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CYPHER 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

CYPHER Learning
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
3rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
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 CYPHER Learning is 3.2%, down from 5.0% 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 (%)
CYPHER Learning3.2%
Totara Learn1.8%
Other95.0%
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
 

Featured Reviews

Roland Lorenzo M Ruben - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers flexible learning and saves printing costs; it has been excellent for us
There is room for improvement in the CYPHER Learning mobile application because my students have given feedback that they are not using the mobile app as it takes time to open. I also use the app. For me, it is easier to use than using the browser, but some of the students do not use it because it takes a very long time to open. Most of our students are using smartphones. Some students do not have laptops, so if the mobile app is more responsive, it would be a great help for us. The peer feedback feature is not user-friendly. Some of our faculty members were very happy when CYPHER gave the news that there is already a peer feedback feature because we were asking for it, but when they used it, they found it complicated and not user-friendly. They were disappointed with the peer feedback feature. When students submit their outputs, we want their classmates to give feedback as well, but that is not very easy to use. After I tried it, I also did not find it very friendly to use. They have this assessment type where we can group our students. We create groups, and they can work and collaborate with the group. While grading the submissions of the groups, although we can see that the students are separated by groups, we still have to grade them one by one. We would like a way to grade the group as one. For example, if there are five members in a group, currently, we give each member a grade. It would be easier to be able to give the same grade to all the members of the group. The team assessment feature could be improved to allow grading the group as one.
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

"CYPHER Learning is a user-friendly platform that makes it easy for me to manage my instructors and track my learners."
"The ease of use, the autonomy it provides my students, and the flexibility it offers teachers to create their own ecosystem within CYPHER Learning—all of this aligns with the curriculum in a unique way."
"Compared to other platforms, it is very user-friendly and intuitive, and both teachers and students can easily find what they need and use the functions without extensive training."
"It is very easy for educators to communicate with students using CYPHER Learning. The entire community is on the platform and we all know the process. There is fluid, fast, and effective communication that consists of sources that give us what we need to continue our educational processes."
"With class folders in place, it is possible to follow up on the children. I know when students have seen the material that has been uploaded to the platform and, thus, understand if they are following the classes."
"CYPHER Learning is the main way to communicate with students. In CYPHER Learning, everything is recorded, including messages about tasks. I like that the messages are registered in the system. This way, I can keep track of students' efforts. We have a WhatsApp group and students also have my email, but I ask them to communicate through CYPHER Learning. The university administrators review teachers' data through CYPHER Learning. So, in case of any complaints, everything is registered there."
"I like that you can choose your home screen widget. We have a centralized calendar that sends a reminder to students about tasks that are due."
"The entire system is incredibly valuable, but one of the reasons we chose CYPHER Learning was the social interaction features, such as forums, student groups, and messaging."
"The tool's deployment is not complex."
"The multi-tenancy features of Totara Learn are the most useful for training efficiency."
 

Cons

"If the system had some graphing abilities and not just exporting of data to Excel sheets, that would be nice. I would like to be able to run a report on something and get graphs with insightful data. In an Excel sheet, I just have to reanalyze the data."
"While the number of apps available for integration with CYPHER Learning has increased over the years, I would love to see this number continue to grow. I believe this would help solidify its position amongst other learning management systems as a viable option for educators and schools."
"What we've been asking them for recently is that, while we really appreciate the shopping cart, it doesn't have a recurring payment charge. A lot of our participants, instead of paying the full fee, spread it out over several months and that feature is not there yet."
"There could be improvements in the dynamic and accessibility tools for the youngest students. For example, I create or attach links from other pages, and I use activities and games, such as roulettes, that encourage student participation."
"The vendor could improve on the chat system. Right now, the student only has access to messaging. Maybe it would be good to have a mini chat or the ability to do video calls with teachers if they have any questions about an assignment."
"Perhaps there is room for improvement in the gamification part. I have used it but it has not been very clear to me. It may be my responsibility for not asking about it in the training sessions, but the way you use it is not so clear."
"Some of our faculty members were very happy when CYPHER gave the news that there is already a peer feedback feature because we were asking for it, but when they used it, they found it complicated and not user-friendly."
"There is a section where you can create games and tools. I don't know if it is because I didn't have the training, but I couldn't use the gamification tools. I would like them to create a link with a tutorial explaining how to do this from the platform."
"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

"CYPHER Learning's price is slightly higher than other solutions."
"I am happy with it. It is very well priced."
"Understanding your active users, compared to total users, in terms of the plan you choose, is something to be aware of."
"The system is not cheap but it's affordable. The pricing is fair... The cherry on top was that we received all the functionality with the simplest plan, the one with the minimal number of users. It couldn't be any better."
"NEO's price is good."
"It seems moderate and as per industry standards. In my previous organization, we had to hire an outside company, so I know what companies charge to do just a single course. Considering that, the price of CYPHER Learning is in the typical cost range."
"Because our cost went down by 50%, I would say that the pricing is competitive."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. It's not too expensive and, for what it is, it's very reasonable."
"It's not expensive. It's user-based."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
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 Business30
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise5
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NEO LMS?
The pricing for CYPHER Learning is on par with other solutions. I've been a single user of the system for a while and priced out several other options, and it's probably standard pricing if not may...
What needs improvement with NEO LMS?
One of the areas that I believe CYPHER Learning could improve on is having a saving function as you type in, much as some Google products. That would really help in my classroom because we do a lot...
What advice do you have for others considering NEO LMS?
I absolutely recommend CYPHER Learning to other users. My students really connect with it because it doesn’t resemble anything else available. The ease of use, the autonomy it provides my students,...
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

MATRIX LMS, NEO LMS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Millions of users across business, academia, and entrepreneurs - worldwide.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about CYPHER Learning vs. Totara Learn and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.