Small businesses, especially growing ones, need to direct all their resources to expanding their customer base and generating more revenue. However, this is impossible if a significant portion of their budget and time is spent on workforce training. A learning management system (LMS) is designed to address these problems by streamlining content creation, enhancing employee engagement, and automating progress tracking.
In this user guide, we’ll help you choose the best LMS for your business, explain why you need it in the first place, and share our top picks.
Software Finder’s Picks For The Best LMS For Small Business
Top LMS Platforms For Small Businesses | ||||
| Rating | Free Trial | Free Plan | Starting Price |
Cornerstone LMS | 4.2 ★★★★★ | N/A | N/A | N/A |
TalentLMS | 4.6 ★★★★★ | N/A | Yes | $139/month |
iSpring Suite | 5 ★★★★★ | 14-Day Free Trial | N/A | $470/author/year |
Absorb LMS | 4.8 ★★★★★ | Yes | N/A | N/A |
Docebo LMS | 4.4 ★★★★★ | N/A | N/A | N/A |
360Learning | 4.6 ★★★★★ | 30-Day Free Trial | N/A | $8/user/month |
Easy LMS | 5 ★★★★★ | 7-Day Free Trial | N/A | $105/month |
Litmos | 4.1 ★★★★★ | Free Trial Available | N/A | N/A |
LearnUpon | 3.5 ★★★★★ | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Moodle | 4.4 ★★★★★ | Free Trial Available | N/A | $130/year |
Cornerstone LMS is a powerful platform that offers an extensive suite of solutions to help organizations train their workforce. With tools for content curation, analytics, and compliance, businesses can avoid legal penalties, improve workflows, and enhance overall productivity.
Additionally, the platform allows users to create course playlists based on groups like skills and topics, making it easier for the upper management to tailor courses for a more personalized experience.
Salient Features
- VR Training Simulations
- Interactive Modules
- AI-Driven Personalization
- Automated Data Visualization
TalentLMS is an online LMS that helps businesses conduct training programs at scale. Its smart artificial intelligence (AI) tool helps businesses create comprehensive training for different departments. The platform is easy to use, with a comprehensive dashboard displaying in-depth metrics on employee training.
Furthermore, sending bulk emails enables businesses to easily communicate important updates, learning objectives, and training schedules.
Salient Features
- Gamification
- Personalized Domain
- Customized Reporting
- Course Store
iSpring Suite is an e-learning authoring platform that seamlessly integrates with PowerPoint, allowing users to create courses, training videos, and quizzes. Businesses can effectively use the software to create training courses for onboarding, compliance, sales, and more.
Additionally, administrators can convert PowerPoint presentations into interactive HTML, generate multilingual voiceovers from PPT notes, and easily embed external codes into the PowerPoint slides for enhanced functionalities.
Salient Features
- Text-To-Speech
- Video Lectures
- Multiple Quiz Types
- 116,000+ Templates
Absorb LMS is a powerful learning management system designed to enhance the learning experience of a company’s employees, customers, and partners. It offers comprehensive tools for course authoring, social learning, gamification, and reporting, making it a very flexible solution. Furthermore, it allows seamless information flow to third-party software, reducing manual tasks and errors.
Salient Features
- Scheduled Reports
- AI-Driven Personalized Learning Paths
- Virtual Boot Camps
- Course Library
Docebo is a digital learning solution that aims to help organizations with employee development, customer education, and partner enablement. The software offers extensive content creation and gamification tools and comes with a built-in ‘Learning Intelligence’ feature to optimize and improve learning initiatives.
The platform is designed to be used in a wide range of industries, including finance, healthcare, education, and hospitality.
Salient Features
- AI-Powered Authoring
- Professional Certifications
- Advanced Data Filtering Tools
- Interactive Visualizations
360Learning is an all-in-one learning platform that focuses heavily on collaborative learning to upskill an organization’s workforce. Its reliance on collaborative learning fosters a healthy and effective learning environment that’s not possible with conventional methods. Moreover, the solution enables businesses to create and tailor training for their global audience.
Salient Features
- Multilingual Content Translation
- Course Feedback surveys
- Self-Registration Links
- Course Templates
As its name suggests, Easy LMS is an easy-to-use learning platform that provides essential learning management features to companies while helping them save money. It allows organizations to brand their customer training, streamline HR tasks, and repurpose training material. The platform is ideal for quickly creating exams to assess employee learning and then using data analytics to suggest improvements.
Salient Features
- Data Visualization
- Progress Reminders
- Basic And Advanced Certifications
- Data Export
Litmos is a comprehensive employee development platform that offers essential training tools, learning content, and services. The software offers 98,000+ pre-built online courses from reputable learning providers. It also offers consulting, training, and implementation services, helping businesses boost employee learning initiatives.
Salient Features
- Litmos AI
- Discussion Forums
- Leaderboards
- Gamification Features
LearnUpon is an AI-powered learning platform that simplifies content creation, course delivery, progress tracking, and employee evaluation. Managers can create brand portals that are essentially personalized learning environments for each audience. These dedicated portals help businesses significantly enhance employee experience and engagement. Plus, implementing the software into an organization’s existing infrastructure is easy.
Salient Features
- Live Learning
- Dynamic Rules
- Multi-Language Support
- LinkedIn Learning Integration
Moodle is an open-source learning platform that gives organizations complete control over design and functionality. It enhances the user experience by integrating learning elements such as gamification and certification. Furthermore, it offers 2,000+ open-source plugins and multiple integrations, making it highly customizable. These features make it an ideal platform for long-term course management and maintenance.
Salient Features
- Mobile Learning
- Learning Plans
- Certifications And Leaderboards
- Custom Themes
Honorable Mentions
Apart from our top ten picks, here’s a list of other reliable learning platforms that you should consider when selecting an LMS for your small business:
Compliance Adherence
You are one mistake away from a lawsuit if you lack proper training infrastructure. A missed compliance course, an untrained employee, or an outdated policy could result in hefty fines and penalties. Employee learning solutions help inform your workforce about changing regulations, ensuring your business remains compliant.
Consistent Training Quality
While there are tons of free resources on the internet that you can use to train your employees, they are all scattered and not always top quality. However, with an LMS, you can ensure consistent quality for your employees, ensuring they don’t waste time completing courses that don’t offer much value.
Cost-Effectiveness
Having a standardized employee development program means fewer mistakes and a reduced turnover rate, which ultimately cuts down business costs. Additionally, creating in-house learning content will be far more affordable than hiring external speakers and trainers.
Progress Tracking
Advanced LMSs offer powerful reporting and analytics tools to track learning progress. These analytics offer insights that take the guesswork out of the equation and provide exact numbers on how many courses each employee has completed over a set period.
Accelerated Onboarding
These solutions significantly reduce the time it takes to train a new employee. With features like automated course assignments and certifications, your organization can quickly prepare new hires for their roles, saving time and increasing productivity.
As highlighted above, each LMS differs in the features and tools it offers. Despite their distinct offerings, choosing the right one can be challenging since they all aim to support employee learning. Here are a few tips to guide you through the selection process.
- Objectives: Clearly define what you want to achieve with a learning platform. If you aim to enhance compliance, choose a solution that offers rigorous knowledge checks. However, if you want to improve your sales team’s performance, choosing software with advanced analytics will help you gauge the impact of your training.
- Desired Functionalities: You’ll find a variety of LMSs in the market, from all-in-one solutions to very specialized platforms for specific needs. To choose the one with the right tools, you should involve stakeholders from different departments and list the most needed features before purchasing.
- Integrations: Always check the software's supported integrations and evaluate how they can enhance employee learning.
- Budget: Ensure that you are not overspending when purchasing an LMS. While these platforms can lead to long-term cost savings, allocating excessive business resources can cause financial strain. In addition to the overall cost, selecting a billing method that aligns with your business’s revenue model is important.
If you can’t decide which LMS to choose for your business and want an expert opinion, we have you covered. Contact us at (661) 384-7070 and talk to our software consultants to get tailored suggestions for your business.