LMS · head to head
Nearpod vs Sana
Sana
LMS
AI-native learning and knowledge assistant, acquired by Workday in 2025
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Nearpod has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Nearpod free plan limited to 40 student joins per lesson, restricting larger classroom use; Sana workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025, so Sana is now an HCM vendor's capability; if you do not run Workday, the roadmap will be shaped around a platform you do not use and standalone availability is not guaranteed long term.
- They diverge on capability: Nearpod covers Interactive slides, Sana covers Sana Agents.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Nearpod and Sana actually diverge.
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 Nearpod
- Interactive slides
- Virtual reality
- Gamification
- Polls
- Open-ended questions
- Draw It
- Collaborate board
- Reports
Only in Sana
- Sana Agents
- Sana Learn
- Enterprise search
- Live collaborative sessions
- Content generation
- Permission-aware retrieval
- Analytics
- Workday integration
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Nearpod
- Interactive lessonsnot Sana
- Formative assessmentnot Sana
- Student engagementnot Sana
- Virtual learningnot Sana
Sana
- An organisation whose employees repeatedly ask the same policy and process questions in Slack and where the answer already exists in a document nobody findsnot Nearpod
- A Workday customer wanting learning and an internal assistant on the same employee record rather than a separate LMS contractnot Nearpod
- Onboarding at a fast-growing company where content goes stale faster than the training team can rewrite coursesnot Nearpod
- Sales enablement where reps need an answer about a product or a contract term during a call, not a course to complete next weeknot Nearpod
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Nearpod
- Free plan limited to 40 student joins per lesson, restricting larger classroom use
- Paid plans require annual commitment with limited monthly flexibility
- Advanced collaboration features restricted to district/school level plans
- VR features depend on student device compatibility
Sana
- Workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025, so Sana is now an HCM vendor's capability; if you do not run Workday, the roadmap will be shaped around a platform you do not use and standalone availability is not guaranteed long term.
- Answer quality depends entirely on the state of your internal content, so an organisation with contradictory or outdated documents gets a confident assistant citing the wrong version, which is worse than not having one.
- Permission-aware retrieval across many source systems is difficult to get exactly right, and a misconfigured connector can surface content to employees who should not see it, which makes the security review substantial.
- Compliance-heavy training needs, such as certification tracking, regulator-mandated evidence and SCORM-based external content, are handled less thoroughly than in traditional learning management systems built for that purpose.
- Pricing is unpublished and now negotiated in the context of a Workday relationship, which reduces a non-Workday buyer's leverage and makes a like-for-like comparison against a standalone LMS difficult.
Pricing, plan by plan
Nearpod
Free- SilverFree
- 300 MB storage
- 40 student joins per lesson
- 22,000+ library resources
- Gold$159/year
- 1 GB storage
- 75 student joins per lesson
- AI Question Generator
- Platinum$397/year
- 5 GB storage
- 90 student joins per lesson
- Student notes capability
Sana
On request- Sana$undefined/year
- Per-employee annual subscription
- Agents and Learn licensed together or separately depending on the agreement
- Connector scope affects pricing
Which should you pick?
Choose Nearpod if
- You need interactive slides.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chromebook.
- You also want virtual reality.
Choose Sana if
- You need sana agents.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want sana learn.
Questions people ask
- Is Nearpod or Sana better?
- Neither clearly leads. Nearpod starts at Free and Sana at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Nearpod or Sana?
- Nearpod has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Nearpod and On request for Sana.
- Does Nearpod or Sana run on more platforms?
- Nearpod runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chromebook. Sana runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Nearpod for free?
- Yes. Nearpod has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sana starts at On request.
- What is Nearpod best used for?
- Nearpod is most often used for interactive lessons, formative assessment, student engagement, virtual learning. Of those, interactive lessons and formative assessment are not what Sana is typically brought in for.
- What can Nearpod do that Sana cannot?
- Nearpod covers Interactive slides, Virtual reality, Gamification, Polls. Sana covers Sana Agents, Sana Learn, Enterprise search, Live collaborative sessions.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Nearpod: What is included in Nearpod's free plan?
The free Silver plan includes 300 MB storage, 40 student joins per lesson, and access to core features with 22,000+ library resources.
SourceSana: Is Sana still an independent company?
No. Workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025 for approximately $1.1bn; the integrated experience begins rolling out in 2026.
Nearpod: Can I import existing presentations into Nearpod?
Yes, you can upload PowerPoints, Google Slides, and PDFs to make them interactive with Nearpod's tools.
SourceSana: Is it an LMS or a search tool?
Both, but the emphasis is on answering questions from your existing content. Traditional course delivery and completion tracking are secondary.
Nearpod: Does Nearpod integrate with learning management systems?
Yes, Nearpod integrates with Canvas, Google Classroom, Schoology, Blackboard, and other LMS platforms with single sign-on and rostering support.
SourceSana: Does it work if we are not a Workday customer?
Currently yes, but the product direction now serves Workday's platform strategy, so weigh that in a multi-year commitment.
Sana: How is it priced?
Per employee per year, unpublished, and increasingly negotiated as part of a Workday agreement.
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