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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 August 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of CYPHER Learning is 3.9%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Totara Learn is 2.2%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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

"The customization is very good because it allows us to completely brand the product so that it is our brand."
"When I do a survey, CYPHER Learning is helpful because then I can more quickly peruse students' responses. I don't have to go through question by question. Grading-wise, it has certainly helped, when giving a survey, to streamline my grading for that assignment."
"One of the most valuable features is the ability to use private external portals through which we can sell our courses, which is enormous. This feature is one of the primary reasons we stitched from our previous LMS, as it allows us to grow and create customization. We can customize the portals within CYPHER Learning for specific clients, and that's huge."
"Most LMSs have a fixed template for all the courses and the whole school uses it. When it comes to younger ages, they need fewer features so there won't be a lot of hassle for the teachers and parents. That's what we can do using CYPHER Learning: Just turn off anything that we don't need in a specific course."
"I can use a template to replicate class content so that I can use the same content in the three sections where I teach. That way, I don't have to continuously edit my classes. It's very useful."
"One of the features that is very good is the automation for setting trigger rules that show or hide specific class sections or assignments."
"Another feature that is great for me... is the learning outcomes feature... In CYPHER Learning, it's called the Mastery feature. The learning outcomes feature allows us to measure whether students have achieved competency, based on the encoded learning outcomes."
"The most valuable feature is competency tracking. All apprentices follow particular programs where they have to demonstrate competencies, skills, knowledge, and behavior standards. The ability to track and measure their progress against the norm is functional."
"The multi-tenancy features of Totara Learn are the most useful for training efficiency."
"The tool's deployment is not complex."
 

Cons

"One of the things that I would like to see improvement on is detecting duplicate users by identifying them by their names and not only by their email addresses. Many people change their email addresses but we don't know that they have. This can result in unnecessary duplication of user accounts."
"Screen sorting can be improved by providing more filtering options."
"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."
"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."
"We have teachers of all ages and those who are a little older hardly interact with the platform. It needs greater accessibility and more detailed updates and information regarding all its tools."
"In terms of face-to-face education, a suggestion for CYPHER LEARNING is that it give more presence to CYPHER Learning as an entity in the school by teaching more about how to exploit the tools: how to create games, and more about the use of SCORM."
"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."
"There is a great feature that enables self-registration for a user and it comes with an access code. Unfortunately, there is only one access code and it works for all portals. We would appreciate a dedicated access code for different portals."
"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

"The main reason we went for it was cost, which was very reasonable."
"It has helped us save from 90% to 100% of our costs. The most valuable thing that we have earned in the last three years is time, e.g., my personal time versus my work time. There is more harmony."
"Overall, the pricing of CYPHER Learning is okay. There are cheaper solutions that offer way fewer features and there are more expensive and more capable solutions, but they might be overkill for many companies that are not big enough. It's about balance. CYPHER Learning is in the middle; not very expensive, not very cheap."
"It's affordable, but they have doubled the pricing at random times. That's a problem. They have to change that for forecasting purposes."
"CYPHER Learning's price is slightly higher than other solutions."
"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."
"Understanding your active users, compared to total users, in terms of the plan you choose, is something to be aware of."
"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
21%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
7%
University
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.