Best Employee Training Software in 2026: LMS Options for Small Business, Free and Paid

Employee training software is a tool where you put your courses, give them to your people and see who has finished. You may also see it called LMS software (LMS means learning management system), online training software, an online training platform or training management software. Larger companies tend to call the same thing corporate training software. A good one helps with new-hire onboarding, safety and compliance courses, product training and skills training. This guide compares 14 tools on free plans, prices and which size of team each one fits, so it works for a five-person team and a 500-person company alike.

How do the best employee training platforms compare?

Tool	Free plan	Starting price	Priced by	Good for
Zoho TrainerCentral	Yes: 3 courses, 10 active learners	$20 a month ($16.67 billed yearly)	Trainer (learners unlimited)	Small teams building their own courses; training staff, partners or customers
Zoho Learn	Yes: 5 users, 5 courses	$1 per user a month ($0.83 billed yearly)	User	Teams that want a knowledge base and courses in one place
TalentLMS	Yes: 5 users, 10 courses	$119 a month for 1 to 40 users (billed yearly; $149 billed monthly)	User band	Small and mid-size teams that want a ready-made LMS
ProProfs Training Maker	Yes: 10 learners	$1.99 per active learner a month (billed yearly)	Active learner	Small teams that want quizzes and simple courses
Connecteam	Yes: up to 10 users	$29 a month for the first 30 users (billed yearly)	Hub and user count	Frontline and shift teams
360Learning	No (30-day trial)	$8 per user a month (Team plan, up to 100 users, billed monthly)	Every account in the month	Teams of up to 100 that want a published price
iSpring LMS	No (30-day trial)	$6.91 per active user a month at 100 users, billed yearly in advance	Active user, yearly band	Teams of 100 or more
Trainual	No	Not published; $1,000 set-up fee required	Seat, paid a year upfront	Writing down how work is done, and onboarding
Docebo	No	Quote only; contracts usually 3 to 5 years	Plan and active users	Large companies (250 or more learners)
Absorb LMS	No	Quote only	Learner band	Mid-size and large companies
LearnUpon	No	Quote only; one-year contract	Product and user count	Teams of 100 or more
SkyPrep	No	Quote only; $5 per extra user over your limit	Active users and plan	Teams of 100 or more that want a full system
Moodle	Free software; hosted plans from $170 a year	Free to download; MoodleCloud from $170 a year	Software is free; MoodleCloud by user band	Teams that want open source
Open edX	Free software (you host it)	Free to download	You pay for hosting and set-up	Teams with developers

What is the best free LMS?

If you want free employee training software, five tools have a free plan, and two more are free open-source software. The limits are small, so free plans suit a very small team or a test run.

Tool	What the free plan allows	What stops you
Zoho TrainerCentral	3 courses, unlimited learner accounts, 10 active learners a month, 5GB storage	No certificates, drip scheduling, discussion forums or assignments on the free plan
Zoho Learn	5 users, 3 spaces, 5 manuals, 5 courses, 1GB storage, 2 learning paths	Capped at 5 users and 5 courses
TalentLMS	Up to 5 users and 10 courses, no card, no time limit	Small user cap; paid plans start at 1 to 40 users
ProProfs Training Maker	Up to 10 learners, all features	If you cancel a paid plan, stored attempt and score data is deleted
Connecteam	All hubs and features for up to 10 users	From 10 to 30 users the free Limited plan allows 3 courses and no quizzes; beyond that you pay
Moodle	The software is free (GPL-3.0 licence)	You need a server and someone to run it, or a paid hosted plan
Open edX	The software is free (AGPL-3.0 licence)	You host it yourself and need technical skills

How much does employee training software cost for 25 employees?

Employee training software for small business teams is priced in three ways: some tools charge per person, some per trainer and some by user band. The totals below are the monthly cost for a team of 25 learners. Where a tool shows both prices, the yearly price is used. Extras are not included.

Tool and plan	Monthly cost for 25 learners	What to know
MoodleCloud Starter	About $14 ($170 a year)	Covers 50 users. Billed once a year in Australian dollars.
Zoho TrainerCentral Starter	$16.67	One trainer. Learners are unlimited. Live sessions cost extra.
Zoho Learn Express ($0.83 per user)	$20.75	Limits: 25 courses, 50 manuals. Price per user falls above 25 users.
Connecteam HR & Skills Basic	$29	Covers the first 30 users.
ProProfs Essentials ($1.99 per active learner)	$49.75	Up to 100 active learners.
Zoho Learn Professional ($2.50 per user)	$62.50	Unlimited courses; assignments and detailed reports.
TalentLMS Core	$119	Covers 1 to 40 users, billed yearly. $149 billed monthly.
360Learning Team ($8 per user)	$200	Billed monthly. Every account that exists in the month is billed.

How much does employee training software cost for 100 employees?

At 100 learners the gap between tools is large. Some charge per person, so the bill grows with your team. Others charge per trainer or by user band, so it barely moves. This table shows the monthly cost for 100 learners where the company publishes a price.

Tool and plan	Monthly cost for 100 learners	What to know
Zoho TrainerCentral Starter	$16.67	One trainer. Learners are unlimited. Live sessions cost extra.
MoodleCloud Mini	$22.50 ($270 a year)	Covers up to 100 users. You build the courses yourself.
Connecteam HR & Skills Basic	$64	$29 for the first 30 users plus $0.50 for each of the other 70. Billed yearly.
ProProfs Essentials ($1.99 per active learner)	$199	Counts only learners who are active. Capped at 100 active learners.
TalentLMS Core (71 to 100 users)	$219	Billed yearly. Pro, which covers 1 to 100 users and adds automations and learning paths, is $449.
iSpring LMS Business	$690.50 ($8,286 a year)	Billed yearly in advance. You pay for the whole 100-user band.
360Learning Team ($8 per user)	$800	Billed monthly. Every account that exists in the month is billed.

Which employee training software should you choose?

• If you want to build your own courses on a small budget, look at Zoho TrainerCentral, ProProfs or MoodleCloud.
• If you want a knowledge base and training in one place, look at Zoho Learn.
• If you want a ready-made LMS for a team of up to 100, look at TalentLMS or 360Learning.
• If you have 100 or more learners, look at iSpring LMS, LearnUpon, SkyPrep or Absorb.
• If you are a large company, look at Docebo.
• If your staff work shifts or on the floor, look at Connecteam.
• If you want to write down how your company works and train people on it, look at Trainual.
• If you also train customers or partners, look at Zoho TrainerCentral, TalentLMS or Docebo.
• If you want to own the software, look at Moodle or Open edX.
• If you only want to sell courses to the public, that is a different tool. See our Thinkific review.

Zoho TrainerCentral

TrainerCentral is Zoho’s tool for building, delivering and tracking online courses. Zoho’s own site says businesses can use it to train partners and customers as well as staff. It began as a tool for training businesses, so it is strong on course building and live classes.

What you get

• A course builder with graded tests, completion certificates and badges, handouts, and a drip scheduler that releases lessons over time.
• A learner dashboard and discussion forums, plus a virtual classroom with breakout rooms: up to 50 people on Starter and 100 on Professional.
• Learner apps for iOS and Android on the paid plans.
• On Professional: assignments, learner performance analytics, an admin console, custom report views, a full custom domain and an AI course builder that drafts a course outline, lessons and tests.
• Extras if you also sell courses: a website builder, sales pages, coupons and payment links.

What it costs. The free plan allows 3 courses, unlimited learner accounts and 10 active learners a month, with 5GB of storage. Starter is $20 a month ($16.67 billed yearly) for one trainer and has 100GB of storage. Professional is $50 a month ($41.67 billed yearly), includes 3 trainer licenses and has 1TB of storage. Both paid plans list unlimited learners. Extra live-session capacity costs from $15 a month for 100 participants ($12.50 billed yearly). There is a 15-day trial of Professional, and no credit card is needed to sign up.

Good to know. You pay per trainer, not per learner. An active learner is someone who logs in or uses your course material that month, so people who are signed up but idle do not count. The free plan has no certificates, drip scheduling, discussion forums or assignments. Because it began as a course-selling tool, some of its sales features may not matter for staff training. See TrainerCentral plans.

Zoho Learn

Zoho Learn is a different Zoho product from TrainerCentral. It puts a knowledge base (written manuals and articles) and online courses in one place. Zoho says it is for employees, customers, partners, members and vendors, and it signs in with a Zoho account.

What you get

• Manuals and articles with search across everything you store, so staff can look up how things are done.
• Course authoring with text, video and document lessons, quizzes and SCORM files, plus learning paths and course reports.
• Apps for iOS and Android.
• Custom portals for outside audiences such as customers or partners, at $0.50 per portal user a month for the first 100.
• On Professional: assignments, detailed reports, instructors, drip lessons, course reminders and mandatory reads (articles people must open and confirm).

What it costs. The free plan covers 5 users, 3 spaces, 5 manuals, 5 courses, 1GB of storage and 2 learning paths. Express is $1 per user a month ($0.83 billed yearly) and allows 10 spaces, 50 manuals and 25 courses. Professional is $3 per user a month ($2.50 billed yearly) with unlimited spaces, manuals and courses. Zoho says the price per user falls once you pass 25, 50 and 100 users. There is a free trial of Professional with no credit card.

Good to know. It is a knowledge base first and a course tool second, so it has fewer course features than TrainerCentral. Zoho shows prices in your local currency and adds local taxes. See Zoho Learn.

TalentLMS

TalentLMS (also written Talent LMS) is a cloud LMS for companies that want to launch training quickly. It trains employees, partners and customers, and it has the widest set of features of the small-business tools on this page.

What you get

• Build courses from video, audio and slides you upload, or with its AI course creator. Add quizzes, surveys, assignments and custom certificates.
• It accepts SCORM 1.2, xAPI and cmi5 courses (see the terms section below). It does not accept AICC.
• Points, badges, levels and leaderboards to keep people going.
• Branches: separate sub-portals, each with its own web address, branding and catalogue. Core has 1, Grow has 3 and Pro has 15.
• A native iOS and Android app that works offline.
• Reports for users, courses, groups and a training matrix, with Excel export. Custom reports and analytics start on Grow.
• Connections to BambooHR, ADP, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Okta, Stripe, PayPal, Shopify and Zapier. Slack works through Zapier.

TalentLMS pricing. The free plan covers 5 users and 10 courses, with no card and no time limit. Billed yearly (20% cheaper), Core is $119 a month for 1 to 40 users, Grow is $229 for 1 to 70 users and Pro is $449 for 1 to 100 users. Billed monthly they are $149, $299 and $579. The price steps up as you add users: Core is $159 for 41 to 70 users and $219 for 71 to 100. Enterprise starts at 1,000 users and is billed yearly only.

Good to know. Learning paths and automations (rules that enrol or reset people on their own) are on Pro, and so is removing the TalentLMS branding. Core has none of these. TalentLMS lists ISO 27001 but does not claim SOC 2 or HIPAA. See TalentLMS plans.

ProProfs Training Maker

ProProfs Training Maker is a course builder and LMS that charges per active learner. It suits small teams that want to build courses quickly and pay by headcount.

What you get

• An AI course builder, or build from scratch. You can upload PDF, Word, PowerPoint and video files.
• Many quiz types, custom certificates and reports you can export to Excel, PDF or CSV.
• On Business: a scenario builder with branching choices, scheduled training, reminders for overdue training and expiring certificates, and 500+ ready-made courses (harassment, safety, privacy and more).
• Course content and interface in 70+ languages. Learners use any browser on a phone, tablet or computer. There is no app to install.
• Sell courses through Stripe (ProProfs takes 0%) or the ProProfs gateway (9.5% fee).

What it costs. Free for up to 10 learners with all features. Essentials is $1.99 per active learner a month on yearly billing, up to 100 active learners. Business is $3.99, up to 200. Business Complete Elite is $4.98 on annual billing only, has no learner cap and adds single sign-on, an API, a custom domain, gamification, SCORM 2004 and xAPI. There is a 15-day money-back guarantee.

Good to know. The learner caps matter: Essentials stops at 100 and Business at 200. If you cancel a paid plan, stored attempt and score data is deleted. Payment is by card, not PayPal. A white-label add-on is listed at $300 a year, and its integrations page lists Microsoft Teams and Zapier as “coming soon”. Ask which plan has the custom domain, SSO or integration you need before you pay. See ProProfs plans.

Connecteam

Connecteam is a work app for shift and frontline teams. Training is one part of it, next to scheduling, time clocks, chat and forms. It is not a full LMS, but it covers onboarding and basic courses well for teams that live on their phones.

What you get

• Courses built from video, PDF, text, YouTube links, quizzes and SCORM files, plus an AI course creator that starts from a topic.
• Course templates for onboarding, safety, harassment and first aid.
• Due dates and alerts when new training is assigned. Course insights show who has finished, who is part-way and who has not started, with export to Excel.
• Quiz settings such as a pass mark, limited attempts and random question order (Advanced plan and above).
• Onboarding packs and e-sign documents, so new hires can complete paperwork and training in one place.
• Connections to BambooHR, Gusto, ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks and Zapier.

What it costs. Teams of up to 10 users get all hubs and features free. Teams of 10 to 30 can use a free Limited plan (3 courses, no quizzes). The paid HR & Skills hub starts at $29 a month billed yearly ($35 monthly) for the first 30 users, plus $0.50 for each extra user. There is a 14-day trial with no card.

Good to know. We found no certificates, no learning paths, no xAPI and no course selling. When a due date passes, the course stays in the app but the person can no longer open it. Single sign-on is Enterprise only. Connecteam lists HIPAA support, but HIPAA registration costs extra. See Connecteam plans.

360Learning

360Learning is built around the idea that the experts inside your company should write the training. Any employee can ask for a course, others can back the request, and an expert builds it with help from the learning team.

What you get

• Anyone can post a “learning need” and others can upvote it. An expert then leads a project with co-authors, reviewers and deadlines.
• An AI builder that drafts a course from your documents or a short prompt, plus AI-written quiz questions.
• Learners can flag a course with one click, for example “this is outdated”, so the author knows to fix it.
• Uploads of SCORM, xAPI, cmi5 and AICC courses.
• Certificates with an expiry date and automatic re-enrolment, and enrolment rules by group or HR field.
• Live classes with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and iOS and Android apps that work offline.
• SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001.

What it costs. The Team plan is $8 per user a month for up to 100 users, billed monthly with no set-up fee and no minimum number of users. The owner and authors are billed too, and there is a 30-day trial. Add-ons cost $2 per user a month each: Coaching, Live, Globalization and Extended Academies. Business and Enterprise plans are quoted after a demo and are usually billed yearly.

Good to know. On Team you are billed for every account that existed during the month, even for someone who never logged in, so delete or deactivate accounts before the billing date. Team has no ready-made course library, no HR-system link and no e-commerce. Those start on Business. Trial users cannot contact support. See 360Learning plans.

iSpring LMS

iSpring LMS (called iSpring Learn until 22 October 2025) is a cloud system to onboard, train and certify teams. It publishes its prices for 100 users and up, which is rare in this price range.

What you get

• Build courses inside the LMS: upload your files and describe the topic, and AI drafts a scrollable course with quizzes. Or upload ready-made SCORM courses.
• It links to iSpring Suite, a separate PowerPoint-based authoring tool, for more advanced courses.
• Learning tracks (courses in order), automatic PDF certificates and alerts before certificates expire.
• New users are enrolled in courses automatically. You can set up to 3 reminders before a due date and 3 after it per course.
• Reports such as performance summary and course details, which can be scheduled by email.
• Points, badges, leaderboards, a Knowledge Base and a free learner app that works offline.
• Connections to Salesforce, BambooHR, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and single sign-on through SAML. ISO 27001 and ISO 27701, with support 24 hours a day by phone, email and chat.

What it costs. Business costs $6.91 per active user a month at 100 users ($8,286 a year), $4.46 at 300 ($16,050 a year) and $3.97 at 500 ($23,790 a year), billed yearly in advance. Under 100 users you ask for a price. Enterprise goes up to 150,000 users and is quoted. There is a 30-day trial with no credit card. An active user is someone who logs in during the month.

Good to know. You buy a band of users for a year, and you pay for the whole band even if fewer people log in. Fees are not refunded and the band cannot be reduced during the term. iSpring’s sales FAQ says the LMS is not covered by a money-back guarantee, so use the trial to decide. Admin work is done on a computer. iSpring does not claim SOC 2 or HIPAA. See iSpring LMS.

Trainual

Trainual calls itself “not exactly” an LMS. It is a place to write down how your company works (steps, roles and policies) and then train people on it. It says it suits companies of 25 to 1,000 employees.

What you get

• Write processes as subjects with steps made of text, video, screen recordings, flowcharts and tests. AI can turn your notes and documents into step-by-step training and quizzes, and 500+ templates help you start.
• Assign training to people or groups with due dates, and track who has finished. Completion certificates come with every plan.
• An AI assistant that answers staff questions from your own content.
• Roles and an org chart. Pro adds individual training paths and completion nudges (reminder emails to people who are late). Premium adds custom branding, your own domain and single sign-on.
• SCORM files can be uploaded, but they cannot be edited.
• A phone app for learning. New content has to be built on a computer.
• Links to Gusto, BambooHR, Zenefits, ADP Run, Paycom, Justworks and other HR systems.

What it costs. Trainual does not publish plan prices. Plans are Core, Pro, Premium and Enterprise, and you see prices after a demo. It charges per seat (anyone with their own profile), paid a year in advance. A one-time $1,000 set-up fee is required. There is no free plan and no free trial.

Good to know. It is not a full LMS: we found no xAPI, course selling or live classes. Trainual says it is not HIPAA compliant, so health records should not go in it. Reducing seats mid-term gets no refund. Set-up takes about 4 to 6 weeks. It does have SOC 2 Type 2. See Trainual plans.

Docebo

Docebo is a large-company learning platform that trains employees, customers and partners from one system. Its own AI page names its main audience as organizations of 250 to 100,000 users, and lists as a limit that it is “often considered overkill” for small businesses with under 100 users.

What you get

• An AI authoring tool, Creator, that turns a document or prompt into a lesson, with one-click translation into 46 languages.
• SCORM 1.2 and 2004, xAPI and AICC support.
• Learning plans, certifications with expiry dates, and automatic renewal and reminders.
• Enrolment rules by branch and group, plus reports and dashboards. Advanced analytics can feed BI tools.
• An AI assistant, an AI tutor inside courses and Roleplay practice conversations.
• Extended enterprise: separate branded portals for customers and partners (up to 10 on Enterprise).
• A mobile app that works offline, 50+ languages, and links to Salesforce, Workday, ADP, BambooHR, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Okta.
• ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II and FedRAMP Moderate, with a help desk open 24 hours a day.

What it costs. No prices are published. Plans are Elevate and Enterprise, and the price is based on the plan and the number of active users (counted monthly, yearly or as registered). Most customers sign 3 to 5 year contracts, and one year is the minimum. The set-up fee “depends”. There is no free plan and no trial. You start with a demo.

Good to know. Many extras cost more: e-commerce, the course marketplace, immersive learning and others are listed as add-ons, and its own pages list gamification and communities both as included and as add-ons, so ask. Included integrations are capped at 4 on Elevate and 6 on Enterprise. AI features use credits. Docebo does not state a HIPAA certification. See Docebo.

Absorb LMS

Absorb LMS trains employees, customers, members and partners, and says it fits organizations of all sizes. Its price form starts at 1 to 50 learners. The company’s website is now absorbai.com, and its newest AI layer is called Absorb Aura (launched May 2026).

What you get

• Absorb Create, a browser-based course builder with AI course and quiz writing, PowerPoint conversion and screen recording.
• SCORM 1.2 and 2004, AICC and xAPI support.
• Automatic course assignment by role, department or location, and automatic certification renewals and reminders.
• Named reports such as learner progress, department progress and certificates, which can be scheduled by email.
• A free shopping cart for selling courses with no commission, and 70+ payment gateways.
• Separate secure portals for different learner groups, and a learner app for iOS and Android.
• Links to ADP, Workday, BambooHR, SAP SuccessFactors, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoom and Webex, and SOC 2 Type 2.
• Support 24 hours a day, in English only.

What it costs. No price is published. You choose a learner band (1 to 50 up to 25,000+) on a form and a salesperson builds a quote. A free trial is offered through a form, but its length is not stated. Standard set-up takes about eight weeks.

Good to know. Absorb’s own help centre lists several things as paid add-ons: single sign-on, connectors to HR systems, the Skills tool, Analyze reporting and mentoring. The Aura AI runs on credits. Absorb says you need at least one dedicated LMS administrator. It does not claim ISO 27001 or HIPAA. See Absorb LMS.

LearnUpon

LearnUpon sells three versions: LearnUpon for Employees (from 100 users), for Customer Education (from 300) and for Associations (from 150). Its own site says it is not a fit for companies with fewer than 100 users.

What you get

• Create+, an AI authoring tool that turns PDFs, videos and slides into a draft course. You can also upload SCORM and xAPI courses.
• Learning Journeys: course paths with “if this, then that” branching and scheduled enrolment.
• Automatic re-certification, and rules that sort learners into groups and enrol them.
• Reports such as a Progress Report and drag-and-drop Advanced reports, exportable to Excel and PDF and schedulable.
• Live Learning for in-person and online classes, with QR-code check-in and Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
• Separate portals for each audience (one customer runs over 800), plus a mobile app and gamification.
• Links to ADP, BambooHR, Workday, UKG, Gusto, Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Zoom and Okta.
• ISO 27001 and ISO 27701, SOC 2 and GDPR, with an implementation consultant included on every plan.

What it costs. No price is published, and you start with a demo. Contracts run one year and renew each year unless you give 30 days’ notice. No set-up fee is stated. There is no trial of the LMS itself, only a 14-day trial of Create+ on request.

Good to know. LearnUpon says it is not right for companies needing HIPAA, on-premise hosting, or student training in schools. Features differ by version: Skills, the Go1 course library and HR-system links are on the Employees version, and e-commerce is on Customer Education and Associations only. LearnUpon states “SOC 2 compliant” without saying Type II. See LearnUpon.

SkyPrep

SkyPrep is a Toronto-based training platform for employee, customer and partner training. It says over 500 organizations use it.

What you get

• SkyPrep Studio, a built-in course builder (Premium and Enterprise), plus uploads of SCORM 1.2 and 2004, AICC, LTI and H5P content, Office files and video.
• Learning paths in set order, and recurring training that re-enrols people for yearly compliance courses, with reminders before and after the due date.
• Trigger-based workflows that enrol people automatically (Premium and above).
• 17 basic reports, custom reports and exports to CSV, Excel and PDF.
• Course selling with no commission, plus classroom sessions with attendance tracking through Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex.
• Full white-labelling, 22 languages, and iOS and Android apps.
• Links to ADP, Workday, BambooHR, SAP SuccessFactors, Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Zoom and Okta, and SOC 2 Type II.

What it costs. No price is published. Plans are Lite, Premium and Enterprise Learning Suite, and you buy a number of active users starting at 100. Users over your limit cost $5 each on an annual plan. A data migration costs at least $500 per project. The pricing page says “Try SkyPrep free for 14 days”, but its buttons lead to a demo request, so expect a sales call first.

Good to know. Lite leaves out authoring, workflows, single sign-on, the API, gamification and advanced reports. AI tools, social learning and multiple portals are on Enterprise only. The terms auto-renew, need 60 days’ notice and give no refund for early termination, and a renewal can rise by up to 15%. Support runs 9 to 6 Eastern time on weekdays. See SkyPrep.

Moodle and MoodleCloud

Moodle is the best-known open-source LMS. The software is free, and there are three ways to run it: host it yourself, use MoodleCloud (hosted by Moodle itself) or pay a certified partner. Moodle Workplace is a separate, licensed edition for companies, sold only through partners.

What you get

• On MoodleCloud: unlimited courses and activities, quizzes, custom certificates and attendance tracking.
• Competency frameworks and learning plans, badges, a gradebook and reports.
• BigBlueButton live classes included, for up to 100 people.
• Selling courses with Stripe on the Small plan and above.
• A free premium mobile app on every MoodleCloud plan.
• Self-hosted Moodle has more than 2,000 free plugins and is translated into 160+ languages.

What it costs. The software is free to download. MoodleCloud is billed yearly in Australian dollars. In US dollars it is about $170 for 50 users (Starter), $270 for 100 (Mini), $490 for 200 (Small), $1,190 for 500 (Medium) and $2,100 for 750 (Standard). A custom domain is included on Standard and costs A$160 a year extra on Medium. There is a 28-day trial with no card.

Good to know. MoodleCloud cannot install plugins, has one theme and stops at 750 users and 50GB. Support is by help articles and tickets, with no phone support. MoodleCloud does not hold ISO certifications of its own. If you host Moodle yourself, you run the server, updates and security. Moodle 5.3 came out in October 2026. See MoodleCloud.

What is the best open source LMS?

Open-source software is free to download and change, but you pay in time: you need a server, updates, backups and someone who knows how to run it. Two names lead.

Tool	Licence	Still updated?	What it costs	What to know
Moodle	GPL-3.0	Yes. Version 5.3 came out in October 2026	Free to download. MoodleCloud hosting: Starter $170 a year (50 users), Mini $270 (100), Small $490 (200), Medium $1,190 (500), Standard $2,100 (750)	28-day trial with no card. MoodleCloud is billed once a year in Australian dollars, does not allow extra plugins and stops at 750 users.
Open edX	AGPL-3.0	Yes	Free to download; you pay for hosting	You host it yourself. Best with a developer on hand.

What is the best employee onboarding software?

Onboarding is the most common reason small teams buy training software. There are two jobs, and different tools do them. Training new hires on the job (what to do in week one, how your company works, who to ask) fits a training tool. Paperwork such as contracts, tax forms and payroll set-up is usually done in an HR system, not an LMS, which is why “HR onboarding software” and “employee onboarding software” can show different tools.

• Step-by-step company knowledge: Trainual, which is built around documented steps and roles, or Zoho Learn, which pairs manuals with courses.
• Courses and quizzes for new hires: Zoho TrainerCentral, TalentLMS or ProProfs.
• Shift and frontline staff: Connecteam, which lists onboarding inside its HR & Skills hub.
• Free to start: TalentLMS (5 users), Zoho Learn (5 users), Connecteam (10 users), ProProfs (10 learners).

What should training tracking software show?

If you only need to know who has finished what, training tracking software is the simple end of an LMS. Look for these things before you pay:

• Who finished and who did not, by person and by team.
• Due dates and reminders that go out without you chasing people.
• Quiz scores and the number of attempts.
• Certificates with dates, for safety and compliance courses.
• Reports you can export to a spreadsheet or PDF for an audit.
• Mobile access if people train on their phones.

What do the technical terms mean?

Training software pages are full of short words. Here is what they mean in plain English.

• LMS (learning management system): the tool where you store courses, give them to people and see who finished.
• SCORM: a standard file format for ready-made online courses. If a tool supports it, you can upload courses made in other programs. SCORM 1.2 and 2004 are the two common versions.
• xAPI and cmi5: newer standards that record what people do, including outside the LMS. Fewer tools support them.
• AICC: an older standard for courses. Only some tools still accept it.
• SSO (single sign-on): staff sign in with their company account (for example Google, Microsoft or Okta) instead of a new password.
• HRIS: your HR system, such as BambooHR, ADP or Workday. Linking it adds new hires and removes leavers automatically.
• API: a way for other software to talk to the LMS. You only need it if you want custom links.
• Active user: someone who signs in during the billing month. Some tools charge only for active users. Others charge for every account, so read the fine print.
• Per seat, per trainer or by band: per seat means you pay for each person. Per trainer means you pay for the people who build courses. A band means you pay for a range, such as 1 to 40 users, even if you use less.

How do you choose employee training software?

• Count your learners. A team of 8 can use a free plan. A team of 150 usually needs a paid LMS. The best LMS for small business use at 8 people is not the best one at 150, so count heads before you shop.
• Check how you are charged. Per person, per active learner, per trainer or by user band can differ by a lot at the same headcount.
• Decide who you train. Staff only, or also customers and partners?
• Check what you already have. If you own videos or slides, you need a tool that hosts them. If you need to write courses from scratch, look for a course builder.
• Ask about course standards (SCORM) if you plan to buy ready-made courses.
• Try before you pay. Most tools above have a free plan or a trial, and many need no credit card.

What are the main types of employee training?

Common types are onboarding, compliance and safety, technical and product training, sales training, soft skills, and leadership. Most training software handles all of them, so the real differences are price, size and how you are charged. A popular rule of thumb is 70-20-10: people learn about 70% from doing the job, 20% from other people (coaching and feedback) and 10% from formal courses. Training software mostly covers that last 10%, so use it for the core knowledge and let managers handle the rest.

Bottom line

For a small business, start with a free plan: TrainerCentral (10 active learners), TalentLMS (5 users), Zoho Learn (5 users), Connecteam (10 users) or ProProfs (10 learners). For 25 learners, paid plans range from about $14 to $200 a month. For 100 or more learners or several offices, compare iSpring LMS, 360Learning, LearnUpon, SkyPrep, Absorb and Docebo, and ask each for a quote.

Frequently asked questions