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LMS · head to head

Sakai vs Totara

Sakai logo

Sakai

LMS

Open source learning management system governed by the Apereo Foundation

From
Free
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

  • 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.; 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: Sakai covers Course sites, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sakai and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where Sakai and Totara differ
AttributeSakaiTotara
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Linux

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

Only in Totara

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

Both cover

  • Self-hosting

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 Totara
  • 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 Totara
  • A university with an existing Java and Tomcat operations team, where the marginal cost of running one more Java application is genuinely low.not Totara
  • A consortium of institutions sharing one deployment and one set of local integrations rather than each paying separate per-student licences.not Totara

Totara

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

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

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

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 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 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 Sakai or Totara better?
Neither clearly leads. Sakai starts at Free and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sakai or Totara?
Sakai has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Sakai and On request for Totara.
Does Sakai or Totara run on more platforms?
Sakai runs on Web, Linux, iOS, Android. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
Can I use Sakai for free?
Yes. Sakai has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Totara starts at On request.
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 Totara is typically brought in for.
What can Sakai do that Totara cannot?
Sakai covers Course sites, Tests and Quizzes, Gradebook, Lessons. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage. Both handle Self-hosting.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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