Google Classroom vs Moodle comparison

Read 29 Moodle reviews

1,769 Views
1,245 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Google Classroom

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Moodle and Google Classroom compete in the educational technology category. Based on feature richness and flexibility, Moodle seems to have the upper hand, while Google Classroom excels in simplicity and ease of integration.

Features: Moodle offers customizable features including a vast library of plugins, the ability to randomize exam questions to prevent cheating, and comprehensive course management with integration capabilities like H5P. Google Classroom highlights its simplicity, easy integration with Google Suite products, and streamlined assignment distribution, making it ideal for quick setup and use, especially for those already within the Google ecosystem.

Room for Improvement: Moodle could improve its user interface and provide a more intuitive experience for new users. Addressing the absence of seamless multi-tenancy and better documentation for complex setups would be beneficial. Google Classroom faces critiques for having limited organizational features and grading functionalities. Enhancing integration capabilities with non-Google services and improving offline accessibility would address user concerns.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Moodle may require technical expertise for deployment, especially in self-hosted environments, and its community-driven support can vary in responsiveness. Google Classroom benefits from straightforward deployment through public cloud services with strong community forums, although the direct support from Google might not meet all user needs consistently.

Pricing and ROI: Moodle, as an open-source platform, offers a cost-effective solution with no licensing fees, leading to potential high ROI, though hardware and third-party support costs might be incurred. Google Classroom's free version is valuable for educational purposes, with affordable paid upgrades available. However, integration with Google Workspace could add additional costs, yet the return on investment remains favorable in educational contexts.

To learn more, read our detailed Google Classroom vs. Moodle Report (Updated: June 2025).

Google Classroom vs. Moodle

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 856,874 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

Google Classroom

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Moodle

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Google Classroom is 3.7%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Moodle is 10.0%, down from 15.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Featured Reviews

Jack Otieno

Network and Systems Manager at International School of Kenya

Plug-and-play kind of tool and easy to use

The initial setup is not very easy. It has modern complexity. I would rate my experience with the initial setup a seven out of ten, with ten being easy. The implementation was gradual. We started using it a little bit, and we worked on the other collaborative aspects of it. So it was a gradual thing.

Read full review

Agnes Mindila

Director School of Computing and Information Technology at JKUAT

Offers customized features that allow us to see whether students visited the platform and watched the provided videos

An improvement would be to have it support physically challenged students, who we think should be able to participate in some of our courses. If the learning management system could support blind students or students with learning disabilities, it would expand the reach of education by providing tools that support challenged learners. In future releases, I'd like to see more features that support challenged students, as I just mentioned above. This is because of the university's goal to make education accessible to all groups without discrimination. If we can have more tools that support students who are challenged, that would be very good. If AI could help, that would be nice. We want to support learners who are remote and provide learning to disadvantaged learners or certain groups of people. AI would come in very handy if Moodle had such capabilities.

Read full review

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 of Google Classroom are the meetings, mark book, and assignments."

"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to share my lectures with many students, assign tasks to be completed, and overall student engagement."

"A teacher can send assignments and upload results using the product."

"What I liked most about Google Classroom is it was very easy to communicate with the students and simple for me to learn even though it was the first time I was using it. I was able to learn the features very well by navigating through the different discussions forums and becoming proficient, not necessarily a master but knowledgeable in using the solution. The ease of use was the best feature."

"Assigning a unique copy of Google Classroom to students and giving out information is what the solution excels at."

"I would rate the initial setup a nine out of ten. It is very straightforward."

"The customer service and support are very good."

"Google Classroom is simple to use."

More Google Classroom pros

"The number of permissions that are available and different ways to report and get the information out are the most valuable features. We have been able to get precise bits of information out, and we have also been able to delegate a lot."

"Since it's an open-source product, you can integrate it with many other things."

"A really nice thing about Moodle is that it is very robust and flexible, and one of the big advantages of Moodle is that it is open source. It also has a lot of free documentation."

"Moodle is useful for several things, and you can customize it."

"The most valuable features of Moodle are the ability to create assignments, divide them into teams, and the course delivery. In Cornerstone, I need to reach out to the team, and it is not as simple, a little more involved. Additionally, the solutions is easy to manage."

"It doesn't take long to learn how to use it and to set up basic courses and things like that."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"What I liked most about Moodle was that I could create nice online quizzes. It takes very little time to do. You don't have to even read the paper, it automatically evaluates the quizzes. It gives the student grades and provides a lot of useful statistics. For example, it indicates which question was the hardest, easiest, and where students made the most mistakes. Everything is available to you. You couldn't do this in regular paper test hard copies. This was my first use case."

More Moodle pros

Cons

"Google Classroom could benefit from tools that help correct coding errors for students, thereby enhancing learning."

"The initial setup is not very easy. It has modern complexity."

"I would like to see a master list of documents with folder names so that it is more convenient for students to know whether they have submitted a particular document. At present, you need to go to each classroom to check what you have submitted."

"Google Classroom could improve by having better integration with other platforms, such as Google Meet."

"It would be helpful to add voice or audio capabilities to the classrooms instead of text only."

"Students used to have points that were accumulated and the letter grades, such as A's, B's, C's, et cetera. Google Classroom should add a feature by which you can toggle in between both of them. It's more than only accumulated points, which are not going to mean that much for students unless there's a prize at the end or some type of reward for the effort. However, if there's a way to toggle in between allocating points versus allocating a grade, it would be nice."

"The stability could be improved."

"The product's UI needs improvement."

More Google Classroom cons

"Moodle is missing a subscription-based system where learners can subscribe to available courses and make the payment for those courses."

"The solution architecture could be improved."

"It would be good to have a feature that would ensure that students are the ones performing the given assessment."

"Where Moodle could definitely improve is the user interface. You have a lot of themes and you can customize themes, but if you are going to use Moodle off the shelf, even with a hosting company, a lot of training is involved. Training is available, but if your faculty or your development team isn't highly technical, it's going to be a challenge, whereas there are other interfaces that are much easier, but they don't do as much. So, there is a give and take there. If Moodle could find a way to make the user interface for the instructional designers and the learners more intuitive, it probably would be a huge improvement. The manager area and the admin area are fine, but when it comes to the people who are using the system but might not be highly technical, it needs improvement."

"The customization of the interface could be improved."

"The biggest area for improvement is the UI. They should also make the navigation simpler to understand. They've recently introduced a new way of having navigation work in Moodle, but they all look very similar."

"We have needed to complete many customizations for Moodle to use it in all of our relevant organizations. We have found many issues with the competencies as we cannot assign many sub competencies to competencies."

"One aspect that I found a bit confusing was the dual editing system, where you could edit the layout of the course separately from editing the content."

More Moodle cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product offers a yearly based license."

"The price of Google Classroom has been reasonable."

"We are an educational institution, and it is free of charge for us. Normally, if you are a private company, you have to pay a lot of money to get this service, but they are giving it for free to schools."

"The tool is available for free."

"For Google Classroom, you don't need to pay for its license because they offer free access to the platform."

"There are competitors that offer free solutions, making the price of Google Classroom high."

"My child's school made payments on a subscription-based model to use Google Classroom."

"If you do a certain size and build, it's like any Google solution. You have to pay for storage, but you don't need to pay extra to use the interface. There may be Google Classroom partners that provide more integrated solutions, but I don't know. I'm strictly DIY."

More Google Classroom pricing and cost advice

"Moodle offer a 14 day free trial and then requires payment."

"It is a free-of-cost solution."

"This particular organization is a relatively small academic institution. It is a single campus, not very big, with 4,500 to 5,000 total students. It is not a big faculty. There are no hard sciences other than undergraduate-level hard sciences. So, Moodle is functional, and it is relatively simple because it is open-source software. It has sub advantages, and it is inexpensive. Small schools with small enrollment numbers just can't afford the more expensive ones."

"Moodle is a free open-sourced solution. This is one of the best aspects of Moodle."

"It is a one-time registration with the Moodle site. There isn't a yearly or monthly fee."

"It is open source, and it has a lot of free documentation. It can be by far the least expensive option, but it depends on how one decides to use it. It can be free if you download it and host it on-prem, and you don't count your time as being worth anything. So, it can be almost free, or it can be very expensive just depending on if you get a package with a provider and if it is a huge solution."

"Moodle have a very robust licensing system that is user friendly. It's not very expensive."

"Moodle is free. It should probably stay free. There isn't really any support for Moodle unless you pay an astronomical amount, which is weird."

More Moodle pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Learning Management Systems (LMS) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

856,874 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

24%

Computer Software Company

12%

University

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Educational Organization

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Classroom?

The product's UI is good and user-friendly.

What needs improvement with Google Classroom?

There is room for improvement in AI integration, specifically in the education sector. Google Classroom could benefit from tools that help correct coding errors for students, thereby enhancing lear...

What is your primary use case for Google Classroom?

We are using Google Classroom for assessments, homework, and providing resources to students. We also use it for tuition and online interaction, focusing on IT subjects such as computing and progra...

What do you like most about Moodle?

The customization features of Moodle significantly enhance the learning experience for our users.

What needs improvement with Moodle?

The customization of the interface could be improved. Although we can load and change themes, it still always looks like Moodle. We have not found a way to significantly alter its appearance.

What is your primary use case for Moodle?

We use Moodle to manage our students' information, the classes, and the course catalog, which are mainly related to education. It serves as a learning management system for teaching in class.

Blackboard Learning Management vs Google Classroom

Comparisons

Compared 28% of the time

Canvas LMS vs Google Classroom

Compared 16% of the time

More Google Classroom Competitors

SAP SuccessFactors Learning vs Moodle

Compared 22% of the time

Cornerstone Learn vs Moodle

Compared 10% of the time

LearnWorlds vs Moodle

Compared 8% of the time

CYPHER Learning vs Moodle

Compared 7% of the time

Chamilo LMS vs Moodle

Compared 7% of the time

More Moodle Competitors

Product Reports

Download Google Classroom product report

Google Classroom

June 2025

Download Moodle product report

May 2025

Overview

Google Classroom is an online learning platform that allows teachers to create and manage virtual classrooms. With Google Classroom, teachers can easily distribute assignments, communicate with students, and provide feedback. Students can access their assignments, submit their work, and collaborate with their peers all in one place. The platform integrates seamlessly with other Google tools like Google Drive and Google Docs, making it easy for students to create and share their work. Google Classroom also provides a streamlined workflow for teachers, allowing them to save time and stay organized. Google Classroom is a user-friendly and efficient tool that enhances the learning experience of teachers and students alike.

Google

Moodle is an open-source LMS offering course management, community plugins, and comprehensive integrations. Its modular design supports extensive customization, making it suitable for education sectors and corporate training.

Moodle provides a robust platform for creating and managing educational content. It integrates seamlessly with tools like Zoom and Teams, enhances cheat prevention with exam question shuffling, and supports advanced customization and accessibility. While its flexibility caters to diverse educational and corporate environments, Moodle faces challenges with login issues, improving mobile functionality, and a cumbersome setup process. Efforts to enhance documentation and ensure ease of navigation are ongoing. Its integration capabilities with ERP systems and support for LTI tools further position Moodle as a valuable resource for both educators and learners.

What are Moodle’s key features?

Course Management: Enables the creation and organization of courses, assignments, and exams.
Community Plugins: Offers extendable features through a variety of plugins supporting collaborative learning.
Integration with Tools: Supports platforms like Zoom, Teams, and Google Suite for enhanced communication and collaboration.
Security: Ensures robust protection of data with advanced security measures.
Accessibility Options: Provides tools to make learning accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
Document Import/Export: Easy management of course materials via import/export capabilities.
LTI Tool Integration: Seamless incorporation of Learning Tools Interoperability standards for broader resource access.

What benefits can users expect from Moodle?

Customization: Flexibility allows tailoring of the platform to specific requirements or objectives.
Ease of Use: Designed for efficient course administration and facilitation of learning.
Role-Based Access: Supports personalized user roles and permissions.
Cost-Effectiveness: Open-source nature ensures budget-friendly deployment and maintenance.
Wide Range of Plugins: Enhances capability through a supportive plugin ecosystem.

In educational and corporate industries, Moodle is implemented for exam scheduling, resource management, and online assessments. It facilitates instructor-student interactions and is adaptable for both on-premises and cloud deployments. Organizations leverage Moodle for customizing employee certifications and training programs, benefiting from its versatile access controls and management tools.

Sample Customers

Google Classroom is used in major urban school districts throughout the United States, including: * Los Angeles Unified School District * Chicago Public Schools * New York City Department of Education * Houston Independent School District * Miami-Dade County Public Schools * Dallas Independent School District * Broward County Public Schools * Clark County School District (Las Vegas) * Philadelphia School District

Acacia University, Alliant International University, American University of Health Sciences, Anaheim University Online, Aspen University, Cal State University San Bernardino, California State University Los Angeles, Chattanooga Fire Training, City of Humble Fire Department, George Washington University, Georgia Institute of Emergency Medical Services, Michigan Online Classroom, Virginia Beach Sheriffs Office, Washington Post