The article gives an overview of four genuinely free LMSs available and attempts to demonstrate that free does not mean cheap; rather these suppliers have put trust in their products to sell themselves. They believe users will love them and will see added value outside the free offering, and at that point, money will change hands.

Reisser-Weston writes, "They say 'There’s no such thing as a free lunch', and this adage can largely apply to learning-management systems.  I have trawled the internet looking for the elusive free LMS, and despite there being lists of up to 50 free systems, the definition of the word free invariably meant a free trial, which in turn is a tautology - aren't all trials free anyway?
The good news however is that there are indeed a few commercial LMSs that are genuinely free. We are not talking here about Open Source systems such as Moodle, which you need to install and then spend hundreds of hours configuring to make it work. Instead, we found plug-and-play systems aimed squarely at businesses that want a quick and simple solution to managing online learning.
Of course all have imitations, but if you are willing to live with these limitations (or do not require the additional functionality or user numbers), then there are LMSs you can use for zero cost that can be used for tracking, reporting, and even creating learning online. Even if you are a large company, these LMSs represent a great way of trialing the systems on a small scale to see if there are improvements from your current systems."

Open eLMS

• Free for life Yes
• User limit 100
• Free Courses 200 licenses one year
• Support Yes
• Hosted Yes
• Instant Access Yes
• AI-Powered Scripting Yes
• AI eLearning Design Yes
• SCORM Uploads three new courses per month
• White Labelling Yes
• Data Dashboards Yes
• Reporting Yes
• Report Builder Upgrade
• Smart Classrooms three new events per month
• Pathways Upgrade
• Audits Upgrade
• Forms Upgrade
• Integrations (Teams, etc.) Yes
• Website www.openelms.com
   

Comments

Open eLMS is a comprehensive LMS with many features in the free version not found even in unabridged LMSs from other suppliers. The system has been designed by an ergonomist to be easy to use, and this is seen in the video-on-demand learning interface and the role based design seen in the management user interfaces. What is particularly impressive is the AI-powered text-to-learning generation that produces multimodal eLearning in minutes, a genuine world first.

The company’s aspiration is that users will be so impressed with the core functionality that they will want to upgrade some time in the future, either because they want to use it beyond the confines of their 100-user limit or because they wish to utilise blocked functionality.

Talentlms

• Free for life Yes
• User limit 5
• Free Courses 50 licenses one year
• Support Yes
• Hosted Yes
• Instant Access Yes
• AI-Powered Scripting Yes
• AI eLearning Design Yes
• SCORM Uploads three new courses per month
• White Labelling Upgrade
• Data Dashboards Upgrade
• Reporting Yes
• Report Builder Upgrade
• Smart Classrooms No
• Pathways Upgrade
• Audits No
• Forms No
• Integrations (Teams, etc.) Yes
• Website www.talentlms.com

Comments

Talentlms is a slick LMS with many of the same features you would expect to find in other data driven LMS designs. Whilst it does not have the same focus on usability that Open eLMS has, the interface is still clean and responsive. 

The LMS does have a talent library, which needs to be subscribed to, but it has a course builder with AI assistance that produces a course which you can augment and complete using the course editor.

The system also has an event calendar, but there is no functionality for blending learning to create smart lessons.  This popular LMS is usable for most purposes, although it is only really appropriate for very small businesses within the five- user limit.

SC Training

• Free for life Yes
• User limit 10
• Free Courses Unlimited
• Support Yes
• Hosted Yes
• Instant Access Yes
• AI-Powered Scripting Yes
• AI eLearning Design Yes
• SCORM Uploads Yes/No
• White Labelling Upgrade
• Data Dashboards No
• Reporting Upgrade
• Report Builder Upgrade
• Smart Classrooms No
• Pathways Upgrade
• Audits Upgrade
• Forms Upgrade
• Integrations (Teams, etc.) Yes

Comments

SC Training appears to be built around safety training, with a large library of resources in that area (SC stands for Safety Culture).  That said, there is no reason why it cannot be used for developing content in other areas.

The learning development tool was impressive, both writing scripts and designing learning. The format was in a scrolling format and not as visually appealing as Open eLMS - but still a very impressive try that would work well on mobile.

Again, the user limit of ten people will restrict its use to only small businesses, but the access to a large safety training library will appeal to some. The support chat was very responsive to questions asked, which is also worth noting.

Thinkific

• Free for life Yes
• User limit Unlimited
• Free Courses one
• Support Yes
• Hosted Yes
• Instant Access Yes
• AI-Powered Scripting Yes (course outline only)
• AI eLearning Design No
• SCORM Uploads No
• White Labeling Yes
• Data Dashboards No
• Reporting No
• Report Builder Upgrade
• Smart Classrooms No
• Pathways No
• Forms No
• Integrations (Teams, etc.) Yes

Comments

Thinkific is not a traditional learning management system: for instance, it does not even support the SCORM LMS standard. It is, however, highly focused at allowing training providers to produce a microsite from where they can sell their training, ideal for someone producing video content and wanting to earn money from it. As such, it does not have pathways or smart classroom features but does allow you to create a very slick site with your branding.

The downside is that this free version does not allow payment integration or any reporting, so it is only really suited for displaying content for a single course without recording data; indeed the same can be achieved through SCORMCloud.

Other LMSs for Consideration

It is fair to say that when compiling this list, I did leave out some free LMSs because they were not available to businesses as SAAS solutions. LMSs such as Moodle and Sakai are Open Source systems that require set up and hosting. Once set up you often have to dig around to find a specific thing and go through too many clicks to accomplish simple tasks. As such, I would avoid these unless you have a lot of time and resources available.

Educationalists may alternatively want to look at Canvas free LMS.  This is useful for teachers to get learning out, but it is limited to a single teacher license and as such cannot be used for general business purposes.

Final Word

I must confess that as developers of the first LMS on this list, we have skin in the game. As such, I have not created a critical review of these systems, but rather given an objective comment on available features. I would say, however, that all systems mentioned here work out of the box and have some impressive features.

Free does not mean cheap. From personal experience, it means that these suppliers have trust that their products will sell themselves. They know users will love them and want more, and at that point money will change hands.

Since all systems are free and give immediate access via registration, there are no barriers to entry - I encourage you to try them yourselves.  See if you love them enough to want more.