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LMS · head to head

Sakai vs Teachable

Sakai logo

Sakai

LMS

Open source learning management system governed by the Apereo Foundation

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Teachable logo

Teachable

LMS

Create and sell courses online

From
$29/month
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.; Teachable starter plan charges 7.5% transaction fee, significantly higher than other plans
  • They diverge on capability: Sakai covers Course sites, Teachable covers Course builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sakai and Teachable actually diverge.

Attributes where Sakai and Teachable differ
AttributeSakaiTeachable
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb
FoundedUnknown2014

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 Teachable

  • Course builder
  • Quizzes
  • Certificates
  • Coaching products
  • Payment processing
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Email marketing
  • 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 Teachable
  • 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 Teachable
  • A university with an existing Java and Tomcat operations team, where the marginal cost of running one more Java application is genuinely low.not Teachable
  • A consortium of institutions sharing one deployment and one set of local integrations rather than each paying separate per-student licences.not Teachable

Teachable

  • Course creationnot Sakai
  • Coaching servicesnot Sakai
  • Digital productsnot Sakai
  • Membership sitesnot 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.

Teachable

  • Starter plan charges 7.5% transaction fee, significantly higher than other plans
  • Student limits lift only at $10k+ annual sales for higher plans
  • No free tier, only 7-day trial
  • Custom plan requires sales contact with minimum $30k/year revenue

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

Teachable

$29/month
  • Starter$39/month
    • 5 products
    • 100 active students
    • 7.5% transaction fee
  • Builder$89/month
    • 10 products
    • 1000 active students
    • 0% transaction fee
  • Growth$189/month
    • 50 products
    • 5000 active students
    • 0% transaction fee
  • Custom$undefined/month
    • Unlimited products
    • Dedicated success manager
    • Custom pricing

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 Teachable if

  • You need course builder.
  • You also want quizzes.
Teachable review

Questions people ask

Is Sakai or Teachable better?
Neither clearly leads. Sakai starts at Free and Teachable at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sakai or Teachable?
Sakai has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Sakai and $29/month for Teachable.
Does Sakai or Teachable run on more platforms?
Sakai runs on Web, Linux, iOS, Android. Teachable runs on Web.
Can I use Sakai for free?
Yes. Sakai has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teachable starts at $29/month.
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 Teachable is typically brought in for.
What can Sakai do that Teachable cannot?
Sakai covers Course sites, Tests and Quizzes, Gradebook, Lessons. Teachable covers Course builder, Quizzes, Certificates, Coaching products.

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.

Teachable: Does Teachable have a free plan?

Teachable offers a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, but no permanent free plan. The Starter plan costs $39/month (or $29/month annually).

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.

Teachable: What are the transaction fees?

Starter plan charges 7.5% transaction fee. Builder, Growth, and Advanced plans charge 0% transaction fees. Additional payment processing fees of 2.9%-4.99% plus per-transaction charges apply depending on payment method.

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.

Teachable: What integrations are available?

Teachable integrates with Zapier, Stripe, PayPal, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Google Analytics, Calendly, Zoom, and other tools via the App Hub.

Source
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.

Teachable: How many courses can I create?

Starter plan allows 5 products, Builder allows 10, Growth allows 50, and Advanced allows 100 courses.

Source
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.

Teachable: What is included in certificate features?

Course certificates are available starting on the Growth plan ($139/month annually). Certificates can be customized with branding and are generated automatically when students complete courses.

Source
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