Softwr

LMS · head to head

Sakai vs Skilljar

Sakai logo

Sakai

LMS

Open source learning management system governed by the Apereo Foundation

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Skilljar logo

Skilljar

LMS

Customer education platform that treats training completion as a commercial signal in the CRM

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Sakai has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Skilljar pricing is an enterprise annual commitment, so a first certification pilot costs more than it can demonstrate and teams should prove the programme elsewhere first.
  • They diverge on capability: Sakai covers Course sites, Skilljar covers Branded course catalogue.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sakai and Skilljar actually diverge.

Attributes where Sakai and Skilljar differ
AttributeSakaiSkilljar
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb, 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 Sakai

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

Only in Skilljar

  • Branded course catalogue
  • CRM data write-back
  • Certification with expiry
  • Domain and theme control
  • Self-paced and instructor-led
  • Engagement analytics

What people use each for

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

Sakai

  • A university whose data protection policy or national regulation requires student coursework to stay on institution-controlled infrastructure inside a specific jurisdiction.not Skilljar
  • 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 Skilljar
  • A university with an existing Java and Tomcat operations team, where the marginal cost of running one more Java application is genuinely low.not Skilljar
  • A consortium of institutions sharing one deployment and one set of local integrations rather than each paying separate per-student licences.not Skilljar

Skilljar

  • A software company whose support ticket volume is driven by customers who were never trainednot Sakai
  • Customer success teams that want training engagement visible next to renewal risk in Salesforcenot Sakai
  • Partner certification programmes where credentials must expire and be renewednot Sakai
  • Reducing time to first value during onboarding by giving customers self serve training before implementationnot Sakai

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Skilljar

  • Pricing is an enterprise annual commitment, so a first certification pilot costs more than it can demonstrate and teams should prove the programme elsewhere first.
  • The commercial value depends on the Salesforce integration being properly configured, and companies with messy CRM data get engagement reporting joined to accounts that do not reflect reality.
  • It is built for external audiences, so using it for internal employee compliance means paying for capability that internal training does not need.
  • Content authoring is not a strength, so most customers licence an authoring tool separately and run two content workflows.
  • Attribution remains contested. The platform shows that trained accounts renew better, but establishing that training caused the renewal rather than that engaged customers train more is a problem the reporting cannot solve for you.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Skilljar

On request
  • Skilljar$undefined/year
    • Annual enterprise contract, quoted
    • Entry point sits well above self-serve course platforms
    • Implementation and integration services quoted separately

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Skilljar if

  • You need branded course catalogue.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want crm data write-back.
Skilljar review

Questions people ask

Is Sakai or Skilljar better?
Neither clearly leads. Sakai starts at Free and Skilljar at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sakai or Skilljar?
Sakai has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Sakai and On request for Skilljar.
Does Sakai or Skilljar run on more platforms?
Sakai runs on Web, Linux, iOS, Android. Skilljar runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Sakai for free?
Yes. Sakai has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Skilljar starts at On request.
What is Sakai best used for?
Sakai is most often used for a university whose data protection policy or national regulation requires student coursework to stay on institution-controlled infrastructure inside a specific jurisdiction., 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., a university with an existing java and tomcat operations team, where the marginal cost of running one more java application is genuinely low., a consortium of institutions sharing one deployment and one set of local integrations rather than each paying separate per-student licences.. Of those, a university whose data protection policy or national regulation requires student coursework to stay on institution-controlled infrastructure inside a specific jurisdiction. and 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. are not what Skilljar is typically brought in for.
What can Sakai do that Skilljar cannot?
Sakai covers Course sites, Tests and Quizzes, Gradebook, Lessons. Skilljar covers Branded course catalogue, CRM data write-back, Certification with expiry, Domain and theme control.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Skilljar: How is Skilljar different from a corporate LMS?

A corporate learning platform reports on employees for compliance. Skilljar reports on customers for retention and expansion, and writes that activity into the CRM so account teams see it.

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.

Skilljar: Do learners need accounts before they can browse?

No. Catalogues can be public so prospects and customers browse and enrol without a sales conversation, which is a large part of the self serve onboarding case.

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.

Skilljar: Is it worth it for a small customer education team?

Usually not at the start. The contract floor assumes an established programme, so prove the value on a cheaper platform and move once retention or revenue evidence exists.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on Sakai

More on Skilljar

Keep looking

Other head to heads