7 of the best LMS alternatives ranked for 2025 + buyers guide

Recently updated on January 27th, 2025

Learning management systems (LMS) are important tools used by training providers and schools to offer online learning. They make it easy to create and manage elearning content, sign up and talk to students, track and measure their performance, and track and evaluate their progress.

However, they’re by no means the only type of software that can help deliver great education and training. Training companies, in particular seek out LMS alternatives for quite a few different reasons, the most common being:

• A need for software that’s better suited to managing or automating many of the manual processes involved with delivering training. Particularly training that is instructor-led.
• They don’t offer elearning, or don’t require many of the features learning management software offers
• They don’t have the budget.

This article will explain these reasons in more detail, give you seven other platforms to think about, and some important points to think about if you’re in the market for an LMS alternative.

The Best LMS Alternatives – Ranked

1. Arlo Training Management Software – The overall best LMS alternative, particularly for instructor-led training providers
2. Kajabi – a powerful all in one course-creation platform
3. Administrate – an LMS alternative for enterprise training companies
4. EventBrite – an alternative for event focused companies
5. Teachable – alternative for educators focused on direct course sales and learner engagement
6. Thinkific – another good option for educators
7. Mighty Networks – community driven LMS alternative

1. Arlo Training Management Software – the best LMS alternative, particularly for instructor-led training providers

Arlo is a training management platform that helps training providers, particularly instructor-led training providers, manage all parts of their commercial training. The platform centralizes training management processes and makes it easy to create and schedule courses, track payments and business growth.

Key Arlo features include:

Comprehensive course management and resource allocation 

Arlo makes course management straightforward by making it easy for users to create new courses. It has a simple setup wizard that can be used for different training formats, including face-to-face, live-online, blended, and elearning.

Each course you create can be set up for a specific delivery method. If you run courses with multiple sessions that have different formats, you can assign the specific format to each session. For example, you may have one session delivered in-person and another delivered virtually.

If you integrate Arlo with your website, courses will be automatically published to your website when you push them live within Arlo, so you don’t need to spend time manually uploading courses to two platforms.

Within Arlo, you also get a full calendar view of your upcoming courses and training programs. From this view, you can manage instructor availability and venue details. This lets you quickly access important information like contacts, catering, and room setup details to easily manage logistics and resources.

Course registrations and payments

Arlo handles everything from taking online registrations to transferring, recording attendance and grades, and generating reports. The registration forms available are specifically designed for training.

You can use templates, or create customizable custom forms that support both public and private courses, and for paid and free courses. For paid events, use the default order process registration method, which includes a full order and invoicing process. For free events, you can utilize a straightforward form that automatically sends course details to registrants upon completion.

Course registrants can add more than one person to a single registration form, sign up for more than one event at a time, as well as adding all of their billing information. Once the order is placed, the registrant receives an automatic confirmation email with all course or event details.

Payment options are flexible – you can accept payments via Stripe, PayPal, Windcave, credit card, invoice, and bank transfer.

Advanced reporting capabilities to uncover key business insights

Inside Arlo you’ll find both basic and advanced reporting options. Basic reports provide quick snapshots with predefined filters and columns, making them ideal for answering straightforward queries.

Advanced reports offer detailed queries and custom filters across multiple entities, allowing you to dive deeper into your data.

Some of the reports you can create within Arlo are:

Registration reports

Registration reports help inform you of how your 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.

Order reports

Order reports to help you understand your financial performance. You can create reports to find out how much revenue your courses have generated in a certain time 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 revenue from different courses, analyze refund amounts, and make data-driven decisions to enhance your course offerings.

Favorites and scheduled reports

To save time, you can save frequently used reports as favorites for easy access. You can also schedule reports to run automatically, sending the results via email to key stakeholders. This ensures you always have up-to-date information without manually running reports each time.

Combining reports for business intelligence

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

Get the best of both worlds by using a TMS like Arlo and an LMS

While a TMS like Arlo is a great LMS alternative it by no means has to be a choice between the two. If you deliver instructor-led training both in-person and live online, as well as self-paced elearning and blended learning then you’ll likely require both. 

Complementary functionalities

Both systems offer unique sets of functionalities that complement each other. A TMS is good at managing the logistics, administration, and business operations of training programs. An LMS is better at delivering, tracking, and managing elearning content.

Varied training modalities

Both in-person and live online training needs a lot of planning, deciding who gets what, and managing the instructors. A TMS like Arlo does this well.

For self-paced elearning, an LMS is indispensable as it provides tools for learners to access content anytime, track their progress, and assess their performance. Blended learning combines teacher-led training and online learning. A TMS handles the logistics, while an LMS delivers the content.

Scalability and flexibility

Training organizations that are growing or changing their training offerings over time may find that their needs become too complex for a single system. For example, if you’re a training provider who offers instructor-led training and want to offer elearning courses, you may need both platforms to create, deliver, and manage both types of training.

2. Kajabi – a powerful all in one course-creation platform

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform that helps creators create, deliver, and manage online courses. The main features include marketing automation features that make it easy for users to send targeted email campaigns, create responsive landing pages, and manage sales funnels directly within the platform.

Kajabi also has payment integration features, that let you bill directly, manage subscriptions, and process payments through different ways, all within one system.

It’s a good LMS alternative for individual course creators and entrepreneurs who either conduct occasional, one-off courses or offer them periodically throughout the year.

Pros

Powerful marketing tools – Kajabi has powerful marketing and sales tools like email campaigns, landing pages, and analytics. These features help course creators promote their courses well and analyze the results.

Comprehensive course creation – the platform makes it easy to create and manage courses. It has features like multimedia support, drip content, and interactive quizzes.

Easy payment processing –  Kajabi integrates payment handling, supporting various payment models like subscriptions and installments.

3. Administrate – an LMS alternative for enterprise training companies

Administrate is a training management tool that can be used as an LMS alternative for companies, especially large training companies. Administrate has many tools that help you manage training operations. These include scheduling resources and integrated CRM and reporting features that many LMSs don’t have.

Pros 

Training management features – the system’s strong focus on managing logistical aspects makes it ideal for organizations that need to handle complex training operations in a more streamlined fashion.

Customer and data management capabilities – built-in CRM and reporting tools provide insights into customer behavior.

4. EventBrite – an LMS alternative for event focused companies

EventBrite is a viable LMS alternative for organizations primarily focused on delivering event-based or session-based educational programs. Eventbrite does not have the usual educational tools found in an LMS. However, its features can be helpful for managing the logistics of educational events, workshops, and seminars.

Also, its easy-to-use interface and ticketing system make it easier for organizers and participants to register and track attendance.

Pros

Integrated marketing capabilities – with built-in marketing tools, Eventbrite can help you market your courses and events to a broader audience.

Flexibility – Eventbrite supports a wide range of event types and sizes, from small workshops to large conferences.

5. Teachable – LMS alternative for providers focused on direct course sales and learner engagement

Teachable is a good LMS alternative for companies focused on direct course sales and student engagement in an online environment. Creators like it because it’s easy to use and has everything they need for making courses, marketing, and selling in one place.

The platform lets you create full courses that include videos, written lessons, quizzes, and interactive features like course completion certificates. It also provides integrated comment sections for direct student interaction.

Pros

Comprehensive course creation tools – creators can add different types of multimedia content and put them into modules and lectures that are easy to understand.

Interactive student tools –  features like quizzes, course completion certificates, and a built-in comment system are useful social learning additions.

6. Thinkific – LMS alternative for educators and entrepreneurs

Thinkific is a good LMS alternative tailored for educators and entrepreneurs who prioritize autonomy over their course structures and student engagement processes. The platform supports a diverse range of content types including videos, texts, quizzes, and downloadable resources.

These tools are integrated within a system that allows for a high degree of customization, making it possible for users to mold the educational environment to match their brand identity and training approach.

Pros 

Full control over content – instructors enjoy control over their course content, allowing them to tailor learning experiences precisely to their educational goals.

Extensive integration capabilities – the platform supports a wide array of integrations.

7. Mighty Networks – community driven LMS alternative

Mighty Networks is a platform that provides a blend of course delivery and community-building. It caters specifically to creators and educators who want to establish a community-centric learning environment where interaction and collaborative learning are just as important as the content itself. This platform is particularly beneficial for those looking to integrate social learning dynamics with formal educational structures.

Pros

Community-centric platform – Mighty Network can be used to build vibrant communities around specific courses or subjects, enabling users to interact, share, and learn together. 

Diverse content delivery options – the platform supports a range of content formats including articles, videos, and live streams. 

Flexible monetization strategies – Mighty Networks provides multiple revenue options such as charging for course access, offering paid memberships, or hosting paid events

Reasons organizations may want alternatives to traditional LMS platforms

As we mentioned in the introduction, based on our experience, there are a few reasons training providers seek out an alternative to their learning management system:

1. Cost savings

The number one reason training organizations in particular, start to look for LMS alternatives is cost. The cost of an LMS can vary depending on the pricing model an LMS provider uses. But most of the time you’ll have a set amount, either monthly or annually for a set amount of users.

You can also expect to pay an implementation fee so that a provider can make sure the LMS fits with your existing workflows and tech stack. All of this can be expensive for training providers, particularly smaller providers.

2. A provider doesn’t deliver elearning content

Sometimes a training or education provider has specific requirements where they need an alternative to an LMS, such as if they just offer instructor-led programs.

For example, a vocational training provider might need a platform that can help them with course management and registrations, but not one (like an LMS) that helps them create and deliver elearning content. In a situation like this, training management software, such as Arlo, is a better solution.

To address this, the training provider might opt for a blended learning approach, combining online resources with in-person workshops and mentorship, and choose software better suited to these training delivery methods.

3. Ease of use

Like with any significant software platform LMSs differ on the ease of use scale. To some users they can initially be overwhelming, and take a while to get the hang of. Some businesses, particularly smaller educational providers may be better suited to using alternatives to deliver their educational programmes.

Types of software that provide an alternative to an LMS

There are various types of event, education, and training software that can act as an alternative to an LMS:

Training management platforms

As we’ve noted, training management platforms streamline the administrative aspects of training programs. They offer features that go beyond what a traditional LMS provides, particularly in managing the logistical side of training operations.

Classroom management tools

Classroom management tools like Microsoft Teams for Education and Google Classroom have tools that work with other learning resources. They manage assignments, discussions, and sharing of resources, and help students learn in a blended way.

Knowledge base software

Knowledge base software, such as Confluence or Zendesk Guide, helps organizations create, organize, and share detailed documentation and guides. These platforms are ideal for self-service learning.

Corporate training platforms

Corporate training platforms like SAP Litmos and Adobe Captivate Prime are designed to facilitate training within a corporate environment. They offer functionalities that go beyond traditional LMSs, such as integration with HR systems – very useful in corporate environments.

Event management software

Event management software streamlines the planning, execution, and analysis of training events. These platforms are essential for managing both virtual and in-person training events.

Use an LMS with other types of training software

Use an LMS with other educational software

Most learning management platforms integrate with other educational and training platforms.

For example, learning management systems (LMSs) like LearnDash, Moodle, TalentLMS, and aNewSpring all work with Arlo to help training providers offer more training programs in different formats. A good example of how a learning management system can work with other software like a training management system is the connection between Moodle and Arlo.

Through Moodle, you can offer elearning courses to your registrants. However, by integrating this platform with Arlo, you can enhance these courses to create blended learning experiences.

Arlo facilitates the management of elearning course registrations and payments, and it seamlessly connects to your website. This integration enables you to efficiently manage all your leads and access powerful reporting tools, all within a user-friendly interface. In simple terms, Moodle handles the delivery of elearning, while Arlo manages the commercial aspects of your training business.

Arlo’s plugin with Moodle offers training providers several features:

• CRM – Managing client relationships and tracking sales opportunities
• Marketing tools – Run targeted campaigns, generate leads, integrate marketing automation, and leverage social media to promote your courses.
• Website integration – Create beautiful looking course websites to promote and sell your courses.
• Shopping cart (eCommerce) – Accept online registrations and payments by credit card or invoice. 

Final thoughts and other recommended resources

There are plenty of LMS alternatives available. The right choice for you will depend on the specific features you’re seeking and the reasons behind your search for an alternative. However, this roundup should provide you with some good options to consider.

At Arlo we work with hundreds of training businesses that have ditched their outdated manual processes, and embraced a platform that manages their entire training operation. You can try out our award-winning training management platform free for 14 days to see if it’s the right fit for your business, or schedule a demo with our team.

Frequently asked questions