnership
Highlights
- Put The Learner First
LearnUpon helps customers create an easy, engaging, and enjoyable experience that makes learner goals simpler to achieve.
- Centralized Learning
LearnUpon's LMS provides companies with a centralized hub to easily create and manage learning programs for every audience.
- Drive Results Through Partnership
They work with customers to develop a shared results strategy, so customers can deliver learning that impacts what matters: performance, retention, and growth.
Plans And Pricing
As an enterprise learning solution, businesses can scale learning, training large numbers of users through LearnUpon. Additionally, with LearnUpon's Portals feature, it's easy to train multiple audiences, like employees, partners, and customers, within one platform.
ELB Learning is a learning solutions provider that offers a complete learning ecosystem, including the Rockstar Learning Platform (RLP). On the services side, they can assist with learning strategy, custom dev, and integrations.
Discover their simple-to-use learning platform that delivers and tracks engaging content.
Read reviews for Rockstar Learning Platform.
Highlights
- Virtual Event Manager
- Curated Boards
- Video Coaching
Highlights
- Virtual Event Manager
Organize virtual events on one calendar, add curriculums and give credit for attendance.
- Curated Boards
Collaborative boards and groups where you can add and share content.
- Video Coaching
Learners practice skills on webcam and submit recorded videos for manager feedback or AI scoring.
Plans And Pricing
Find out more about ELB Learning's industry-leading resources to see successful employee engagement on a comprehensive and flexible platform. Purchase in a bundle or buy individually:
-
- Authoring suites
- Video coaching tools
- Built-in courseware (including the BizLibrary Collection)
Absorb Software delivers Learning and Development technology solutions. Absorb LMS is an industry-leading LMS trusted by over 1700 businesses, governments, healthcare providers, and non-profit organizations in over 34 countries.
Learn more about Absorb and how they can support your best learning experience.
Read user reviews for Absorb.
Highlights
- Experience
- Flexibility
- Service
Highlights
- Experience
Absorb caters to the humans who learn and administer. The learner interface can be customized to their needs and branded to the organization. The admin interface takes the complex and makes it simple and beautiful.
- Flexibility
Absorb's functionality goes deep where it matters. Mobile? eCommerce? Check. Integrations and APIs? Complete. Badges, social, gamification? All there. Scale learners easily with automated rules and role-based security.
- Service
Absorb's service is fueled by its own employees and operates 24/7 around the world. They are award-winning and they don't outsource.
Plans And Pricing
Absorb works with customers to build plans and pricing to meet the needs of large and small organizations training employees for compliance or upskilling, or training users outside of your organization, like customers, partners, and contractors, or a hybrid of both.
Schoox is among the best workplace learning software. What they do best is that they have given their LMS a people-first twist. Consequently, Schoox makes learning and career development easy, accessible, and fun. Learners "up" their skills—and you can measure the impact of all their awesome accomplishments.
Go beyond standard LMS capabilities to bridge the divide between learning and development with Schoox's powerful workforce learning platform.
Make sure to visit our directory and learn all about the UX by reading customer reviews for Schoox.
Highlights
- Engagement
- Development
- Impact
Highlights
- Engagement
Engage learners by personalizing the experience through social connections via groups, and recommended courses based on roles and goals. Utilize learning paths that connect jobs, skills, and courses.
- Development
Bring together learning and development through goals, performance, and coaching. Set individual goals, measure and assess progress, and enhance the process with coaching programs.
- Impact
Understand actionable insights that link learning to business results. Leverage prebuilt or custom reports and correlate business KPIs to training metrics without needing a separate BI tool.
Plans And Pricing
Schoox's workplace learning software has everything you need to deliver an impactful experience via its ability to connect learning, content, engagement, talent development, and impact within one platform. And it all comes standard in every instance of Schoox.
CYPHER LEARNING is transforming the way people teach and learn worldwide while delivering a great learning experience. The company provides an intelligent learning platform for schools and universities, companies, and individuals. The platform helps learners achieve goals through its innovative features.
Learn how MATRIX LMS empowers employee skill development.
You may take a look at the submitted reviews for Matrix LMS.
Highlights
- A Complete All-Purpose LMS Solution
- Intuitive And User-Friendly Design
- Great For Training, Upskilling, Onboarding
Highlights
- A Complete All-Purpose LMS Solution
They offer an LMS for schools, businesses, and individuals. Their solution helps focus on the learner experience and social learning. Plus, you can leverage the tool's powerful gamification and automation.
- Intuitive And User-Friendly Design
With its intuitive, user-friendly design and intelligent recommendations, MATRIX LMS helps businesses to achieve goals. It also includes eCommerce tools to easily sell content.
- Great For Training, Upskilling, Onboarding
MATRIX is a complete solution for upskilling and onboarding your employees. You can also use it for training clients and partners alike.
Plans And Pricing
Anyone can sign up for a 14-day MATRIX LMS free trial that includes support and access to the premium platform features. After that period, users can choose the most appropriate pricing plan to continue using the site. There are no setup or cancellation fees.
Thought Industries is a learning platform purpose-built for customer, partner, and professional training. They help their customers create engaging, scalable, profitable learning experiences. TI provides thought leadership to help you see where your learning business is going and how to get there.
Visit their website to learn more.
Check out the feedback on UX by reading reviews for Thought Industries.
Highlights
- Native Authoring
- Reporting
- Multi-Instance Panorama
Highlights
- Native Authoring
Create consumer-grade learning experiences directly in the Thought Industries platform.
- Reporting
Run your learning business by getting all the insights you need. Visualization and reporting are the most powerful tools for online training.
- Multi-Instance Panorama
License and distribute custom learning environments to as many partners, resellers, or customers as you need.
Plans And Pricing
Their pricing is designed to provide the tools you want to create the value you need. Thought Industries is a premium learning platform focused on the needs of growth-focused enterprise companies that need to prove the ROI of their learning programs. For more info, please visit their website.
G-Cube is part of MRCC, a US-based technology group. G-Cube offers award-winning LearnTech products that promise desired business outcomes. It has offices in Billerica, Irvine, Boston, Sydney, Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai.
Browse LMS case studies to know how G-Cube's LMS has helped organizations build a culture of just-in-time learning and enhance employee performance.
For more info, check out user reviews for G-Cube LMS Enterprise.
Highlights
- Fast Implementation
- Evolving LMS For Evolving L&D Needs
- Function-Specific Solutions
Highlights
- Fast Implementation
They offer fast implementation compared to others across the industry. G-Cube can make customers go live in 8 weeks, as opposed to a few months.
- Evolving LMS For Evolving L&D Needs
G-Cube LMS comes in 4 variants for different organization sizes and learning maturity levels. The variants are: Learn, Learn+, Grow, and Act.
- Function-Specific Solutions
This LMS offers function-specific solutions like onboarding employees, sales enablement, channel training, and customer service training. You can use G-Cube LMS to meet the compliance needs of various industries.
Plans And Pricing
G-Cube LMS is delivered on a SaaS model. They offer an annual license per user, including support, product upgrade, hosted solution, etc. G-Cube is one of the best Learning Management Systems because it is agile and caters to the aspirations of Gen Z with enhanced User Experience.
Honorable Mentions: Best Learning Management Systems Watch List
An LMS selection list wouldn't be complete without some extra cool tools, right? Let's say that the LMS Watch List that follows is a key part of your research toolkit when selecting which solution deserves your investment. These extra options enable you to group tools of your choice together in a single, easy-to-find place, hence managing to streamline your LMS selection.
So, make sure to keep them on your radar for 2023!
If your LMS is featured in our 2023 Watch List, feel free to add this badge to your website!
iTacit Front-Line Employee Platform + LMS
Are you looking for a scalable LMS that puts mobile learning and employee experience first? iTacit puts training, communication, and workforce automation in one place. So, it is easy to access, quick to complete, and interactive.
Check out the award-winning LMS for employee training.
Make sure to visit our directory for iTacit reviews.
Highlights
- Award-Winning LMS And Course Authoring
iTacit is a full LMS with an easy drag-and-drop content editor to simplify training development and eliminate the need for costly third-party systems.
- Mobile Microlearning For Front-Line Teams
Built-in mobile microlearning improves recall and retention with personalized content for employees.
- Includes An Employee App And Workforce Automation
Not just an LMS, iTacit lets you consolidate everything employees need in a single app.
Plans And Pricing
With iTacit, you get an all-in-one employee experience and eLearning. Check out iTacit's Educate Module. Pricing follows a per-user, per-month model. Details are available upon request.
The Brainier LMS
Organizations of any size or industry can use The Brainier LMS to deliver personalized learning experiences to employees, customers, volunteers, and more! Every level of management can access reporting data to monitor progress. See how The Brainier LMS can help your org create a competitive edge through learning.
Read The Brainier LMS reviews.
Highlights
- Personalized Learning Experiences
Organizations can deliver customized and branded learning experiences to individual learners and groups. Suggested and recommended training can be customized to the learner or topic of interest.
- Learning Analytics
The Brainier LMS offers a powerful suite of learning analytics to empower managers at every level with dashboards on learning progress. Easily create custom, recurring, and automated reports.
- Advanced Learning Features
Customer training within the same LMS. Mobile app, goal tracking, video coaching, virtual training, assessments, and more!
Plans And Pricing
The Brainier is an award-winning learning solution for the technology, customer support model, and value for money. Each customer receives a customized pricing plan based on needs. Pricing is highly competitive within the eLearning industry. Are you ready to create personalized learning experiences that can scale with your org?
Meridian LMS™
Meridian prioritizes outcomes to deliver mission-critical success through L&D. They empower businesses to handle compliance training, as well as branded and blended learning environments. Plus, they offer eCommerce solutions! In addition, Meridian LMS addresses complex learning challenges for enterprise and public sector leaders.
Learn more about how Meridian LMS delivers scalable and sustainable solutions to solve complex learning challenges.
Care to dive into the UX? Explore Meridian LMS reviews in our directory.
Highlights
- Compliance
Rules and regulations are constantly changing. Stay up to date by offering frequent training to meet requirements and avoid hefty fines and violations.
- Blended Learning
Aiming for success in the New Normal? All you have to do is deliver a combination of in-person and online training methods. Utilize Meridian LMS to build a higher-performing organization and increase customer engagement and content retention.
- eCommerce
Grow your revenue while easily scaling and managing your training initiatives with your partners, resellers, customers, and members.
Plans And Pricing
Meridian experts empower industry leaders to deliver complex learning solutions to all lifecycles of the workforce. Thus helping you transform your business and meet critical objectives. An ideal LMS for enterprise and public sector leaders striving to drive workforce preparedness and performance.
UpsideLMS
Harness the power of a smart LMS to engage your learners anytime, anywhere. Upside LMS is backed by 18+ years of experience, 50+ awards and recognitions, and 2.5+ million users worldwide. They are a leading learn-tech provider of a world-class Learning Management System and comprehensive online content library.
Experience the power of UpsideLMS, tailored for organizations of all sizes and dynamics.
Highlights
- Administration
The LMS offers tools for admins with added flexibility for configuration to suit their L&D. It is capable of multi-mode training delivery and has automation capabilities to help reduce manual tasks.
- Competency And Compliance
The LMS has comprehensive modules for defining, managing, and tracking competency for customer workforce and compliances.
- Interactive Reporting Dashboards
If you want to add intelligence to your reporting, this is your chance. As an AI-powered, cloud-based LMS, it can boost employee development and training with its reporting capabilities.
Plans And Pricing
UpsideLMS is trusted by L&D leaders of 250+ organizations globally for its power-packed features that create a memorable learning experience. Pricing will be shared on request.
KREDO
KREDO enables organizations globally to deliver seamless and smart learning experiences. It is the next-gen learning platform by Tesseract Learning, helping organizations around the world drive growth, increase productivity, and create a strong talent pool.
Check out KREDO reviews.
Highlights
- Easy Content Authoring
KREDO offers a no-code authoring tool. This way, it enables your SMEs, content writers, and developers to create visually rich, interactive, and responsive courses. The tool comes with 50+ prebuilt templates. That means you can use them with ease to build courses, even if it is your first time!
- Advanced Functions
Admins and course creators can leverage its intuitive course and assessment configuration. In addition, co-authoring and translation capabilities are also available. Last but not least, you can utilize KREDO's text-to-audio and transcript capabilities to deliver state-of-the-art course outcomes.
- Flawless Onboarding
Helps create the right engagement through simple learning journeys and relevant courses, thereby maximizing learning outcomes.
Plans And Pricing
US $2.00–3.50 per month based on the user base.
What Were The Criteria That Determined Which LMS Tools Made The List?
Global recognized LMS experts, including C. Pappas, and our editorial team did a thorough review of each vendor's eligibility and relevant published content (articles, eBooks, webinars). Our committee ranked the best Learning Management Systems based on the following 9 criteria:
- Customer support
- Customer Experience
- Software features
- Software innovation
- Customer reviews
- Economic growth potential
- Company’s customer retention
- Employee turnover
- Company’s social responsibility
After checking who made our top LMS list, make sure to delve into all the below insights. Focus on which steps you need to take to choose your ideal LMS solution.
Bonus Alternatives: 5 Top Open Source Learning Management Systems
Moodle LMS
Moodle is widely known among open source LMS solutions. Most importantly, it’s entirely free of any charge and it comes with a mobile application as well.
Check out the latest Moodle reviews!
It features detailed guides on how to set up your own Learning Management System, tips on how to create online training courses and teach with Moodle, as well as a large community of Moodle users who interact on various topics.
Highlights
- Detailed Guidelines
Moodle features extensive tutorials for various aspects of Learning Management System use, including installation, teacher and administrator quick guides, course setup, and learner progress tracking, activity setup, as well as mobile application guidelines. - Moodle Community
This open source Learning Management System comes with a forum that covers tips and best practices on a plethora of topics ranging from installation and upgrading all the way to teaching best practices and a comprehensive glossary of terms. - Download Section
Moodle’s download section offers plenty of additional plugins for activities and themes.
Achievements
Moodle is among the platforms forming the ultimate list of open source LMSs.
Plans And Pricing
No premium pricing options are available, as Moodle does not require any subscription fee.
Chamilo
An open source LMS that is here to improve access to online training, backed up by the Chamilo Association, which aims to promote the software, maintain a clear communication channel, and build a network of service providers and software contributors.
Click here to read reviews about Chamilo.
Chamilo offers easy-to-use authoring tools for creating online training that meets all learning preferences.
Highlights
- Mobile-Friendly
Chamilo offers mobile learning support, it allows users to learn at their own pace and access the online training material whenever they find it convenient. - Online Community
To get support for Chamilo you can turn to its online community, available 24/7, to provide you with the available knowledge to solve a variety of issues you may face. - Customizable Interface
Camillo offers intuitive language and media embedding settings with plenty of options so that you can customize the User Interface to reflect your brand.
Achievements
Chamilo is included in the ultimate list of open source LMSs.
Plans And Pricing
Chamilo software products are entirely for free. However, there is a network of official providers who offer professional-level services for organizations that do not have IT/media/infrastructure resources in-house to run the platform.
Open edX
The Open edX is a tool empowering learners to access online course content, including videos and textbooks, plus checking their progress in the online training course.
Read what other members in the eLearning Industry community say about Open edX.
The Open edX LMS also has a discussion forum and a wiki at your disposal, that both learners and course team members can contribute to. There is also a dashboard through which the online instructor can enroll online learners, produce reports, and administer an online training course as it runs.
Highlights
- Open edX Studio
This is the tool for building your online training courses, creating structure, and then adding course content. You also manage the course schedule and the course team, set grading policies, publish each part of your online training course, and more. - Community Support
There’s a discussion forum and the Open edX Insights. Those will prove to be of great help. By being a part of the community structure you will benefit from the interactions with experienced members. The Open edX community includes webinars, upcoming events, and blog posts. - Accessibility
The emphasis is first on learner-facing interfaces and then content management. Practical guidance is enhanced, for making course teams self-sufficient in producing accessible online training content and identifying accessibility defects. EdX has an eye for finding out accessibility checkpoints and requirements into key business processes.
Achievements
Open edX is placed among the ultimate list of open source LMSs as well.
Plans And Pricing
No premium pricing options are available as it is an open source, freemium tool.
Totara Learn
Totara Learn meets all the requirements related to your employees’ roles, training needs and objectives through the effective delivery of individual learning plans.
If you want to find out what customers say about Totara Learn, take a look at Totara Learn reviews here.
It provides for rich functionality, which can be implemented quickly and with a significant cost reduction comparing to proprietary solutions. This award-winning open source learning platform is designed for helping you develop, train, manage, and engage your staff.
Highlights
- Learning On The Go
It is fully responsive in terms of design. The User Interface adjusts seamlessly depending on the device. Mobile apps are also available through a partner network that can be extended or fully branded to be in harmony with the way your LMS looks and interacts. - Learning Plans
Learning plans that show all the learning, competencies, and objectives employees are currently working on are available. Through learning plans, learners can monitor their progress and directly access their respective online training activities. You may manage the process with approval workflows, comment boxes, and notifications. - Flexible Authoring Options
Totara Learn combines instructor-led, self-paced, and social learning all in a single online training course. It is a very flexible system that permits full control over roles and permissions, course progression, group-based online training activities, and much more.
Achievements
Totara Learn is featured in the ultimate list of open source LMSs.
Plans And Pricing
Pricing for Totara Learn is based on the total number of active users per year. A range of user tiers is available.
Canvas LMS
An open source LMS that is free for instructors. It makes teaching and learning easier in terms of implementation, adoption, customer support, and success.
Click to read Canvas reviews to discover how other eLearning Industry community members have experienced the software.
It is adaptable, reliable, and customizable, designed to get out of your way and let you do your thing. Its interface and features are crafted to save you time and effort, resulting in getting adopted faster and deeper than many other Learning Management Systems.
Highlights
- Powerful Community
Over 300,000 Canvas users are involved in sharing, collaborating, and shaping Canvas. - Easy To Use, With Personalized Support
It is up to the standards of online learners and instructors. Easily accessible from mobile devices as well. A time-saver that gets adopted in growing rates. Plus, in-house Canvas experts are there to ensure the speediest, most frictionless interactions. - Easy Plug-In For Third-Party Tools
Its extensive open API paves the way for third-party apps to plug right into Canvas.
Achievements
Canvas is valued among the ultimate list of open source LMSs.
Plans And Pricing
Quotes and further pricing details are available only upon request.
Get Even More Insights From Our LMS Directory And Top Lists
One of the most prominent dilemmas regarding Learning Management Systems is the choice between cloud-based deployment and open source license. Even after deciding what type of deployment or license you are going to go with, there are many other things to consider as well. Pricing models, specification support, customer type, and additional features are factors you should pay attention to if you want to make the right Learning Management System choice.
Top Things To Consider When Choosing One Of The Best Learning Management Systems
The time has come when you need to find out what kind of LMS would be the best option for your business and make a decision. That’s a hard one. We’ve all been there, so it is totally understandable. Is your budget enough to get your own LMS? Should you opt for a cloud-based LMS solution? What if, money-wise, your limit is low and you need to consider trying an open source LMS solution? No worries, here are the top things you need to consider when choosing an LMS for your business.
What Is The Reason You Need An LMS?
First things first, this is the basic clue that will determine what kind of LMS can help you achieve your goals. There are several ways an LMS can help a business grow. For example, you might need the best LMS for employee onboarding if you want to train new hires or do upskilling/reskilling. Actually, this is one of the most common use cases. Several companies decide to use an LMS to support their new employees through their onboarding process. It can help newcomers learn more about your business culture, understand standard business procedures, become informed about your products and services, and acquire certain skills so that they are able to deliver when they actually get their first projects.
Another common LMS use case is to increase employee development and retention. An LMS can support your training and development goals immensely. Υou can design online courses that will ensure your employees’ skill enhancement, offer them a chance to get informed about new product features, or simply keep them up to date with new trends, etc. Another reason you might want to use an LMS for customer training, especially, if your product is software. Also, if you have a company in the tech industry, you might need to assist clients in how they can effectively use your product.
Of course, you may also take advantage of an LMS to focus on your employees’ compliance training, boost your sales enablement to gain more revenue, expand your partner training if you own a worldwide corporation, or even offer exclusive member training. In case you want to focus heavily on compliance, then take a look at the best compliance training LMS software.
As you can understand, there might be several LMS solutions available based on your specific use case.
What Are The Key LMS Features That Fit Your Online Training Needs?
When searching for the ideal LMS for your company, there are several things you have to consider. You need to identify the factors that will make or break the deal for you when choosing the right Learning Management System. Focus on your unique online training requirements. The way you evaluate those parameters is what will help you reach a decision with a good ROI. Pay attention to your online training needs and goals in order to pick the right LMS solution without regrets.
Data-Driven Results
Many companies love data-driven results. If you belong to this category, then obviously you’ll need your LMS to have tracking and reporting features. The reports will help you get the right results to assess and understand the ROI of your LMS. They will also help you evaluate and assess your online training efforts. You’ll have the chance to learn how long the lessons took, if your employees had to revisit certain topics, or if they need more information about a subject. Reporting will reveal everything you need in order to make your online training courses more engaging and effective. For more info on this, you might want to take a look at the best learning analytics LMS software.
Tools For Testing And Assessment
Another great feature is the assessment and testing tools that your LMS needs to have. Such a feature is vital for your Learning and Development team, mostly because it helps your trainers learn how the employees have performed. By using such tools, they’ll know if the employees managed to retain the information after their training. In other words, it will help evaluate the success of your online training program. For the best training ROI, please consider consulting one of the top content providers in the market.
Responsive Learning/Mobile Application
Learning on multiple devices has become a trend in the last few years, so it might be one more feature to consider. In this case, compatibility and multiple-device support should be of top priority to you. Especially, if you expect your employees to do this work on the go. Also, have in mind that LMSs with such features are the most user-friendly.
Customization Options
A big corporation might also consider choosing an LMS that offers customization and branding. Customization options will definitely make your eLearning project more appealing to your learners. Do you want your company logo on the LMS? This is the way to go. Other options could be gamification elements, online training certificates, multiple languages, welcome/enrollment screens, role assignments, content delivery options, dashboards, etc.
SCORM Or xAPI Compliance
You might be in an industry that clings to content that uses these sets of technical standards. These eLearning standards give you the ability to track and trace the results of your learners in your LMS. SCORM compliance is a great feature to have because you can create your online courses in any authoring environment and then run it in your SCORM-compliant LMS. xAPI compliance is an ideal tool if you need to share learning between multiple applications and systems. xAPI is an integral part of eLearning, especially if you're interested in informal learning and mobile learning. It helps track your learners’ progress and, since eLearning nowadays is all about data and personalized learning paths, it will be really useful to you.
Course Catalog Feature
Some companies opt for a catalog feature when they implement their employee training. You will find endless possibilities, depending on the LMS that you choose. You can create your own directory of online courses, search within the catalog by using keywords, location, lecturers, dates, categories, or even explore custom taxonomies. With this feature, you can showcase how many lessons you are planning to offer in your Learning Management System. You will also be able to choose which user will get to see certain courses and who will not.
LMS Comparison: Cloud-Based Vs. Open Source LMS
Most business owners wonder which LMS would be the best option for their needs. If you are in such a dilemma, especially between choosing an open source or a cloud-based LMS, we hope that this article will clear the air. These LMS options both have a long history. Through the years, things have evolved and features have been added, eventually leading to the following differences.
The Main Benefits Of Using A Cloud-Based LMS
If you opt for a cloud-based LMS solution, one of the pros you get is that no installation is required. This means that you have faster deployment. When it comes to budget, costs are based on each client’s needs, making it more efficient and affordable in certain cases. In fact, a cloud-based LMS has considerably low startup costs. A cloud-based LMS is hosted on the provider's server, offering data security and maintenance by the provider. You get advanced versions, which may include many more functionalities. Such an LMS is considered user-friendly and also helps you avoid IT hustle.
In addition, software updates are automatic, giving you extra features on a cost-free basis. It is also mobile-friendly since it is optimized for responsive design. A cloud-based LMS would be a better option for those looking to deliver online training to multiple locations. What’s more, client support, offered by the provider's experts, is available 24/7, so you don’t have to worry about maintenance and data security. Finally, it offers subscription plan scalability, making it cost-effective. The greatest thing about it is that most cloud-based LMS providers offer a free trial, so you can try and see if it covers your business needs in a decent amount of time.
For more details, feel free to check our latest top list featuring the top cloud based learning management systems.
The Main Benefits Of Using An Open Source LMS
On the other hand, an open source LMS requires installation and setup. One of the main advantages of an open source LMS is that it is budget-friendly since you can find low-cost, but also free solutions as well. Most LMS tools come with a set pricing model, which might exceed one’s budget. An open source LMS is a great choice for small businesses and institutions that are looking for a budget LMS. This type of LMS is installed on the company's server, as a result, the user has to take care of maintenance and data. In case the client needs additional functionalities, they can do so à la carte.
However, if you opt for this type of LMS, you’ll need to handle updates manually. Also, keep in mind that support can be found through forums and user communities. As any free thing on this planet, using a free LMS usually gives you limited features and courses. Also, you might not be able to have a large number of users. However, you’ll still have a good overview of the software, making it a good, basic stand-alone solution. Since it is an open source tool, there are options for modification and enhancements for its users.
LMS Consultation / LMS Reviews / LMS Directory Listings
You can also get an LMS consultation tailored to your needs in as little as 3 minutes. This simple 4-step process will help you find the Learning Management System that works best for you. Whether it's your first time with a Learning Management System or you are looking to transition from your current LMS, we are here to help.
There are so many Learning Management Systems out there that the task of finding the right one can prove to be quite difficult. This list contains the best solutions the Learning Management System market has to offer. If used right, it can significantly aid you in addressing the needs of your online learners. If you have a preference for a specific Learning Management System, make sure to submit a review in our Learning Management Systems directory.
Are you an LMS vendor? Don't forget to create a free listing in our LMS directory. The process is quite simple and it won't take more than 3 minutes of your time.
Explore eLearning Industry's Top LMS Lists Per Use Case
If you need more specialized insight, and your goal is to determine the extended enterprise LMS that is right for you, then you can evaluate your options and invest wisely by taking advice from this list of the Best Enterprise Learning Management Systems. In the same article, you will also find a list of 8 questions that will guide you through the selection process.
If your interest is solely in customer training, check out the article Best Customer Training LMS Software to find out about the must-have features to facilitate the online training process and keep your customers engaged.
If you are leaning to opt for an open source LMS and you are intrigued by the possibilities it brings along, check out this list of the Top Learning Management Systems With Open Source, so that you make a safe choice. Research extensively to find the open source solutions that meet your expectations.
Are you looking for a cloud-based LMS? Of course you are! Don’t miss out on the valuable information you can find in this article featuring the Top Cloud-Based Learning Management Systems.
Test driving a learning platform gives you the ability to see if its features and functions are worth the investment. That’s why this list with the Best Learning Management Systems Offering An LMS Demo, along with 10 questions that can help you determine if the LMS platform is right for you, can help you evaluate your options and invest wisely.
Read Reliable LMS Decision-Making Resources
There a few pointers to keep in mind when you are looking for a free LMS consultation. How do you decide your must-have LMS features, and which ones can fall by the wayside? Are you getting a free LMS consultation while not being sure of your LMS implementation schedule? Can LMS consulting really help you achieve the best LMS value for money? Learn how to make the most out of free LMS consultation by downloading the eBook: LMS Vendor Selection Process Made Easy: Tips To Use Free LMS Consulting To Improve eLearning ROI.
Need help choosing a Learning Management System for your company? It’s always best to try before you buy! Delve into this list of the Best Learning Management Systems Offering LMS Free Trials. It’ll give you the ability to see if the features and functions are worth the investment. Plus, there are 9 tips to help you make the most out of your LMS free trial.
Last but not least, make sure to check out our eBook: Making The Case For Corporate Training Software: How To Choose And Implement A New Corporate LMS For A Healthier Bottom Line to discover what the best Learning Management System experts have to contribute to the subject.
References:
[2] Learning Management System (LMS) Market to 2025 Global Analysis and Forecasts
[3] Top 10 e-Learning Statistics for 2014 You Need To Know
[4] The Top eLearning Statistics And Facts For 2015 You Need To Know