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10 Best Learning Management Systems For 2023: Comparison

The Best Learning Management System List

Here’s a shortlist of the best learning management systems:

  1. 1. SkyPrep — Best for an intuitive user experience + quality customer support
  2. 2. Absorb LMS — Best for upskilling and reskilling your team
  3. 3. iSpring Learn — Best LMS for any mission critical training project
  4. 4. Constructor — Best LMS for its interactive learning approach
  5. 5. Thinkific — Best LMS for rich multimedia course content
  6. 6. LearnUpon — Best for customer training
  7. 7. Mindflash — Best LMS for larger enterprises and organizations
  8. 8. Moodle — Best survey tools for course feedback
  9. 9. MATRIX LMS — Best LMS for drag and drop dashboard widgets
  10. 10. Eduflow — Best for corporate training and higher education

Below you’ll find an overview of each of the 10 best learning management systems, with screenshots, feature overviews, and pricing.

A learning management system (LMS) has the ability to empower employees or members of your team to engage in ongoing and real-time learning. They also provide you with pre-built eLearning courses and the power to build your own content and instructor-led training.

Training courses can be time-consuming to create and manage, and outcomes of learning programs are more valuable with built-in tracking and reporting. That’s why the modern LMS market exists: to make it as easy as possible for you to streamline and personalize online learning programs, as well as deliver your training material to every learner and enhance the learning experience.

Whether you need simple training content management or you want to dive into learning content creation yourself, there is an LMS platform out there for you.

The LMS vendors listed here are some of the best. I made this LMS vendor directory to help you choose the right tool. Not all of these are a good fit for everyone, so I have identified what each LMS platform is best suited for.

Learning Management System Comparison Criteria

What do I look for when I select the best learning management system for eLearning? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:

  1. User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive? Can every course builder and learner quickly adapt to their designated interfaces? Are grades, to dos, and analytics easy to find and interpret on this eLearning platform?
  2. Usability: Is it easy to build and consume course content? Does the company offer good customer support, user support, tutorials, and training? Do they offer ready-to-go courses to get you up and running quickly? Does the LMS system work on all mobile devices?
  3. Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools for media creation, video conferencing, CMS, and other relevant eLearning content creation tools?
  4. Value for $: Learning management software will usually come with a cost but does the tool “pay for itself” by the amount of virtual training material you have access to? Does the cost of the learning platform include pre-made courses as well as the tools needed to build your own online course from scratch?

Key LMS Features

  1. Gamification & social learning features
  2. Personalized learning paths
  3. Mobile learning support
  4. Skills & certification tracking
  5. Test-out options for advanced learners
learning management system logos list

Overviews Of The 10 Best LMS

Here’s a brief description of each of the digital learning process tools on my list, showing what it does best and providing screenshots to showcase some of the features.

1

SkyPrep

Best for an intuitive user experience + quality customer support

SkyPrep is a powerful and intuitive learning management system (LMS) that helps organizations train their employees, customers, and partners with ease. SkyPrep provides an easy-to-use and intuitive platform that was developed to make the learning experience engaging and effortless for both admins and learners alike.

Project managers will love the modern design, simplified navigation, and efficient user flows. They make everything uncomplicated, from viewing information, accessing different features in the platform, to completing tasks.

SkyPrep is not just known for providing an easy-to-use LMS, they are also known for their best-in-class customer support. Every client on a paid plan is paired with a single dedicated and knowledgeable Customer Success Manager and a personalized action plan is created to help them get the most out of the solution.

Whether businesses are looking to onboard employees, train customers on their products, or keep up with compliance requirements, SkyPrep makes the training experience easy and seamless.

SkyPrep integrates with ADP, Zoom, Salesforce, Paypal, Office365, Google, and more, including other third-party tools through a paid plan with Zapier.

SkyPrep offers customized pricing upon request and comes with a 14-day free trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5 59

14-day free trial

Pricing upon request

2

Absorb LMS

Best for upskilling and reskilling your team

Absorb LMS is an award-winning learning management system with smart administrative features, high quality learner engagement tools, and even ecommerce options to sell your custom built courses online.

Absorb LMS empowers organizations to deliver engaging employee training that meets the needs and standards of every learner, giving them the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. Its modern design includes an intuitive dashboard with multi-language support and is in full accordance with WCAG 2.0 standards, making your online employee development program as inclusive as it is effective.

Absorb LMS brings new hires up to speed faster, then uses powerful AI to customize the learner experience for each employee—anticipating their needs and connecting them to relevant training.

Absorb LMS integrates with industry leading business solutions like ADP, Salesforce, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and provides access to thousands of ready-to-use courses through content library partners such as BizLibrary, Skillsoft, LinkedIn Learning and more.

Absorb LMS offers pricing upon request, as well as a free trial or a free demo.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 256

Free trial + free demo

Pricing upon request

3

iSpring Learn

Best LMS for any mission critical training project

iSpring Learn is an online training platform that can be used for any mission critical training project: from onboarding to product training and sales enablement. Immediately upload any presentations (PPT), courses (SCORM), video tutorials (FLV, MP4), Flash clips (SWF) and audio tracks (MP3, WAV), as well as supplementary documents (PDF, DOC, XLS), to get up and running quickly.

Trainers can easily upload all their existing training materials to the LMS or start creating courses from scratch from within the platform. Once online, all the training materials can be arranged into comprehensive learning tracks and automatically assigned to individual employees or selected positions, departments, and groups. Learners can access training from all devices: desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

With webinar capability, trainers can host virtual live events or Q&A sessions. The webinars, as well as online training programs and offline events, can be scheduled and managed with ease in a built-in calendar.

A selection of in-depth reports is available in the LMS to track employee results. Trainers can set the system up to automatically generate reports when desired to receive regular updates on training effectiveness and allow them to inform management.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 47

30-day free trial

From $2.87/user/month (billed annually)

4

Constructor

Best LMS for its interactive learning approach

Alemira is an all-in-one digital ecosystem for education and research that implements active learning to have high-engagement knowledge discovery. Businesses that use Alemira as a learning management system switch from passive information consumption to active learning through interactive content instead of screenshots with step-by-step guides. Companies can create and repurpose quizzes and personalize them according to their needs.

Alemira LMS allows employees to learn through interactive content and learn at their own pace. This exposes controls to enable trainees to experiment with the system and engage interactively with content.

Users can also use advanced data collection and reporting functionalities that provide visibility into the trainees’ performance through different data tools. Real-time data collection effectively supports custom learning and enables instructors to review the program's effectiveness and make any adjustments if the program is ineffective.

Alemira LMS also has collaboration tools to encourage and promote knowledge sharing and help develop employee skills. Employees can chat and share knowledge, and trainees can communicate with instructors.

Alemira allows you to create personalized training programs and custom quizzes. This ensures that the program is tailored according to your requirements and aids in onboarding people to use specific software according to specific use cases. Alemira encourages active learning, adapts to a trainee’s journey, and allows collaboration and knowledge sharing between peers and instructors. Using this platform allows users to create custom online courses, boost completion rates through a user-friendly environment, and study software or systems interactively with other people, making it an ideal solution for corporate learning management.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
5 3

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

5

Thinkific

Best LMS for rich multimedia course content

Thinkific is an all-in-one learning management platform that has been designed to create, market, and sell your own online courses or membership sites. Independent creators and businesses from across the globe use Thinkific for their rich multimedia course content options, including video, text, downloadable documents, quizzes, surveys, discussions, typeform, Google Docs items, and even articulative exercises.

As a creator, you can quickly upload and drag-and-drop content to create the perfect curriculum, without needing to be tech savvy. You can easily customize the way your course system runs with the click of a button; for example, by adding hidden courses or prerequisite lessons. With the Thinkific Site Builder, you can build and design a website to host and sell your course packages.

Thinkific is free to use for limited courses but unlimited students. Paid plans cost from $39/month and will unlock features like unlimited course creation, coupons, drip (scheduled) content, and email integration. Paid plans offer a 30-day free trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 179

30-day free trial

From $39/user/month

6

LearnUpon

Best for customer training

LearnUpon is a LMS system for employee onboarding, employee development, customer training, partner training, product training, and compliance training. With LearnUpon, you can create courses, deliver training programs, track learner engagement, launch webinars, customize learner portals, and access out-of-the-box reports to track user progression.

LearnUpon connects to the tools you already use, from CRM to automation tools to payment systems. You can integrate this platform with the likes of Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, GoToWebinar, Adobe Connect, Degreed, Stripe, Paypal, Shopify, and additional apps using either a paid plan through Zapier or a free DIY approach using their API.

LearnUpon costs from $699/month for up to 50 users + 1 portal (billed annually). It comes with a free trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 120

Free trial available

From $8.32/user/month

7

Mindflash

Best LMS for larger enterprises and organizations

Mindflash is an easy-to-use, online training platform that is ideal for customer, partner, reseller, or employee training. The tool facilitates training for remote and mobile teams, as well as for hundreds or thousands of employees in an organization.

Mindflash allows users to create courses, add quizzes, and track results for individual trainees, and create personalized learning paths for team members. Users can also create online courses from existing materials and upload PowerPoint, Word, PDF, SCORM, or video files.

Mindflash includes robust reporting features, as well as auto-enrollment capabilities and custom course learning paths.

Pricing is available upon request.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 94

Upon request

8

Moodle

Best survey tools for course feedback

Moodle is a customisable and trusted open source learning management system that is ideally suited to the delivery of massive open online courses (MOOCs). They are based in West Perth, Australia, but boast an international community of hundreds of millions of learners, teachers, and developers. Course content can include forms, chat & feedback, readings, workshops, quizzes, a wiki, and surveys.

Moodle has a mobile-optimized app that supports touch screen activity on smart devices. They also boast integration opportunities with third-party platforms like plagiarism detection and content repositories. You can build a course from scratch or enroll in the content that is already there. Users can check course completion status from a clean and simple dashboard.

Moodle is free to use if you are willing to download the tool, install it, host the material, and customise your own site. Paid plans start from $110/month for up to 5 users and come with a 45-day free trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4 313

45-day free trial

$110/month for up to 5 users

9

MATRIX LMS

Best LMS for drag and drop dashboard widgets

Matrix LMS is a corporate learning management and vocational training system made by Cypher Learning, who also offers solutions for entrepreneurs (Indie LMS) and accredited universities (NEO LMS), including a free basic plan for not-for-profits and educational institutions.

Matrix LMS is the company’s business learning platform with tools for course templates, tables of contents and course syllabi, drip content, waitlists, course prerequisites, ratings & reviews, integrated e-commerce, a modern HTML editor, embedded PDF & PPT, and closed captions for videos. Additional quality-of-life features include drag and drop dashboard widgets, native mobile apps for iOS and Android, accessibility solutions, and support for 40+ languages.

Matrix LMS costs $499/month for up to 100 users (billed annually). It comes with a 14-day free trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
3.5 29

14 days free trial

From $499/month for up to 100 users (billed annually)

10

Eduflow

Best for corporate training and higher education

Eduflow is a powerful learning platform intended for corporate training and higher education. It has a modern, intuitive interface that enables users to create social and collaborative learning experiences. Eduflow can work as a standalone LMS, or it can be integrated with an existing LMS.

Users can build courses in Eduflow by combining a set of learning activities from the Eduflow activity library. This includes video content, discussions, quizzes, peer reviews, polls, SCORM, Zoom calls, and more. These learning activities can be combined to provide a fully custom and flexible learning experience that matches the pedagogical design users want to achieve.

Eduflow has a free version, as well as paid versions starting at $49/month.

Freemium plan for max. 10 users

From $49/month for 50 learners

Need expert help selecting the right Learning Management System (LMS) Software?

We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!

The Best Learning Management System Comparison Chart

Tool Free Option Price
1
SkyPrep

Best for an intuitive user experience + quality customer support

14-day free trial

Pricing upon request Visit Website
2
Absorb LMS

Best for upskilling and reskilling your team

Free trial + free demo

Pricing upon request Visit Website
3
iSpring Learn

Best LMS for any mission critical training project

30-day free trial

From $2.87/user/month (billed annually) Visit Website
4
Constructor

Best LMS for its interactive learning approach

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
5
Thinkific

Best LMS for rich multimedia course content

30-day free trial

From $39/user/month Visit Website
6
LearnUpon

Best for customer training

Free trial available

From $8.32/user/month Visit Website
7
Mindflash

Best LMS for larger enterprises and organizations

Not available

Upon request Visit Website
8
Moodle

Best survey tools for course feedback

45-day free trial

$110/month for up to 5 users Visit Website
9
MATRIX LMS

Best LMS for drag and drop dashboard widgets

14 days free trial

From $499/month for up to 100 users (billed annually) Visit Website
10
Eduflow

Best for corporate training and higher education

Freemium plan for max. 10 users

From $49/month for 50 learners Visit Website

Other LMS Options

Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top list. Note: You can also consider investing in a custom LMS build if you need something more uniquely tailored to your situation.

  1. D2L Brightspace

    Best for video assignments and game-based learning

  2. Google Classroom

    Best simple LMS course authoring tools

  3. Chamilo LMS

    Best open source digital learning management system

  4. Graphy by Unacademy

    Best for creating custom courses, building no-code websites, or launching your own app

  5. Blackboard for Business

    Best learning content reporting/analytics

  6. Kallidus Learn

    Best for its integrated HR solutions

  7. Trakstar

    Best for employee learning feedback & follow-up

  8. Kallidus Sapling

    Best LMS with an easy to use interface

  9. Qooper

    Best for social learning, coaching and mentoring

  10. SAP Litmos

    Best learning management for higher education

What Is A Learning Management System?

Learning management systems (LMS) are derived from the eLearning trend popular in online grade school and post-secondary courses as well as in other training and certificate programs. LMS programs are designed to handle the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational and professional learning material.

LMS examples include tools for building educational courses, sharing and distributing courses, tracking user progress in courses, and providing feedback on popular topics and learning gaps for longtime users. LMS tools generally don’t include platforms intended for sharing notes and information about courses, such as Studocu.

What Are The Benefits Of A Learning Management System?

A cloud-based learning management system is fully online, meaning that courses can be completed remotely, which is great for modern technological work environments. Additionally, cloud-based LMS offers each student complex analytics and reporting that in-person learning can’t provide. You can track course completion, engagement, knowledge retention, knowledge gaps, and more. This makes the professional online learning experience more personal and adaptive.

What Do You Think About These LMS Platforms?

The best employees should be lifelong learners, and we as project managers can do a lot to foster a workplace that emphasizes itself as a learning environment. From onboarding to continuous training solutions and learning programs, your team looks to you for guidance when it comes to career development.

Luckily, on-demand learning materials (cloud-based and on-premise) can help you personalize training content in your organization using an eLearning platform.

What learning platform have you used while taking an online learning program, and what did you think of it?

What is your preferred SaaS for online training and blended learning, and why? Is there a corporate LMS that you think should be added to this list? Let me know in the comments.

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By Ben Aston

I’m Ben Aston, a digital project manager and founder of thedpm.com. I've been in the industry for more than 20 years working in the UK at London’s top digital agencies including Dare, Wunderman, Lowe and DDB. I’ve delivered everything from film to CMS', games to advertising and eCRM to eCommerce sites. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across a wide range of great clients; automotive brands including Land Rover, Volkswagen and Honda; Utility brands including BT, British Gas and Exxon, FMCG brands such as Unilever, and consumer electronics brands including Sony. Ben's a Certified Scrum Master, PRINCE2 Practitioner and productivity nut.

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1 Comment

  • Great list Ben and good food for thought. I'd remind readers though, that the best LMS is the one which meets your specific requirements! Take them for a spin and try them out once you've got your short list. Cheers

    Reply