Best Learning Management Systems (LMS): Tested and Compared

Learning management systems (LMS) have far exceeded the realm of schools, universities, and educational organizations. A wide variety of business niches can now take advantage of the flexible functionalities of LMS platforms to optimize their working processes and employee development. 

Today, we are here to seed out the best of the best. 

Grouped into different categories based on their purpose, we have tested over 35 solutions to find out which ones can be a perfect fit for your specific requirements. The results were based on their deployment model, feature set, customization capabilities, compliance, and pricing structure. 

Here are our findings:

Best LMS for Higher Education, Universities, and Colleges

Recommended: Moodle

Moodle is the undisputed leader in LMS solutions when it comes to market share. The open-source platform was first released in 2002 and has established itself as the go-to solution for thousands of educational organizations, universities, schools, and colleges. In fact, over 165k websites utilize the LMS worldwide. 

Notable projects that utilize Moodle include the University of Cambridge, Monash University, and the Open University. 

Key Features

• Dashboard Personalization – Each user gets an account with an intuitive and responsive interface to keep track of their courses, tests, deadlines, grades, and many more. Easy to navigate on all devices and screens.
• Collaborative Tools – Moodle encourages teamwork, which is evident by the plethora of shared resources and opportunities to connect with other users. Apart from the Moodle Academy, you have a wide variety of forums, glossaries, wiki-like pages, and video guides.
• Notification Filtering – Users decide what news and notifications they will receive from Moodle, such as assignments, feedback, forum responses, etc. You can set each notice to be sent via web, email, and/or mobile. 
• Easy Progress Tracking – Educators can also benefit from the user-friendly Moodle interface. You can track each user’s progress, including which activities they participated in, their grades, and which courses they have yet to complete.  
• Massive Plugin Ecosystem – Scaling your Moodle project is a breeze, with over 2300 add-ons at your disposal. Be it for creating interactive lessons, entertaining quizzes, or course gamification – Moodle is the best LMS for higher education for a reason.

Why do Higher Education, Universities, and Colleges Use Moodle?

• Flexible content management
• Wide variety of business integrations
• Advanced testing and assessment capabilities
• Easy ecommerce monetization
• Multilingual support

How Much Does Moodle Cost?

• Moodle Open-Source (self-hosted) – Free to download
• Moodle Cloud (hosted) – from $130/year

Notable Alternatives

Canvas, Docebo, Blackboard

Best LMS for Small Business & Startups

Recommended: WordPress + LearnDash

LearnDash is a WordPress-native LMS plugin built for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It combines drag-and-drop course creation with flexible monetization options, ideal for training employees or selling educational content directly. 

Unlike SaaS platforms, LearnDash runs inside your WordPress environment, offering lower ongoing costs, full control, and deep integration with existing plugins, themes, and builders. Available as both a self-hosted plugin and a managed cloud service, it adapts easily to your preferred setup.

Key Features

• Drag-and-Drop Course Builder – LearnDash is a perfect LMS for startups, as no coding skills are needed. The course builder is quite intuitive and user-friendly, allowing you to create pages by simply dragging the needed elements to their place.
• Course Creation Wizard – Simplify your course creation further by simply pasting video URLs in a box. Multimedia from YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia are all supported.  
• One-Time Purchases & Subscriptions – For those looking to monetize their LMS project, LearnDash allows you to easily set up a quick payment process for both single and recurring clients. 
• Focus Mode – Eliminate all distractions that normally cause viewers to click out of your course page. Your content takes center stage. 
• Reporting Tools – Never miss an action on your LMS platform by setting various filters to view essential data. Keep track of courses, results, users, and specific groups in a comprehensive dashboard. 

Why do Small Businesses Use LearnDash?

• Well-suited for beginners
• Lower ongoing costs
• Integration with a wide variety of tools and plugins,
• No per-user fees
• Ability to scale without increasing costs

How Much Does LearnDash Cost?

• LearnDash LMS plugin (self-hosted) – from $199/year for one site
• LearnDash Cloud (hosted) – from $25/month

Notable Alternatives

TalentLMS, LifterLMS (for WordPress), CYPHER Learning

Best LMS for Corporate Training, HR & Talent Development

Recommended: Moodle Workplace

Moodle Workplace is an enterprise solution that takes the best features of the Moodle LMS and applies them to corporate learning – HR, client, and employee training, to name a few. Workplace is a highly scalable platform, allowing administrators to apply the training process to growing teams and companies of all sizes. 

Some of the biggest clients of the platform include Walmart, The Ministry of Justice in the UK, and Petrobras. 

Key Features

• Moodle Gradebook – Moodle Workplace makes it easy to track the progress of your trainees. The Gradebook automatically adds course completion results and grades, enriching the profile of each learner. You can sort its outlook, edit columns and grades, view assignment feedback, and many more. 
• Badges and Diplomas – Different methods of certification not only confirm the completion of a course but act as a celebration of achievement, something to strive for. Collecting badges enhances the sense of gamification and encourages ambitious staff members to foster a healthy competitive environment. 
• AI Subsystem – Since Moodle LMS 4.5, clients have the option to choose a number of AI providers they want to work with and the specific tools they want to incorporate. The AI functionalities can be shared with your chosen users, while the others won’t be able to utilize them.
• Mobile App – One thing that goes almost everywhere with us is our smartphone. With the Moodle Workshop mobile app, you can integrate your eLearning process on the go from practically any location. The application comes with all essential functionalities and can even be branded to the outlook of your company.
• Custom Reports – Overlooking your corporate and employee training is extremely easy with Moodle. Not only can you combine the results of different branches and departments (perfect for international teams) but you can apply a ton of custom filters to find specific information  – by date, by program, by progress, etc.

Why do Companies use Moodle Workplace for Corporate Training & Employee Training?

• Effortless to integrate with your existing IT ecosystem
• Customizable learning paths to answer specific role requirements
• Numerous automations to cut employee training costs
• More than 2,000 open-source plugins to enhance platform functionalities
• Enhanced data protection and privacy compliance

How Much Does Moodle Workplace Cost?

Аs an enterprise solution for training and development, Moodle Workplace does not come with fixed pricing plans. You can contact the Sales Team with the size and needs of your company and get a custom quote for your organization alone. 

The Moodle mobile app does have ready-made packages, though, with prices as follows: 

• Free Tier
• Pro Tier – 199 EUR/year
• Premium Tier – 499 EUR/year
• Branded Tier – Custom rates

Notable Alternatives

Totara Learn, Talent LMS, SAP Success Factors, Connecteam, iSpring Learn

Best LMS for Customer Training

Recommended: Litmos

Litmos is a learning management platform with a strong focus on company training. Their services exceed traditional employee training programs and span across customer training, partner training, compliance courses, and many more. 

Over 4,000 companies have utilized the Litmos services in some form, with IBM, Ford, and Hewlett-Packard being among the most notable names. 

Key Features

• Generative AI Assistant – No need to waste precious time looking for the right resources, seeking recommendations, or outlining complex learning paths. The Litmos AI Assistant finds the best study materials and simplifies your courses to cover all mission-critical information, along with citations.
• AI Video Assessments – Customer training feedback is further optimized with video evaluations based on machine learning algorithms. This guarantees enhanced accuracy and improved user engagement by eliminating the stress from human-to-human presentations. 
• Content Authoring Tool – Litmos makes it easy to create branded content and optimize it for all devices. You can build mobile-friendly SCORM courses, customize them with stylish templates, and even streamline a translation process to deliver your training materials in different languages. 
• Manager Metrics – You cannot be the best LMS for customer training without delivering comprehensive and detailed real-time data to instructors and administrators. Litmos gives you a separate dashboard to keep track of due courses, compliance reports, training assignments, and more.
• Learning Playlists – We have all created playlists with our favorite music at some point in our lives. You can now do the same with your learning data. Save all your favorite courses, assets, and additional resources in cool playlists that you can further categorize to cover different topics. 

Why do Companies use Litmos for Customer Training?

• Quick installation and integration with third-party tools
• Instant access to learning materials
• Virtual instructor-led (vILT) and in-person instructor-led (ILT) options
• Custom UI branding
• Built-in content authoring

How Much Does Litmos Cost?

Litmos comes with a free trial and three premium plans:

• Foundation AI Suite
• Premium AI Suite
• Platinum AI Suite

Prices for the paid plans are only available upon request. 

Notable Alternatives

iSpring Learn, Skilljar, Totara Learn

Best LMS for Onboarding

Recommended: iSpring Learn

iSpring Learn has revolutionized employee onboarding for over 61,000 companies by cutting induction time in half. PepsiCo and Central One are among the Fortune 500 companies that have transformed their chaotic first-day experiences into smooth, systematic processes. 

With specialized tools for remote hires, automated learning paths, and day-one readiness tracking, iSpring Learn ensures new employees are productive faster – not stuck in endless orientation sessions.

Key Features

• Remote Onboarding – One key feat that makes iSpring Learn the best LMS for onboarding is its range of tools that support remote hires. From virtual assistants, interactive learning tracks, and collaborative tools to intuitive mentorship programs – your employees will always have access to the right information. 
• Unlimited Storage Space – iSpring Learn makes it easy to upload as much data as you need in your preferred formats. You can easily add existing content in the form of presentations (PPT), courses (SCORM), video guides (.flv, .mp4), and audio materials (.wav, .mp3).
• Engagement Through Gamification – Forget the boring lectures and tests that make you feel like you’re back in school. The best way to capture the attention of your employees is to offer interactive courses, quizzes, surveys, role-play interactions, and other gamification elements from the get-go.
• Tree-Like Hierarchical Structures – By organizing your company roles, you can easily segment different groups and assign the proper training materials to each member. This also helps reporting as you can differentiate test/course results for each team, track their progress, and identify possible setbacks.
• Onboarding Progress Reports – Different stats, charts, and graphs will clearly show how effective is your onboarding process. You can get a huge variety of reports for people, content, and courses, as well as notifications about quiz results, overdue projects, average test scores, and many more.

Why do Companies Use iSpring Learn for Onboarding?

• Minimized employee turnover
• Accelerated time-to-productivity
• Easy User/Group role management
• Advanced white-label and localization options
• First-class support in nine languages and 97% client satisfaction

How Much Does iSpring Learn Cost?

ISpring Learn comes as a cloud and self-hosted, on-premise solution. The pricing is based on a per-user model. Example rates for 300 users are:

• iSpring Learn Start – $3.70 user/month, billed annually*
• iSpring Learn Business – $4.10 user/month, billed annually*

*Price rates are for the cloud solution. The on-premise options fees are slightly higher, available after a consultation with a Sales Team member.

Notable Alternatives

Moodle Workplace, Connecteam, TalentLMS

Best LMS for Government Agencies

Recommended: ILIAS

ILIAS is one of the longest-standing LMS solutions, dating back to 1998. The Germany-based company is backed by a solid partnership with 12 international companies and 40+ institutional society members. The ILIAS team is highly dedicated to its widespread community and even holds an annual conference where everyone can learn about the product’s development, exchange ideas, and participate in hands-on workshops. 

ILIAS LMS has a long experience serving the public sector, with the South Tyrol government and the Netherlands Armed Services among its happy clients. 

Key Features

• Full SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 Support – complying with the industry standards is detrimental if you’re going to compete for the best LMS for governments. ILIAS not only supports the most widespread course standards but can also handle LOM metadata. IMS QTI tests and assessments, XML, CSV, and Excel exports.
• Test and Assessment Tool – Allows users to self-check their course progress, complete online exams, and have more hands-on influence over their learning process. 
• Access Control Systems – Governments and public sector organizations need to apply strict control over the content that can be accessed by different users. ILIAS allows them to hand-pick various user roles and give them different permissions in the LMS.
• Authoring Tools – Creating your own courses and tests is a breeze with ILIAS. There are loads of materials at your disposal in the form of integrated modules, wikis, glossaries, and more, which allow for proactive learning.
• Personal Workspace – ILIAS users have a lot of customization freedom. In addition to the classic dashboard, learners can also create their own blogs within the system. Personal portfolios are also available. 

Keep in mind that ILIAS LMS is an open-source product, so developers are always free to create new add-ons and integrate them with the platform. 

Why do Governments Use ILIAS LMS?

• Top-level security – security certification by NATO
• Outstanding scalability – 50-100k users is not a problem for ILIAS
• Role-based access system
• Integrated tools for e-government documentation and manuals
• Enhanced accessibility for barrier-free training

How Much Does ILIAS Cost?

As an open-source platform, ILIAS is completely free for download. 

Notable Alternatives

Docebo, Blackboard, Moodle, GyrusAIM

Best LMS for Healthcare

Recommended: Totara Learn

Totara Learn has become the go-to LMS for healthcare organizations that need rock-solid reliability and strict compliance features. The platform’s proven track record includes training over 350,000 NHS nurses during the Covid pandemic, demonstrating its ability to handle mission-critical medical education at scale. 

With specialized tools for certification tracking, compliance reporting, and HIPAA-ready infrastructure, Totara serves over 1500 healthcare clients worldwide.

Key Features

• Fully Customizable LMS – There are practically no limits to what you can do with the Totara Learn LMS. Tailor your user experience according to the needs and compliance regulations of your medical organization.
• Multi-Tenant Options – Totara makes it easy to support large-scale deployments. Ideal for big enterprises and businesses with many teams, you can easily manage multiple audiences from a centralized hub.
• Goal Frameworks – You can set goals on many different levels – industry, company, team, individual, etc. Each goal can be grouped under a different framework and allows you to fine-tune it with various objectives.
• HR Integrations – Keeping track of all members within your organization is crucial, and that’s easily achieved with Totara. You can configure the LMS to automatically update new hires, position changes, paid/unpaid leaves, and more.
• Simplified Compliance Training – The healthcare industry is heavily regulated, so it’s important to deliver compliance information in a simple and straightforward manner. Certification paths, expirations, and renewals are easily defined, and you can send custom messages to learners who need to take time-specific actions. 

Why do Medical Organizations Use Totara Learn for Healthcare?

• OSHA and HIPAA compliance to protect patients and medical staff
• Platform customization for meeting the Continuous Medical Education (CME) needs
• Easy scaling for specialized medical training
• Upskilling opportunities for new health technologies
• Trusted by the most heavily regulated industries

How Much Does Totara Learn Cost?

Totara works on a per-user pricing model, which depends on the number of learners you want on the platform. Depending on the project, introductory and maintenance fees can also be applied. 

Notable Alternative

Healthstream, Relias, Medbridge, Tovuti LMS

Best LMS for Non-profit Organizations

Recommended: Chamilo

The Chamilo Association , the team behind the Chamilo LMS, is a non-profit organization from Belgium that is dedicated to improving worldwide education. Their mission is especially focused in third-world countries, aiming to shorten the gap between rich and poor societies. 

As an NPO, the Chamilo Team strives to offer the best LMS for other non-profit organizations, and keeps their product completely free and open-source.

Key Features

• Course Authorship – Chamilo lets you create your own online courses and customize them to your desired standards. You can include quizzes, assignments, surveys, and multimedia for an ultimate eLearning experience. 
• Asynchronous Learning – A good LMS doesn’t stick you into one place as if you were back in schools. Learners can take Chamilo courses and tests at their own pace and at the most convenient time. 
• Blended Learning – In sync with their mission to deliver a highly flexible product, Chamilo allows client to try different types of learning. Traditional, face-to-face teaching is fully possible, just as easy as the education via electronic media.  
• Shopping Cart Integration – Even though Chamilo is an LMS aimed at non-profit organizations, it can also be monetized should the project requires that. With the shopping cart plugin, you can incorporate paid memberships and paywall content without any coding skills. 
• Graphic Reports – Putting all the grades and course result data in a comprehensive layout is detrimental for ensuring you have a good understanding of the individual/group progress and where possible changes can improve the learning process. Graphic reports can be exported in a variety of formats. 

Why do Non-Profit Organizations Choose Chamilo?

• Simple, intuitive, and easy to use for both admins and learners
• Flexibility and customization options for an improved learning path
• Available for all major browsers, operating systems, and platforms
• Supports teachers in better understanding the needs of students
• Annual Chamilo Conference and ChamiloCamp community events 

How Much Does Chamilo Cost?

Chamilo is an open-source LMS platform that you can download and use without any financial investments. 

Notable Alternatives

Moodle, Groundwork1, SC training

Best LMS for Schools & K-12

Recommended: Canvas LMS

Canvas is a web-based LMS developed by Instructure. The company first launched this learning management solution back in 2011 as an open-source software. Canvas is feature-packed and supports many projects in the School & K12 academic niches. 

As a preferred LMS for K12 education, Canvas is responsible for hosting the Sumter School District, Rockingham County Public Schools, BERK12, and many others.

Key Features

• Conversational AI for Data Visualization – As an admin, you can use AI-powered tools to turn conversational questions and topics into courses without programming knowledge. The solution can transform your data into SQL tables, charts, and metrics for the ultimate visual experience.
• Learn from Your Mobile Phone – You are not bound to your computer to get access to the Canvas learning materials. Using the smartphone app, you can view upcoming tests, submit assignments, keep track of your course progress, and easily communicate with teachers and other students.
• Instant Content Delivery – Data import is extremely easy with the LMS. Whether you are trying to upload premade courses, assignments, quizzes, or pages – the Canvas Import Tool is there for you. The same is valid for collaborative materials like conferences or group discussions. 
• Evergrowing App Center – The Canvas App Center contains over 300 add-ons you can choose to integrate into your LMS. You can find solutions for course & user navigation, resource selection, homeworks, reading lists, test evaluation, and many more. 
• Accessibility Features – Canvas is committed to complying with the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative and following the latest industry standards to guarantee equal access to learning materials for everyone. This includes screen reader navigation, keyboard shortcuts, high-contrast UI, font sizing, and more. 

Why do Schools Choose Canvas LMS for Education?

• The only ESSA-Validated K-12 LMS
• Wide variety of complementary products like Canvas Studio, Canvas Catalog, Canvas Credentials, and more
• Centralized curriculum and administration
• Mobile app for students, teachers, and parents
• AI-driven intelligent insights for teachers

How Much Does Canvas Cost?

Canvas LMS is always 100% for students and learners. Teachers can also try the learning management platform for free for a limited time, after which you pay at a per-user rate. The fees depend on the total number of users, and you have to contact the Sales Team to get exact figures.

Notable Alternatives

Moodle Open-Source, BlackBoard Learn, Google Classroom (Cloud), Schoology

Best LMS for Selling Online Courses

Recommended: Eurekos LMS

Eurekos is an open-source LMS that bets on continuous learner engagement with a wide variety of entertaining functionalities. The solution can easily turn into an ecommerce platform to help people monetize their projects and sell courses via different payment methods, coupons, discounts, loyalty programs, and product bundles. 

Eurekos is based in Denmark but supports both local and international companies like Soundboks, Streetvet, the Center for Professional Learning, and Biotage.

Key Features

• Integrated Authoring Tool – Getting your courses up and running is a speedy process with Eurekos. You can import ready-made, SCORM-compliant learning materials and update content sitewide through a centralized spot in your dashboard.
• Secure Credit Card Payments – Giving your customers various payment options is a guarantee that more of them will be inclined to purchase your courses. With Eurekos, you can set up native PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, and Google Pay options with ease.
• Multi-currency and Taxation Support – Working with international clients and specific tax requirements is fully supported in Eurekos. Set up VAT by country and allow users to pay with their preferred currency for the ultimate shopping experience.
• Unlimited Branded Portals – Dealing with different customers is not a problem, as you can easily brand your course catalogs to their specifications. This way, each user can utilize the same courses but with their own personal touch. 
• Seamless Third-Party Integrations – Pairing Eurekos with all kinds of third-party tools and add-ons is smooth and effortless. The LMS works perfectly fine with many popular CRM, CMS, HRIS, and multimedia solutions. This includes YouTube, Vimeo, Zoom, Salesforce, Amazon AWS, and more. 

Why do People Choose Eurekos LMS to Sell Online Courses?

• Swift onboarding opportunities for immediate learning
• Collaboration tools for shared learning
• Certified for the highest security levels with ISO/IEC 27001 and 27701
• Supports over 130 languages with easy localization
• Discounts, coupons, bundles, and virtual credits for monetization

How Much Does Eurekos LMS Cost?

Eurekos LMS is available both as an on-premise (self-hosted) and cloud (hosted) solution. The best thing about its pricing model is that you only pay for what you use. The rates for each month depend on the total number of active users and resets at the beginning of the following month. 

If you want a more predictable pricing plan, you can prepay for a year in advance. Contact the Eurekos Team, and they will calculate the price based on your project size. 

Notable Alternatives

Thinkific, Teachable, MightyNetworks

Best LMS for WordPress

Recommended: MemberPress

MemberPress is the top WordPress plugin for LMS and membership needs. Thousands of educational organizations and businesses trust this add-on for their course creation and monetization, and they’re quite happy with it, evident by the near-perfect scores on product review websites like Trustpilot, Capterra, and G2. 

MemberPress can be easily integrated with many popular third-party solutions, such as OpenAI, Stripe, and MonsterInsights, as well as other WordPress products, such as WooCommerce and Elementor. 

Key Features

• Online Coaching Options – Feel like you are a pro at what you do? Not only can you create and sell your courses through MemberPress, but you can also secure recurring revenue by offering coaching services. 
• Paywall for Key Content – Keeping your most valuable content for paid subscribers is easy. It’s not a problem to show the essentials for public usage while keeping the key insights behind a paywall. 
• ReadyLaunch™ Page Maker – Creating visually appealing courses often requires design skills and at least some basic programming knowledge. Well, not with MemberPress. The built-in page maker allows you to create stunning visuals in minutes without any previous experience. 
• Content Dripping – Automating your content delivery allows you to maximize your efforts by ensuring you can reach the most audience with the right content. Take advantage of timed releases and access expiration without having to manually operate the process. 
• Subscription Billing – Another thing you can automate with MemberPress for WordPress is your billing. You can set up recurring payments and take advantage of various payment methods, such as credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, CashApp, and even buy-now-pay-later options. 

Why do People Choose MemberPress as an LMS for WordPress?

• Powerful and easy for both free and premium content
• Personalized coaching programs
• Works well with any WordPress theme
• Quick payment gateway integration via API
• Over 120 add-on integrations for better functionality

How Much Does MemberPress Cost?

MemberPress is a paid WordPress plugin that comes in three tiers:

• Basic – Good for beginners – $179.50/year
• Plus – Good for entrepreneurs and freelancers – $299.50/year
• Pro – Good for enterprises – $399.50/year

Notable Alternatives

LearnDash, LifterLMS, Tutor LMS

Why Do the Best Learning Management Systems Need Reliable Web Hosting?

All of the reviewed LMS solutions are excellent on their own – they possess loads of suitable functionalities that target multiple niches and audiences. Picking any of our recommended choices ensures you’ve made the right step toward a successful educational project. 

This single step is far from enough, though…

You have to ensure your website is not just constantly online but running fast and smooth as well. This rings especially true as your LMS project gains more attention and visitors. The right environment is crucial in terms of user security as well. Cybercrimes are getting more prevalent, and no project is safe, especially if you are monetizing it. 

Here is where your web hosting provider takes center stage. 

ScalaHosting is well aware of the common problems website owners face nowadays and works hard to create the perfect climate for a healthy educational project. We rely on the latest powerful Intel servers to ensure maximized performance for any project size and pair it with innovative technologies (like our SPanel and SShield tools) for better management and security. 
If you choose to use Moodle for your LMS needs, we have Moodle plans specifically optimized for the eLearning platform. These plans include free app installation/migration, automatic updates, and real-time malware protection, among many other lucrative features.

Conclusion

Selecting the right Learning Management System (LMS) depends largely on your organization’s unique goals, budget, and user needs. By evaluating top platforms across different categories, you can make a more informed decision that supports effective learning, engagement, and long-term growth.