Best Learning Management Systems (LMS) Of 2024 (2024)

Learning management systems, or LMS, are software platforms designed to manage, distribute and track employee training. They are often used in corporate settings to deliver online courses and track employee progress. However, they can also be used in other ways, such as to provide compliance training or customer education.

There are hundreds of LMS to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Forbes Advisor analyzed the best LMS options for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), so you don’t have to.

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• CYPHER Learning: Best for ease of use
• TalentLMS: Best for small businesses
• Absorb: Best for enterprise businesses
• iSpring: Best for quick support
• Docebo: Best for corporations
• D2L Brightspace LMS: Best for educators
• Blackboard Learn LMS: Best for higher education institutions
• Canvas LMS: Best for Ivy League schools
• Moodle LMS: Best open-source platform

The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, first-person testing, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content to guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.

Our team analyzed 14 learning management systems with 25 factors such as real-time reporting, certification and licensing options, gamification, course monetization features and whether or not it had a free app to organize this list of the 10 best LMS. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

An LMS is a software application or web-based technology that is used to design, deliver and evaluate a learning process. It’s an all-inclusive platform designed to empower various educational and corporate organizations to facilitate learning.

Here are some key features and insights about LMS:

• Content delivery: An LMS provides a central place for instructors or administrators to create and deliver content, and for learners to access it, usually anytime and anywhere. This content can take the form of text, video, audio and interactive content, among others.
• Student management and interaction: LMS systems often provide ways for learners to interact with each other and their instructors. This can be through discussion boards, chat and other collaborative tools. They also manage learners by tracking their progress and performance, and providing feedback.
• Assessment and reporting: LMS can be equipped with tools to create online quizzes or tests, either as stand-alone assessments or integrated within the learning content. They also provide reporting features that enable the tracking and analysis of learner performance. This data can be used to tailor learning paths or improve course content.
• Integrations and standardization: Many LMSes are designed to integrate with other systems, such as human resources or school databases. They often support standards, such as SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) or xAPI (Experience API) to ensure compatibility with various types of content.
• Customization and personalization: LMSes allow customization of the learning process to meet individual or group needs, ensuring a more personalized and effective learning experience. They can adapt to a learner’s skills, pace and learning preferences, and offer personalized learning paths.
• Scalability: An LMS can scale to accommodate an increasing number of learners, which is especially valuable for growing organizations. It’s capable of handling large amounts of data and user accounts.
• E-commerce: Some LMSes offer e-commerce functionality, allowing institutions to sell their courses online to a wider audience.

LMSes have become particularly significant in both academic and corporate environments, enabling remote and flexible learning, lowering training costs and promoting a culture of continuous learning and development. They can be especially valuable for training in large businesses, higher education institutions or K-12 schools, and for delivering online courses to the general public.

When choosing a learning management system (LMS), it’s important to consider your needs and the needs of your learners. Here are some factors to keep in mind:

Essential LMS Features

The best LMS platforms offer a robust feature set that meets the needs of both businesses and learners. Here are some features to look for:

• Content creation and management: An efficient LMS should allow you to create, manage and distribute content effortlessly. It should also support different content formats including text, video and audio.
• Interactive learning tools: To enhance engagement, the LMS should offer interactive elements such as quizzes, surveys and discussion forums.
• Assessment and reporting: A good LMS should have the ability to conduct online assessments and generate comprehensive reports to monitor learner performance.
• Mobile learning: As learners often use mobile devices, the LMS should offer a mobile-compatible interface.
• Personalized learning paths: To cater to the unique needs of each learner, the LMS should support personalized learning paths, taking into account the individual’s skills and pace.
• E-commerce capabilities: If you intend to sell courses online, look for an LMS that comes with built-in e-commerce functionality.

Support and Ease of Use

Customer service should be a priority when choosing an LMS. You need to ensure that you can receive assistance whenever necessary, particularly in the education sector where you’ve got learners who might run into issues accessing modules after business hours. The ideal LMS should be simple to navigate and demand minimal training. The design should be logical and straightforward, which helps to make the learning experience enjoyable and efficient.

Scalability and Integrations

A sound LMS platform should adapt as your learning program expands. Ensure the platform you choose can manage increasing user loads and content volumes without compromising on performance. Additionally, your LMS should be compatible with other systems such as human resources databases or school management systems. This flexibility allows for streamlined information sharing and improved functionality.

LMS costs differ depending on various factors such as organization size, feature requirements, customization, deployment type and customer support services.

Here are the factors that typically influence the pricing:

• Number of users: Many LMS providers charge based on the number of active users or learners. As the number of users grows, your costs will often grow, too.
• Features: Advanced features such as personalized learning paths, advanced reporting, mobile learning, e-commerce capabilities and others may drive up the cost of an LMS.
• Customization: Customizing an LMS to align it with your organization’s branding, workflows and integrations may increase the cost.
• Deployment type: Generally, cloud-based or SaaS LMS are less expensive upfront than self-hosted LMS because they don’t require dedicated hardware. With more users, the long-term costs can increase significantly.
• Support and training: If you require extensive support, training for your staff or premium support options such as dedicated account managers, the cost of the LMS may increase.

There are free LMS options, though this isn’t common. You can expect to pay a fee per user, typically a few dollars per month. You can usually save money by paying annually, or if you have a large number of users, contacting its sales team can sometimes result in bulk pricing.

To identify the best learning management systems (LMS), we utilized a rigorous methodology that involved evaluating a variety of LMS against a weighted set of categories. Each LMS was assigned a score in each category, and these scores were then used to calculate a product’s total score, with a possible maximum score of five stars.

• Pricing (5%): This category, which accounts for 5% of the total score, focused on the cost of each LMS. We considered the starting price, the cost of the highest tier and whether the platform offered a free trial or a free version.
• General features (25%): This category involved an evaluation of several key features commonly expected of an effective LMS. We assessed each system for its course customization capabilities, real-time reporting, academic/education and corporate/business features, certification and licensing provisions, and the quality of the student/employee portal. This category contributed to 25% of a product’s total score.
• Additional features (20%): Accounting for 20% of the total score, this category examined an LMS for its gamification features, the availability of a resource library, e-signature capabilities, course monetization features and mobile app availability. Each feature was scored on its inclusion and effectiveness.
• Reviews and recognition (10%): This section, contributing 10% to the total score, involved a thorough analysis of user reviews and ratings on trusted platforms including the App Store, Google Play Store, G2 and Capterra. We specifically looked for products with an average app rating of 3.5 or higher and significant numbers of reviews on these platforms, highlighting the LMSes that users found reliable, effective and easy to use.
• Expert score (40%): The final category, accounting for 40% of a product’s total score, included our own expert evaluation. Here, we assessed each LMS for its features, value for money, popularity among users and ease of use. The aim of this category was to identify LMSes that offered something extra beyond the basics, whether that be innovative features, exceptional value or superior user experience.

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