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LMS · head to head

Skilljar vs Totara

Skilljar logo

Skilljar

LMS

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Totara logo

Totara

LMS

Open source learning, performance and collaboration platform derived from Moodle and sold through partners

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Totara you cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • They diverge on capability: Skilljar covers Branded course catalogue, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Skilljar and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where Skilljar and Totara differ
AttributeSkilljarTotara
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Linux

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 Skilljar

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

Only in Totara

  • Organisational hierarchies
  • Compliance and certification
  • Totara Perform
  • Totara Engage
  • Self-hosting
  • Programs and learning plans

What people use each for

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

Skilljar

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

Totara

  • Health services and government bodies that must evidence mandatory training by job role across a large hierarchynot Skilljar
  • Organisations with data residency rules that require the platform to run on their own infrastructurenot Skilljar
  • Moodle users who need appraisal, competency and compliance features the academic product does not carrynot Skilljar
  • Buyers who want exit rights over the platform code rather than dependence on a single hosted vendornot Skilljar

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Totara

  • You cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • Open source does not mean cheap. Subscription plus partner hosting plus implementation and version upgrade services commonly lands near commercial system cost, and the saving is in control and exit rights rather than in the invoice.
  • The administrative interface carries its Moodle lineage and is dense, so administrator training is a real project cost rather than an afterthought.
  • Major version upgrades are projects, especially where a partner has customised the deployment, and organisations that customise heavily find upgrades slower and dearer over time.
  • The learner facing experience is functional rather than engaging, and organisations wanting a consumer grade learning experience usually front it with something else.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Totara

On request
  • Totara subscription via partner$undefined/year
    • Sold only through distribution partners
    • Partner sets hosting, implementation and support pricing
    • Source available under the GPL, but subscription required for supported releases

Which should you pick?

Choose Skilljar if

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

Choose Totara if

  • You need organisational hierarchies.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want compliance and certification.
Totara review

Questions people ask

Is Skilljar or Totara better?
Neither clearly leads. Skilljar starts at On request and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Skilljar or Totara?
Skilljar starts at On request and Totara at On request.
Does Skilljar or Totara run on more platforms?
Skilljar runs on Web, iOS, Android. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
What is Skilljar best used for?
Skilljar is most often used for a software company whose support ticket volume is driven by customers who were never trained, customer success teams that want training engagement visible next to renewal risk in salesforce, partner certification programmes where credentials must expire and be renewed, reducing time to first value during onboarding by giving customers self serve training before implementation. Of those, a software company whose support ticket volume is driven by customers who were never trained and customer success teams that want training engagement visible next to renewal risk in salesforce are not what Totara is typically brought in for.
What can Skilljar do that Totara cannot?
Skilljar covers Branded course catalogue, CRM data write-back, Certification with expiry, Domain and theme control. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Totara: Is Totara free because it is open source?

No. The source is available under the GPL, but supported releases require a subscription, and it is sold through partners who add hosting, implementation and support costs.

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.

Totara: How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is built around courses and academic delivery. Totara adds organisational hierarchies, role based automatic assignment, recurring certification and appraisal, which is what workplace compliance reporting needs.

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.

Totara: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Self hosting is a genuine option and is one of the main reasons regulated and public sector buyers choose it over a hosted only competitor.

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