Blackboard Learning Management vs Google Classroom comparison

Blackboard and Google are both solutions in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category. Blackboard is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.0, while Google is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.6. Blackboard holds a 1.0% mindshare in LMS, compared to Google’s 2.8% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Blackboard users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Google users who would recommend it.

Blackboard Learning Management

Read 10 Blackboard Learning Management reviews

1,424 Views
1,196 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Google Classroom

Read 26 Google Classroom reviews

1,273 Views
1,273 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Blackboard Learning Management

Google Classroom

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Blackboard Learning Management and Google Classroom are key players in the educational technology market. Google Classroom often seems preferred due to its user-friendly interface and cost-effectiveness, while Blackboard is chosen for its comprehensive features in extended setup scenarios.

Features: Blackboard Learning Management offers advanced analytics, customizable learning environments, and scalable features for comprehensive management. Google Classroom is favored for its seamless integration with Google Workspace, simplicity, and real-time collaboration tools such as Google Meet and Jamboard.

Room for Improvement: Blackboard could benefit from a simplified user interface, reduced configuration time, and more cost-effective options for smaller institutions. Google Classroom could enhance its analytics capabilities, introduce more robust customization options, and improve initial onboarding for complex educational setups.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Google Classroom is praised for its swift deployment, leveraging existing Google services, with strong self-service resources for support. Blackboard may require longer setup but offers more personalized support and comprehensive training, providing assistance for complex queries.

Pricing and ROI: Google Classroom provides a significant advantage with its no-cost access, aiding institutions with restricted budgets. Blackboard, though involving higher costs initially, offers exceptional ROI through its scalable and feature-rich platform, catering to the needs of larger educational institutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Blackboard Learning Management vs. Google Classroom Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Blackboard Learning Management vs. Google Classroom

December 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Blackboard Learning Management

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Google Classroom

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Blackboard Learning Management is 1.0%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Classroom is 2.8%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Google Classroom	2.8%
Blackboard Learning Management	1.0%
Other	96.2%

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Featured Reviews

Jennifer Sveigdalen

Senior Consultant / Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Consistently supports dynamic learning environments and strengthens educational interactions

Since I've been working with Blackboard Learning Management for an extended period, I've witnessed its evolution and consistent dedication to pedagogy. The platform's ability to deliver exams and content in a technical way is superior to most other platforms. This delivery system allows for establishing checkpoints before progressing to new content, ensuring students understand current material before moving forward. The platform offers various conditions for content progression and exams. Students can take exams multiple times at the instructor's discretion, requiring specific passing scores for content release. Additionally, peer-reviewed paper submissions can be required before accessing new content. If a student struggles with an exam section, the system halts the exam and allows review of the specific content they might not understand. The adaptive release feature is particularly interesting as it customizes the learning environment for individual students, including those with special needs or delivery requirements. The platform checks documents for accessibility, sending alerts for missing alt text in images and can generate automatic alt text. This ensures compliance with universal design laws, similar to U.S. 508 compliance. While specific measurable benefits cannot be specified since this course has always been delivered through Blackboard Learning Management, the course has grown from 12 students to nearly 200 at semester start. The structured delivery enables incorporation of additional teaching assistants due to uniform methodologies. The platform's compatibility for data export to other institutions opens interesting revenue streams through course sharing agreements, which has influenced my consistent choice to work with it.

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Wafaa Salah

Professor at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

User-Friendly Platform with Valuable Features but Needs Improvement in Pool of Questions and Statistics

The integration with Google Workspace is great because we have many tools such as Google Meet, Google Sheets, and Google Drive. However, the space is very limited. We purchased extra space until it reached 100 gigabytes. I have been using Google since having a Gmail account in 2001 when I was a student. Google Classroom allows me to make quizzes and assignments for students with random ordering, but I would appreciate having a pool of questions feature. For example, having 1000 questions and extracting 20 for each student would allow every student to have a different version. Currently, while using quizzes, every question appears to every student, though the order might differ. Adding the pool of questions would be beneficial. Having statistics while students take their exams would be helpful - showing how many students submitted, how many are in progress, and how many have not started the quiz. Having a log file to track students who opened documents would be valuable. In Moodle, I can see which students opened files, downloaded them, or watched videos. This feature is not available in Google Classroom, which is why I prefer other applications with more powerful statistics to trace student performance.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The modules and courses are flexible."

"The platform's ability to deliver exams and content in a technical way is superior to most other platforms, allowing for establishing checkpoints before progressing to new content and ensuring students understand current material before moving forward."

"Blackboard enables instructors to collectively gather all the grading data into one place. If students upload content or post it to a Google Doc, I can do my grading and calculate the grades. It is an excellent holding place for all of that data"

"One of the most important features is the possibility of creating unlimited subdomains."

"Meeting dynamic educational requirements with Blackboard Learning Management's adaptability and personalized learning environments is the main reason for success in academic performance in this business school."

"It is scalable."

"One of Blackboard's strengths is its historical prominence as a leading LMS for universities in the US and Europe a decade or more ago."

"The solution is easy to use."

More Blackboard Learning Management pros

"Google Classroom is very effective for communication and excellent for assigning homework and resources."

"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is security."

"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to share my lectures with many students, assign tasks to be completed, and overall student engagement."

"Google Classroom is very effective for communication and excellent for assigning homework and resources."

"The customer service and support are very good."

"Google Classroom is easy to use and intuitive, and it's not difficult to set up."

"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to meet people and it is online."

"Google Classroom is simple to use."

More Google Classroom pros

Cons

"It would be ideal to create a more responsive or more intuitive template for access from telephones or tablets."

"The system falls short in terms of managing assessments and exams effectively."

"The solution is not flexible."

"The solution must provide better integration with third-party software."

"Blackboard has limitations in terms of delivering content and assessing student assignments because it can't handle large file sizes. It's also limited in its ability to track student activity. Instructors can see the student's most recent login, but they can't follow the activity."

"Blackboard could benefit from significant improvements in its data storage and software functionality to remain competitive with more innovative LMS solutions."

"Initially, the product's initial setup phase may not seem user-friendly."

"This feature is not available in Google Classroom, which is why I prefer other applications with more powerful statistics to trace student performance."

"There are certain things that I can do on PowerPoint that I cannot do on Google Presentations and Google Slides, such as using PowerPoint's animation feature, I have found that PowerPoint is generally more feature-rich and offers a wider range of tools that I can use to prepare and enhance my presentations."

"Students used to have points that were accumulated and the letter grades, such as A's, B's, C's, et cetera. Google Classroom should add a feature by which you can toggle in between both of them. It's more than only accumulated points, which are not going to mean that much for students unless there's a prize at the end or some type of reward for the effort. However, if there's a way to toggle in between allocating points versus allocating a grade, it would be nice."

"The initial setup is not very easy. It has modern complexity."

"The product's UI needs improvement."

"The product should provide features that allow teachers to be on video while taking the class."

"The initial setup of Google Classroom is straightforward. The deployment took us two to three months because we had to train the faculty."

More Google Classroom cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product pricing tends to be higher than alternatives."

"At the beginning, you can choose a basic plan. As your users grow you can buy a more expensive license."

"My child's school made payments on a subscription-based model to use Google Classroom."

"We are an educational institution, and it is free of charge for us. Normally, if you are a private company, you have to pay a lot of money to get this service, but they are giving it for free to schools."

"If you do a certain size and build, it's like any Google solution. You have to pay for storage, but you don't need to pay extra to use the interface. There may be Google Classroom partners that provide more integrated solutions, but I don't know. I'm strictly DIY."

"The tool is available for free."

"There are competitors that offer free solutions, making the price of Google Classroom high."

"The price of Google Classroom has been reasonable."

"I'm using a free version of Google Classroom, so it's a product I don't pay for."

"The solution is affordable."

More Google Classroom pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

University

21%

Educational Organization

19%

Government

12%

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

21%

University

15%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Blackboard Learning Management?

The product pricing tends to be higher than alternatives like Canvas, making Blackboard more suitable for larger universities with substantial budgets.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Blackboard Learning Management?

To make Blackboard Learning Management better, I believe maintaining, updating, and upgrading the content is the key success factor for the platform to provide value to students.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Blackboard Learning Management?

I use Blackboard Learning Management in a business school. I utilize it to take courses and lessons in a virtual way.

See all answers

What do you like most about Google Classroom?

The product's UI is good and user-friendly.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Classroom?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google Classroom?

I'm not creating classrooms using Google Classroom, as I join courses that other professors have created. Our university works with Outlook and Teams, but I still use Google Classroom when joining ...

See all answers

Comparisons

CYPHER Learning vs Blackboard Learning Management

Compared 26% of the time

ELITE LMS vs Blackboard Learning Management

Compared 19% of the time

More Blackboard Learning Management Competitors

Moodle vs Google Classroom

Compared 36% of the time

Canvas LMS vs Google Classroom

Compared 14% of the time

EduWave vs Google Classroom

Compared 11% of the time

Schoology Learning vs Google Classroom

Compared 9% of the time

Thinkific Plus vs Google Classroom

Compared 8% of the time

More Google Classroom Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Blackboard Learning Management

January 2026

Download Blackboard Learning Management product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Classroom

January 2026

Download Google Classroom product report

Overview

Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) is a comprehensive platform designed to enhance the teaching and learning experience in educational institutions. With its user-friendly interface and robust features, Blackboard LMS enables educators to create, deliver, and manage online courses effectively. Blackboard LMS is facilitates communication and collaboration among students and instructors. The platform's built-in discussion boards, chat rooms, and messaging systems enable real-time interaction and engagement, fostering a sense of community and allowing students to participate actively in the learning process.

Blackboard LMS also provides a full set of tools for content creation and management. Educators can easily upload and organize course materials, including documents, videos, and multimedia resources. The platform supports various file formats, making it convenient for instructors to deliver diverse content to their students.

Assessment and grading are simplified with Blackboard LMS. Educators can create online quizzes, assignments, and exams, and even set automated grading criteria. This saves time and effort, while also providing students with immediate feedback on their performance. The platform also offers grade book functionality, allowing instructors to track and manage student progress easily.

Blackboard LMS features robust analytics and reporting capabilities. Educators can access detailed data on student engagement, performance, and participation, enabling them to identify areas for improvement and tailor their teaching strategies accordingly. This data-driven approach enhances the effectiveness of instruction and supports personalized learning.

Blackboard LMS is also highly customizable, allowing institutions to tailor the platform to their specific needs. It integrates seamlessly with other educational tools and systems, ensuring a smooth workflow and enhancing the overall learning experience.

Blackboard Learning Management System is a powerful and versatile platform that empowers educators to deliver engaging and effective online courses. With its comprehensive features, user-friendly interface, and customizable options, Blackboard LMS is a valuable tool for educational institutions seeking to enhance their teaching and learning environment.

Blackboard

Google Classroom is an online learning platform that allows teachers to create and manage virtual classrooms. With Google Classroom, teachers can easily distribute assignments, communicate with students, and provide feedback. Students can access their assignments, submit their work, and collaborate with their peers all in one place. The platform integrates seamlessly with other Google tools like Google Drive and Google Docs, making it easy for students to create and share their work. Google Classroom also provides a streamlined workflow for teachers, allowing them to save time and stay organized. Google Classroom is a user-friendly and efficient tool that enhances the learning experience of teachers and students alike.

Google

Sample Customers

University of Derby, University of Warwick, John Moore's University

Google Classroom is used in major urban school districts throughout the United States, including: * Los Angeles Unified School District * Chicago Public Schools * New York City Department of Education * Houston Independent School District * Miami-Dade County Public Schools * Dallas Independent School District * Broward County Public Schools * Clark County School District (Las Vegas) * Philadelphia School District

Buyer's Guide

Blackboard Learning Management vs. Google Classroom

December 2025

Free Report: Blackboard Learning Management vs. Google Classroom

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