Absorb LMS vs. Trainual

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Absorb LMS
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Absorb LMS aims to empower organizations to train employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. The LMS software focuses on aligning learning needs with business demands.N/A
Trainual
Score 9.8 out of 10
N/A
Trainual is a modern training manual for growing businesses. It provides one simple tool that aims to help users centralize processes and policies, automate onboarding and training, and build a foundation to scale faster. The vendor says Trainual is designed for small to medium sized businesses that are growing quickly and eager to document systems and processes, define step-by-step workflows, eliminate grey area between roles, and ensure that training happens consistently, every…
$119
per month
Pricing
Absorb LMSTrainual
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Pro
$119
per month
Premium
$179
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Absorb LMSTrainual
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Absorb LMSTrainual
Considered Both Products
Absorb LMS
Chose Absorb LMS
Of all the systems I have used, Absorb LMS is the best supported, easiest to use, and most trouble free.
Chose Absorb LMS
More mature a company and product. Slightly more professional look and feel.
Chose Absorb LMS
Absorb LMS had the richest feature set for relative cost and promised seamless integration with ADP Workforce now (somewhat overpromised).
Chose Absorb LMS
Absorb LMS provided us the most robust set of features and lowest cost. A bug feature for us was 21CFR11 compliant signatures which other vendors do not have or charge extra to bolt on to the solution.
Chose Absorb LMS
improved usabiltiy and met more of the requirements we needed as a business
Chose Absorb LMS
Absorb LMS had far more white labelling and customisation which is essential for our business use. Talent LMS does not allow downloading of content authoring files, effectively locking you into their platform. Articulate has great content authoring functionality but it staggers …
Chose Absorb LMS
They did not have the ability to upload large files. We had to break up powerpoints to store on the site. Also they did not have the ability to really brand the site. They were at a lower cost which was nice when we first started but as we grew and our needs increased they …
Chose Absorb LMS
Two of the other platforms that we tested and evaluated are not available in your list. We looked at systems from EMS1.com delivered by Praetorian, Inc., and we looked at a product called WebAnywhere, with whom we actually contracted for a year before abandoning the platform …
Chose Absorb LMS
During our discovery phase, we found that Absorb LMS's easy-to-use interface and deep funcionality was better than the other vendors.
Chose Absorb LMS
hands down favorite in look, function, cost and service. Others were close but could not meet our external and internal cases. Our current one (we looked at them again) did not have 40% of the functionality or value, despite the bargain cost, it was not worth it to continue. …
Chose Absorb LMS
Implementation of a new product was intimidating.
Chose Absorb LMS
Vector LMS and Industrial Manufacturing Training and Docebo Learning Platform
Chose Absorb LMS
I am not a part of the decision making process of selecting an LMS.
Chose Absorb LMS
I have not used an LMS before.
Chose Absorb LMS
User experience and user interface wise Absorb LMS is superior. I have experience using Canvas at the university and it's plane, simple with nothing else to do but a file container. Activities are pretty simple too. Moodle was used a lot during the pandemic but they don't have …
Chose Absorb LMS
Absorb was able to come on top because it was the only LMS system that met 95% of our needs. While we vetted several systems, this one worked the best for us. We are very unique in how we use our training system, so it was refreshing to have a company provide us with what we …
Chose Absorb LMS
It was very difficult to create content in Learnworlds. It was not intuitive and it was hard to make it look the way I wanted it to. Support was slow and actually not helpful. Instead of meeting live to help through an issue, they would send emails back and forth or send a …
Chose Absorb LMS
Absorb LMS was a lot more intuitive and user friendly, it also provided a much better user experience. The analtyics were a vast improvement as well.
Chose Absorb LMS
Cornerstone OnDemand and Thought Industries
Trainual
Chose Trainual
No comparison as it relates to many differences. You’re not able to create a portal or generate different classes to make the training fun like trainual it has been a lot easier for our team members to get caught up on any new products and other software that we used has not …
Chose Trainual
There were more user friendly features and a more streamline platform
Chose Trainual
Previously we created SOP's in Google Drive that we used for employee training but they were cumbersome to navigate through and were also in danger of getting deleted. They were plain Word documents and were not interesting to read. Trainual is SO much easier for new employees …
Chose Trainual
  • This is our first time using anything like this!
  • Previously we just wrote task items in shared Google documents. It was the best of what we could do at the time, but this is a whole different world, and we love it! Being able to integrate quizzes and photos and interactive video …
Features
Absorb LMSTrainual
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
8.9
Ratings
9% above category average
Trainual
9.4
Ratings
14% above category average
Course authoring8.00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.40 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Player/Portal9.10 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Learning content8.90 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.40 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.90 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Assignments9.90 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Compliance management9.90 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Learning administration9.70 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics8.70 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Social learning8.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Gamification6.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Absorb LMSTrainual
Small Businesses
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 9.6 out of 10
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 9.6 out of 10
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Axonify
Axonify
Score 10.0 out of 10
Axonify
Axonify
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Absorb LMSTrainual
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(0 ratings)
9.7
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.5
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Absorb LMSTrainual
Likelihood to Recommend
Absorb LMS answered a lot of questions we were facing as an organization in how we train and develop our employees. Absorb LMS is not only a fantastic repository for learning resources, the built in tools make creating new resources and experiences for our teammates so much easier and more streamlined. We use the Absorb Create authoring tool and have had great luck in course creation using many methods (AI, templates, etc.). We implemented the LMS in 4 weeks due to the guidance and willingness of our Implementation manager to move along at a quicker pace. We also love the Absorb library of content that helps fill in some of the soft skills and safety gaps without us having to create internal resources.
Read full review
Trainual is well suited for new hires. They can be introduced to our processes and products before testing and trying themselves. Trainual provides for a less jarring experience for anyone new to our team. Every time someone new starts it is imperative that they complete all the training modules within Trainual before doing some of the work themselves. It definitely allows for a smoother transition to the team and work life
Read full review
Pros
  • Customer Service - Our CSM, Kirsten Spak, provides friendly, timely and high quality help and has helps us to understand and efficiently use the system.
  • Course Creation - We have been able to create custom courses with a wide range of features, including branding, audio, video and assessments.
  • Reporting - Absorb LMS offers a robust reporting function which allows us to understand our users and meet the needs of our partners when user information is required for their projects.
Read full review
  • Makes it easy to edit text
  • Easily locate documentation
  • Easy to add pdf's and videos to manuals
  • Easy to create new topics and steps.
Read full review
Cons
  • The "And" and "Or" rules for self + automatic enrollment could be spelled out more to clarify who we're enrolling into courses
  • The thumbnail and poster "Upload photo" section is confusing. There should be a "Favorites" folder where we can easily find most commonly used posters and thumbnails
  • more education around Absorb analyze essentials
  • How the Featured courses section ranks courses is confusing on the back-end. I need to switch the primary one to second place to feature the new one first. But if the previous one now becomes second place, what happens to the old course that was in second place? I've noticed the order you select on the back-end for this isn't always reflected on user side
  • Same comment as Featured Courses but for appearance of billboards. Hard to position each in the right order
Read full review
  • The layout for all subjects is very overwhelming, and I'd love to be able to sort into folders or buckets.
  • I'd also like to be able to see all steps within ALL subjects in one area and be able to reorganize those with a simple drag and drop, instead of having to copy and paste text to move from one subject to another.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Absorb provides the platform and support for us to create a place for resources that is agile and simple to deploy. We are able to use across multiple countries and departments. Absorb is also constantly developing their platform to meet users needs, which is helpful for us as we grow.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Usability
It is very intuitive, not just from an admin perspective to manage courses and track completions, but also from a learners' perspective. It is very easy to find courses, search for courses, and track personal course progress. The interface is well designed, which makes it simpler for our audience to navigate the portal and find what they are looking for
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
We have never had any major issue with Absorb's availability. Any outages that have occurred have been planned an communicated. Any small issues that occur within the Absorb platform have been addressed efficiently and quickly by support and the development team
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Performance
Absorb LMS's performance is very reliable and consistent. Pages load quickly. Report are generated within a reasonable amount of time (even with significant amounts of data), etc. Nothing seems to slow it down.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
[...] is a ROCK star- having her as part of our support team has been a game changer. She is a true problem solver at heart and has an unique ability to retain who we are as a company and match that with what can help us most. She has been a game changer for our internal admin team and is supporting us through a business review to help guide us in the best direction on our constant growth.
Read full review
During the entire sales process, the Trainual team was great to work with. After the sale, their onboard process was top notch as well and was very quick to answer any questions and actually were open to customizing the platform to meet our specific needs. They have been great this entire time.
Read full review
Online Training
Absorb was able to provide an initial training of the platform, covering all our basic needs. Additionally, there are Absorb learning modules available for further learning that can be accessed at anytime. There is also the ability to review Absorb's extensive resource library to find the answers to questions/troubleshooting. Beyond that, we opted for the Premier Support so our organization has access to a dedicated Customer Success Manager.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
The implementation of Absorb went very seamlessly. We previously had the Oracle LMS and importing user data and getting the new system up to speed was painless. The smooth transition helped leaders and staff gain confidence early in the application/company and we have had a successful partnership with Absorb since.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Absorb LMS is feature packed with small but smart elements (can have a username that isnt an email, can change the core language used in the platform, can change the font and layout) that offer greater security and accessibility for learners.
Read full review
No comparison as it relates to many differences. You’re not able to create a portal or generate different classes to make the training fun like trainual it has been a lot easier for our team members to get caught up on any new products and other software that we used has not been able to compare with the ease of use.
Read full review
Scalability
We have already scaled our LMS from a couple hundred users to 1000 users and have plans to scale even larger. We use the LMS across multiple internal departments. countries and user types. Absorb has made it easy to integrate and scale and we will continue to scale in the near future.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Our ROI is yet to be determined as we haven't fully rolled it out yet. We hope that this will improve our customer loyalty and advocacy, set us apart from competitors, and appeal to prospects as something that is extremely valuable. ROI measurements will include customer participation, satisfaction from learners and their managers and any new customers who quote the platform as a reason they chose us.
Read full review
  • Trainual has very positively help us in on-boarding new employees! Everyone is provided the same information about company structure, mission, vision, etc.
  • Trainual has helped us solidify and keep consistent with our training of new employees. We are able to train people faster and they seem to be retaining the information better!
Read full review
ScreenShots

Absorb LMS Screenshots

Screenshot of a company's unique identity with a training interface that is custom-designed for the brand.Screenshot of a company's image and values with a training interface that is tailored to the brand's specific needs.Screenshot of the course creation workflow, that offer a diverse set of formats, including instructional videos, quizzes, and assessments.Screenshot of Absorb's course details page, accessible from the course catalog dashboard, used to give learners an understanding of the course material.Screenshot of learners' progress insights, used to make data-driven decisions with the reporting capabilities of Absorb LMS.Screenshot of course creation with Create AI Beta.