Sakai Reviews 2026: Pros & Cons, Ratings & more – Page 2
Is Sakai the right solution for you? Read verified Sakai reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.
Reliable Platform With Decent Collaboration Tools But Needs UX And Media Improvements
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
What do you like best?
Sakai is an open-source platform that allows institutions to modify it to meet their specific requirements. And for institutions concerned about retaining control, privacy, and long-term sustainability, this is a significant advantage.
What do you dislike?
That being said, Sakai’s pain points are evident, especially when it comes to user experience and contemporary learning demands. The interface is dated and not intuitive or user-friendly; functions are divided between different modules, which may not feel like they belong together. Multimedia support is limited, and it is challenging to manage videos or interactive modules.
Helpful And Flexible For Academic Programs But Interface Design Is Outdated
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
What do you like best?
I have been using Sakai to manage courses for several terms. I like being able to organize content, build assignments, and communicate with students in one place. The gradebook is easy to work with, and the structure helps me keep track of weekly tasks and evaluations.
What do you dislike?
The biggest drawback for me is the outdated interface. Students often notice it as well and wish it looked more modern. Everything functions, but the design feels like it belongs to an older era of LMS software. If appearance and visual flow are priorities, Sakai may feel a bit behind.
Versatile and intuitive LMS that supports mobile and hybrid learning
Overall Rating
85%
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Usefulness
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Usability
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Customer Experience
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Likelihood to Recommend
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
Overall Rating
87%
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Usefulness
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Usability
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Customer Experience
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Likelihood to Recommend
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
Overall Rating
78%
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Usefulness
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Usability
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Customer Experience
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Likelihood to Recommend
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
Overall Rating
71%
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Usefulness
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Usability
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Customer Experience
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Likelihood to Recommend
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
Overall Rating
90%
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Usefulness
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Usability
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Customer Experience
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Likelihood to Recommend
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!