Canvas LMS Reviews

Name: Canvas LMS
Brand: Instructure
Rating: 4.4 (11 reviews)

4.4 out of 5

11 reviews
100% willing to recommend

What is Canvas LMS?

Canvas LMS is a comprehensive learning management system that enhances the educational experience. It offers a user-friendly interface that allows educators to create and manage courses, assignments, and assessments. Canvas enables seamless communication and collaboration between students and teachers. It supports various multimedia formats, making it easy to incorporate engaging content into lessons. Canvas also provides a mobile app, ensuring accessibility on the go. Its built-in analytics and reporting allow educators to track student progress and identify areas for improvement. Canvas LMS can integrate with other educational tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality. Canvas LMS is a powerful and versatile platform that empowers educators to deliver effective and engaging online learning experiences.

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Canvas LMS is the #5 ranked solution in top Learning Management Systems. PeerSpot users give Canvas LMS an average rating of 8.8 out of 10. Canvas LMS is most commonly compared to Cornerstone Learn: Canvas LMS vs Cornerstone Learn. Canvas LMS is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 57% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a educational organization, accounting for 20% of all views.

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Featured Canvas LMS reviews

Lance Levin

Learning Magic Solutions | Managing Director at CTI

The integration capability of Canvas LMS with other educational tools is probably the best for integration. They have thousands of apps that are already integrated with Canvas LMS. It uses a very simple API LTI method where you just have to input a number and then it's integrated. When assessing the analytics features and reporting features of Canvas LMS, they have comprehensive capabilities. They have reporting, attendance registers, and the back-end SIS system. The reporting is very easy and analytics is excellent. Regarding its mobile compatibility feature, Canvas LMS is probably the easiest to use. It's user-friendly and operates with simple copy and paste functionality. It operates similarly to Word, with no difficulty at all. It's extremely user-friendly. When speaking about scalability and flexibility, Canvas LMS is very scalable. Everything's on the AWS cloud, so content is not a problem offline. It's scalable because the largest universities in the world use it.

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James Phelps

Adjunct Professor at Nova Southeastern University

It is scalable. There must be 20,000 people using it on that campus. We run a medical college, a public health department, and the hard sciences department. We also have a lot of things that are spread out across the state of Florida through Canvas. So, it is pretty scalable. In terms of our plans to increase its usage, I don't know what the university is going to do, but right now, the university is saturated with Canvas. Even if you're doing classes in a regular standard classroom, all of your exams, all of your quizzes, all of your practicals, and all of your teaching are recorded and loaded into the Canvas system for future review by accreditors. So, it is pretty well saturated on that particular campus.

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Lance Levin

Learning Magic Solutions | Managing Director at CTI

The product is regarded as the best learning management system in the world, and the top institutions are using it. It has the biggest community of learning management systems. They have a more extensive support base in terms of infrastructure. It is easy to use and integrate. It has more case studies than any vendors.

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Canvas LMS mindshare

As of July 2025, the mindshare of Canvas LMS in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category stands at 4.7%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

PeerResearch reports based on Canvas LMS reviews

Type	Title	Date
Category	Learning Management Systems (LMS)	Jul 27, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Jul 27, 2025	Download
Comparison	Canvas LMS vs Moodle	Jul 27, 2025	Download
Comparison	Canvas LMS vs SAP SuccessFactors Learning	Jul 27, 2025	Download
Comparison	Canvas LMS vs CYPHER Learning	Jul 27, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Cornerstone Learn	4.1	8.3%	100%	29 interviews Add to research
Moodle	4.0	9.7%	93%	29 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Canvas LMS offers a robust hierarchy for class organization, seamless API integration, and extensive features like integrated Zoom, assignment sections, and grade tracking. Its user-friendly interface and easy adaptability make it popular among top educational institutions. The platform excels in collaboration, discussion capabilities, and integration with other educational tools using simple API methods. Canvas LMS has excellent analytics and reporting features, and its scalability and mobile compatibility enhance its appeal to large universities globally.

"Canvas LMS is user-friendly. Its assessment tools help to find the weaknesses and strengths of students."
"The assessment tools in Canvas significantly contribute to educational outcomes by allowing instructors to create and manage assessments effectively."
"We have been using Canvas LMS, and overall, it has served our needs well for managing courses and general settings."

Room for Improvement

Canvas LMS requires improvement in several areas. Users find the learning curve moderate, and the integration with software like ArcGIS could be better. Teleconferencing and real-time reporting are desired features. Cost is a concern due to the pricing structure and licensing model. Discussions are seen as unresponsive, and additional AI capabilities would be beneficial. Integration with a talent management system and enhanced authoring tools are suggested for increased functionality and cost-effectiveness.

"Integrating more AI capabilities for the product could enhance its functionality, particularly in automating repetitive tasks and personalizing learning experiences."
"In our working, we are encountering many challenges with Canvas LMS. One of the major area is their business model which is having a very different pricing structure. The structure is made in such a way that the license fee is needed to be paid for the complete year even if the student has been enrolled for a programme of short duration. This structure is not conducive with our needs and hence, in the past few years, been increasing our costs manifold. Along with this, Canva LMS also lacks many functionalities such as notifications and adaptive learning.There is a specific issue with the licensing model that affects us in continuous education. The inability to reuse a license for the same course in different terms hinders our cost efficiency. For instance, if a program runs from January to April, we are required to pay for the license twice within the same academic year. This contrasts with other platforms like Hyper, where reusing a license is possible, allowing us to use the same license multiple times in different terms.Along with the use, we are exploring the integration of artificial intelligence into our processes, and Canvas LMS falls short in this regard. While some platforms allow connections with external AI services, Canvas does not currently offer built-in artificial intelligence capabilities, a feature we find valuable for enhancing the learning experience."
"There are a couple of areas that could be improved. Firstly, the discussion feature is not very interactive and can be slow to respond, making it less intuitive at the moment. This is an aspect that needs substantial improvement.Another point to consider is related to the cost of the LMS system. It's perceived as relatively expensive, which has led to discussions about transitioning away from Canvas, potentially to a more cost-effective alternative. This cost-related aspect is a significant factor to consider when implementing such a system."

ROI

Canvas LMS users say the platform has improved accreditation and external monitoring.

Pricing

Canvas LMS offers competitive pricing, favored especially by larger academic institutions due to its annual subscription model. While seen as affordable compared to many vendors, the mandatory yearly payment and additional fees for extra features may present challenges. Pricing can be restrictive for smaller organizations with limited budgets. Although users find it affordable, the lack of flexible licensing based on actual usage raises effective costs, making alternative platforms worth consideration for some enterprises.

"The platform can be expensive for smaller organizations with fewer students."
"The pricing of Canvas is satisfactory for my university. We have negotiated a good price, especially considering that we are a large university with twenty-six campuses across the country. Canvas offers a favorable pricing model for academic institutions, and the cost is reasonable. However, in continuous education, the challenge lies not in the price itself but in the business model. The requirement to pay for the entire year when our students may only use the license for a shorter duration creates challenges. The inability to adjust the licensing based on actual usage is a significant drawback for us, making the effective cost higher compared to other platforms like Hyper Learning"
"Canvas LMS is an affordable solution."

Popular Use Cases

Canvas LMS primarily supports both on-campus and remote course facilitation, content management, assignment submissions, and exam recordings, except for specific practical exams. Widely used by instructors to upload and manage various educational materials, it fosters communication and collaborations among students. Integrated with Zoom for live classes and organized with calendars for schedule access, it serves as a comprehensive learning management platform with features like gamification and automated assessment capabilities across diverse educational settings.

Service and Support

Canvas LMS offers several tech support options, including a 24/7 call center, though not all users find it efficient. Admin and API-level support is robust, with a strong community resolving issues quickly. Responses about technical support vary; some find it excellent, while others suggest it needs improvement due to delays. Online documentation and community support are considered sufficient by many, and the feedback from large teams is generally positive with no significant complaints.

Deployment

Users find Canvas LMS's initial setup straightforward and user-friendly, highlighting its ease compared to other platforms like Blackboard. The installation is quick, manageable by one person, and accessible across various devices including phones and laptops. Some entities experience minor communication delays during the setup process. However, the platform allows educators to build courses efficiently without needing extensive technical knowledge, despite some users noting occasional complexity in creating tool screens and formatting issues.

Scalability

Canvas LMS is regarded as highly scalable, effectively supporting thousands at various institutions, including educational programs across states. Its usage spans numerous departments and educational levels, accommodating diverse needs. Users report no scalability issues, and the platform efficiently integrates into different teaching environments, from traditional classrooms to online courses. Its extensive deployment at a university covering multiple departments and the high utilization by students and teachers highlights its adaptability and scalability across large and small institutions.

Stability

Canvas LMS is very stable. Users report few glitches and no need for emergency patches during semesters. Many give it a high rating for stability. Initial loading issues have been resolved, and outages are rare and brief. Stability has significantly improved over the years, supporting educational use effectively.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

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