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LMS · head to head

Chamilo vs LearnDash

Chamilo logo

Chamilo

LMS

Open source learning management system with no licence fee and a Latin American and francophone user base

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LearnDash logo

LearnDash

LMS

WordPress plugin that turns a site you already own into a course platform with no revenue share

From
$199/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Chamilo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; LearnDash the flat licence excludes everything around it. Hosting, backups, security patching, video hosting and email deliverability are now your cost and your responsibility, and they are not small once traffic grows.
  • They diverge on capability: Chamilo covers Course and learning paths, LearnDash covers Course builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chamilo and LearnDash actually diverge.

Attributes where Chamilo and LearnDash differ
AttributeChamiloLearnDash
Starting priceFree$199/year
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer site per year
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Self-hosted, LinuxWeb, WordPress

Identical on both: 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 LearnDash

  • Course builder
  • Quiz engine
  • Certificates
  • Groups and group leaders
  • Commerce integration
  • Ownership of data

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 LearnDash
  • A ministry or NGO delivering vocational training over poor connectivity, where a lightweight PHP application on cheap hosting beats a heavyweight platformnot LearnDash
  • A francophone institution in West Africa or Belgium where French interface and documentation quality decides adoption more than feature countnot LearnDash
  • An organisation that requires the LMS to run entirely on its own infrastructure with no data leaving the countrynot LearnDash

LearnDash

  • A creator whose course revenue has grown to the point where a percentage based platform costs more than a developer wouldnot Chamilo
  • Organisations that already run WordPress and want courses on their own domain and brandnot Chamilo
  • Training businesses that need learner data in a database they control rather than in a vendor accountnot Chamilo
  • Agencies building course sites for multiple clients under one unlimited site licencenot 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.

LearnDash

  • The flat licence excludes everything around it. Hosting, backups, security patching, video hosting and email deliverability are now your cost and your responsibility, and they are not small once traffic grows.
  • WordPress plugin conflicts are a live risk. A core or theme update can break checkout or course progression at a moment you did not choose, and there is no vendor operations team standing behind uptime.
  • Performance under load needs deliberate hosting work. Shared hosting handles a small course and fails visibly during a launch, and fixing that is a hosting migration rather than a setting.
  • Selling requires assembling several plugins for payments, memberships and email, so the true stack is four or five vendors with independent update cycles rather than one product.
  • Support covers the plugin, not your site. When the fault sits in the interaction between your theme, your host and another plugin, resolving it is your problem and often a contractor invoice.

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

LearnDash

$199/year
  • LearnDash LMS, 1 site$199/year
    • Single site licence
    • All course, quiz and certificate features
    • No share taken of course revenue
  • LearnDash LMS Plus, 10 sites$399/year
    • Up to ten sites
    • Same feature set
    • Suits agencies and multi brand operators
  • LearnDash LMS Pro, unlimited sites$799/year
    • Unlimited sites
    • Same feature set
    • Priced for agencies building for clients

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.
Chamilo review

Choose LearnDash if

  • You need course builder.
  • You work on Web, WordPress.
  • You also want quiz engine.
LearnDash review

Questions people ask

Is Chamilo or LearnDash better?
Neither clearly leads. Chamilo starts at Free and LearnDash at $199/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chamilo or LearnDash?
Chamilo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Chamilo and $199/year for LearnDash.
Does Chamilo or LearnDash run on more platforms?
Chamilo runs on Web, Self-hosted, Linux. LearnDash runs on Web, WordPress.
Can I use Chamilo for free?
Yes. Chamilo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. LearnDash starts at $199/year.
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 LearnDash is typically brought in for.
What can Chamilo do that LearnDash cannot?
Chamilo covers Course and learning paths, Assessments, Gradebook and certificates, Attendance tracking. LearnDash covers Course builder, Quiz engine, Certificates, Groups and group leaders.

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.

LearnDash: Does LearnDash take a percentage of my course sales?

No. It is a flat annual licence per site and you keep all revenue. That is the main financial argument against percentage based hosted platforms once sales volume is meaningful.

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.

LearnDash: What is the real total cost?

The licence plus hosting capable of handling your traffic, plus video hosting, plus an email service, plus whatever developer time keeps the stack working. Budget for the stack, not the plugin.

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.

LearnDash: Should I use LearnDash Cloud instead?

If you want the plugin without administering WordPress, yes. You give up some of the cost advantage and some control in exchange for not being responsible for the server.

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.

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