When it's time to choose a platform for training, there are essentially three options: an open LMS like Moodle, a platform for online schools like GetCourse, or a system built for a specific task — your own or an industry-specific one. We go through how they differ, which criteria to compare by and when each one fits.
three types of solutions
an open LMS: Moodle
Moodle is an open-source learning management system. You can download it for free and install it on your own server or get it from a hosting partner, and its capabilities are extended with plugins. Many universities and schools around the world teach on Moodle.
What follows from this for a business: the system is flexible, but someone has to maintain it — install updates, choose and configure plugins, look after the server and the appearance. That means your own technical specialist or a contractor. A free license doesn't mean free operation.
a platform for online schools: GetCourse
GetCourse is a cloud platform built for online schools and selling courses: lessons, payment processing, mailings and sales funnels are gathered in one service. There is nothing to install, and you pay according to a pricing plan.
The strength of this type is selling education: a person's path from a request to payment and access to lessons. If you are training not buyers of a course but your own employees, the questions change: roles, locations, certification, a report for the manager. These are worth checking separately — at a demo of the platform or in a trial access.
your own or an industry-specific LMS
Your own LMS is development from scratch for your processes. You have full control over how everything is built, but you need a development team, and time and money for support after launch.
An industry-specific LMS is a ready-made product built for a particular type of business: for example, for a network of locations where employees have different roles at different locations and training is tied to working with clients. There is nothing to develop, but there is also less freedom than with an open system.
which criteria to compare by
Comparing platforms by the length of the feature list is pointless — everyone's is long. It is more useful to go through the questions that matter specifically for team training:
| criterion | what to check |
|---|---|
| mobile use | What a lesson and a quiz look like on a phone. An employee on shift won't sit down at a computer to take a lesson. |
| roles and locations | Whether you can give different courses to a salesperson, a technician and a location manager, and whether a location manager sees only their own people. |
| quizzes and certification | Whether there is a check after lessons and a final certification, not just a “lesson viewed” mark. |
| certificates with verification | Whether a third party can make sure a certificate is genuine — for example, by a QR code. |
| webinars | Whether live classes run inside the platform or through an external link that is easy to lose. |
| chat | Where an employee asks a question about a lesson and where the tutor's answer stays. |
| sign-in and accounts | Whether an employee needs a separate login or signs in with the same account as in their work systems. |
| price as you grow | How much the platform will cost when there are twice as many employees or students, and what that price includes: the server, support, customization. |
A detailed list of questions for a demo of any platform is in the article an LMS for an online school: what matters at the start.
when each one fits
- An open LMS — when you have your own technical specialist or a contractor, need deep configuration of the learning process and it is important to keep the system on your own server. A common choice for educational institutions.
- A platform for online schools — when the main task is selling courses to people: payments, mailings and a funnel are needed in one place with the lessons.
- An industry-specific LMS — when you are training the employees of a network of locations: roles by location, certification, a report for the manager and a link between training and the rest of the work matter.
- Your own development — when no ready-made solution meets the requirements, there are many students and there is a technical team that will maintain the system for years.
If a company has 20–30 employees and no developers of its own, building its own LMS is usually too early a start: it is wiser to take a ready-made solution and work out which requirements really matter.
what LMS.Knopka can do
LMS.Knopka is a ready-made LMS for training the staff of a network of locations and for online schools. It has courses and lessons, quizzes, final certification, certificates with QR verification, webinars, a knowledge base, chat and a leaderboard. For a location manager and partner there is a dashboard where you can see how the team is studying.
An employee signs in to the LMS through ID.Knopka — with the same account as in the CRM and ERP, by an SMS code or a password. Roles are set by location: one person can have different roles at different locations.
The LMS works on its own or together with CRM.Knopka: for an online school, students' requests, conversations and payments live in the CRM, and training in the LMS. What this looks like for a school is on the page an LMS for an online school, and for a company with staff — staff training.
If, however, you need a system that your programmer will keep customizing for you, it is more honest to look toward an open LMS.
frequently asked questions
can I train employees on a platform for online schools?
You can, if it has what a team needs: different courses by role, final certification, a report for the manager on their people. Platforms for online schools are built around selling courses, so these questions are worth checking before you choose.
Moodle is free — does that mean it is cheaper?
The license is free, but the server, updates, plugin configuration and support cost money or a specialist's time. Compare the total cost of ownership, not the price of the license.
when does it make sense to build your own LMS?
When no ready-made solution meets the requirements, there are many students and there is a technical team ready to maintain the system after launch. A small company is better off starting with a ready-made solution.
can I take LMS.Knopka without the CRM?
Yes. The LMS works on its own, and the CRM is connected when you need to keep requests, conversations and payments in one place.
how do employees sign in to LMS.Knopka?
Through ID.Knopka — one account for all products, by an SMS code or a password. New employees are invited by a link.
