12 Best Course Management Systems for Training Ranked for 2024

Recently updated on November 8th, 2024

In this article, we cover twelve of the best course management system choices that we’ve heard about or that our customers have used. We also take an in-depth look at the standout features a course management system should contain to help you effectively manage the entire scope of your course management operations.

Why is this important? From our experience, organizations seeking a course management platform frequently have questions, particularly concerning:

• The registration features the platform contains to help them convert more potential registrants into paying customers.
• The platform’s communication features—particularly around course booking and rescheduling.
• Whether the course management system includes reporting features that can help them assess if they are generating ROI from the platform and how much revenue their courses are bringing in.

Best Course Management Systems

1. Arlo Course Management Software – The Overall Best Course Management System
2. iSpring Learn
3. Eventbrite
4. Eloomi
5. Cloud Assess
6. 360 Learning
7. Adobe Learning Manager
8. Litmos
9. Blackboard Learn
10. Absorb LMS
11. Docebo
12. SC Training

Buying factors to consider when evaluating course management software

Factor #1 – Does it contain features that make it easy to upload, schedule and manage your courses

Course Management

Course management software should automate or, at least, significantly streamline many of the processes you currently use to plan, schedule, and manage your courses. This includes the time you spend:

• Creating, uploading, and scheduling your courses on your portal, such as your training website.
• Configuring and setting up your course registration forms and promoting your courses to your audience.
• Managing all of your logistical activities, such as booking venues, selecting the right format for a training session (e.g., in-person or live online), booking and managing instructors, and much more.
• It should also provide you with in-depth analytics and reporting tools so you can report on key metrics such as course attendance rates, profitability, ROI, and more.

Registration Management

Aside from scheduling and delivering the sessions, making sure your course registration process is effective as possible is arguably the most crucial factor in whether your course is as successful as you want it to be. A course management system that you choose should have flexible registration forms that are suitable for both public and private courses.

For example, with Arlo registration forms can be set up for a range of event types, including paid and free events, through different registration methods. For paid events, use the default order process registration method, which includes a full order and invoicing process. For free events, you can use a simple one-page form. Alternatively, set up a custom URL to promote specific courses or events on your website

Course registration forms should also give your customers the option to add multiple registrants, register for multiple courses or events, and pay all through the same form.

In-depth course and business reporting features

Any effective course management system should allow you to create a variety of reports so you can monitor the effectiveness of individual courses and your entire training business. These include:

• Reports that show how much revenue your training business has generated over a specific period of time, and revenue by individual course.
• Reports that show you registration data and trends, such as course attendance or registration trends over time.
• The ability to automatically generate specific reports depending on the course and send these key reports to relevant stakeholders.

Ideally, you should also be able to view all of this data within smart dashboards that make it easy for you to drill into the data you need so you can uncover and track more granular activity and data that’s relevant to your business.

Factor #2 – Is it user-friendly and what do its customer reviews look like?

Any large platform that can have a transformative effect on your business, like a course management system, needs to be user-friendly and have sufficient support resources available to make onboarding, ongoing platform training, and support as easy as possible. You can review their Help Center articles to gain an understanding of what a vendor’s support will look like.

To support any claims a provider makes, they should have a collection of customer reviews that you can explore to gain a deeper understanding for yourself.

For example, with Arlo you can view our customers page to read more than twenty detailed case studies of the impact our training management system has provided different training organizations. You can also read over 80 reviews on our G2 page.

Factor #3 – Is pricing transparent?

You shouldn’t have to feel like you’re going in circles or jumping through a million hoops to find out how much a course management system you’re considering investing in should cost. You should be able to see what the software costs, and the features included in each pricing tier, on a vendor’s pricing page.

At Arlo, we make it as easy as possible to give you an understanding of what our course and training management system will cost before you get in touch.

For example, on our pricing page, you can see a clear overview of what’s included in our ‘Professional’ and ‘Enterprise’ options, and a breakdown of how much each costs based on the number of administrator licenses you need, and the number of paid and free course registrations your training organization processes per year.

You can view our pricing page here.

Factor #4 Are you experiencing any of these issues with your current course management processes?

If you’re managing course or training operations but are unsure whether you need a course management system, take some time to consider if any of these problems, issues, or questions are affecting your business:

• Are you manually handling tasks like course uploads, course scheduling, course bookings, email communication, invoice creation, website updates, or training operation reports?
• Is your data siloed across various sources?
• Are spreadsheets your go-to for tracking registrations, attendance, or tasks?
• When you adjust an event’s schedule, does your website update automatically?
• Are manual calculations or processes causing preventable human errors?
• Do your systems integrate seamlessly, or do you need to manually ensure consistency across them?
• Do you think your customers have a smooth experience when they sign up for your courses? And are your course fill rates where you need them to be?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then a course management system could be what you’re looking for.

You can get a more in-depth look at the exact features a course management system contains in our ultimate guide.

Factor #5 Does the course management platform integrate with your existing tech stack?

Whatever your current course management process looks like, there’s more than likely some software involved somewhere, such as a learning management system (LMS), marketing automation tools, and more.

To make implementation as easy as possible and to keep your tech stack streamlined, your course management system should integrate with your existing platforms, primarily your CRM and LMS.

Arlo, for example, integrates with a wide array of leading platforms including:

• Accounting platforms like Xero, Sage, FreshBooks, and QuickBooks.
• CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot.
• Marketing automation and analytics platforms and customer survey tools such as Google Tag Manager and Analytics, Marketo, Survey Monkey, and Mailchimp.
• Leading learning management systems like Moodle, TalentLMS, LearnDash, and more.

16 Best Course Management Systems Ranked

1. Arlo Course Management Software – The Overall Best Course Management System

Arlo is the #1 training and course management system available today. It is used by hundreds of training companies in over 70 countries to plan, schedule, and manage all of their courses and training programs within one central platform.

The key features:

Course management and scheduling

Arlo simplifies course management, enabling you to create and sync new courses to your website quickly using an intuitive dashboard. Our course creation features are designed to accommodate various formats, including face-to-face, live online courses, blended learning, and eLearning.

Each course can be tailored to a specific delivery method of your choice. For courses with multiple sessions, you can set different delivery methods for each session. For example, one session might be live online, while the next could be classroom-based.

To save you time and prevent you from having to enter the same course information repeatedly, you can use pre-built course templates or build a new template that you can use now and in the future.

The platform’s setup wizard guides you through the process of creating a course, making it easy to find and assign trainers and venues. You can also add custom fields to capture specific information and include optional extras such as course materials or additional sessions.

Our platform also helps you improve task management by providing a comprehensive view of upcoming courses, instructors, and venues. Tasks can be assigned to administrators, with automatic notifications sent to the assignee containing all relevant details.

Arlo also provides full calendar views of courses, instructor availability, and venues, allowing you to quickly access essential information like contacts, catering, and room setup details. All of this makes it easy to manage all the logistical aspects of your course setup.

Registration management

Arlo helps make your course registration as easy as possible for your customers, handling everything from taking online registrations to transferring, recording attendance and grades, and generating reports.

Arlo’s registration forms are designed specifically for courses. Registration forms can be set up for a range of event types, including paid and free events, through different registration methods. For paid events, use the default order process registration method, which includes a full order and invoicing process.

For free events, you can use a simple one-page form. Alternatively, set up a custom URL to promote specific courses or events on your website.

Course registrants can add multiple participants to a single booking form, register for multiple events, and enter billing details (or another payment contact) all within the same form. Once the order is placed, the registrant receives an automatic confirmation email. After the order is confirmed, registrants receive an email with detailed event instructions.

Payment options are flexible, allowing you to accept payments via Stripe, PayPal, Windcave, credit card, invoice, and bank transfer. To simplify accounting, you can connect Arlo with QuickBooks or Xero.

Automated course communications

Tired of spending hours copying information into emails, checking if you’ve sent that payment reminder, or updating customers about changes? A good CMS takes care of your emails for you. Arlo automates emails for course registrations, payments, reminders, feedback surveys, personalized certificates upon course completion, and more.

Your emails will also be on-brand, with custom styling options like colors, fonts, and logos.

Other communication features include:

• Smart notifications that can be set up based on waitlists, minimum registrations met, and more.
• Trigger emails to instructors that request and confirm availability.

Detailed reporting insights

Arlo gives you access to a wide range of reports for your business customers and stakeholders, helping you measure performance, profitability, and engagement. Some of the main types of reports you can create in Arlo are:

Registration reports

Registration reports are designed to give you insights into how registrants are behaving and performing. You can generate reports to track and analyze registration data, such as course attendance by organization or registration trends over time.

For example, you might need to report on how many people from a specific organization have registered for courses since a certain date. Using advanced registration reports, you can include additional information like departments, providing a comprehensive view of your data.

Order reports

Order reports help you understand your financial performance. Create reports to find out how much revenue your training business has generated over a specific period, or identify outstanding balances and billing contacts for follow-up.

Advanced order reports allow you to include detailed billing and contact information, helping you manage your accounts efficiently.

Performance reports

Performance reports provide insights into the revenue generated by individual courses. These reports help you identify which courses are most profitable and where to focus your efforts. For instance, you can compare the revenue from different courses, analyze refund amounts, and make data-driven decisions to enhance your course offerings.

Combining reports for business intelligence

Combining data from multiple reports allows you to gain comprehensive insights into course and training performance. For example, you can merge performance and expense reports to determine course profitability, or analyze occupancy rates to optimize course scheduling and marketing efforts.

Real-time dashboards that drive action

 All of the metrics that you choose to report on can be viewed in real-time dashboards, helping you see exactly how your courses are performing in real time.

CRM and sales tools built for course management

Arlo contains a powerful CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system that allows you to effectively manage your contacts and organizations.

Arlo stores a record of history against individual contact and organization records, so you can easily see all of their course activity, including completed courses, courses they are on a waiting list for, order history, organization information, and more.

Other key CRM features include:

Contact and organization management

Manage contacts and organizations with detailed records, including course activity and order history. Automatically create or update contact and organization records through website registrations, interest forms, and customer portal account creation.

Custom settings management

Control settings for contacts and organizations, including address behavior and custom fields.

Self-service options

Allow customers to update their details through the customer portal, enhancing the user experience.

Referral source tracking

Capture and report on customer referral sources to identify your most effective sales channels.

If you’d like to learn more Arlo you can start a 14-day free trial below, or get in touch with our team to book a demo.

2. iSpring Learn

iSpring Learn  is a web-based learning management solution designed to help companies onboard new hires through personalized learning experiences. It offers course management tools for creating interactive courses, tracking learner progress, and automating onboarding tasks. The platform supports various course and content formats (specializing in eLearning), including videos, quizzes, and simulations, allowing for engaging and effective training materials.

Pros 

• Great for various types of training such as compliance, on-the-job, and product training
• Extensive reporting functions and streamlined course management

Cons

• Limited customization features

3. Eventbrite

Eventbrite is a solid course management solution that is a good option for in-person courses and classes. It’s used extensively for concerts, classes, workshops, online events, and corporate events. While it’s not a typical piece of course management software, the variety of event types it supports is impressive and makes it a worthy addition to the list.

Pros

• Supports a wide variety of events
• Well regarded platform in the event management industry

Cons

• Not a dedicated course management system.

4. eloomi

eLoomi is an all-in-one learning and development platform designed for comprehensive training management, focusing on employee development. Its features include course creation, learner tracking, and performance management. eLoomi supports various content formats, including videos, social learning elements, and interactive modules, to create engaging training experiences. It also offers detailed analytics and reporting to monitor learner progress and evaluate the effectiveness of training programs.

Pros

• Comprehensive all-in-one platform

Cons

• Cost can be high
• Lots of features that may not be required for all users

5. Cloud Assess

Cloud Assess  is a learning management platform aimed at addressing skill and knowledge gaps for frontline and deskless workers. Their course management features include an extensive free course library, containing thousands of courses that can help you upskill your workforce. The courses offer accredited content and practical assessments across a wide variety of industries and job roles. Learners can also access resource libraries full of PDFs, presentations, and spreadsheets to assist them through their courses.

Pros

• User friendly course page layout
• Extensive course library

Cons

• Clunky search and filtering features
• Pricing lacks transparency.

6. 360 Learning

360 Learning is a learning management system aimed at helping L&D teams learn more effectively and collaboratively. Their platform contains course management features such as a course builder that can help you transform documents into structured courses in just a few minutes, a prompt-based course builder where AI can suggest course descriptions, outlines, and key takeaways, and course templates to quicken the creation process.

Pros

• Extensive suite of course management features
• Integrates well with other platforms

Cons

• Back-end processes can be complex for some users

7. Adobe Learning Manager

Adobe Learning Manager is an intuitive platform with interesting course management features. These include “headless” LMS capability, which makes it possible to access course content within any app or website via a suite of APIs. Adobe is also rolling out AI features that can give learners personalized learning paths and course recommendations, and AI features that continually update courses when new information is available.

Pros

• Extensive features, and a very robust platform, making it great for those looking for an enterprise course management solution
• Innovative AI features

Cons

• Many not be suitable for smaller organizations

8. Litmos

Litmos is an LMS designed to help internal training teams at companies across a broad spectrum of training needs, such as professional development and compliance training. Within the platform, you’ll find course authoring tools to create your own courses. You’ll also get access to over 2,000 off-the-shelf courses built into the LMS, with further options to expand access to a wider library of courses. Other notable course management features include individualized course reporting options and analytics insights.

Pros

• Easy to use course creation features
• Great customer support

Cons

• Lots of features that make take a while to get used to.

9. Blackboard Learn

Blackboard Learn is a learning management system specifically tailored for higher education. Its course management features include creating and editing courses, setting default properties for new courses, enrolling and removing users from courses, and backing up, archiving, and restoring courses. Users can also generate several reports to help monitor user activity associated with the courses being run.

Pros

• Great option for higher education institutions
• Crisp layout and fresh looking platform

Cons

• Broad features set may not be required for all customers
• Designed for higher education, so not suitable for all.

10. Absorb LMS

Absorb LMS is a cloud-based platform that contains multiple course management features such as course creation functions, a course library, and course reporting. Depending on the package you choose, the platform gives you access to between 500 to 20,000+ courses. These courses are centered around compliance training, safety programs, skills, and continuing education. Its reporting features enable you to track individual learner progress, such as whether they’ve completed a course or how long they have left to go. Users note the platform’s user-friendly interface and customer support as standout features.

Pros

• Great customer support
• Vast course library

Cons

• Reporting features
• Can be expensive to implement depending on budget

11. Docebo

Docebo is a learning management system designed for employee, partner, and customer training. Its course management features are centered around a dedicated course management dashboard. Through this dashboard, users can create, organize, and customize courses. Courses are displayed in a customizable table format, and categories facilitate efficient filtering and management, including sub-categories and real-time filters for quick navigation. Additionally, the platform includes a course library and features for course creation.

Pros

• Good customer support
• Extensive feature suite

Cons

• Limited customization
• Inadequate reporting features.

12. SC Training

SC Training (formerly EdApp) is an LMS, a mobile-first learning platform that includes a comprehensive, editable course library with over 1,000 ready-made courses for customers to offer their learners. Within the platform, you can create new eLearning courses in minutes. The platform also features AI course creation capabilities, which you can use to generate new ideas, create entire courses, or brainstorm concepts. Users highlight ease of use and course creation functionality as standout features of the platform.

Pros

• Extensive library of existing courses
• Platform is interactive and built for ease of use

Cons

• Lack of customization
• Lack of guidance and adequate customer support
• Limited course templates

Want to discover how Arlo can help you say goodbye to manual processes and messy spreadsheets?

At Arlo we work with hundreds of training businesses that have ditched their outdated manual course and training management processes, and embraced a platform that manages helps that automates manual processes, gives them their time back, and increases their training revenue.

You can try out our award-winning course management platform free for 14 days to see if it’s the right fit for your business, or schedule a demo with our team for personalized guidance.

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