Trending Learning Management Systems (LMS)
Sakai Reviews
Learning Management Systems (LMS)Sakai is great for learning! We're an open source learning management system that provides creative teachers with innovative tools for student learning. With SakaiPlus, you can use Sakai with your existing enterprise LMS. Check us out!
Who Uses This Software?
Teachers, students, LMS administrators, education staff.
Sakai Reviews 2025: Pros & Cons, Ratings & more
Is Sakai the right solution for you? Read verified Sakai reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.
Performance Overview
Overall Rating
83%
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Usefulness
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Usability
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Customer Experience
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Likelihood to Recommend
Cost-effective LMS ideal for instructors seeking customizable teaching solutions
Mar 28, 2025
What do you like best?
One of the significant benefits of Sakai is that it is free for educational institutions. It also provides an easy setup for instructors to create and use lesson outlines, quizzes, and activities in groups. The platform is nothing short of a boon for collaborative learning, group projects, which are common in higher education. The menu-driven navigation is easy to understand, making it seamless for both teachers and students to get started.
What do you dislike?
While it does the job, certain features like assignment grading and analytics reporting are not as well-polished as you might find in a paid solution. For situations involving high course enrollments or complex integration with other enterprise systems, this could pose a challenge for administrators.
Comprehensive academic LMS offering open-source benefits with some usability trade-offs
Oct 12, 2024
What do you like best?
Sakai is a powerful LMS platform with tools specifically designed for a broad range of academic needs. Because it is open-source, institutions can design tailor-made features, and the system will continue to adapt over time to meet particular teaching needs. Faculty love the group tools, responsive mobile learning design, and web conferencing integrations for teaching in-room and often simultaneously, in remote or hybrid settings.
What do you dislike?
Primarily limited to community-driven development resources. Institutions require processes to function within established timelines, and these timelines may not align well within each community. A few administrative tasks can be time-consuming, especially grading and analytics. The platform is also less modern from a UI perspective and requires specialized technical expertise to get the most out of the tools.
Versatile and intuitive LMS that supports mobile and hybrid learning
Feb 11, 2024
What do you like best?
Sakai is a very flexible tool that can be adapted for hybrid learning situations. It allows teachers to naturally structure courses, while students find it easy to navigate through with its mobile-friendly design. Rich interactions are supported by the system's discussion forums, quizzes, and collaborative assignments. The flexibility of academic programs can make them quite fluid, as they often adapt to changing institutions.
What do you dislike?
Sakai's Gradebook and reporting functions are less user-friendly than we'd like. Data exports need to be adjusted/troubleshooted manually by the admins. Moreover, feature updates are not always consistent because development is community-based, and it can impact the overall user experience in some cases.
Reliable LMS with strong collaboration features for faculty and students
Apr 28, 2022
What do you like best?
Sakai is perfect for group-based learning and group projects. Project sites for students and administrators are just a few clicks away, fostering engagement and collaborative learning for faculty. Its assessment testing tools and gradebook allow for thorough assessment management. It also provides the flexibility of working with third-party vendors for accessibility improvements. Moreover, it integrates with web conferencing tools to facilitate online teaching sessions.
What do you dislike?
Occasionally, friction is encountered with the open-source model, as not all updates or requested features are implemented immediately. The gap between the platforms can make it difficult for new administrators to use. Specific tools, such as content embedding and reporting, may not be as refined as their commercial alternatives, which can result in extra time and hassle.
Open-source LMS with flexible tools for collaborative higher education environments
Mar 12, 2022
What do you like best?
You get well-designed tools to build collaboration between learners within Sakai. Due to its open-source nature, educational institutions can request new features and modify the system to meet their own needs. It accommodates everything from tests and grade tracking to group projects and forum discussions. The integration with the web conferencing tool makes it even more valuable for remote or hybrid classrooms. It also makes the app mobile-responsive and more efficient on smaller devices.
What do you dislike?
Occasionally, the open-source model can prove problematic. Many of the feature updates and bug fixes depend on contributions from the community, which may not align with every institution’s timing or needs. Plus, some administrative tools (like the Gradebook) are counterintuitive, and exporting data to Excel is a pain and takes more work to keep it efficiently managed.
Useful LMS but could enhance and simplify its grading capabilities
Mar 27, 2020
What do you like best?
Ease of use, the menu on the left for easy navigation, intuitiveness, and ability to create customized lessons
What do you dislike?
The Gradebook tool and interface is cumbersome and does not translate well into Excel
Works like Blackboard, but it's open-source
Apr 24, 2018
What do you like best?
1) The cost (free) 2) It's open-source, so we can request new features and changes 3) Excellent Test and Gradebook tools 4) Almost all tools are group-aware 5) Working with an outside vendor to improve accessibility (massive updates have been applied) 6) Integrates with our web conferencing tool (BigBlueButton), which is also open-source 7) Project sites can be created for faculty, student, and administrator groups 8) Improved responsive design and performance on mobile devices
What do you dislike?
It can be a pro and a con: It's an open-source product, so that means the community gets to decide what gets added or fixed, which may be or not be what you want worked on first! Different universities created different tools, so the community is updating tools so they function in a similar manner. The community is working on simplifying the software download instructions. This product really is open-source, but there is not a lot of marketing done to let folks know about it!