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LMS · head to head

Absorb LMS vs Claroline

Absorb LMS logo

Absorb LMS

LMS

Enterprise LMS for measurable business impact

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Claroline logo

Claroline

LMS

Open source French-language learning platform, now developed as Claroline Connect

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Claroline has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Absorb LMS pricing not transparently listed on website; Claroline two products share the name and the abandoned original, last released in December 2021, dominates search results, so institutions regularly install unmaintained software believing it is current.
  • They diverge on capability: Absorb LMS covers Course management, Claroline covers Workspaces.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Absorb LMS and Claroline actually diverge.

Attributes where Absorb LMS and Claroline differ
AttributeAbsorb LMSClaroline
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Cloud-basedWeb, Linux
Founded2003Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (LMS).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Absorb LMS

  • Course management
  • AI-powered learning
  • Compliance tracking
  • Mobile learning
  • E-commerce
  • Reporting
  • Gamification
  • Social learning

Only in Claroline

  • Workspaces
  • Resource model
  • Learning paths
  • Quizzes and evaluation
  • Competency framework
  • Planning and events
  • Self-hosting
  • SaaS option

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Absorb LMS

  • Employee onboarding and professional developmentnot Claroline
  • Compliance training with automated updatesnot Claroline
  • Customer education and product trainingnot Claroline
  • Partner enablement and sales trainingnot Claroline

Claroline

  • A French or Belgian training organisation that needs a francophone platform where the interface and support are French-first rather than translated.not Absorb LMS
  • A public body required to keep learner data on European infrastructure under an open licence it can audit.not Absorb LMS
  • A training provider assembling learning paths from a shared library of reusable resources across many client workspaces rather than duplicating courses.not Absorb LMS
  • An institution already running the abandoned Claroline 13 line that needs to plan a migration onto the maintained Connect codebase before its dependencies become unsupportable.not Absorb LMS

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Absorb LMS

  • Pricing not transparently listed on website
  • Requires implementation and setup time

Claroline

  • Two products share the name and the abandoned original, last released in December 2021, dominates search results, so institutions regularly install unmaintained software believing it is current.
  • The community is small compared with Moodle, so plugin choice, third-party integrations and the pool of people who can administer it in production are all thin.
  • Documentation and community discussion are French-first and English coverage is partial and inconsistent, which raises the effort for any non-francophone team.
  • The commercial hosting is offered by a small operator rather than a large partner network, so an institution depending on paid support has concentrated supplier risk.
  • The workspace and resource model is different enough from a conventional course-based LMS that staff moving from Moodle or Canvas have to relearn how content is organised, and migrations do not map cleanly.

Pricing, plan by plan

Absorb LMS

On request
  • Core$undefined/month
    • Course management
    • Reporting
    • Mobile app
  • Professional$undefined/month
    • All Core
    • E-commerce
    • Custom branding
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • All Professional
    • AI features
    • SSO

Claroline

Free
  • Claroline ConnectFree
    • GPL licence, no fee
    • Full source on GitHub
    • You provide Symfony and PHP hosting and operations
  • Hosted distribution$undefined/year
    • Managed hosting, maintenance and updates
    • Support from the commercial operator
    • Quoted by user count

Which should you pick?

Choose Absorb LMS if

  • You need course management.
  • You work on Web, Cloud-based.
  • You also want ai-powered learning.
Absorb LMS review

Choose Claroline if

  • You need workspaces.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want resource model.
Claroline review

Questions people ask

Is Absorb LMS or Claroline better?
Neither clearly leads. Absorb LMS starts at On request and Claroline at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Absorb LMS or Claroline?
Claroline has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Absorb LMS and Free for Claroline.
Does Absorb LMS or Claroline run on more platforms?
Absorb LMS runs on Web, Cloud-based. Claroline runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Claroline for free?
Yes. Claroline has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Absorb LMS starts at On request.
What is Absorb LMS best used for?
Absorb LMS is most often used for employee onboarding and professional development, compliance training with automated updates, customer education and product training, partner enablement and sales training. Of those, employee onboarding and professional development and compliance training with automated updates are not what Claroline is typically brought in for.
What can Absorb LMS do that Claroline cannot?
Absorb LMS covers Course management, AI-powered learning, Compliance tracking, Mobile learning. Claroline covers Workspaces, Resource model, Learning paths, Quizzes and evaluation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Absorb LMS: How is Absorb LMS pricing calculated?

Pricing is based on the number of learners, with eight tiers: 1-50, 51-150, 151-250, 251-500, 501-1,000, 1,001-5,000, 5,001-25,000, and 25,000+. Exact pricing requires completing their inquiry form.

Source
Claroline: Which Claroline should I install?

Claroline Connect, the Symfony and React codebase currently on version 15. The original PHP Claroline stopped at 13.1.3 in December 2021 and should not be deployed.

Absorb LMS: Is a free trial available?

Yes. Absorb LMS offers a free trial option, though trial duration and feature restrictions are not specified on the main pages reviewed.

Source
Claroline: Is it still maintained?

Yes. Point releases in the 15.0 line continued into 2026 with active commits on GitHub.

Absorb LMS: What payment methods and currencies does Absorb LMS support?

Absorb LMS supports 70 payment gateways and multiple currencies, allowing flexible payment and international transactions.

Source
Claroline: Is it free?

The software is GPL and free. Hosted distribution with maintenance and support is a paid service from the commercial operator.

Absorb LMS: Can I integrate Absorb LMS with other systems?

Yes. Absorb LMS integrates with 40+ systems, allowing connections to existing business tools and workflows.

Source
Claroline: Does it work in English?

The interface has English, but documentation and community support are French-first, so a non-francophone team will hit gaps.

Absorb LMS: What courses are included with Absorb LMS?

Absorb LMS includes access to 20,000+ pre-built courses and 12,000+ job skills in its platform, plus AI-powered tools for creating additional content.

Source
Claroline: How big is the ecosystem compared to Moodle?

Much smaller. If you need a wide plugin market or an easy administrator hiring pool, Moodle is the safer open source choice.

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