Best Learning Management Software

Sakai is a free, open-source learning management system built by and for educators, used mainly by colleges, universities, and other academic institutions. It provides tools for course content with conditional release, tests and quizzes, a rubric-based gradebook, assignments, discussion boards, and group collaboration, along with an extensive API and IMS LTI support for connecting third-party tools like Kaltura and Turnitin.

Sakai carries no vendor license fee: institutions can download, self-host, and modify the source code at no cost under its open-source license. The Apereo Foundation stewards the project, and commercial affiliates such as Longsight offer optional paid hosting, implementation, and support services for institutions that prefer a managed deployment instead of running their own servers.

Skilljar is an external learning management system built for training customers, partners, and channel audiences outside an organization. It offers a customizable branded academy with single sign-on, a low-code page builder, completion certificates with LinkedIn and Credly integration, and monetization options such as subscriptions and a la carte course sales. Native integrations connect it to Salesforce, Gainsight, Zoom, and Zendesk.

Skilljar prices its product through annual Essentials, Professional, and Enterprise plans combined with a fee based on active users per year, and does not list exact figures publicly or offer a free trial or free plan. Add-ons such as content syndication and additional language packs are priced separately. Skilljar is owned by Gainsight.

Adobe Learning Manager is a cloud-based learning management system built for enterprise employee training, partner enablement, and customer education. It combines classroom, virtual, and self-paced learning into blended courses, and includes AI-powered content recommendations, behavior-based gamification with points and leaderboards, social learning boards, and support for SCORM, AICC, and xAPI content. It connects to systems such as Salesforce and Workday.

Adobe does not publish fixed prices. It licenses the product through a registered-user model, for a fixed number of learners with continuous access, or a monthly-active-user model for on-demand access, with volume discounts for 500 or more learners. Prospective customers must request a customized quote directly from Adobe's sales team.

Tovuti LMS is a cloud-based learning management system for creating, delivering, and tracking training programs. It includes native AI course authoring, learning paths, over 40 gamification elements, real-time reporting dashboards, and support for SCORM and xAPI content standards. Organizations in government, healthcare, manufacturing, and nonprofit sectors use it for employee onboarding, compliance training, and customer or partner education.

Tovuti is sold as a single all-inclusive platform rather than tiered feature plans, with list pricing starting at 7,500 US dollars per year for the first 100 learners and scaling with additional users. Multi-year, nonprofit, government, and education discounts are available, and optional add-ons include managed LMS-as-a-Service and an AI authoring tool.

Teachable is a platform for creating and selling online courses, coaching programs, memberships, and digital downloads. It provides a drag-and-drop course builder, video hosting with automatic subtitles, AI tools for course and quiz creation, and built-in payment processing with support for over 35 local payment methods. The platform is used by independent creators, coaches, and businesses to package expertise into paid digital products.

Teachable is owned by Hotmart and charges a monthly or annual subscription fee starting with the Starter plan, which carries a 7.5 percent transaction fee that is removed on higher tiers. Every paid plan includes a 7 day free trial. Enterprise pricing is billed per user with an annual minimum spend.

Thinkific is a course creation and online learning platform built by Thinkific Labs, a company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It lets entrepreneurs, educators, and businesses build and sell online courses, communities, and memberships using a drag-and-drop course builder, along with AI-assisted content tools and a built-in AI teaching assistant. The platform hosts sites directly and includes commerce tools such as checkout, subscriptions, payment plans, and multi-currency support, so creators do not need separate hosting or payment infrastructure.

Plans range from Basic through Grow, plus a custom-priced Plus tier for larger organizations with unlimited communities and API access. All plans include unlimited courses and students, zero Thinkific transaction fees, and a 30-day free trial, though there is no permanent free plan. Thinkific integrates with Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Analytics, and supports SCORM content import.

D2L Brightspace is a learning management system built by D2L, an education technology company headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It serves higher education institutions, K-12 school districts, corporate training teams, associations, and government agencies, with more than 1,400 customers and over 20 million learners worldwide. The core Brightspace platform can be extended with add-on packages including Creator+ for interactive course authoring, Performance+ for learning analytics, Achievement+ for outcomes reporting, and D2L Lumi for AI-assisted learning support.

Features include customizable dashboards, standards and skills mapping, automated workflows, and tools for group assignments and multi-evaluator grading. Brightspace integrates with campus systems and third-party edtech tools through LTI 1.1 and 1.3 standards and a REST based Valence API. Pricing is not published and is quoted individually based on learner count and modules selected; a 30-day free trial is available.

iSpring Learn, now also marketed as iSpring LMS, is a cloud-based learning management system built by iSpring Solutions, an eLearning software company headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. It is designed for corporate training, covering employee onboarding, compliance training, and skills development. The platform includes a built-in content library, automated reenrollment for recurring compliance courses, and employee competency profiles, and it supports SCORM courses built with the companion iSpring Suite authoring tool.

Pricing is based on active users, meaning customers pay only for learners who log in during a given month, with unlimited free registered seats. iSpring Learn integrates with Salesforce, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Exchange, BambooHR, and course marketplaces including Udemy and LinkedIn Learning. A 30-day free trial is available without a credit card, and the company reports over 60,000 customers worldwide.

Cornerstone Learning is a cloud-based learning management system from Cornerstone OnDemand, a workforce software company headquartered in Santa Monica, California. It helps organizations centralize training content, automate compliance tracking, and build role-based learning paths for employees, partners, and customers. The platform combines LMS and learning experience platform capabilities, including AI-driven course recommendations, skills mapping, and adaptive learning paths, in a single system used by large enterprises across industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and financial services.

The system supports mobile learning through iOS and Android apps with offline access, gamified and social learning features, and virtual reality training through Cornerstone Immerse. It integrates with enterprise systems such as Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, and Workday, and is available in 50 languages. Pricing is not published; organizations request a custom quote based on user count and modules selected.

SAP Litmos is a cloud based learning management system used for compliance, onboarding, and customer and partner training. It provides AI assisted content creation, ready-to-deploy course libraries, and role based learning paths so organizations can build structured training programs quickly. Litmos is part of SAP following SAP's acquisition of the company, and serves organizations across regulated industries that need audit ready compliance tracking.

The platform supports unlimited custom brands with their own logo, colors, and custom CSS for white labeled learner portals, plus gamification through badges and points. Litmos integrates with systems including Salesforce, Workday, ADP, BambooHR, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom, and offers an API for custom workflows. A native mobile app supports 37 languages and adjusts automatically to each learner's preferred language, with a 14-day free trial available and no credit card required.