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LMS · head to head

LearnWorlds vs Sakai

LearnWorlds logo

LearnWorlds

LMS

Create and sell online courses with interactive experiences

From
Free
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

  • Each has a real cost: LearnWorlds the $24 Starter plan charges $5 for every paid enrollment, so selling a cheap course can cost more in fees than the plan; 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: LearnWorlds covers Course builder, Sakai covers Course sites.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LearnWorlds and Sakai actually diverge.

Attributes where LearnWorlds and Sakai differ
AttributeLearnWorldsSakai
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, IOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, iOS, Android
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 LearnWorlds

  • Course builder
  • Interactive video
  • Website builder
  • Certificates
  • Assessments
  • Community
  • Mobile app
  • Analytics

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.

LearnWorlds

  • Online course platformnot Sakai
  • Employee trainingnot Sakai
  • Corporate learning managementnot 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 LearnWorlds
  • 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 LearnWorlds
  • A university with an existing Java and Tomcat operations team, where the marginal cost of running one more Java application is genuinely low.not LearnWorlds
  • A consortium of institutions sharing one deployment and one set of local integrations rather than each paying separate per-student licences.not LearnWorlds

Where each one falls short

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

LearnWorlds

  • The $24 Starter plan charges $5 for every paid enrollment, so selling a cheap course can cost more in fees than the plan
  • Escaping the enrollment fee requires the $79 Pro Trainer plan
  • Active learners are capped monthly, at 1,000 on Starter and 2,000 on both Pro Trainer and Learning Center
  • The $249 Learning Center plan allows no more learners than the $79 plan, differing on admins and AI credits instead
  • Admin seats are rationed at 1, 5 and 25
  • AI credits are metered monthly at 300, 500 and 1,000

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

LearnWorlds

Free
  • Starter$24/month
    • 1,000 active learners/month
    • 1 admin
    • 300 AI credits/month
  • Pro Trainer$79/month
    • 2,000 active learners/month
    • 5 admins
    • 500 AI credits/month
  • Learning Center$249/month
    • 2,000 active learners/month
    • 25 admins
    • 1,000 AI credits/month
  • Corporate$null/mo
    • Custom active learners/month
    • Custom admins
    • Dedicated success manager

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 LearnWorlds if

  • You need course builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android.
  • You also want interactive video.
LearnWorlds 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 LearnWorlds or Sakai better?
Neither clearly leads. LearnWorlds starts at Free and Sakai at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LearnWorlds or Sakai?
LearnWorlds starts at Free and Sakai at Free.
Does LearnWorlds or Sakai run on more platforms?
LearnWorlds runs on Web, IOS, Android. Sakai runs on Web, Linux, iOS, Android.
Can I use LearnWorlds for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is LearnWorlds best used for?
LearnWorlds is most often used for online course platform, employee training, corporate learning management. Of those, online course platform and employee training are not what Sakai is typically brought in for.
What can LearnWorlds do that Sakai cannot?
LearnWorlds covers Course builder, Interactive video, Website builder, Certificates. Sakai covers Course sites, Tests and Quizzes, Gradebook, Lessons.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LearnWorlds: How much does LearnWorlds cost?

LearnWorlds pricing starts at $24/month (annual) or $29/month (monthly) for Starter, $79/$99 for Pro Trainer, and $249/$299 for Learning Center. Corporate plans have custom pricing.

Source
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.

LearnWorlds: Does LearnWorlds charge per student enrollment?

The Starter plan charges $5 per enrollment. Pro Trainer and higher tiers include unlimited enrollments with no per-enrollment fees.

Source
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.

LearnWorlds: Does LearnWorlds offer a free trial?

Yes, LearnWorlds offers a 30-day free trial with access to core features and functionality. No credit card is required.

Source
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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