LMS · head to head
Chamilo vs Schoox
Chamilo
LMS
Open source learning management system with no licence fee and a Latin American and francophone user base
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Schoox
LMS
Mobile-first learning and talent development for hourly and frontline workforces
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Chamilo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Chamilo version 3.0 has been in beta since 2024 while production deployments stay on the 1.11 branch, so anyone planning a multi-year deployment is choosing between an ageing stable line and an unfinished rewrite.; Schoox high workforce churn punishes any per registered user pricing, and organisations that do not actively archive leavers end up billed for a population far larger than their headcount.
- They diverge on capability: Chamilo covers Course and learning paths, Schoox covers Mobile-first delivery.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Chamilo and Schoox 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 Chamilo
- Course and learning paths
- Assessments
- Gradebook and certificates
- Attendance tracking
- Sessions and multi-tenancy
- Wide interface translation
- Plugins
- Low hosting requirements
Only in Schoox
- Mobile-first delivery
- On-the-job observation
- Multilingual content
- Franchise and multi-site structures
- Career pathing
- Content marketplace and authoring
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Chamilo
- A Latin American university that needs an LMS with no per-student licence fee and Spanish-language support from people in a compatible time zonenot Schoox
- A ministry or NGO delivering vocational training over poor connectivity, where a lightweight PHP application on cheap hosting beats a heavyweight platformnot Schoox
- A francophone institution in West Africa or Belgium where French interface and documentation quality decides adoption more than feature countnot Schoox
- An organisation that requires the LMS to run entirely on its own infrastructure with no data leaving the countrynot Schoox
Schoox
- Restaurant and hotel groups onboarding staff who never sit at a computernot Chamilo
- Franchisors pushing brand standards and food safety training into franchisee operated sitesnot Chamilo
- Workforces where a large share of staff do not read the corporate language fluentlynot Chamilo
- Operations that need manager observation of practical skills recorded against the learner filenot Chamilo
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Chamilo
- Version 3.0 has been in beta since 2024 while production deployments stay on the 1.11 branch, so anyone planning a multi-year deployment is choosing between an ageing stable line and an unfinished rewrite.
- Governance moved to BeezNest Belgium, a commercial company that also sells Chamilo hosting and services, which concentrates roadmap decisions in a vendor with a direct commercial interest in the support market.
- The English-language community and documentation are noticeably thinner than the Spanish and French, so an anglophone institution will find fewer answers, fewer contributors and fewer consultants than the project size implies.
- No licence fee is not no cost: hosting, upgrades, security patching, backups and integration work all fall on the institution or a paid partner, and that ongoing labour usually exceeds what a small institution would have paid for a hosted commercial LMS.
- The third-party plugin ecosystem is small compared with Moodle, so integrations with proctoring, publisher content and student information systems often have to be commissioned rather than installed.
Schoox
- High workforce churn punishes any per registered user pricing, and organisations that do not actively archive leavers end up billed for a population far larger than their headcount.
- Enterprise analytics and competency modelling are lighter than in office focused corporate platforms, so buyers arriving from that market find reporting shallower than expected.
- Franchise deployments depend on franchisee cooperation that the franchisor cannot compel, so completion rates vary by location in ways the platform reports but cannot fix.
- Staff use personal phones and personal data allowances in many deployments, which raises fairness and in some jurisdictions legal questions the vendor does not resolve for you.
- Integration with human resources and scheduling systems is where most implementation time goes, and stale employee feeds produce training assigned to leavers and missed for new starters.
Pricing, plan by plan
Chamilo
Free- Self-hostedFree
- GNU GPL licence, no per-learner fee
- Full source code
- Community support in Spanish, French and English
- Hosting and support from partners$undefined/year
- Managed hosting, upgrades and support sold by BeezNest and other official providers
- Priced per deployment, quoted
Schoox
On request- Schoox$undefined/year
- Quoted by user volume and modules
- Annual contracts
- Model the quote against your own churn rate before comparing with per active user vendors
Which should you pick?
Choose Chamilo if
- You need course and learning paths.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Self-hosted, Linux.
- You also want assessments.
Choose Schoox if
- You need mobile-first delivery.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want on-the-job observation.
Questions people ask
- Is Chamilo or Schoox better?
- Neither clearly leads. Chamilo starts at Free and Schoox at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Chamilo or Schoox?
- Chamilo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Chamilo and On request for Schoox.
- Does Chamilo or Schoox run on more platforms?
- Chamilo runs on Web, Self-hosted, Linux. Schoox runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Chamilo for free?
- Yes. Chamilo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Schoox starts at On request.
- What is Chamilo best used for?
- Chamilo is most often used for a latin american university that needs an lms with no per-student licence fee and spanish-language support from people in a compatible time zone, a ministry or ngo delivering vocational training over poor connectivity, where a lightweight php application on cheap hosting beats a heavyweight platform, a francophone institution in west africa or belgium where french interface and documentation quality decides adoption more than feature count, an organisation that requires the lms to run entirely on its own infrastructure with no data leaving the country. Of those, a latin american university that needs an lms with no per-student licence fee and spanish-language support from people in a compatible time zone and a ministry or ngo delivering vocational training over poor connectivity, where a lightweight php application on cheap hosting beats a heavyweight platform are not what Schoox is typically brought in for.
- What can Chamilo do that Schoox cannot?
- Chamilo covers Course and learning paths, Assessments, Gradebook and certificates, Attendance tracking. Schoox covers Mobile-first delivery, On-the-job observation, Multilingual content, Franchise and multi-site structures.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Chamilo: Who owns and maintains Chamilo now?
The project has been governed by BeezNest Belgium since January 2026. The code remains under the GNU GPL, but roadmap stewardship sits with a commercial company that also sells Chamilo services.
Schoox: Why does the pricing unit matter so much here?
Frontline turnover can exceed one hundred per cent a year. Per registered user pricing bills for accumulated accounts, per active user pricing bills only for monthly logins, and the gap between the two can be several times the annual cost.
Chamilo: Is Chamilo 3 ready for production?
No. The 3.0 line has been in beta since 2024 and production installations remain on the 1.11 branch. Plan on 1.11 and treat the 3.0 migration as a future project.
Schoox: Can staff without a company email address use it?
Yes. That is a core design assumption in this segment, and accounts can be provisioned without corporate email.
Chamilo: Is there a licence fee?
No. Chamilo is GPL software with no per-learner charge. Costs are hosting, support and whatever integration work you commission.
Schoox: Does it work for franchise networks?
Yes. Central content with local administration by franchisee is a standard configuration, though completion still depends on franchisee cooperation rather than on the software.
Chamilo: Where is it strongest?
Spanish-speaking Latin America, Spain, francophone West Africa and Belgium. Support and documentation quality in Spanish and French exceed the English.
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