Some of the best learning content management systems (LCMSs) can help you create engaging content that keeps your learners invested.
Plus, it’s a great time saver as you can create multiple versions of courses to use for your learning and development (L&D) needs.
Some of these tools include Docebo, Adobe Learning Manager, Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard Learn, Talent, Tovuti, LearnUpon, Tenneo, and Lessonly.
In this guide, we’ll explore the features, benefits, and disadvantages of these 10 best LCMSs so you can make more informed purchasing decisions.
Disclaimer: Please note that the solutions(competitors’/softwares’ features) we review may change over time. If you have updates or new features to share, let us know. This helps us keep our content accurate and up-to-date.
What is a learning content management system(LCMS)?
| A learning content management system (LCMS) is a platform for creating, distributing, and curating e-learning content. |
The reason why so many businesses use it is because it’s a great time and money saver, thanks to its efficient and streamlined content process.
Through an LCMS, users can handle and create digital learning content (like courses or visuals) from a centralized place and track authoring information such as learner progress.
Keep in mind that an LCMS is somewhat different from an LMS (Learning Management System).
The primary goal of LMSs is to organize and distribute a broader range of digital learning modules and deliver courses to users. Learners can access the LMS to consume the different types of e-learning content.
An LCMS, on the other hand, focuses mostly on creating, editing, and managing e-learning content. Common LMS features focus more on the planning, delivering, tracking, and evaluating of online training (e-learning management).
Plainly speaking, an LCMS is a standard LMS with more advanced e-learning content creation, curation, and management capabilities, but without advanced learning-management capabilities like social, multimodal, or blended learning.
With the fresh definition of an LCMS in mind, let’s take a look at its benefits.
Benefits of using learning content management systems
The main advantage of an LCMS is that it enables (and improves) your business’s agility while also training your employees faster.
But there are other benefits, such as:
Scalability
Many LCMSs can adapt to any learning demand.
So, if your business needs a large volume of digital educational content, an LCMS can efficiently manage it and provide or create training content for employees without issues.
Since they’re highly scalable, LCMSs are perfect for companies with expanding L&D needs.
Cost-Effective
With an LCMS, you can create educational materials to your heart’s content without breaking the bank.
Since the platform focuses on online learning, it eliminates the need for textbooks or physical classrooms, thus significantly reducing costs.
In addition, it decreases the need for multiple tools as educators can find everything they need in a single centralized location for course creation and content delivery.
Analytics and Reporting
How do you monitor a learner’s progress in a course?
You use the LCMS’s analytics and reporting functionality that allows you to track their performance.
Moreover, you can get insight into learner behavior and see the effectiveness of your training courses — maybe some parts of the content are difficult for some students to understand and might need tweaking.
With this data, you can work on streamlining your employees’ learning experiences and find ways to keep them engaged, such as personalizing the content based on knowledge levels, preferences, or learning styles.
***
Before meeting the best LCMSs, let’s look at key features to be aware of when shopping for the best option.
Key features to look for in learning content management systems
While LCMSs have some features in common, they’re built differently and cater to unique learning needs.
After carefully assessing your objectives and what you want the tool to do, you should start looking for some key features to help you on your learning path.
Let’s explore them together.
Real-time collaboration on content
Since you store all content in a single place, you’ll handle large amounts of training materials better.
For instance, a good LCMS can simplify the review process by compiling all the comments into a report so you can distribute it across different teams and departments.
Moreover, LCMSs are cloud-based, which means that you’ll collaborate more smoothly with educators and students. Instead of juggling multiple manual tasks, the authoring tool:
- Tracks each project.
- Monitors project activity.
- Controls access and permissions with user roles.
Multi-format (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, and more)
LCMSs are great for various types of learning formats as you can simply use the tool to distribute the same content for different platforms, such as:
- Mobile device learning
- Job ads
- Virtual classrooms
- Self-paced e-learning
- Print materials
- Microlearning courses
- Traditional e-learning
Furthermore, an LCMS can distribute educational materials in many ways, from PDF to PowerPoint and in AICC to xAPI and SCORM files, ensuring that all document formats are delivered correctly and function properly when accessed by learners.
Course Activity Tracking
Most LCMSs come with advanced tracking of course activity.
With built-in dashboards, administrators can see course participation, completion, and other insights that help them improve their training programs.
Some also have charts and graphs showing each student’s individual progress and history so you can make data-accurate decisions.
Content Review Workflows
A good LCMS allows you to review content seamlessly.
Through collaborative authoring capabilities, you allow teams to work together in real time without constantly sending emails with updates. Each user can see the other’s edits and have an accurate view of the process.
Creating e-learning content with different types of learning interactions
Any robust LCMS has a built-in library with different learning interactions, such as drag-and-drop builders, image maps, multiple choice, etc.
With these features, authors can create multiple assessments, quizzes, or single learning interactions that they can modify anywhere, anytime.
***
Moving forward, we’ll get to the meat of this guide and discuss the pros and cons of the 10 best LCMSs.
10 Best learning content management systems
So, what are the best LCMSs out there?
We’ve carefully researched the market and found the best options for businesses that want to elevate their online training.
System #1: Docebo
Docebo is an AI-powered learning-management tool that helps companies create engaging e-learning content.
It’s a scalable solution suited for businesses of all sizes, providing over 400 third-party integrations that seamlessly bring all your systems together in one centralized place.
They offer a powerful configuration engine and flexible drag-and-drop builder that allow you to craft customizable pages for your target audience.
Docebo Shape, for example, is an AI-powered content generator that’s able to create highly engaging short snippets of content known as learning pills in multiple formats.
With custom domains, customized learning paths, and gamification capabilities, you can also personalize each student’s experience so you engage them better and help them retain knowledge faster.
With Docebo Content, you get access to over 20,000 off-the-shelf courses from world-leading organizations in a wide variety of fields like PMI/PMP, CompTIA, ITIL, Microsoft, HRCI, Six Sigma, and more.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Content delivery and tracking
- E-learning courses, assessments, and quizzes builder
- Mobile learning functionalities
- AI-powered content creation
Pros
- Clean and intuitive user interface
- Easy integration with Google Analytics
- Updating training modules is easy.
System #2: Adobe Learning Manager
Adobe Learning Manager (formerly Adobe Captivate Prime) is a cloud-based learning manager with content authoring and management functionalities.
Thanks to the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML), companies can create a unique user experience as they can use the platform to design highly engaging and valuable content.
Adobe’s learning platform also has web and video conferencing integration capabilities that help you conduct classes through API-based connectors. These help empower sales teams and successfully train employees.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Learning platform analytics
- Learning support for hybrid classrooms
- AI-powered recommendations
- Social learning
Pros
- Flexible and customizable
- Fast implementation and roll-out
- User-friendly and intuitive interface
Cons
- Has a high learning curve
- Few updates with new features
- The search option needs to be better
System #3: Moodle
Moodle is a scalable LCMS you can customize from scratch to fit any training or teaching needs.
Since the people behind it believe free and open access to education is fundamental for a more equitable world, they offer an open-source platform suitable for all types of learning, from vocational training to K-12.
Moodle empowers educators and instructional designers to streamline the content-creation and learning process, as well as build an active online space.
They also use a human-centered AI approach to ensure learning is accessible to everyone. Regardless of location and financial situation, Moodle employs AI to create an inclusive and positive learning environment.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Compliance management
- Course and content authoring
- Content management
- Human-centered AI
Pros
- Highly adaptable to different learning needs
- Easy for students to upload essays and videos
- Supports HTML and SCORM
Cons
System #4: Blackboard Learn
Blackboard Learn is a learning software that offers students the support they need to achieve their goals.
With new software-as-a-service (SaaS) features, Blackboard Learn by Anthology helps foster collaboration, keep learners engaged, and increase knowledge retention.
Moreover, you streamline educator-learner workflows — all from a single centralized place.
Blackboard Learn’s data insights help enhance the learning experience, as educators can keep track of each student’s progress; this way, you identify slow learners sooner.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Course management
- Interactive learning
- Attendance tracking
- Personalized learning experiences
Pros
- Easy communication between teachers and students
- It's easy to use
- Great for assignments and quizzes
Cons
- The platform has performance issues during peak use times
- Less intuitive and more cumbersome user interface than newer LCMSs
- Issues with uploading large files
System #5: Canvas
Canvas is an open-source and scalable LCMS with a main, but not exclusive focus on academic institutions. It’s a teaching and learning software suitable for most educational styles.
You can create interactive learning courses such as quizzes, assignments, or discussion boards. You can also monitor engagement with learning materials and personalize each course for classes, teams, or individual learners.
Canvas integrates with a variety of other third-party tools like Microsoft Teams, G Suite, and Adobe, while also importing learner credentials from other platforms.
Both educators and employers can verify and keep track of these learner certifications ensuring they meet their required standards.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Content development
- Course authoring
- Customizable student assessment
- Video learning
Pros
Cons
- Mobile app prone to lags and glitches
- Might be challenging to use at first
- A lack of search functionality
System #6: Talent LMS
Talent is an intuitive learning platform that’s easy to use and offers a fully customizable experience.
This solution provides the tools and materials for your training needs in one single place, and you can craft quizzes, build training courses, or host live webinar sessions.
Plus, you can customize training courses to fit your needs, such as adding localization languages for everyone.
You can also set up detailed learning paths to drive growth by gamifying your course.
Add badges, points, and levels to reward your learners’ progress and encourage them to learn more.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Assessments and quizzes
- Content libraries
- E-commerce management
- Gamification and interactive content
Pros
- Simple to set up and administer
- Very easy to create and manage courses by reusing assets
- Robust reporting capabilities
Cons
- It’s challenging to track history and feels disorganized
- The user interface could be more modern
- Certification management needs to be improved
System #7: Tovuti
Tovuti is an LMS platform for crafting courses and training teams.
Companies can leverage it to engage learners by making use of a large content collection, professionally designed themes, and useful templates.
In addition, Tovuti offers a visually appealing and highly engaging user interface that provides teams with a fun and engaging learning experience.
Tovuti keeps your data safe with end-to-end data encryption, SSO, and disaster recovery features.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Performance metrics
- Blended learning
- SCORM compliance
- Video conferencing
Pros
- Excellent customer support
- Good social learning functionality
- Reporting and analytics are very detailed
Cons
- Might be hard for inexperienced users to learn all its functionalities
- Needs more customization features
- Complex back-end
System #8: LearnUpon
LearnUpon is a content-creation provider that helps companies deliver engaging learning experiences.
Subject-matter experts and other instructional designers can use this solution to combine various content types into a single e-learning course module.
They can upload or embed documents from third-party tools like Google Docs or Google Slides, add videos, or include SCORM or xAPI files.
LearnUpon also gives you the tools to deliver learning content that impacts growth, retention, and performance. Through automation, you eliminate repetitive and manual tasks that otherwise take up a lot of time and resources.
Moreover, by using AI-powered tools, you can design personalized learning programs that encourage knowledge retention.
G2 rating
Top Features
- AI-powered learning
- Course creation
- User management
- Training delivery
Pros
- User-friendly and intuitive interface
- Works seamlessly with authored content
- Excellent customer support
Cons
- It’s difficult to search for courses as an administrator
- Limited ability to change default settings
- Lacks robust reporting capabilities
System #9: Tenneo (formerly G-Cube)
Tenneo (formerly G-Cube) is a learning platform that serves both learners and administrators.
They have AI-based video assessments and pattern recognition that you can use to support skill enhancement and improve the learning culture.
With 100+ integrations, increased accessibility, and engaging content, you can provide a seamless learning experience to learners across the organization.
G2 rating
N/A
Top Features
- Video library
- Gamification layer
- Pre-packaged connectors
- Real-time reporting
Pros
- Easy access to learning modules
- It’s user-friendly
- Great language translation
Cons
- The user interface needs some improvements
- Complex change request process
- The portal to upload files is very slow
System #10: Lessonly
Lessonly by Seismic is a learning software that helps leading companies improve their team’s performance.
Simple yet powerful, Lessonly provides personalized coaching at scale to aid employees in honing their skills faster.
You can easily create interactive courses and simulate real-life scenarios that prepare sales teams to adapt quickly to market changes and master every customer interaction.
To simplify your work, you can seamlessly integrate your business with other tools and applications.
The solution is also scalable; it offers features for both small and large companies.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Activity tracking
- Learner portal
- Built-in course authoring
- Talent management
Pros
- Easy-to-navigate user interface
- Creating training videos is easy
- Responsive customer support
Cons
- Needs more customization for some features
- The UI might seem a bit outdated
- The quiz feature is slightly limited
Over to you
An LCMS platform is a cost-effective way to provide a large volume of training content to students or employees at scale.
So, if you want to expand your learning and development needs, invest in an LCMS that enables real-time collaboration and allows simple and intuitive content creation.
That solution can be Docebo.
Schedule a demo today to learn more about what Docebo can do for your business — and see it in action for yourself.