LMS · head to head
Chamilo vs Claroline
Chamilo
LMS
Open source learning management system with no licence fee and a Latin American and francophone user base
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Claroline
LMS
Open source French-language learning platform, now developed as Claroline Connect
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Chamilo version 3.0 has been in beta since 2024 while production deployments stay on the 1.11 branch, so anyone planning a multi-year deployment is choosing between an ageing stable line and an unfinished rewrite.; 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: Chamilo covers Course and learning paths, Claroline covers Workspaces.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Chamilo and Claroline actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), 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 Chamilo
- Course and learning paths
- Assessments
- Gradebook and certificates
- Attendance tracking
- Sessions and multi-tenancy
- Wide interface translation
- Plugins
- Low hosting requirements
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.
Chamilo
- A Latin American university that needs an LMS with no per-student licence fee and Spanish-language support from people in a compatible time zonenot Claroline
- A ministry or NGO delivering vocational training over poor connectivity, where a lightweight PHP application on cheap hosting beats a heavyweight platformnot Claroline
- A francophone institution in West Africa or Belgium where French interface and documentation quality decides adoption more than feature countnot Claroline
- An organisation that requires the LMS to run entirely on its own infrastructure with no data leaving the countrynot 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 Chamilo
- A public body required to keep learner data on European infrastructure under an open licence it can audit.not Chamilo
- A training provider assembling learning paths from a shared library of reusable resources across many client workspaces rather than duplicating courses.not Chamilo
- 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 Chamilo
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Chamilo
- Version 3.0 has been in beta since 2024 while production deployments stay on the 1.11 branch, so anyone planning a multi-year deployment is choosing between an ageing stable line and an unfinished rewrite.
- Governance moved to BeezNest Belgium, a commercial company that also sells Chamilo hosting and services, which concentrates roadmap decisions in a vendor with a direct commercial interest in the support market.
- The English-language community and documentation are noticeably thinner than the Spanish and French, so an anglophone institution will find fewer answers, fewer contributors and fewer consultants than the project size implies.
- No licence fee is not no cost: hosting, upgrades, security patching, backups and integration work all fall on the institution or a paid partner, and that ongoing labour usually exceeds what a small institution would have paid for a hosted commercial LMS.
- The third-party plugin ecosystem is small compared with Moodle, so integrations with proctoring, publisher content and student information systems often have to be commissioned rather than installed.
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
Chamilo
Free- Self-hostedFree
- GNU GPL licence, no per-learner fee
- Full source code
- Community support in Spanish, French and English
- Hosting and support from partners$undefined/year
- Managed hosting, upgrades and support sold by BeezNest and other official providers
- Priced per deployment, quoted
Claroline
Free- Claroline ConnectFree
- GPL licence, no fee
- Full source on GitHub
- You provide Symfony and PHP hosting and operations
- Hosted distribution$undefined/year
- Managed hosting, maintenance and updates
- Support from the commercial operator
- Quoted by user count
Which should you pick?
Choose Chamilo if
- You need course and learning paths.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Self-hosted, Linux.
- You also want assessments.
Choose Claroline if
- You need workspaces.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Linux.
- You also want resource model.
Questions people ask
- Is Chamilo or Claroline better?
- Neither clearly leads. Chamilo starts at Free and Claroline at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Chamilo or Claroline?
- Chamilo starts at Free and Claroline at Free.
- Does Chamilo or Claroline run on more platforms?
- Chamilo runs on Web, Self-hosted, Linux. Claroline runs on Web, Linux.
- Can I use Chamilo for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Chamilo best used for?
- Chamilo is most often used for a latin american university that needs an lms with no per-student licence fee and spanish-language support from people in a compatible time zone, a ministry or ngo delivering vocational training over poor connectivity, where a lightweight php application on cheap hosting beats a heavyweight platform, a francophone institution in west africa or belgium where french interface and documentation quality decides adoption more than feature count, an organisation that requires the lms to run entirely on its own infrastructure with no data leaving the country. Of those, a latin american university that needs an lms with no per-student licence fee and spanish-language support from people in a compatible time zone and a ministry or ngo delivering vocational training over poor connectivity, where a lightweight php application on cheap hosting beats a heavyweight platform are not what Claroline is typically brought in for.
- What can Chamilo do that Claroline cannot?
- Chamilo covers Course and learning paths, Assessments, Gradebook and certificates, Attendance tracking. Claroline covers Workspaces, Resource model, Learning paths, Quizzes and evaluation.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Chamilo: Who owns and maintains Chamilo now?
The project has been governed by BeezNest Belgium since January 2026. The code remains under the GNU GPL, but roadmap stewardship sits with a commercial company that also sells Chamilo services.
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.
Chamilo: Is Chamilo 3 ready for production?
No. The 3.0 line has been in beta since 2024 and production installations remain on the 1.11 branch. Plan on 1.11 and treat the 3.0 migration as a future project.
Claroline: Is it still maintained?
Yes. Point releases in the 15.0 line continued into 2026 with active commits on GitHub.
Chamilo: Is there a licence fee?
No. Chamilo is GPL software with no per-learner charge. Costs are hosting, support and whatever integration work you commission.
Claroline: Is it free?
The software is GPL and free. Hosted distribution with maintenance and support is a paid service from the commercial operator.
Chamilo: Where is it strongest?
Spanish-speaking Latin America, Spain, francophone West Africa and Belgium. Support and documentation quality in Spanish and French exceed the English.
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.
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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