Softwr

LMS · head to head

Claroline vs FireMonkey

Claroline logo

Claroline

LMS

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
FireMonkey logo

FireMonkey

Browser Extensions

User scripts and user styles in one Firefox extension

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; FireMonkey firefox only, and requires a recent one: version 93 on desktop, 113 on Android.
  • They diverge on capability: Claroline covers Workspaces, FireMonkey covers Scripts and styles together.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 15 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Claroline and FireMonkey actually diverge.

Attributes where Claroline and FireMonkey differ
AttributeClarolineFireMonkey
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeopen-source
PlatformsWeb, LinuxFirefox
CategoryLMSBrowser Extensions

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Claroline

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

Only in FireMonkey

  • Scripts and styles together
  • Monaco editor with ESLint
  • Unlimited client-side storage
  • Global injection
  • Notifications and clipboard
  • Firefox for Android

What people use each for

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

Claroline

  • A French or Belgian training organisation that needs a francophone platform where the interface and support are French-first rather than translated.not FireMonkey
  • A public body required to keep learner data on European infrastructure under an open licence it can audit.not FireMonkey
  • A training provider assembling learning paths from a shared library of reusable resources across many client workspaces rather than duplicating courses.not FireMonkey
  • 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 FireMonkey

FireMonkey

  • Running user scripts and user styles without two separate extensionsnot Claroline
  • Restyling sites with CSS alongside scripted behaviour changesnot Claroline
  • Editing scripts in a full editor inside the browsernot Claroline
  • Injecting CSS globally across every sitenot Claroline
  • Managing a mixed library of scripts and styles from one dashboardnot Claroline

Where each one falls short

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

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.

FireMonkey

  • Firefox only, and requires a recent one: version 93 on desktop, 113 on Android.
  • Not a drop-in replacement for Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey or Stylus. The project says so itself, so an existing library may need adjusting.
  • A much smaller user base than Tampermonkey or Violentmonkey, which means fewer people have hit the bug you are about to hit.
  • No Chrome, Edge or Safari build, so it cannot be the answer for anyone working across browsers.
  • Combining scripts and styles in one extension also combines the blast radius: one extension with permission to inject both into every page.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

FireMonkey

Free
  • Open sourceFree
    • MPL-2.0 licensed
    • Unlimited scripts and styles
    • No account required

Which should you pick?

Choose Claroline if

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

Choose FireMonkey if

  • You need scripts and styles together.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Firefox.
  • You also want monaco editor with eslint.
FireMonkey review

Questions people ask

Is Claroline or FireMonkey better?
Neither clearly leads. Claroline starts at Free and FireMonkey at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Claroline or FireMonkey?
Claroline starts at Free and FireMonkey at Free.
Does Claroline or FireMonkey run on more platforms?
Claroline runs on Web, Linux. FireMonkey runs on Firefox.
Can I use Claroline for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Claroline best used for?
Claroline is most often used for a french or belgian training organisation that needs a francophone platform where the interface and support are french-first rather than translated., a public body required to keep learner data on european infrastructure under an open licence it can audit., a training provider assembling learning paths from a shared library of reusable resources across many client workspaces rather than duplicating courses., 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.. Of those, a french or belgian training organisation that needs a francophone platform where the interface and support are french-first rather than translated. and a public body required to keep learner data on european infrastructure under an open licence it can audit. are not what FireMonkey is typically brought in for.
What can Claroline do that FireMonkey cannot?
Claroline covers Workspaces, Resource model, Learning paths, Quizzes and evaluation. FireMonkey covers Scripts and styles together, Monaco editor with ESLint, Unlimited client-side storage, Global injection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

FireMonkey: What makes FireMonkey different from Violentmonkey?

It manages user styles as well as user scripts. The usual arrangement is a script manager plus a separate style manager such as Stylus; FireMonkey replaces both with one extension.

Source
Claroline: Is it still maintained?

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

FireMonkey: Which browsers does FireMonkey support?

Firefox only. Desktop requires Firefox 93 or later and Android requires 113, with an API minimum of 102.

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.

FireMonkey: Is FireMonkey open source?

Yes, under the MPL-2.0 licence.

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.

FireMonkey: Will my existing Tampermonkey scripts work?

Not necessarily. The project states that while it shares functionality with Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and Stylus, there are differences, so scripts and styles written for those may need adjusting.

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.

FireMonkey: What editor does FireMonkey use?

Current versions use the Monaco editor with ESLint, the same editor component that powers VS Code.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Claroline

More on FireMonkey

Keep looking

Other head to heads