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LMS · head to head

Skilljar vs Thought Industries

Skilljar logo

Skilljar

LMS

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Thought Industries logo

Thought Industries

LMS

External learning platform for companies that sell training to customers and partners as a product

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.; Thought Industries the annual floor is an enterprise number, so organisations with modest training revenue pay more in platform fees than a revenue share would have cost them.
  • They diverge on capability: Skilljar covers Branded course catalogue, Thought Industries covers Commerce engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Skilljar and Thought Industries actually diverge.

Attributes where Skilljar and Thought Industries differ
AttributeSkilljarThought Industries

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Thought Industries

  • Commerce engine
  • Licence and seat management
  • Multi-tenant panorama delivery
  • Certification programmes
  • Learning path personalisation
  • Analytics on revenue and consumption

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 Thought Industries
  • Customer success teams that want training engagement visible next to renewal risk in Salesforcenot Thought Industries
  • Partner certification programmes where credentials must expire and be renewednot Thought Industries
  • Reducing time to first value during onboarding by giving customers self serve training before implementationnot Thought Industries

Thought Industries

  • A software company whose customer certification programme has grown past what a creator platform can administernot Skilljar
  • Professional bodies selling continuing education with certification renewal cyclesnot Skilljar
  • Manufacturers training distributor and dealer networks who each need their own branded environmentnot Skilljar
  • Any training business where a percentage of revenue model has become more expensive than a flat platform feenot 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.

Thought Industries

  • The annual floor is an enterprise number, so organisations with modest training revenue pay more in platform fees than a revenue share would have cost them.
  • Implementation is measured in months and needs an internal owner, so the platform sits unused and paid for during a slow rollout.
  • It is designed for external audiences, so using it for internal employee compliance training means paying for commerce and multi-tenancy capability that internal training does not need.
  • Configuration depth for commerce and tenancy means the administrator role is a real job, and organisations that assign it as a fraction of someone else's role underuse the system.
  • Content authoring is not the strength, so most customers pair it with a separate authoring tool and manage two vendors and two content workflows.

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

Thought Industries

On request
  • Thought Industries$undefined/year
    • Annual platform fee, quoted
    • No percentage taken of course revenue
    • Implementation and success services quoted separately

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 Thought Industries if

  • You need commerce engine.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want licence and seat management.
Thought Industries review

Questions people ask

Is Skilljar or Thought Industries better?
Neither clearly leads. Skilljar starts at On request and Thought Industries at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Skilljar or Thought Industries?
Skilljar starts at On request and Thought Industries at On request.
Does Skilljar or Thought Industries run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Thought Industries is typically brought in for.
What can Skilljar do that Thought Industries cannot?
Skilljar covers Branded course catalogue, CRM data write-back, Certification with expiry, Domain and theme control. Thought Industries covers Commerce engine, Licence and seat management, Multi-tenant panorama delivery, Certification programmes.

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.

Thought Industries: Does Thought Industries take a percentage of course sales?

No. It charges an annual platform fee. That is more expensive than a revenue share at low volume and considerably cheaper once training revenue grows.

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.

Thought Industries: Can one platform serve several corporate customers separately?

Yes. Multi-tenant delivery gives each business customer its own branded environment and administrator while content stays centrally managed.

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.

Thought Industries: Is it suitable for internal employee training?

It can do it, but you would be paying for commerce and tenancy features that internal compliance training does not use. A corporate learning platform is usually the better fit.

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