Canvas vs. LearnDash

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Canvas
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Instructure is an educational software company based in Sandy, Utah. It is the developer of the Canvas learning management system, which is a comprehensive software package that competes with such systems as Blackboard Learning System, SumTotal and Saba.N/A
LearnDash
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
LearnDash is a WordPress LMS designed to bring learning management and elearning delivery to the WordPress open-source platform.
$159
per year 1 site license
Pricing
CanvasLearnDash
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Basic
$159
per year 1 site license
Plus Package
$189
per year up to 10 site licenses
Pro Package
$329
per year up to 25 site licenses
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
CanvasLearnDash
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMust contact vendor for pricing information.All plans come with a 30-day money back guarantee.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
CanvasLearnDash
Considered Both Products
Canvas
Chose Canvas
This is much easier to use than Blackboard. Everything is easy to locate. The interface is clean and intuitive, which makes navigation smooth for both instructors and students. Assignments, grades, and messages are all centralized, reducing confusion. Setup is quick, and the …
Chose Canvas
Canvas is much more robust, has more features, and is more accessible. In canvas it can be specified to your specific organization and have its own domain which I do not think that Coursera can do. Coursera is good for sharing a single course or CEU but does not have the same …
Chose Canvas
Canvas is in the experience way better than Google Classroom. Canvas has a more robust agenda system that also allows adding in new personal deadlines. [Assignments] can be submitted past [the] deadline (if allowed),
Chose Canvas
Canvas is more secure, has a cleaner design, and has more features. For the features, they have in common canvas still stacks up against [Smart school] by going for the extra mile. Besidfor e that, [the] canvas looks a lot more [professional] than [Smart school]. I didn't make …
Chose Canvas
Canvas is a stronger platform. I used it as a teacher AND as a student in graduate school, and it is just the most put-together, professional version of a learning management system that I've used or seen. I do assume that Canvas is more expensive than its competitors, which …
Chose Canvas
I believe Canvas is worse than all of them. In my experience, it is harder to use, uglier to look at.
Chose Canvas
Moodle is open source and it is free. So we can implement our own server with Moodle very easily. But it is not very customizable. When we need a new feature, it is very hard to change as we do not have the ability to change. Canvas has been great help in this because we can …
Chose Canvas
Canvas is a powerful learning management tool that combines so many key elements of an actual classroom and allows teachers to mirror their classroom environment into a virtual platform. It is simply amazing what can be done on Canvas. Grading systems/analysis, progress …
Chose Canvas
Canvas takes the better parts of both Skyward and Google Classroom and combines them to work pretty seamlessly - grading, assignments, attendance, document/file sharing - all integrated into one platform. In addition, the internal communication feature makes communication …
Chose Canvas
Canvas was far easier to use, more feature rich, and much better supported. Teachers and students prefer it to the other solutions we've evaluated or used in the past. Anything that kids can use with minimal instruction is a major win for schools.
Chose Canvas
Simple design interface combines with powerful functionality within the platform.
Chose Canvas
How content is delivered using Moodle is not up to the mark when compared to Canvas. The user interface is clunky when compared to a much simple and easy to understand user interface that of Canvas. Configuring Moodle can be quite tedious if one comes from a non-IT background. …
Chose Canvas
I was not part of the team that selected Canvas, however, I used Blackboard as a student and very little as a staff member. Blackboard was especially difficult in navigating organizations or shared sites. I used it to organize mandatory training for students in one of my …
Chose Canvas
Canvas has some unique features that are superior to Google Classroom, but I prefer Google Classroom because of its ease of use. It does have some of the same problems as Canvas though in terms of assigning work to particular students.
Chose Canvas
I have not used any other platforms for this type of experience. I appreciated the thorough introduction that was offered to onboard onto the platform. It made it easy to use right off the bat.
Chose Canvas
Canvas surpasses Blackboard not only visually, but technically as well. It offers more customization options, as well as more features for students and teachers a like in regard to grading, notifications, and uploading files. It also seems to stream videos more successfully, …
Chose Canvas
Canvas is a pricey option, at least when compared to something open source like Moodle. Personally, I don't feel that Canvas has the same ability to customize as Moodle. However, the customer support from Canvas makes it stand out. With an open-source platform, it might be …
Chose Canvas
Canvas is more cost-effective when compared to Blackboard Learn. Canvas has lately worked on features improvement especially in the grade center, for example, moving columns around like an Excel sheet, a feature not found in Blackboard Learn.
Chose Canvas
The Canvas interface is easier for students to use and navigate. It is also cleaner so students enjoy using the tool more than Sakai. Canvas was easier for our IT department to implement. Training faculty on how to use Canvas was easier than Sakai. The analytics in Canvas are …
Chose Canvas
Canvas's ease of use and ease of administration were huge deciding factors in the decision to use Canvas as our preferred LMS. We found that on average Canvas took 1/3 the clicks to accomplish the same tasks as Blackboard, and the structure of data in Canvas is far superior to …
Chose Canvas
I believe Canvas out does all of these because of its robustness. It allows for more design opportunities including HTML and HTML5 and has many built-in features that are not offered by all of the other LMSs. Some of those features are discussions, assignments, pages, quizzes, …
LearnDash
Chose LearnDash
Notion, Canva, Happy Scribe, WooCommerce, Divi, ChatGPT, Telegram, DaVinci Resolve and Google Drive
Features
CanvasLearnDash
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Canvas
9.8
Ratings
18% above category average
LearnDash
-
Ratings
Course authoring9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification9.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
CanvasLearnDash
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
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.7 out of 10
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.7 out of 10
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
CanvasLearnDash
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
CanvasLearnDash
Likelihood to Recommend
If you have a school you can let teachers easily create new deadlines which [automatically] get shown in the calendar. Teachers can also [temporarily] hide deadlines [until] they've given the explanation about the tasks. [Besides] that the teacher can also choose what should be uploaded, should it be a link, file, pdf, link,...
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LearnDash is perfect for starting out with your courses or if you're tired of paying exorbitant fees to third-party platforms. It allows you to create audio, video, or text-based training in a simple and intuitive way if you're familiar with WordPress. I don't recommend it if you're not comfortable editing or designing your own website. LearnDash es perfecto para empezar a crear tus cursos o si estás cansado de pagar comisiones abusivas a plataformas de terceros. Te permite crear formaciones en audio, vídeo o texto de una forma sencilla e intuitiva si sabes manejarte dentro de Wordpress. No te la recomiendo si no te sientes cómodo editando/diseñando dentro de tu propia web. This review was originally written in Spanish and has been translated into English using a third-party translation tool. While we strive for accuracy, some nuances or meanings may not be perfectly captured.
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Pros
  • Learning management - Even as the educational landscape rapidly shifts due to current events, Canvas is a great LMS for providing a consistent learning environment for students.
  • Mobile accessibility - Students can access their courses on Canvas from a variety of devices, including their smartphones.
  • Rich content - Instructors have the ability to create dynamic and engaging content for their courses.
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  • Integrate with the website and other plugins (woocommerce, etc.)
  • Simple lesson design
  • Offers different formats in which to offer your courses (free, paid, restricted access, with groups, etc.)
  • Integrarse con la web y con otros plugins (woocommerce, etc)
  • Diseño sencillo de las lecciones
  • Ofrece diferentes formatos en los que ofrecer tus cursos (gratuito, pago, acceso restringido, con grupos, etc)
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Cons
  • Their integration with Big Blue Button was a bust for distance learning. Would be great to see them collaborate with Zoom or Google Meets.
  • Their "feature request" process is slow and cumbersome at times because it relies on user "up votes" to get ideas addressed by the developers.
  • They seem to have a lot of turn-over with their staff. We get a new Customer Success Manager far more frequently than with other vendors.
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  • I would like to see more options for creating activities (games, fill in the blanks, etc.)
  • It would be nice if the support section had a Spanish translation.
  • I miss that when you install the plugin they give you a small introduction to teach you how to use it.
  • Me gustaría que haya más opciones de creación de actividades (juegos, rellenar huecos, etc)
  • Estaría bien que la sección de soporte tuviera traducción al español
  • Echo en falta que en el momento de instalar el plugin te hagan una pequeña introducción para enseñarte a usarlo
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Likelihood to Renew
Several factors contribute to my "10" rating. First, our university just made an enormous switch to Canvas, after we were with Blackboard for almost a decade. So garnering buy-in was critical, and not something we took lightly. After nearly 18 months (start to finish) of training faculty, educating stakeholders, and migrating courses, I am not looking to make a change again anytime soon. But I am happy with the result and the product overall and that is also demonstrated in my rating.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
The functions in Canvas are well integrated and consistent across the application, and mostly intuitive. Overall navigation and setup is streamlined through integrated features and navigation. The feedback we've gotten from our program participants is that it is easy to learn to use. It also integrates well with third party software like Google Docs and Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing software
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Learndash is an intuitive tool with everything you need to create courses and present them in an engaging way. It's also surprisingly easy to use. I've deducted a few points because, while it offers quite a few options out of the box, you may need to integrate it with other plugins (bbpress, etc.) to get the most out of it. Learndash es una herramienta intuitiva con todo lo necesario para crear cursos y presentarlos de una manera atractiva. Además es sorprendentemente fácil de utilizar. Le he quitado unos puntos porque, aunque de base ofrece bastantes opciones, es posible que necesites integrarlo con otros plugins (bbpress, etc.) para sacarle el máximo provecho.
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Support Rating
I do not personally use Canvas support since we have a central office that helps us. However, our central office always has the answers we need and are always able to solve our issues - so I would assume that get great support from the Canvas team on their end. They also offer great training, which uses materials directly from Canvas
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No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
The training sessions were broken down into several days as well as different levels depending upon the knowledge of the user
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No answers on this topic
Online Training
The online tutorials and videos are very clear and addressed the issues/questions that I had about using the system.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Once you purchase and sign the contract there is nothing to install or hardware to buy. You can almost immediately start using it and have courses up and going within weeks. We signed in December and had pilot courses online ready to go for the start of school in January
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Canvas is in the experience way better than Google Classroom. Canvas has a
more robust agenda system that also allows adding in new personal
deadlines. [Assignments] can be submitted past [the] deadline (if allowed),
this isn't allowed by Google [Classroom], If you're too late you can't
submit anything anymore. In Classroom [assignments], presentations/theory, and [announcements] are all put in 1 feed instead which gets confusing way
faster.
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Return on Investment
  • Teachers have consolidated their content onto one platform which has decreased reliance of students on so much support staff assistance to access content.
  • Canvas has helped make technology transitions more seamless for the school community.
  • Once teachers have set up their page, Canvas really takes care of it all- they have much more time to focus on content creation and synthesis rather than the actual learning management system.
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  • It has allowed me to transform materials that were previously only for my students into scalable digital products, multiplying the income generated with certain resources by up to 50x.
  • I have been able to amortize the cost of the plugin with just a few sales.
  • It's allowed me to present my courses in a professional manner and on my own website. Although the impact is difficult to measure, this has also contributed to increasing my sales.
  • Me ha permitido transformar materiales que antes eran solo para mis estudiantes en productos digitales escalables, multiplicando hata x50 los ingresos generados con ciertos recursos.
  • He podido amortizar el coste del plugin con unas pocas ventas
  • Me ha permitido presentar mis cursos de una forma profesional y dentro de mi propia web. Aunque el impacto es difícil de medir, esto también ha contribuido a aumentar mis ventas.
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