Softwr

HR · head to head

Culture Amp vs Totara

Culture Amp logo

Culture Amp

HR

Build a better workplace with employee experience data

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Totara logo

Totara

LMS

Open source learning, performance and collaboration platform derived from Moodle and sold through partners

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Culture Amp no price is published, and cost depends on employee count, product chosen and service tier; Totara you cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • They diverge on capability: Culture Amp covers Employee engagement surveys, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Culture Amp and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where Culture Amp and Totara differ
AttributeCulture AmpTotara
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, iOS, Android, Linux
CategoryHRLMS
Founded2009Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 Culture Amp

  • Employee engagement surveys
  • Pulse surveys
  • Performance management
  • Goal tracking
  • 360-degree feedback
  • Analytics & insights
  • Action planning
  • Manager effectiveness

Only in Totara

  • Organisational hierarchies
  • Compliance and certification
  • Totara Perform
  • Totara Engage
  • Self-hosting
  • Programs and learning plans

What people use each for

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

Culture Amp

  • Employee engagement surveys and analysisnot Totara
  • Performance reviews and development planning across an organisationnot Totara

Totara

  • Health services and government bodies that must evidence mandatory training by job role across a large hierarchynot Culture Amp
  • Organisations with data residency rules that require the platform to run on their own infrastructurenot Culture Amp
  • Moodle users who need appraisal, competency and compliance features the academic product does not carrynot Culture Amp
  • Buyers who want exit rights over the platform code rather than dependence on a single hosted vendornot Culture Amp

Where each one falls short

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

Culture Amp

  • No price is published, and cost depends on employee count, product chosen and service tier
  • All products are billed annually
  • Support level is banded by organisation size, with additional support starting at 200 employees and enterprise treatment at 1,000, so smaller customers get less for the same product

Totara

  • You cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • Open source does not mean cheap. Subscription plus partner hosting plus implementation and version upgrade services commonly lands near commercial system cost, and the saving is in control and exit rights rather than in the invoice.
  • The administrative interface carries its Moodle lineage and is dense, so administrator training is a real project cost rather than an afterthought.
  • Major version upgrades are projects, especially where a partner has customised the deployment, and organisations that customise heavily find upgrades slower and dearer over time.
  • The learner facing experience is functional rather than engaging, and organisations wanting a consumer grade learning experience usually front it with something else.

Pricing, plan by plan

Culture Amp

On request
  • Engage$undefined/month
    • Engagement surveys
    • Pulse surveys
    • Action planning
  • Perform$undefined/month
    • Goal tracking
    • Performance reviews
    • 1-on-1 meetings
  • Develop$undefined/month
    • Skills development
    • Career paths
    • Learning integrations

Totara

On request
  • Totara subscription via partner$undefined/year
    • Sold only through distribution partners
    • Partner sets hosting, implementation and support pricing
    • Source available under the GPL, but subscription required for supported releases

Which should you pick?

Choose Culture Amp if

  • You need employee engagement surveys.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want pulse surveys.
Culture Amp review

Choose Totara if

  • You need organisational hierarchies.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want compliance and certification.
Totara review

Questions people ask

Is Culture Amp or Totara better?
Neither clearly leads. Culture Amp starts at On request and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Culture Amp or Totara?
Culture Amp starts at On request and Totara at On request.
Does Culture Amp or Totara run on more platforms?
Culture Amp runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
What is Culture Amp best used for?
Culture Amp is most often used for employee engagement surveys and analysis, performance reviews and development planning across an organisation. Of those, employee engagement surveys and analysis and performance reviews and development planning across an organisation are not what Totara is typically brought in for.
What can Culture Amp do that Totara cannot?
Culture Amp covers Employee engagement surveys, Pulse surveys, Performance management, Goal tracking. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Culture Amp: How much does Culture Amp cost?

Culture Amp does not publish specific pricing. The vendor uses a custom pricing model based on the number of employees in your organization, the product chosen, and the service tier needed. Annual billing is required. Interested customers must request a quote to receive pricing details.

Source
Totara: Is Totara free because it is open source?

No. The source is available under the GPL, but supported releases require a subscription, and it is sold through partners who add hosting, implementation and support costs.

Culture Amp: What factors determine Culture Amp pricing?

Culture Amp pricing depends on three factors: the number of employees, the specific product chosen, and the service tier. Organizations are typically categorized as small/medium (under 200 employees), mid-market (200-999 employees), or enterprise (1000+ employees). Annual prepayment is required.

Source
Totara: How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is built around courses and academic delivery. Totara adds organisational hierarchies, role based automatic assignment, recurring certification and appraisal, which is what workplace compliance reporting needs.

Totara: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Self hosting is a genuine option and is one of the main reasons regulated and public sector buyers choose it over a hosted only competitor.

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