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LMS · head to head

LearnUpon vs Sakai

LearnUpon logo

LearnUpon

LMS

Multi-portal learning management for training employees, customers and partners from one instance

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sakai logo

Sakai

LMS

Open source learning management system governed by the Apereo Foundation

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Sakai has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: LearnUpon pricing counts registered users, so a partner or customer audience with many dormant accounts pays full price for people who log in once a year, and the finance case degrades as the population grows.; Sakai the zero licence fee is misleading: running Sakai needs Java operations, database administration and upgrade testing capacity, and universities that costed only the hardware have ended up paying a hosting partner anyway.
  • They diverge on capability: LearnUpon covers Multiple portals, Sakai covers Course sites.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LearnUpon and Sakai actually diverge.

Attributes where LearnUpon and Sakai differ
AttributeLearnUponSakai
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, iOS, Android

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 LearnUpon

  • Multiple portals
  • Central course library
  • Compliance and recertification
  • Learning paths
  • Ecommerce
  • SCORM and xAPI support

Only in Sakai

  • Course sites
  • Tests and Quizzes
  • Gradebook
  • Lessons
  • Assignments
  • Forums and messaging
  • LTI support
  • Self-hosting

What people use each for

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

LearnUpon

  • A software company that must train staff, certify customers and enable resellers without three separate systemsnot Sakai
  • Compliance training where the auditor asks for a dated completion record per named employeenot Sakai
  • Selling certification courses to customers as a revenue line rather than a cost centrenot Sakai
  • Franchise or dealer networks needing separately branded portals under central content controlnot Sakai

Sakai

  • A university whose data protection policy or national regulation requires student coursework to stay on institution-controlled infrastructure inside a specific jurisdiction.not LearnUpon
  • An institution that has been repriced twice by a commercial LMS vendor after ownership changes and wants a platform with no owner to sell it.not LearnUpon
  • A university with an existing Java and Tomcat operations team, where the marginal cost of running one more Java application is genuinely low.not LearnUpon
  • A consortium of institutions sharing one deployment and one set of local integrations rather than each paying separate per-student licences.not LearnUpon

Where each one falls short

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

LearnUpon

  • Pricing counts registered users, so a partner or customer audience with many dormant accounts pays full price for people who log in once a year, and the finance case degrades as the population grows.
  • The multi-portal design carries administration overhead that a single audience organisation pays for without benefit.
  • Reporting is adequate for completion and compliance and thin for measuring whether training changed behaviour, so organisations needing that add a separate analytics layer.
  • Content authoring is not included at the depth of a dedicated authoring tool, so most customers also licence something like an authoring suite and manage two vendors.
  • Complex competency frameworks, multi year programme structures and academic style progression are not modelled well, which limits it in regulated professions with formal qualification pathways.

Sakai

  • The zero licence fee is misleading: running Sakai needs Java operations, database administration and upgrade testing capacity, and universities that costed only the hardware have ended up paying a hosting partner anyway.
  • The third-party teaching tool ecosystem builds and tests for Canvas first, so Sakai adopters do their own LTI integration work and occasionally wait for a vendor to certify against a platform it does not prioritise.
  • Because governance is a foundation of member institutions rather than a company, a feature only gets built if some institution funds an engineer to build it, so roadmap commitments are weaker than a vendor contract provides.
  • The interface, while improved through the version 20 to 25 cycle, still reads as older than Canvas or Brightspace, and academic staff who have used a commercial LMS elsewhere notice it immediately.
  • Adoption is concentrated in specific regions and sectors, so the pool of people who have run Sakai in production is small, making it harder to hire an administrator than for Moodle or Canvas.

Pricing, plan by plan

LearnUpon

On request
  • LearnUpon$undefined/year
    • Quoted by registered user tier and number of portals
    • Annual contracts
    • Not comparable with per active user or per course competitors without modelling

Sakai

Free
  • SakaiFree
    • Educational Community Licence, no licence fee
    • Full source on GitHub
    • Community support through Apereo lists and Jira
  • Commercial hosting and support$undefined/year
    • Provided by Apereo affiliates such as Longsight
    • Hosting, upgrades, backups and support
    • Quoted per institution, commonly by student headcount

Which should you pick?

Choose LearnUpon if

  • You need multiple portals.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want central course library.
LearnUpon review

Choose Sakai if

  • You need course sites.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want tests and quizzes.
Sakai review

Questions people ask

Is LearnUpon or Sakai better?
Neither clearly leads. LearnUpon starts at On request and Sakai at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LearnUpon or Sakai?
Sakai has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for LearnUpon and Free for Sakai.
Does LearnUpon or Sakai run on more platforms?
LearnUpon runs on Web, iOS, Android. Sakai runs on Web, Linux, iOS, Android.
Can I use Sakai for free?
Yes. Sakai has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. LearnUpon starts at On request.
What is LearnUpon best used for?
LearnUpon is most often used for a software company that must train staff, certify customers and enable resellers without three separate systems, compliance training where the auditor asks for a dated completion record per named employee, selling certification courses to customers as a revenue line rather than a cost centre, franchise or dealer networks needing separately branded portals under central content control. Of those, a software company that must train staff, certify customers and enable resellers without three separate systems and compliance training where the auditor asks for a dated completion record per named employee are not what Sakai is typically brought in for.
What can LearnUpon do that Sakai cannot?
LearnUpon covers Multiple portals, Central course library, Compliance and recertification, Learning paths. Sakai covers Course sites, Tests and Quizzes, Gradebook, Lessons.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LearnUpon: How is LearnUpon priced?

By registered user tier and the number of portals, quoted rather than published. That unit is not comparable with per active user or per course pricing, so model your own population before comparing quotes.

Sakai: Is Sakai still actively developed?

Yes. Version 25.0 shipped in 2025, 25.1 followed in November 2025, and further maintenance releases in the 25 line are planned, with commits continuing through 2026.

LearnUpon: Can customers and employees be kept separate?

Yes, that is the main design point. Separate portals have their own branding, administrators and catalogues, while sharing courses from one library.

Sakai: Who owns Sakai?

No company does. Governance sits with the Apereo Foundation, a membership organisation of institutions, and the code is under the Educational Community Licence.

LearnUpon: Does it handle recurring compliance training?

Yes. Recertification cycles, automatic reassignment and per user dated completion records are built in and are a common reason for purchase.

Sakai: What does it actually cost to run?

The software is free. The cost is Java hosting and staff, or a commercial hosting agreement with an Apereo affiliate such as Longsight, typically quoted by student headcount.

Sakai: How does it compare to Moodle?

Moodle has a far larger plugin ecosystem and installed base; Sakai has a cleaner assessment and gradebook model and is more common in research-intensive universities. Moodle is easier to hire for.

Sakai: Can we migrate off it later?

Yes, but course content export fidelity through Common Cartridge is imperfect, so budget for manual rebuilding of assessments as you would leaving any LMS.

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