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LMS · head to head

Claroline vs Lessonly

Claroline logo

Claroline

LMS

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lessonly logo

Lessonly

Customer Success

Training Software for Teams

From
$300/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Claroline has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Lessonly lessonly is now marketed as Lessonly by Seismic, and its former pricing page redirects to a demo request with no plan prices shown, gating cost behind a sales conversation
  • They diverge on capability: Claroline covers Workspaces, Lessonly covers Lesson builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Claroline and Lessonly actually diverge.

Attributes where Claroline and Lessonly differ
AttributeClarolineLessonly
Starting priceFree$300/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, LinuxWeb
CategoryLMSCustomer Success
FoundedUnknown2012

Identical on both: 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
  • Quizzes and evaluation
  • Competency framework
  • Planning and events
  • Self-hosting
  • SaaS option

Only in Lessonly

  • Lesson builder
  • Practice scenarios
  • Performance tracking
  • Coaching
  • Salesforce
  • Slack
  • Zendesk
  • Intercom

Both cover

  • Learning paths

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 Lessonly
  • A public body required to keep learner data on European infrastructure under an open licence it can audit.not Lessonly
  • A training provider assembling learning paths from a shared library of reusable resources across many client workspaces rather than duplicating courses.not Lessonly
  • 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 Lessonly

Lessonly

  • Sales enablement teams wanting Seismic's training and coaching platform, willing to go through a demo for pricingnot 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.

Lessonly

  • Lessonly is now marketed as Lessonly by Seismic, and its former pricing page redirects to a demo request with no plan prices shown, gating cost behind a sales conversation

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

Lessonly

$300/month
  • Starter$300/month
    • Lesson builder
    • Practice
    • Basic analytics
  • Pro$600/month
    • Advanced reporting
    • Integrations
    • Coaching

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 Lessonly if

  • You need lesson builder.
  • You also want practice scenarios.
Lessonly review

Questions people ask

Is Claroline or Lessonly better?
Neither clearly leads. Claroline starts at Free and Lessonly at $300/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Claroline or Lessonly?
Claroline has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Claroline and $300/month for Lessonly.
Does Claroline or Lessonly run on more platforms?
Claroline runs on Web, Linux. Lessonly runs on Web.
Can I use Claroline for free?
Yes. Claroline has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lessonly starts at $300/month.
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 Lessonly is typically brought in for.
What can Claroline do that Lessonly cannot?
Claroline covers Workspaces, Resource model, Quizzes and evaluation, Competency framework. Lessonly covers Lesson builder, Practice scenarios, Performance tracking, Coaching. Both handle Learning paths.

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.

Lessonly: Does Lessonly have published pricing?

No. Lessonly (now part of Seismic Learning & Coaching) does not display pricing on their website. Customers must request a demo or contact the sales team to receive pricing details.

Source
Claroline: Is it still maintained?

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

Claroline: Is it free?

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

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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