The Top Open-Source Learning Management Systems
A Learning Management System is an essential tool for eLearning professionals. It can also be a major expense, especially if you seek a robust, versatile LMS to accommodate your eLearning development needs. Therefore, both Learning and Development (L&D) departments and education administrators tend to favor open-source because it's an excellent solution for learning when having the end user in mind.
So, choose a specific open-source LMS suitable for your needs. However, this process can become tricky. Identifying your needs before choosing implies that you have to answer some questions:
- Does the LMS have a supportive online community?
- Is it compatible with third-party plugins offered by external developers?
- What's the quality of its User Interface (UI)?
- Is the software mobile-friendly for online learning?
- What about eCommerce integration, reports, and analytics?
Fortunately, there are various open-source LMSs that can offer you the dynamic and flexible eLearning platform you need without making you go over your eLearning budget.
In This Guide...
- The 20 Top Open-Source LMSs You Need To Know About
- Things To Consider When Choosing An LMS Tool
- Conclusion
The 20 Top Open-Source LMSs You Need To Know About
1. Moodle
Community-driven, this globally supported effort makes one of the largest open source teams in the world. Moodle comes with a complete kit of features that allow both corporates and educators to create a private learning space online. It is filled with tools that easily create courses and countless activities, all optimized for collaborative learning.
Moodle Mobile
Thanks to the Moodle Mobile app, you can access learning at the touch of a button, even offline. It is available for both Android and iOS.
Extend Moodle
Browse the extensive Moodle plugins directory for extra activities, blocks, themes, and more.
Support & Community Forums
Get support and share ideas, all in your own language. Experience how efficiently Moodle is globally supported and discover the value of an open, collaborative effort.
Plans And Pricing
The price of the starter plan is $200 AUD/year, the price of the mini plan is $340 AUD/year, the price of the small plan is $630 AUD/year, the price of the medium plan is $1,450 AUD/year, and the price of the standard plan is $2,750 AUD/year.
Achievements
Moodle is ranked 19th on The Best LMSs based on User Experience (UX) and 16th among the Best LMSs based on Customer Experience.
For more information on Moodle, you can read the reviews here.
2. Chamilo
Chamilo is an open-source LMS that aims to improve access to education. Backed by the Chamilo Association, it aims to maintain a clear communication channel and build a network of service providers and software contributors. Its features allow users to easily create content and offer tools for all types of learners.
Mobile-Friendly
Chamilo offers online mobile learning support, making it easy for users to attend courses at their own pace and place.
Full Of Support Options
To get support for Chamilo, you can turn to the online community, the knowledge base, or one of the several one-on-one options available.
Customizable Interface
Intuitive language and media embedding settings are among the many options offered.
Plans And Pricing
No premium options available. Please contact the vendor for more information.
Achievements
Chamilo holds the 15th place on the list of The Best LMSs based on Customer Experience.
Here you can read eLearning Industry community members' reviews about Chamilo.
3. Open edX
Open edX is a tool that empowers learners to access course content, including videos and textbooks, while checking their progress in the course. The Open edX LMS has a discussion forum and a wiki to which learners and course team members can contribute, whereas the latter can also use an instructor dashboard.
Open edX Studio
The tool for building your courses, creating a structure, and then adding content. You can also manage the course schedule and the course team, set grading policies, publish different parts of your course, and more.
Community Support
A discussion forum and the Open edX Insights are beneficial as they're part of the community structure, and learners can benefit from interaction with experienced members. The Open edX community includes webinars, upcoming events, and blog posts.
Plans And Pricing
No premium options available. Please contact the vendor for more information.
Achievements
Open edX is 5th on our list of The 20 Best Learning Management Systems (2018 Update) and 8th on the list of the Best LMSs Based on UX.
Read what other members in the eLearning Industry community say about Open edX.
4. Totara Learn
A corporate distribution of Moodle, Totara Learn effectively delivers individual learning plans and offers rich functionality that can be implemented quickly and significantly reduces costs compared to proprietary solutions. This award-winning open-source learning platform is designed to help you develop, train, manage, and engage your staff.
Learning On The Move
The User Interface is fully responsive by design and adjusts seamlessly depending on the device. Mobile apps are also available through the partner network and can be extended or fully branded to match how your LMS looks and interacts.
Learning Plans
Learning plans allow learners to monitor their progress and directly access learning activities. You can manage the process with approval workflows, comment boxes, and notifications.
Flexible Authoring Options
Combine instructor-led, self-paced learning, and social for a blended approach, all in a single course. Roles and permissions, course progression, and group-based activities give you all the flexibility you need.
Plans And Pricing
No premium options available. Please contact the vendor for more information.
Achievements
Totara Learn is in the top 5 open-source LMSs in our list of The 20 Best Learning Management Systems, no. 7 on the list of The Best 20 Learning Management Systems Offering An LMS Demo, and no. 13 on the list of The Top 20 Extended Enterprise Learning Management Systems. It also lands in the 13th position among the Best LMSs based on User Experience and the 14th position among the Best LMSs based on Customer Experience.
If you want to find out what customers say about Totara Learn, take a look at the reviews here.
5. Canvas
Canvas is an open-source LMS that makes teaching and learning easier in terms of implementation, adoption, customer support, and success. It is adaptable, reliable, and customizable. With interface and features crafted to save you time and effort, this open-source LMS is designed to get out of your way and let you do your thing.
Powerful Community
Over 300,000 Canvas users share, collaborate, and shape Canvas.
Easy To Use
This LMS does what learners and instructors need it to do. It is simple to use on mobile and a time-saver that is being adopted at growing rates.
Easy Plugin For Third-Party Tools
Its extensive, open API, published worldwide, allows third-party apps to plug right into Canvas, pulling and pushing its data.
Personalized Support
In-house Canvas experts are there to ensure the speediest, most frictionless interactions.
Plans And Pricing
You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote.
Achievements
Canvas is ranked 4th among the top 5 open-source LMSs in our list of The 20 Best Learning Management Systems.
6. Forma
Forma is an open-source, web-based, award-winning eLearning platform that excels in managing and delivering online training courses. Forma's design focuses on corporate training and is made to fit your company's needs and processes. Easy integration with any intranet software allows you to extend functionalities with various plugins. Forma is developed by a network of companies and backed by a strong and active community.
Report System
Extensive reports can be exported through the built-in wizard in different formats and sent with the email scheduler.
Sell Courses Online
Native eCommerce functionalities with cart and PayPal integration.
API Integration
Easily integrated with any other system through powerful APIs and connectors.
Plans And Pricing
Standard Fee: Individual: €180 and company: €450
Check the latest reviews about Forma LMS.
7. Effectus
Focusing on the learner to improve engagement, mobility, and collaboration, the Effectus LMS is designed with you and your learners in mind. It is a comprehensive training management suite for businesses of all sizes. For the most part, it has proven to be a straightforward and economical way to host, manage, and deliver training programs.
Gamify Learning
Effectus incorporates features such as scores, badges, and leaderboards.
Report Real-Time
Get access to rich data and customize reports to suit your analysis requirements. This way, you can measure the impact of training on your learners' performance.
Intuitive User Interface (UI)
An interface that is designed based on the latest research on UI, UX, and Interface Design for Learning (IDL) standards.
Plans And Pricing
You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote.
Achievements
Effectus holds the 17th place on our Top 20 Extended Enterprise Learning Management Systems list.
Wondering how others are experiencing the software? Read Effectus LMS reviews here.
8. ILIAS
ILIAS is an open-source LMS that is powerful in developing web-based eLearning. To reduce the cost of using new media in education and training and ensure the maximum level of customer influence in implementing the software, ILIAS excels in allowing users to create, manage, and track learning, doing so through supporting SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, and AICC standards.
Community Organization
Several ILIAS users have organized themselves in regional or national user groups to exchange experience and influence the further development of the LMS.
Customization
System styles may be customized, allowing for bypassing the default style of ILIAS. Multiple substyles can be active for different branches of the repository. First, install the necessary tools on your server to generate a customized system style.
Getting Support
There are several ways and levels to get support and services for ILIAS, including community forums, the feature wiki, the bug tracker, direct email, and even paid support by several companies.
Plans And Pricing
No premium options available. Free of charge.
You can read reviews on the above features and the whole experience of using ILIAS LMS here.
9. OpenOLAT
A web-based learning platform for teaching, learning, assessments, and communication. OpenOLAT has caught the market's attention with a sophisticated and innovative modular toolkit that can extend the initial installation, its architecture, and its intuitive and straightforward operation. All these result in offering course authors a wide range of possibilities.
Tailor-Made
With an LMS that allows tutors to tailor the system according to their learners' needs, you can create groups, run exams, contact users in numerous ways, and adjust personal settings.
Collaborative
Tools such as forums, chats (group or one-on-one), virtual classrooms, blogs, podcasts, etc., enhance the learning experience. Collaborative techniques and a variety of ideas for exchanging knowledge are at your disposal.
Powerful Course Editor
The people behind OpenOLAT take pride in the capabilities of this tool, which is not restricted to predefined structures. It has a preview feature, an archive tool, decentralized user management, and many more to give you freedom in implementing any didactic concept.
Plans And Pricing
OpenOLAT offers a free, open-source version and custom pricing plans for its services. You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote for custom plans.
For a more comprehensive look, you can find reviews on OpenOLAT here.
10. Opigno
This open-source eLearning platform allows you to manage your online training and efficiently ensure that your students', employees', and partners' skills are updated according to your needs. Opigno is designed for companies, corporations, and universities looking to become eLearning solutions that are flexible and easily scalable. This enables you to create engaging online training and thus effectively manage in-house training and blended learning paths.
Module For eCommerce
This allows selling courses or subscriptions to classes. There is also time-based subscription management, meaning users can subscribe to one or several courses for one or several months, and renew the subscription at the expiration.
Multiple Integration
Compliant with SCORM 2004, Tin Can (xAPI), and H5P, certified LRS: Learning Locker, Watershed, Apache Solr, LDAP (Active Directory), and CAS integration. Easily scalable thanks to its internal Apps Management System.
Collaborative Tools
Interactive chat with workspaces that allow sharing asynchronous messages, files, and to-do lists. It can be a live meeting solution with screen sharing, whiteboard, and recording capabilities.
Plans And Pricing
Opigno will assess your needs and provide an all-inclusive, no-hidden-cost pricing package tailored to your requirements. Prices start from $ 2,900/month.
For a broader image of Opigno, check reviews here.
11. .LRN
.LRN is a full-featured application for rapidly developing web-based learning communities, that can be customized to fit the needs of the individual learner. . LRN's LMS is a learning portal that suits you, whether you are running a corporation or a smaller education community, as it can be scaled to meet your learning needs.
Network Of Communities
. LRN's core is the communities, where everything is represented as a group or community, whether it's a class, a sub-group within a class, or a community of interest.
Tools For eCommerce
Providing a framework to create the most diverse scenarios for today's online educational market.
Intuitive Customization Of User Interface
There are options for customizing the layout, choosing the language, setting the timezone for your class, and adding custom portlets, if desired. Individual users can also personalize their personal portal layout.
Plans And Pricing
You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote.
This is where you can look up reviews on .LRN.
12. ATutor
ATutor is a free, open-source, web-based LMS that develops and delivers online courses in minutes. ATutor's functionality is easily extended with feature modules. It helps educators assemble, package, and redistribute standardized web-based instructional content. Users have created add-ons to ATutor LMS, such as AContent, a content management system, and ATutor Social, a networking component.
Automated Installer & Upgrade
It is a fast and easy way to install or upgrade, as it doesn't require much technical knowledge. Even so, support is available through the website if you need help installing or upgrading.
Module Manager
Administrators can install, enable, and disable modules, define a default set, and create menu blocks for new courses. Among these, there are fully integrated feature extensions or third-party add-on software.
Language Manager
Easily search through text to quickly find and customize the interface, feedback, and module language. All languages are available in UTF-8, and courses can display multiple languages simultaneously.
Plans And Pricing
The Individual Plan is $199/year, the Business Plan is $399/year, and the Agency Plan is $799/year.
This is where you can check for ATutor reviews.
13. Edu-Sharing
Edu-Sharing enables you to network your learning platforms and other educational programs. You can share learning content, metadata, and tools, making them available in an educational cloud, and let your users use them in all connected systems.
Mobile Collect
Collect and arrange content using a mobile device; in your browser, using the app, or while taking pictures.
Networking Infrastructures
Take advantage of your partners' eLearning systems as Edu-Sharing networks your infrastructures. It can be described as a cross-organizational exchange of content and tools, cloud storage, and tool integration for both learning environments and authoring tools.
Integrate Quality Content
Connect sources with quality content to enable teachers to find objects from their cloud storage and connect content sources from Wikimedia, YouTube, or Serlo.
Plans And Pricing
You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote.
This is where you can look up reviews on Edu-Sharing.
14. LatitudeLearning
With the primary focus being set on training, engagement, and analytics, the LatitudeLearning LMS delivers practical training projects for the employees and associates of enterprises, channel networks, franchises, dealerships, and other affiliates. Latitude's suite of products is SCORM-conformant, thus providing an easily accessible content library.
ClientCare
A program ensuring your training operates efficiently, with swift solutions to your concerns, check-ups, and updates being part of the schedule, plus administrative support to paying clients.
MyLMS
A more refined approach than the one-size-fits-all, MyLMS brings understanding for unique business models that have made channel organizations successful. Rest assured, there will be no need to compromise on your philosophies and workflows.
Group In Many Ways
An asset that makes it easy to manage training for individual groups and tailor-made eLearning for users by location. The LMS Administrator can place students into separate groups based on your criteria.
Plans And Pricing
LatitudeLearning LMS offers two main pricing models: Active-User Licensing, which starts at $11/user/year for up to 100 users and decreases to $6.95/user/year for over 25,000 users (with a 3-year annual contract), and Enrollment-Based Licensing, starting at $5.25/enrollment/year, decreasing to $2.10 for high volumes. Optional add-ons include Premium Support ($1,550/year), Adobe Connect integration ($850/year), SSO ($2,550/year), API access, and enhanced SaaS performance. Custom integrations and dedicated environments are also available at additional costs.
Achievements
LatitudeLearning also holds the 17th position on our Top Cloud-Based Learning Management Systems For Corporate Training.
You can check reviews on LatitudeLearning here.
15. eFront
For businesses that desire complete control over their training infrastructure, eFront is a robust and enterprise-ready LMS. From simple training programs to intricate organizational learning environments, eFront is designed with scalability and security. It combines sophisticated customization with user-friendly design to satisfy the demands of training providers, corporations, and educational institutions.
Advanced Personalization
Due to eFront's modular design, you can customize the platform to suit your specific learning environment. The system may be tailored to meet the demands of learners and organizational workflows, offering a wide range of plugin possibilities in addition to bespoke branding and theming.
Enterprise-Grade Features
eFront is ideally suited for complex business systems, thanks to features such as job role assignments, organizational hierarchies, skill gap analysis, and LDAP/Active Directory connectivity. Additionally, it has automation features to manage compliance, monitor learner progress, and expedite training delivery.
Content Management And Reporting
eFront's comprehensive reporting features allow administrators to create rich multimedia courses, upload SCORM-compliant content, and distribute them to other groups. Thus, administrators can gain insight into learner engagement and training efficacy.
Plans And Pricing
The Registered Plan starts at $720/month, the Active Plan at $1.600/month, and the On-Premise plan requires a quote from the vendor.
Reviews and more information about eFront can be found here.
16. NexusComply Solution
NexusComply Solution is a ground-breaking compliance solution based on the market-leading Totara Learn. It allows your enterprise to deploy and manage risk assessments, policies, mandatory training, and supervisory frameworks such as appraisals and performance management. The NexusComply system also manages and automates compliance and can help measure behavioral change.
Reporting
A powerful report builder that enables administrators to modify a set of pre-built reports or quickly and easily build custom reports from scratch.
Integration
NexusComply integrates with already existing systems. Streamlined, with Single Sign-On standards, it improves user experience and accommodates custom system integration through web services, using protocols such as REST, SOAP, XMLRPC, JSON, and AMF.
Custom eLearning
The concept of bespoke eLearning is to provide your learners with an authentic experience created just for them, using your company culture, brand, and tone to deliver an engaging and interactive experience.
Plans And Pricing
You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote.
Reviews on NexusComply can be found here.
17. OLAT
OLAT is a mature LMS, developed in 1999, hosted by the Department of Information Technology of UZH and shared with the open-source community worldwide. OLAT's development focuses on the tertiary education sector; extensions, add-ons, and plugins are designed and implemented in close cooperation with the Swiss academic community at universities and higher education institutions.
Agile Methodology
Development and operations rely on adaptive planning and evolutionary engineering by a cross-functional DevOps team.
Group Registration
Relevant processes are optimized, focusing on reliability and safety in large installations.
Digital Assistance Of Assessments
EPIS 2.0 was developed to prepare and perform assessments, which can be easily organized using data synchronization. A control system for admission and submission provides on-site support.
Plans And Pricing
You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote.
This is where you can look up reviews on OLAT LMS.
18. Opentute
Designed to help businesses create and share excellent learning experiences with staff and extended partners, Opentute is an open-source, cloud-based social learning platform that invites you to grow with it. Experience how much better it is to learn with immersive collaboration tools and fully functional social media in your private network.
Sell Courses
Adding value to clients and the community by selling courses and monthly channel memberships.
Customize And Share
Increase engagement by taking a holistic approach to communication and learning. Customize your theme and branding, and share and interact with learning posts.
Community, Groups, And Channels
Grow your team and build groups and channels to make the learning process collaborative.
Plans And Pricing
You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote.
This is where reviews on the performance of Opentute can be found.
19. Percolate
An award-winning Learning Management System, Percolate is a cloud-based learning platform with powerful features that caters to savvy entrepreneurs, small businesses, and mid-sized organizations. You'll appreciate the excellent customer service, clean design, user-friendly interface, and customization flexibility.
Mobile-Ready
If you want to reach your learners wherever they are, Percolate's fully responsive design allows you to offer training that can take place on any mobile, tablet, or desktop device.
Same Day Launch
How about customizing and launching training in minutes, not months? This feature allows you to quickly store, manage, and organize all your learners and important content with easy-to-use customization tags – or use your tags to instantly generate custom drill-down reports.
No Techy Skills Required
Author your training, quizzes, and surveys with the built-in course creator. With Percolate, you don't need to be tech-savvy to upload digital content and easily create courses and learning paths.
Plans And Pricing
You'll need to ask the vendor for a quote.
20. Sakai
Following a fundamentally different approach, the direction and features of Sakai originate within higher education to address the dynamic needs of the global academic community. A structure that highly values the participation of its contributors, with educators and developers from various institutions working for the common cause of turning great ideas into reality for the entire community of Sakai adopters.
Interoperability
Sakai invested in open standards like IMS Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI). It can seamlessly integrate unique, powerful new functionalities into the next generation of digital learning environments.
Rich Functionality
With a wide-ranging suite of features, Sakai provides all the necessary tools for instructors, students, research investigators, and project leaders to succeed in their online initiatives, including discussion capabilities, announcements, messaging, file management, assignment delivery, assessments, and more.
Responsive User Interface
Completely redesigned to provide its powerful new capabilities through a clean, modern design, Sakai features a number of functional enhancements framed by a responsive, iFrame-less tool structure.
Plans And Pricing
Sakai is a free, open-source LMS.
Check for reviews on Sakai in eLearning Industry's directory.
Things To Consider When Choosing An LMS Tool
Your digital learning approach can succeed or fail based on your LMS choice. With so many options as seen above, it's critical to concentrate on aspects that directly match your company's objectives and your learners' demands. Below, we've listed what you need to look into before choosing an LMS tool:
- Modern learners demand more than static content, so start with interactivity. Pick an LMS with interesting formats like gamification, social learning, films, simulations, and quizzes to keep students interested and motivated.
- Another important consideration is personalization. Seek AI-driven LMSs that provide customized learning trajectories for user objectives, behavior, and abilities. The capacity to design personalized learning paths maximizes results while meeting each individual's demands.
- An easy-to-use experience is essential. The LMS should automate workflows and easily interface with programs your team already utilizes, such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. This increases acceptance rates while streamlining the learning process.
- Don't ignore compatibility with mobile devices. Ensure the LMS provides offline and mobile learning capabilities so your employees can learn while on the go. They can use mobile apps or even scan QR codes to access modules quickly.
- Analytics and reporting are essential for gauging progress. Customizable dashboards, real-time data, compliance tracking, and interfaces with tools like Power BI to facilitate data-driven decision-making should all be features of your LMS.
- Finally, assess security, integration, and scalability. Select a platform that supports Single Sign-On (SSO), grows with you, and interfaces with Salesforce or HRMS. To protect user data, choose GDPR/CCPA-compliant and SOC 2-certified platforms.
Conclusion
Open-source LMSs can allow you to create and deploy eLearning courses, especially if you are willing to take the time to master all of their features. In some cases, an open-source LMS may come with a learning curve, but the cost savings and design freedom may be well worth it. If the open-source LMS features online tutorials or an active community, don't hesitate to check it out before making your final decision.
Interested in learning more about how to choose the best Learning Management System for your corporate needs? Read the article 11 Tips For Choosing The Best Learning Management System to learn about more factors you may want to consider when searching for your best Learning Management System.
