Virtual training

The 12 best LMSs to look out for in 2024: a starter’s guide

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Dec 18, 2023 - 7 min read
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Introduction

Learning management systems (LMS) are platforms where you can create and share educational content with students. They’re designed to make the individual steps in training and education easier.

Using them has many advantages, such as the ability to offer classes virtually, robust performance analytics, and intuitive grading systems. Also, an LMS cuts costs associated with in-person training like travel, accommodation, etc.

For this reason, the LMS market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.1% to $37.9 billion in 2026.

However, one of the biggest challenges in training is finding the right tools and resources to facilitate an engaging learning experience.

Most learner sessions are passive—with no scope for actual interactions. Students spend too much time staring at a screen but not absorbing the information—leading to a waste of their time and your resources.

Moreover, nobody wants to use buggy software that just replays sessions or “loses” progress they worked so hard on.

That’s not the case anymore. There are many LMS platforms to choose from in the market, so to simplify this process, we’ve created a list of 12 tools to help you deliver software training successfully.

We’ve organized this list based on customer satisfaction scores across third-party review websites. The pros and cons of each tool and its deployment are listed below.

We’ve also included customer reviews in the recommendations. If there’s an LMS that helps you deliver student, employee, or customer training, you can find it in this list.

Let’s dive in.

Best learning management systems of 2024

#1: MATRIX LMS

MATRIX is one of the best cloud-based LMS for businesses. It delivers a great user experience while incorporating many of the essential tools companies need to support efficient training and learning.

It requires minimal technical knowledge, and users can choose goal-based learning paths (AI-powered). The e-commerce integration enables users to create and sell courses.

Pros:

  • Create learning paths based on goals
  • Easy to manage users and courses
  • Excellent design and experience
  • E-commerce features are available
  • Automation features

Cons:

  • Lacks transparent pricing
  • Slow support
  • Doesn’t integrate with hands-on labs

User rating: 9.0/10

Deployment: Cloud

#2: Skilljar*

Skilljar is an external LMS that is built for customer and partner education.

It enables the user to build courses, monetize training, design learning paths, and improve the customer experience through actionable analytics.

They focus on enterprise companies and enable buyers to become successful users through extensive product training. So, a customer can become a product adopter—not just a user.

Pros:

  • Excellent support system
  • Easy to use and edit courses as needed
  • Helpful and out-of-the-box integrations
  • Analytics page is easy to understand
  • *Integrates with CloudShare*

Cons:

  • Duplicate catalog pages and learning paths to the domain
  • Learning paths lack the functionality that standalone courses have
  • No preview or testing capabilities

User rating: 8.9/10

Deployment: Cloud

Integrate CloudShare with Skilljar: LTI LMS Integration

 

#3: D2L Brightspace

Brightspace offers flexible LMS software for schools, universities, and global corporations.

It has in-person and virtual training management systems—allowing users to track metrics irrespective of the learning mode.

Trainers can also offer certification programs through the software using a huge repository of courses. Moreover, the application provides personalized and scalable experiences too.

Pros:

  • Intuitive platform for students
  • Ability to personalize learning sessions
  • Institute-wide communication channel (Brightspace email)
  • Multiple configuration types
  • Offers hands-on lab training

Cons:

  • Hard to set up grading systems
  • Difficult to create modules using the in-built system
  • Documentation can be scanty

User rating: 8.8/10

Deployment: On-prem, Open API

#4: ProProfsLMS

ProProfs comes with a wide array of features, including creating quizzes, surveys, tests, and a knowledge base.

The system also has robust reporting tools that allow the user to track student progress and view performance data at a glance. No more sifting through dozens of graded reviews to find out which students are excelling or underperforming.

Pros:

  • Delivering time-bound training is easy
  • Good security configurations
  • Good support
  • User-friendly interface

Cons:

  • Limited number of templates
  • Bland user interface
  • Not responsive to different devices
  • Doesn’t integrate with hands-on labs

User rating: 8.5/10

Deployment: Cloud

#5: Docebo Learning Suite*

Docebo’s AI-based learning suite is a popular learning management system used by enterprises worldwide.

Users can create audience-specific pages and offer a personalized experience to their customers—supporting every stage of the customer lifecycle. It’s suited for companies that need to train their employees to support their upskilling efforts.

Pros:

  • User interface is clean and intuitive
  • It’s easy to use and navigate
  • Offers 400+ integrations
  • Ability to create curated learning paths
  • Comprehensive training reports
  • *Integrates with CloudShare*

Cons:

  • Price can be high for SMBs
  • Customer support needs to be more robust
  • Requires manual enrollment of users to paths
  • Latency within the platform

User rating: 8.4/10

Deployment: Cloud

Integrate CloudShare with Docebo: Docebo Setup

#6: TalentLMS

TalentLMS supports training success by offering multiple solutions like customer training, sales training, onboarding training, compliance training, and more.

Trainers can easily create their courses and share them across the organization or with external users.

It’s geared toward corporations with extensive training requirements and supports instructor-led and self-paced learning.

Pros:

  • Easy to use
  • Interactive user interface
  • Centralized location for training manuals
  • Good support and technical assistance

Cons:

  • Adding training content or other modifications can be difficult
  • Reporting is not as robust as needed
  • Limited templates and customization features
  • Doesn’t integrate with hands-on labs

User rating: 8.4/10

Deployment: Cloud

 

#7: Absorb

Absorb LMS is a learning management system that allows organizations to build and deliver training courses tailored to their employees’ needs.

Organizations can use the platform to create courses, manage training schedules and performance metrics, track employee progress and establish certification programs.

The software is targeted toward mid-sized and enterprise companies.

Pros:

  • User-friendly system
  • Ability to schedule activity reports to trainers
  • Reporting features are comprehensive
  • Excellent customer support

Cons:

  • Need to contact sales for enterprise pricing
  • No mobile app is available
  • Search functionality is not accurate
  • Difficult to track conversations internally
  • Doesn’t integrate with hands-on labs

User rating: 8.4/10

Deployment: Cloud

#8: SAP Litmos*

Litmos, owned by SAP, is an LMS software directed toward companies with training needs such as employee training, compliance training, and customer or partner training.

It consists of an LMS called SAP Litmos Training and a course library called SAP Litmos Training Content. Users can access courses in-person or online—based on their preferences.

Pros:

  • Ample storage is available
  • Easy to create and assign courses
  • Excellent administrative functions
  • Good reporting mechanism
  • *Integrates with CloudShare*

Cons:

  • Lack of a robust customization feature
  • Generation of reports has a steep learning curve
  • Difficult to make modifications (difficult to customize)
  • Lack of technical support

User rating: 8.4/10

Deployment: Cloud

Integrate CloudShare with SAP Litmos: LTI LMS Integration

#9: Cornerstone OnDemand*

Cornerstone is a talent management software and technology company that helps organizations modernize the learning and development experience.

They enable users to deliver relevant content from anywhere, accelerate talent and career mobility, and improve their skills.

It acts as a complete human resources technology software with a dedicated feature for learning and development.

Pros:

  • Available in multiple languages
  • Extensive reporting features
  • Ability to monitor employee learning
  •  

Cons:

  • Slow support
  • Lack of personalization
  • Steep learning curve
  • Pricing is on the higher end
  • Doesn’t integrate with hands-on labs

User rating: 8.2/10

Deployment: Cloud

#10: Moodle*

Moodle LMS is an open-source learning management system for teachers, students, and administrators.

It gives you the tools to create, deliver and manage flexible online experiences for learning and teaching that meet your learners’ needs.

Currently, the platform has over 343 million users and 43 million courses.

Pros:

  • Open source software
  • Easy to install and access on the server
  • Cost-effective for institutions
  • Customizable and flexible
  • *Integrates with CloudShare*

Cons:

  • Interface can be difficult to navigate
  • Reporting is not as robust
  • Limited number of integrations

User rating: 8.1/10

Deployment: Cloud, Open API

Integrate CloudShare with Moodle: LTI LMS Integration

#11: iSpring Learn

iSpring Learn automates corporate training and improves employee performance. Its goal is to enable users to launch eLearning in one day without training.

Administrators upload learning content, assign courses, and begin tracking learners’ progress to start training with the platform.

You can use the reporting features to see comprehensive breakdowns of performance statistics for users, groups, and organizations.

Pros:

  • Easy to set up courses on the platform
  • Reporting features are easy to use
  • Cost-effective solution
  • Training can be set up using any device

Cons:

  • No feature to tag content using specific keywords
  • No free option
  • No support on weekends
  • Doesn’t integrate with hands-on labs

User rating: 8.0/10

Deployment: Cloud

#12: Adobe Learning Manager

Adobe Learning Manager LMS was developed by Adobe Inc. It offers personalized learning at scale to employees, partners, and customers.

Previously known as Captivate Prime, it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide recommendations based on factors like learner history, skills, interests, peer activities, and more.

The AI powers the state-of-the-art gamification tools—keeping learners engaged and motivated for continuous learning. Adults need to be enticed too, and this feature gives them that.

Pros:

  • Ability to capture Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 data
  • Ability to make courses mandatory and monitor the same
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • It has offline access support
  • Guided workflow to author and publish content

Cons:

  • Lack of internal conferencing feature
  • Lack of robust reporting features
  • Lack of a useful knowledge base
  • Doesn’t integrate with hands-on labs

User rating: 7.7/10

Deployment: Cloud, Open API

Integrate your LMS with CloudShare

The choice of an LMS will truly depend on your needs as a professional. Some may be more geared toward helping students, while others may focus more on employees.

The best LMS for you depends on your needs and what you want your learners to achieve. While some may need a simple self-paced course, others might need a whole gamut of interactive quizzes and lectures.

It’s difficult to select a learning management system that meets all your criteria, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

With the help of this guide, you now have actionable information about the best learning management systems in the market today and how to pick one for your business.

Plus, your training sessions don’t have to be passive anymore. Integrate with our platform to offer a more lively, interactive, and engaging experience to every single learner.

CloudShare allows you to integrate your favorite LMS to offer your users consistent and engaging training experiences. Book a demo with us to find out more.