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Moodle vs Thinkific Plus 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

Moodle
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Thinkific Plus
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
19th
Average Rating
5.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
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 Moodle is 11.7%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Thinkific Plus is 0.4%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
 

Featured Reviews

Ertan Aslan - PeerSpot reviewer
Plenty of modules, highly flexible, and advantageous different user types
It would be a benefit if there was an easy single sign-on with social media services for Moodle. There are some plugins that I tried, but they didn't work seamlessly. it is a work in progress. Having the single sign-on with social media services would be appreciated because in my school we are using Google suite and the main reason why we use Google Classroom is that it is integrated seamlessly with the suite. If I have the same seamless integration with Google suite with Moodle, I would use Moodle more often. I'm using it for myself, but school-wise, it's limited because of the ease of access. Google Classroom is very simple, and straightforward for teachers. It has many features with most being basic. It's easy for everyone to learn. Moodle has a lot of advanced features which can scare people who are not advanced users. If Moodle could improve user-friendliness or more people would use it. This includes the user interface and the overall user experience could improve. When comparing it to Google, it's a bit more difficult. For example, with Google Classroom, as long as you have a Google account any teacher can go there and create a classroom. However, with Moodle, it's a bit difficult. You need to have a system first. It has to be installed, and then you need to know how to create a classroom. You need to know how to use those tools. It requires some getting used to and some training.
Carlos Da Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports assessment creation but needs gamification and automation
I used it mainly for clients that worked in the school industry, taking their educators through content or a course concept It had options where you could create quizzes and assessments and upload PDFs. These features were beneficial in structuring educational content. Some of the limitations…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup is straightforward."
"Cost-effective and intuitive."
"Almost all the activity modules are available inside the courses, so that makes our training easier and more comfortable."
"The solution is stable."
"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."
"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."
"The valuable features of Moodle include its open-source nature, which makes it free to use, and the supportive community that assists with any issues."
"This is a scalable solution. We have had 30,000 students using the solution. During COVID, we were able to accommodate a 500% increase in traffic."
"User management is good in Thinkific Plus. The solution has nice features like certifications and email notifications."
"It had options where you could create quizzes and assessments and upload PDFs."
 

Cons

"The ability to input modified, individual, independent grades in a grade center component is not just hard. It almost always requires you to get tech involved. When you're dealing with a learning system where you have people in an open enrollment with all different levels of learning modes or methodologies, and as well as a worldwide student body, you end up with situations where you have to absolutely exempt somebody from a grade or an assignment and enter a new, different kind of assignment because of their skillset or lack thereof. You can't do that in Moodle. It is virtually impossible to do that in Moodle without having a tech do it for you, and when you have to have that level of tech support, it becomes problematic. They need to fix the grade book center. It is the part where you do evaluations. They need to fix it so that the individual professors can make changes directly without having to get a hold of tech support to do it for them."
"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."
"Everything is very text heavy. There are no videos or moving images. For a visual learner, there's not a lot of visual content so Moodle is not suitable for all types of learners."
"An improvement would be to have it support physically challenged students, who we think should be able to participate in some of our courses."
"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."
"Moodle should improve the interface. You can download plugins, such as templates, and use them in Moodle, but they're limited. The interface component in Moodle can improve for students because we always have to train every student on how to use some of each feature. The solution overall could be more user-friendly."
"The solution architecture could be improved."
"Some of the limitations are the lack of gamification and automation, which we considered important."
"The solution doesn't have too many templates. There are only three templates."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a free-of-cost solution."
"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."
"It varies depending on the partner you're going with. It depends on whether they are a certified partner or not. It also varies depending on the demand. Usually, with Moodle and other LMSs, there is concurrent licensing. It's hard to figure out the best way to do it at the company that is selling the LMS. Moodle is usually one of the most cost-effective LMSs you can get."
"Moodle is a free online learning platform, but it also offers a paid version of it."
"Moodle is a free solution."
"The licensing cost is quite high and it operates on an annual basis."
"Moodle offer a 14 day free trial and then requires payment."
"Moodle is a free open-sourced solution. This is one of the best aspects of Moodle."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
14%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What do you like most about Thinkific Plus?
User management is good in Thinkific Plus. The solution has nice features like certifications and email notifications.
What needs improvement with Thinkific Plus?
Some of the limitations are the lack of gamification and automation, which we considered important. These were areas where I felt the product could improve.
What is your primary use case for Thinkific Plus?
I used it mainly for clients that worked in the school industry, taking their educators through content or a course concept.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
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Find out what your peers are saying about Moodle vs. Thinkific Plus and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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