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Cornerstone Learning vs Totara Learn comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 Learning
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Talent Management (8th), Virtual Training (4th)
Totara Learn
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
13th
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 May 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Cornerstone Learning is 5.0%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Totara Learn is 2.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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

"It is a complete suite of solutions and features. Compared to other solutions which are more niche solutions, which may be as good as Cornerstone or even better in certain parts of it, like discerning user experience. You will not find another solution that has the same completeness of features in all different areas of learning."
"The most valuable features of Cornerstone Learning are how they organized the management of the different content types is good. They are done in different ways which is a benefit. Additionally, the reporting 2.0 and playlist functionality are very good."
"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."
"It is a one-stop shop solution, where you can actually log in using your Windows username and password, and the single sign-on can be configured with this LMS."
"Combining everything together, our on-time completions have gone from the mid-sixty percentile to over 99% on-time completion."
"Its user-friendly interface is most valuable. You can configure your welcome page and design it the way you want on your own."
"The Meeting feature is similar to a conference call facility that can be used for virtual meetings."
"What I like the most about Cornerstone is that it is agile. It has good built-in processes and the implementation is rapid."
"The tool's deployment is not complex."
"The multi-tenancy features of Totara Learn are the most useful for training efficiency."
 

Cons

"In the next release, I would like to see a Hybrid architecture and to be able to customize the look and feel."
"The automated ticketing system for technical support often has a response time that is quite long, which is something that should be improved."
"The existing test functionality is really old-fashioned, basic, and limited."
"Cornerstone Learning could improve the curriculum function by giving it more flexibility. I'm managing the solution and I adding content to the system, and overall, the backend of the system looks a bit dated. Cornerstone Learning has focused a lot on the user experience and less on the backend operational administrative experience. This could be improved overall."
"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."
"Even though the system has a number of features, design wise the user interface is a little bit complicated. It is hard for the user to navigate properly. Because the system has so many features, it has a lot of tabs and links. Sometimes, people get confused as to where to go and search."
"The user interface is in need of improvement."
"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 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."
"Totara Learn needs to improve the look and feel, and make it easier to use, more user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I was not involved in the financial negotiation for our contract with this company, but in the past, I have seen the fees run between $10 USD and $11 USD per user."
"I would rate the price at four on a scale from one to five because it's a very expensive product."
"The solution cost approximately $47,000 annually."
"The price of Cornerstone Learning depends on many factors, such as size and negotiations."
"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."
"The solution's pricing depends on the specific requirements."
"The pricing of Cornerstone Learning is reasonable, but my knowledge of the cost is limited. I've had some discussions about licenses. I suppose we've had to push them a little bit to be more flexible about the licensing. For example, someone said they could only give us licenses in a batch of 500, but we found out that it wasn't true. We were able to negotiate a different amount."
"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."
"It's not expensive. It's user-based."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
57%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
4%
University
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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 Learning vs. Totara Learn and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.