LMS · alternatives
Alternatives to Canvas
22 lms tools sit alongside Canvas in this directory. Below is what separates each from Canvas on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 7
- Cheaper to start
- 2
- Canvas starts at
- $5/student-year
Why people look past Canvas
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Canvas entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for Canvas carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 7 of the 22 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Open-source LMS designed by educators for educators
- Can be used without paying; Canvas cannot.
- Starts $195 a year dearer, at $200/year.
Comprehensive learning platform for educational institutions
- Starts $5 a year dearer, at $10/year.
LMS that connects learning with the bigger picture
- Can be used without paying; Canvas cannot.
Asynchronous training video with AI avatars, quizzes and a searchable knowledge library
- Can be used without paying; Canvas cannot.
- Starts $19 a month dearer, at $24/month.
Open source French-language learning platform, now developed as Claroline Connect
- Can be used without paying; Canvas cannot.
- Starts $5 a month cheaper, at Free.
Open source learning management system with no licence fee and a Latin American and francophone user base
- Can be used without paying; Canvas cannot.
Every Canvas alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canvas (this page) | $5/student-year | - | - | |
| MoodleOpen-source LMS with flexible, self-hosted deployment for institutions preferring maximum control | Free, then $200/year | - | 2 | vs Canvas |
| BlackboardEnterprise-grade LMS with extensive integrations and traditional interface familiar to large institutions | $10/year | - | - | vs Canvas |
| SchoologyK-12 focused LMS with intuitive interface and mobile-first design similar to Canvas | Free | Subscription | 2 | vs Canvas |
| Weet | Free, then $24/month | Per creator per month | 2 | vs Canvas |
| Claroline | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Canvas |
| Chamilo | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Canvas |
| Sakai | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Canvas |
| Nearpod | Free, then $159/year | - | 3 | vs Canvas |
| Degreed | On request | Quote | 2 | vs Canvas |
| Skilljar | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| Sana | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| Echo360 | On request | Quote | 4 | vs Canvas |
| Schoox | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| Thought Industries | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| Tovuti LMS | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| Whatfix | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| Totara | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| LearnDash | $199/year | Per site per year | 3 | vs Canvas |
| CYPHER Learning | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| LearnUpon | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Canvas |
| LinkedIn Learning | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Canvas |
| Docebo | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Canvas |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Canvas badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
What you would be giving up
Canvas is most often brought in for online courses, blended learning, course management, student assessment. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Canvas is broadly right and the question is cost, the Canvas pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the LMS category lists everything the directory holds, and best lms tools ranks them.
Canvas runs on web, ios, android. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Canvas alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Canvas?
- 22 other lms tools are listed in this directory, led by Moodle, Blackboard, Schoology, Weet. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Canvas?
- 7 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Moodle, Schoology, Weet, Claroline, Chamilo.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Canvas?
- Yes. 2 of the alternatives below start under Canvas's $5/student-year: Claroline at Free, Sakai at Free.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Canvas?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Canvas?
- Canvas is most often brought in for online courses, blended learning, course management, student assessment. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Canvas?
- None of the lms tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Canvas alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, LMS, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Canvas against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Canvas covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every lms tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the LMS category, 22 tools beside Canvas. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.