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Cornerstone Learn vs Totara Learn comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 31, 2025

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

Cornerstone Learn
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Training (5th)
Totara Learn
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
12th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Cornerstone Learn is 7.1%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Totara Learn is 1.8%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cornerstone Learn7.1%
Totara Learn1.8%
Other91.1%
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
 

Featured Reviews

Vibha  Mishra - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined compliance training and efficient session creation empower diverse industries
Creating a session requires just one click, which makes data ready efficiently. Reporting-wise, Cornerstone is the best. It allows internal content management, playlist creation, using external links for learning, and supports various AI training. All the compliance training, code of conduct, and audits are handled through Cornerstone, making it beneficial.
MarcFonoll - PeerSpot reviewer
The tool's deployment is not complex but need to work on multi-tenant trainings
The challenge was understanding the entire solution, particularly its capabilities for managing training within a distributed organization. As part of a group of companies, some with training hubs and others working differently, the need for different tenants arose. This helps organize the training offerings centrally, addressing the challenge of a multi-tenant solution, which wasn't fully grasped initially.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are the Playlists, Learning Assignment Tool, Earner Experience Platform, Machine Learning, and Reporting 2.0."
"What I like the most about Cornerstone is that it is agile. It has good built-in processes and the implementation is rapid."
"The most valuable features of Cornerstone Learning are how extensive the configurable the solution is."
"The reporting feature is fantastic, and I also like the dynamic learning assignment feature. It is interactive and user-friendly. It is also highly stable, automated, and customizable."
"The most valuable feature is how easy it is to learn and use. It's built off the Microsoft Word format, so if you can use Word, you'll be able to figure this out."
"The most valuable feature of Cornerstone Learning is the reporting and learner transcripts."
"Their integration features with other platforms are valuable. It is also relatively easy to use. Their library of training modules is fairly robust as well."
"Stability and scalability are good. They have four releases every year of which learning is a big portion of that. They're constantly refining and defining and they're embedding a lot of new technology into it all the time."
"The tool's deployment is not complex."
"The multi-tenancy features of Totara Learn are the most useful for training efficiency."
 

Cons

"There are some configuration elements that require Cornerstone engineering resources. It would be nice if we could self-serve. I would like the ability to manage the user interface or the navigation and layout of the pages that are displayed to end-users."
"Its dashboard and analytics must be improved. Currently, we get the data, but we don't get anything from the insightfulness perspective. Analytics is where it requires a lot of work. We definitely expect some good dashboard features, which are currently lacking in this solution. From a technical perspective, they need to open access to all HTML tags. It currently doesn't support many HTML tags, which makes it challenging to create HTML pages."
"Cornerstone Learning can improve reporting. If they had a harmonization of the administration UIs it would be great."
"There is a need for quite a bit of improvement. The reporting side of things definitely needs a lot of improvement. At the moment, it gives you a data dump. You have to open it up in Excel and filter out the bits that you don't want and need."
"The support for this solution could be improved."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvement in the dashboards and reporting."
"In the next release, I would like to see a Hybrid architecture and to be able to customize the look and feel."
"Cornerstone Learning's initial setup was complex, but I don't see that as a downside. It was complex because there is a lot of customizing and a lot of settings that can be done in the setup."
"Totara Learn needs to improve the look and feel, and make it easier to use, more user-friendly."
"The challenge was understanding the entire solution, particularly its capabilities for managing training within a distributed organization. As part of a group of companies, some with training hubs and others working differently, the need for different tenants arose. This helps organize the training offerings centrally, addressing the challenge of a multi-tenant solution, which wasn't fully grasped initially."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is a cost-effective solution."
"I would rate the price at four on a scale from one to five because it's a very expensive product."
"This solution offers competitive pricing."
"Quality always comes at a cost. I would not rate it as expensive. It provides value for money."
"The solution cost approximately $47,000 annually."
"The solution's pricing depends on the specific requirements."
"It is a premium product, and it is on par with its competitors. It isn't out of scale with what the market is demanding. We're always looking at ways of trimming costs, but we haven't had a lot of flexibility with pricing and/or options with Cornerstone. So, its price is decent. There are ad hoc engineering costs when we are required to use a Cornerstone resource. Additionally, when we choose to integrate with third-party platforms, there is a setup and maintenance fee for these data integrations. They need to be built into our ongoing budget as we expand our offerings."
"I'm not aware of the costs. It must have been something for which we paid. Every single employee in the company had some kind of access to Cornerstone because that's how they got to their training."
"It's not expensive. It's user-based."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
23%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
11%
University
8%
Insurance Company
8%
Media Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise20
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Is Cornerstone Learning reliable for content organization?
I think the organizational management of Cornerstone Learning is great. My organization uses this learning software and the way different content types are managed is very useful for our training ...
Does Cornerstone Learning provide you with good reports?
Cornerstone Learning provides great reports for your training programs and the performance of your employees on them. What's more, you get skills graphs which my company finds the most valuable for...
Why would you recommend Cornerstone as a platform for virtual training?
Hello, I think that Cornerstone is more than suitable for virtual training. For one, it gives you a really big array of tools and customizations to be able to deliver your employees high-quality t...
What do you like most about Totara Learn?
The tool's deployment is not complex.
What needs improvement with Totara Learn?
The look and feel is not good. Totara Learn needs to improve its look and feel and make it easier to use and more user-friendly. The interface is okay, but sometimes it's messy. Totara needs to imp...
What advice do you have for others considering Totara Learn?
For people who need a highly scalable, multi-tenant LMS on a low budget, this is a good option. It's a very good option in the market, low-priced, and a very good LMS. Overall, I would rate it an e...
 

Also Known As

Cornerstone Learning Suite, Saba Cloud
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advantage Sales and Marketing
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cornerstone Learn vs. Totara Learn and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.