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LMS · head to head

Claroline vs LearnDash

Claroline logo

Claroline

LMS

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

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 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.; 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: Claroline covers Workspaces, LearnDash covers Course builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Claroline and LearnDash actually diverge.

Attributes where Claroline and LearnDash differ
AttributeClarolineLearnDash
Starting priceFree$199/year
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer site per year
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, 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 Claroline

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

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.

Claroline

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

LearnDash

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

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

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

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 Claroline if

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

Choose LearnDash if

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

Questions people ask

Is Claroline or LearnDash better?
Neither clearly leads. Claroline 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, Claroline or LearnDash?
Claroline has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Claroline and $199/year for LearnDash.
Does Claroline or LearnDash run on more platforms?
Claroline runs on Web, Linux. LearnDash runs on Web, WordPress.
Can I use Claroline for free?
Yes. Claroline has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. LearnDash starts at $199/year.
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 LearnDash is typically brought in for.
What can Claroline do that LearnDash cannot?
Claroline covers Workspaces, Resource model, Learning paths, Quizzes and evaluation. LearnDash covers Course builder, Quiz engine, Certificates, Groups and group leaders.

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.

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.

Claroline: Is it still maintained?

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

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.

Claroline: Is it free?

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

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.

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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