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Education · head to head

Blackboard vs Degreed

Blackboard logo

Blackboard

Education

Comprehensive learning platform for educational institutions

From
$10/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Degreed logo

Degreed

LMS

Learning experience platform that indexes skills and third-party content rather than hosting courses

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Blackboard user interface is outdated, cluttered, and unintuitive with hidden menus and excessive clicks; Degreed pricing is entirely quote-based with no public rate card, and third parties report annual floors around 25,000 USD and licence minimums as high as 150 seats, so a mid-sized organisation frequently cannot buy it at any sensible price.
  • They diverge on capability: Blackboard covers Course management, Degreed covers Content aggregation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Blackboard and Degreed actually diverge.

Attributes where Blackboard and Degreed differ
AttributeBlackboardDegreed
Starting price$10/yearOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryEducationLMS
Founded1997Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Blackboard

  • Course management
  • Assessment tools
  • Discussion boards
  • Virtual classroom
  • Gradebook
  • Mobile app
  • Analytics
  • Accessibility

Only in Degreed

  • Content aggregation
  • Skills framework
  • Pathways and plans
  • Skill gap analytics
  • Career mobility
  • Learning records
  • Academies
  • Integrations with content providers

What people use each for

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

Blackboard

  • Course deliverynot Degreed
  • Student engagementnot Degreed
  • Assessmentnot Degreed
  • Virtual learningnot Degreed

Degreed

  • A large enterprise that already spends heavily on Coursera and LinkedIn Learning and cannot tell which of it is used or usefulnot Blackboard
  • An organisation planning a workforce transition and needing a defensible view of which skills exist internally before it hires externallynot Blackboard
  • A company running compliance training in an LMS that wants a separate, voluntary development experience employees actually choose to opennot Blackboard
  • A group building internal mobility, matching people to open roles and stretch projects on evidenced skills rather than job titlesnot Blackboard

Where each one falls short

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

Blackboard

  • User interface is outdated, cluttered, and unintuitive with hidden menus and excessive clicks
  • Slow response times and platform crashes when opening multiple tabs simultaneously
  • Cannot track detailed student activity beyond most recent login information
  • Limited ability to handle large file uploads for content and assignments
  • Minimal customization options for page and template design

Degreed

  • Pricing is entirely quote-based with no public rate card, and third parties report annual floors around 25,000 USD and licence minimums as high as 150 seats, so a mid-sized organisation frequently cannot buy it at any sensible price.
  • Degreed is a layer, not a replacement: you keep paying for the learning management system that runs compliance training and for the content subscriptions it indexes, so the licence is a third line on top of two you already have.
  • The skills data leans heavily on employee self-assessment, and self-rated skill is a weak signal; if managers do not validate ratings consistently the workforce capability picture that justified the purchase is not reliable enough to make hiring or redeployment decisions on.
  • Adoption is voluntary in most deployments, so unless the organisation ties learning to something consequential, usage decays after the launch campaign and the platform becomes an expensive search box.
  • Integrations with content providers vary in depth: some surface full metadata and completion write-back while others index only titles, so the unified record of learning the business case assumed can be patchy in exactly the sources employees use most.

Pricing, plan by plan

Blackboard

$10/year

No published plan breakdown. See the Blackboard review.

Degreed

On request
  • Degreed for Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Content aggregation across internal and third-party sources
    • Skills framework and gap analytics
    • Pathways, plans and academies
  • Degreed Free (individual)Free
    • Personal learning profile
    • Track learning from any source
    • For individuals rather than organisations

Which should you pick?

Choose Blackboard if

  • You need course management.
  • You also want assessment tools.
Blackboard review

Choose Degreed if

  • You need content aggregation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want skills framework.
Degreed review

Questions people ask

Is Blackboard or Degreed better?
Neither clearly leads. Blackboard starts at $10/year and Degreed at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Blackboard or Degreed?
Blackboard starts at $10/year and Degreed at On request.
Does Blackboard or Degreed run on more platforms?
Blackboard runs on Web. Degreed runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Blackboard best used for?
Blackboard is most often used for course delivery, student engagement, assessment, virtual learning. Of those, course delivery and student engagement are not what Degreed is typically brought in for.
What can Blackboard do that Degreed cannot?
Blackboard covers Course management, Assessment tools, Discussion boards, Virtual classroom. Degreed covers Content aggregation, Skills framework, Pathways and plans, Skill gap analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Blackboard: What does Blackboard LMS offer?

Blackboard is a learning management system that includes course management, assignment and gradebook tools, discussion forums, and analytics for tracking learner progress in online, hybrid, and in-person courses.

Source
Degreed: Does Degreed replace our LMS?

No. It is a discovery and skills layer over content. Compliance training, assignment and certification records generally stay in the LMS, and you pay for both.

Degreed: What does Degreed cost?

It is quote-only. Third-party reports put annual floors around 25,000 USD with licence minimums that can reach 150 seats.

Degreed: Is the skills data trustworthy?

Only as far as your validation process is. It is built on self-assessment plus peer endorsement, so without manager validation it should not drive redeployment decisions.

Degreed: Can individuals use it free?

Yes, Degreed offers a free personal profile for tracking your own learning, separate from the enterprise product.

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