Canvas LMS vs Litmos comparison

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Canvas LMS

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Litmos and Canvas LMS are competing in the learning management system space. Canvas LMS has the upper hand due to its extensive feature set and superior collaborative capabilities.

Features: Litmos offers valuable features such as a user-friendly interface, a robust library of pre-built courses, and advanced scheduling and automated enrollment capabilities. Canvas LMS provides comprehensive content authoring tools, seamless integration with external tools like Zoom, and strong collaboration features for student engagement.

Room for Improvement: Litmos could enhance its auto-enrollment feature, address performance issues especially in user management, and expand its customization options for varied user interfaces. Canvas LMS would benefit from simplifying its complex deployment process, improving intuitive navigation for beginners, and streamlining the integration of third-party content.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Litmos offers a quick deployment process with responsive customer support suitable for organizations seeking rapid go-live. Canvas LMS, though requiring a more complex deployment, provides detailed support documentation that helps accommodate specific customization and integration needs.

Pricing and ROI: Litmos provides a cost-effective solution with attractive ROI, catering to budget-conscious organizations. Canvas LMS, while having a higher initial investment, offers extensive features that justify the expense with potential long-term return on investment through enhanced learning outcomes.

To learn more, read our detailed Canvas LMS vs. Litmos Report (Updated: July 2025).

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Canvas LMS vs. Litmos

July 2025

Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

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

Canvas LMS

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

6th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Litmos

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

8th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Virtual Training (6th), eLearning (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Canvas LMS is 4.7%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Litmos is 2.6%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Featured Reviews

Lance Levin

Learning Magic Solutions | Managing Director at CTI

Comprehensive learning system transforms education with innovative features

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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Campbell Wormald

Business Owner at TheCWStudios

Easy to administer and use, integrates well, and helps with compliance management

Their reporting side of things could be better. The reporting dashboard or user interface reporting dashboard is not as intuitive as it potentially could be, but the problem with that is that every organization is going to want something slightly different. So, it's hard, but it is an area where it could improve. To do that, they would need to make some humongous improvements around being able to build your own dashboard within the system, which is pretty huge. One feature that a few of my clients have been requesting is CPD. We should be able to capture CPD points for users within the system to be able to report on those.

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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

"We have been using Canvas LMS, and overall, it has served our needs well for managing courses and general settings."

"Canvas LMS is user-friendly. Its assessment tools help to find the weaknesses and strengths of students."

"It's easy to follow. It flows well, and it's easy to use."

"The solution is easy to access."

"The assessment tools in Canvas significantly contribute to educational outcomes by allowing instructors to create and manage assessments effectively."

"The integration with Zoom is a notable feature. It allows for seamless access to live class sessions directly from Canvas after authentication, enabling quick entry into Zoom calls. You can also schedule Zoom calls or private recordings directly within Canvas, making it convenient, especially for situations like self-recording exams. Additionally, Canvas excels in collaboration and discussion capabilities. Users can engage in discussions on various topics, and there's the option to create custom groups for more focused interactions. These groups provide a level of privacy and isolation from the broader class, which is a significant advantage."

"I used a lot of other systems in my IT career and Canvas LMS truly has everything that I would look for in an enterprise system."

"They have a more extensive support base in terms of infrastructure."

More Canvas LMS pros

"From a learning management system admin perspective, it has a user-friendly interface, but the functionality is deep. So, you can automate people in and out of courses. It lowers the general admin of an LMS admin so that I can focus more on value-adding things for the organization I'm working with."

"There is a couple of good features available, you can customize the dashboard, CSA, and home page. You can customize the solution to your business standards. SAP Litmos offers a library of 2,500 plus courses to premium members. They have a good library of pre-built courses. It's a variety of soft skill courses including management, and marketing. You can offer these courses to your students, which is excellent."

"Its user interface is quite good. The platform is quite user-friendly. The UI/UX of the platform is very advanced, which helps in getting the users interested in the training."

"The plug-and-play format can be deployed immediately which is unlike its competitors that take three to four months."

"This is a very scalable solution. We had over 10,000 students in our instance and their billing model makes scaling affordable to do."

"It incorporates the majority of the elements."

"Content Author removes the need for a third-party solution for content creation."

"Its pricing is good, and its performance is good when it works."

More Litmos pros

Cons

"It would be nice to be able to do more real-time comprehensive reporting with Canvas LMS."

"The product could be integrated with a talent management system."

"The solution could be upgraded and improved."

"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."

"The learning curve is not steep, but it is intermediate."

"Integrating more AI capabilities for the product could enhance its functionality, particularly in automating repetitive tasks and personalizing learning experiences."

"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."

"The high-tech interactivity with other software, like ArcGIS or RSA Archer, can be better. It is not as easily compatible with them. You can put apps in it that the students can then access, but the routing of apps through the Canvas system slows down functionality on the other types of products."

More Canvas LMS cons

"The rules are not very flexible in terms of administration. They have a predefined system with three standard rules that cannot be customized, modified, added, or removed."

"The solution lags in defined security parameters with only three predefined roles available."

"The reporting could be improved. When we first subscribed to Litmos, it had a great reporting engine, but SAP altered it. Some of the changes have reduced the ability to extract reports from it. It's excellent for live data, but it can be tricky when I want to get a report."

"The auto-assign feature that auto assigns courses to learners and puts them into a different learning path has had a bug for the last year and a half. My team has spent numerous hours trying to troubleshoot and fix that, but it's still broken. Until they fix that, it's going to be a higher admin burden for people to manage."

"The reporting function of SAP Litmos needs major improvements. The reports are not at par with other solutions on the market. It's not user-friendly or effective reporting which we can retrieve from other places."

"They can really improve in the reporting area. While doing sessions, there are various types of reports, such as the attendance report or assessment report. We can export the Excel dump of the report, but it is not that neat and clean. You have to change it a lot. You can customize the Excel dump as per your requirement, but it is not that user-friendly in terms of the admin part. They can do much better. They have room for improvement in the reporting area."

"Lacks a variety of language options."

"The reporting in Litmos could be improved. It is difficult to pull accurate reporting based on how the solution is set up and parameters are selected."

More Litmos cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform can be expensive for smaller organizations with fewer students."

"Canvas LMS is low-priced compared to other vendors."

"Canvas LMS is an affordable solution."

"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"

"I don't know what the pricing model is at this point in time. I'm a consultant. The organizations that have purchased Litmos engage me to help them implement it, or Litmos engage me to be their external learning management system administrator. So, I don't see the rates, but based on the general comments that I've heard, it seems cost-effective and competitive with its competitors."

"The pricing is really good. Its pricing is probably the most competitive I've seen for an LMS. If you need help with doing any type of custom design or customization, such as code design or anything like that with the site, then you have to use their people services, which would be an extra cost."

"If I have a domain and I want to link my custom domain to SAP Litmos, and if I want to remove the branding of the SAP Litmos, then they charge a large amount for it. It's not included in your subscription plan which we have purchased from them. In the last two to three years, we have never bought the custom domain. We have never linked our custom domain to SAP Litmos. The barrier for us is the high pricing. It is not a reasonable price."

"The solution is priced per user which can get expensive."

"There are three different pricing models. One is only to use the platform and to add your own learning material. The second plan includes the learning management system plus 2000 plus pre built courses on different areas including leadership, software skills, HR and IT related training. The third package allows you to integrate the system with tools such Salesforce or other CRMs."

"This solution comes at a high price point. We also paid $4500 for a migration specialist from Litmos to assist in moving our content over. You are billed every month based on the number of users who have logged in and completed training."

"It is priced per user license."

"I do not have any idea about the licensing, but I know that it is quite expensive."

More Litmos pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

18%

University

18%

Manufacturing Company

Non Profit

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Non Profit

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Canvas LMS?

We have been using Canvas LMS, and overall, it has served our needs well for managing courses and general settings.

What needs improvement with Canvas LMS?

There are some disadvantages with Canvas LMS and always improvements to be made. That comes with technology. As technology improves, the product will improve. Regarding features that Canvas LMS cou...

What advice do you have for others considering Canvas LMS?

Canvas LMS is the best solution because they have enabled scaleability and cutting edge technology transfer through Thomas Bravo, a multi-billion dollar company and will soon have the financial the...

Is SAP Litmos expensive for eLearning?

I have used this for eLearning before, and considering how useful it was, the price was fair. Of course, you have to think of what you will need for your own training and how much you want to pay ...

Is it better to use your own courses or SAP Litmos’ native ones?

Obviously this highly depends on what you want to provide to your learners. If you seek to give them very specific eLearning, like if your company wants to educate employees or partners on your new...

How does SAP Litmos make eLearning more effective?

I think SAP Litmos makes eLearning effective because it's specifically created to closely follow the learning process and the progress of students, all the while giving you many tools and helpful ...

CYPHER Learning vs Canvas LMS

Comparisons

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Compared 34% of the time

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Product Reports

Download Canvas LMS product report

Canvas LMS

August 2025

Download Litmos product report

August 2025

Also Known As

No data available

SAP Litmos, CallidusCloud Litmos

Overview

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.

Instructure

Litmos is a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) that offers a comprehensive solution for training and development needs. Its user-friendly interface and robust features enable organizations to deliver engaging and effective learning experiences to their employees, partners, and customers. The platform allows for easy creation and management of courses, assessments, and certifications, with the ability to track learner progress and performance. SA Litmos also provides various content options, including video-based learning, virtual classrooms, and gamification, to enhance learner engagement. Additionally, it offers robust reporting and analytics capabilities, allowing organizations to gain insights into learner behavior and training effectiveness. With its mobile app and responsive design, Litmos ensures learners can access training materials anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Litmos is a comprehensive and flexible LMS that empowers organizations to deliver impactful training and drive continuous learning and development.

Sample Customers

Pragmatic Group, MRWED Training and Assessment, RedHill Education

YouTube, Samsung, Coca Cola, Nowegian.com, Xero, Zumba, Sears, Build.com, UFC