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LMS · head to head

Cornerstone OnDemand vs Sana

Cornerstone OnDemand logo

Cornerstone OnDemand

LMS

The Intelligence Platform for Workforce Readiness

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sana logo

Sana

LMS

AI-native learning and knowledge assistant, acquired by Workday in 2025

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cornerstone OnDemand no published pricing available; pricing varies by organization size and specific needs.; Sana workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025, so Sana is now an HCM vendor's capability; if you do not run Workday, the roadmap will be shaped around a platform you do not use and standalone availability is not guaranteed long term.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cornerstone OnDemand and Sana actually diverge.

Attributes where Cornerstone OnDemand and Sana differ
AttributeCornerstone OnDemandSana
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 Cornerstone OnDemand

Nothing recorded that Sana does not also cover.

Only in Sana

  • Sana Agents
  • Sana Learn
  • Enterprise search
  • Live collaborative sessions
  • Content generation
  • Permission-aware retrieval
  • Analytics
  • Workday integration

What people use each for

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

Cornerstone OnDemand

  • Reskilling workforces weeks faster with targeted learning pathsnot Sana
  • Ensuring compliance training completion across enterprise locationsnot Sana
  • Identifying and developing high-potential successor candidatesnot Sana
  • Onboarding seasonal and contract staff efficientlynot Sana

Sana

  • An organisation whose employees repeatedly ask the same policy and process questions in Slack and where the answer already exists in a document nobody findsnot Cornerstone OnDemand
  • A Workday customer wanting learning and an internal assistant on the same employee record rather than a separate LMS contractnot Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Onboarding at a fast-growing company where content goes stale faster than the training team can rewrite coursesnot Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Sales enablement where reps need an answer about a product or a contract term during a call, not a course to complete next weeknot Cornerstone OnDemand

Where each one falls short

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

Cornerstone OnDemand

  • No published pricing available; pricing varies by organization size and specific needs.
  • Cost estimation requires a personalized demo and direct sales consultation.

Sana

  • Workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025, so Sana is now an HCM vendor's capability; if you do not run Workday, the roadmap will be shaped around a platform you do not use and standalone availability is not guaranteed long term.
  • Answer quality depends entirely on the state of your internal content, so an organisation with contradictory or outdated documents gets a confident assistant citing the wrong version, which is worse than not having one.
  • Permission-aware retrieval across many source systems is difficult to get exactly right, and a misconfigured connector can surface content to employees who should not see it, which makes the security review substantial.
  • Compliance-heavy training needs, such as certification tracking, regulator-mandated evidence and SCORM-based external content, are handled less thoroughly than in traditional learning management systems built for that purpose.
  • Pricing is unpublished and now negotiated in the context of a Workday relationship, which reduces a non-Workday buyer's leverage and makes a like-for-like comparison against a standalone LMS difficult.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cornerstone OnDemand

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Cornerstone OnDemand review.

Sana

On request
  • Sana$undefined/year
    • Per-employee annual subscription
    • Agents and Learn licensed together or separately depending on the agreement
    • Connector scope affects pricing

Which should you pick?

Choose Cornerstone OnDemand if

Nothing in the data separates Cornerstone OnDemand from Sana on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Cornerstone OnDemand review

Choose Sana if

  • You need sana agents.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want sana learn.
Sana review

Questions people ask

Is Cornerstone OnDemand or Sana better?
Neither clearly leads. Cornerstone OnDemand starts at On request and Sana at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cornerstone OnDemand or Sana?
Cornerstone OnDemand starts at On request and Sana at On request.
Does Cornerstone OnDemand or Sana run on more platforms?
Cornerstone OnDemand runs on Web. Sana runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Cornerstone OnDemand best used for?
Cornerstone OnDemand is most often used for reskilling workforces weeks faster with targeted learning paths, ensuring compliance training completion across enterprise locations, identifying and developing high-potential successor candidates, onboarding seasonal and contract staff efficiently. Of those, reskilling workforces weeks faster with targeted learning paths and ensuring compliance training completion across enterprise locations are not what Sana is typically brought in for.
What can Cornerstone OnDemand do that Sana cannot?
Sana covers Sana Agents, Sana Learn, Enterprise search, Live collaborative sessions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cornerstone OnDemand: How much does Cornerstone OnDemand cost?

Cornerstone OnDemand does not publish pricing online. Each organization receives custom pricing based on company size and specific requirements. Contact Cornerstone OnDemand to request a personalized demo and pricing estimate.

Source
Sana: Is Sana still an independent company?

No. Workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025 for approximately $1.1bn; the integrated experience begins rolling out in 2026.

Cornerstone OnDemand: What is Cornerstone OnDemand's pricing model?

Cornerstone OnDemand uses a custom, quote-based pricing model. Pricing depends on organization size, the number of users, and specific feature requirements. Interested organizations are directed to request a free personalized demo to receive an estimate.

Source
Sana: Is it an LMS or a search tool?

Both, but the emphasis is on answering questions from your existing content. Traditional course delivery and completion tracking are secondary.

Sana: Does it work if we are not a Workday customer?

Currently yes, but the product direction now serves Workday's platform strategy, so weigh that in a multi-year commitment.

Sana: How is it priced?

Per employee per year, unpublished, and increasingly negotiated as part of a Workday agreement.

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