Softwr

HR · head to head

Achievers vs Totara

Achievers logo

Achievers

HR

Recognize and reward employee success

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Totara logo

Totara

LMS

Open source learning, performance and collaboration platform derived from Moodle and sold through partners

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Achievers pricing is not published and requires a demo; Totara you cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • They diverge on capability: Achievers covers Peer-to-peer recognition, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Achievers and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where Achievers and Totara differ
AttributeAchieversTotara
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, iOS, Android, Linux
CategoryHRLMS
Founded2002Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Achievers

  • Peer-to-peer recognition
  • Manager recognition
  • Points-based rewards
  • Marketplace rewards
  • Pulse surveys
  • Employee connections
  • Analytics dashboard
  • Values alignment

Only in Totara

  • Organisational hierarchies
  • Compliance and certification
  • Totara Perform
  • Totara Engage
  • Self-hosting
  • Programs and learning plans

What people use each for

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

Achievers

  • Employee recognitionnot Totara
  • Rewards programnot Totara
  • Engagement measurementnot Totara
  • Culture buildingnot Totara
  • Retention improvementnot Totara

Totara

  • Health services and government bodies that must evidence mandatory training by job role across a large hierarchynot Achievers
  • Organisations with data residency rules that require the platform to run on their own infrastructurenot Achievers
  • Moodle users who need appraisal, competency and compliance features the academic product does not carrynot Achievers
  • Buyers who want exit rights over the platform code rather than dependence on a single hosted vendornot Achievers

Where each one falls short

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

Achievers

  • Pricing is not published and requires a demo
  • Aimed at mid-market and enterprise organisations rather than small teams
  • Sold as separate named modules, Recognize, Reward and Celebrate, so a full programme means more than one line on the quote

Totara

  • You cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • Open source does not mean cheap. Subscription plus partner hosting plus implementation and version upgrade services commonly lands near commercial system cost, and the saving is in control and exit rights rather than in the invoice.
  • The administrative interface carries its Moodle lineage and is dense, so administrator training is a real project cost rather than an afterthought.
  • Major version upgrades are projects, especially where a partner has customised the deployment, and organisations that customise heavily find upgrades slower and dearer over time.
  • The learner facing experience is functional rather than engaging, and organisations wanting a consumer grade learning experience usually front it with something else.

Pricing, plan by plan

Achievers

On request
  • Recognize$undefined/month
    • Peer-to-peer recognition
    • Manager recognition
    • Points & rewards
  • Listen$undefined/month
    • Engagement surveys
    • Pulse surveys
    • Analytics
  • Connect$undefined/month
    • Employee connections
    • Interest groups
    • Events

Totara

On request
  • Totara subscription via partner$undefined/year
    • Sold only through distribution partners
    • Partner sets hosting, implementation and support pricing
    • Source available under the GPL, but subscription required for supported releases

Which should you pick?

Choose Achievers if

  • You need peer-to-peer recognition.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want manager recognition.
Achievers review

Choose Totara if

  • You need organisational hierarchies.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want compliance and certification.
Totara review

Questions people ask

Is Achievers or Totara better?
Neither clearly leads. Achievers starts at On request and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Achievers or Totara?
Achievers starts at On request and Totara at On request.
Does Achievers or Totara run on more platforms?
Achievers runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
What is Achievers best used for?
Achievers is most often used for employee recognition, rewards program, engagement measurement, culture building. Of those, employee recognition and rewards program are not what Totara is typically brought in for.
What can Achievers do that Totara cannot?
Achievers covers Peer-to-peer recognition, Manager recognition, Points-based rewards, Marketplace rewards. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Achievers: How much does Achievers cost?

Achievers uses custom pricing tailored to team size, priorities, and goals. The company states it provides clear, upfront pricing with no hidden fees, no shipping charges, and no surprise markups, but specific rates are not published and require requesting a quote.

Source
Totara: Is Totara free because it is open source?

No. The source is available under the GPL, but supported releases require a subscription, and it is sold through partners who add hosting, implementation and support costs.

Achievers: Does Achievers charge annual commitment or points?

Achievers explicitly states no annual points commitment is required. Fixed costs and financial reports show where budget goes, indicating predictable monthly or annual billing without variable point-based charges.

Source
Totara: How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is built around courses and academic delivery. Totara adds organisational hierarchies, role based automatic assignment, recurring certification and appraisal, which is what workplace compliance reporting needs.

Achievers: What features are included in Achievers subscription?

Every Achievers subscription includes custom-branded platform, mobile access, AI-powered newsfeed, 24/7 multilingual support, campaign templates, analytics, enterprise integrations, and SSO compatibility. Separate products available for Recognition and Reward Platform and Years of Service tracking.

Source
Totara: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Self hosting is a genuine option and is one of the main reasons regulated and public sector buyers choose it over a hosted only competitor.

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