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Blackboard Learning Management vs CYPHER Learning comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Blackboard Learning Management
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CYPHER Learning
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Blackboard Learning Management is 2.4%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CYPHER Learning is 4.6%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
 

Featured Reviews

James Phelps - PeerSpot reviewer
Expandable with good real-time live interactions but is very expensive
Initially, Blackboard had problems for faculty members who were forced to use it to try to get it set up and running. That said, over time, they improved that. Unfortunately, due to its licensing requirements on standalone systems, like at a university on our servers, we run into problems where we can only set it up in one way. The way you teach a biology class is not the way you teach a social science class, for example. It's not flexible. Often you are forced into compromising in such a manner that neither group would be happy. If you need help, the help desk in-house will provide 24-hour help to both students and faculty. That means you have eight people, eight hours a day, supervisors, and an overall manager. It takes at least 12 people to handle maintenance for a 10,000-person campus for 24-hour coverage.
Roland Lorenzo M Ruben - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers flexible learning and saves printing costs; it has been excellent for us
There is room for improvement in the CYPHER Learning mobile application because my students have given feedback that they are not using the mobile app as it takes time to open. I also use the app. For me, it is easier to use than using the browser, but some of the students do not use it because it takes a very long time to open. Most of our students are using smartphones. Some students do not have laptops, so if the mobile app is more responsive, it would be a great help for us. The peer feedback feature is not user-friendly. Some of our faculty members were very happy when CYPHER gave the news that there is already a peer feedback feature because we were asking for it, but when they used it, they found it complicated and not user-friendly. They were disappointed with the peer feedback feature. When students submit their outputs, we want their classmates to give feedback as well, but that is not very easy to use. After I tried it, I also did not find it very friendly to use. They have this assessment type where we can group our students. We create groups, and they can work and collaborate with the group. While grading the submissions of the groups, although we can see that the students are separated by groups, we still have to grade them one by one. We would like a way to grade the group as one. For example, if there are five members in a group, currently, we give each member a grade. It would be easier to be able to give the same grade to all the members of the group. The team assessment feature could be improved to allow grading the group as one.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"One of the most important features is the possibility of creating unlimited subdomains."
"The solution is easy to use."
"Blackboard enables instructors to collectively gather all the grading data into one place. If students upload content or post it to a Google Doc, I can do my grading and calculate the grades. It is an excellent holding place for all of that data"
"The modules and courses are flexible."
"It encompasses various components, including course delivery modules, content management, community engagement features, digital classrooms, and mobile integration."
"It is scalable."
"One of Blackboard's strengths is its historical prominence as a leading LMS for universities in the US and Europe a decade or more ago."
"I can use a template to replicate class content so that I can use the same content in the three sections where I teach. That way, I don't have to continuously edit my classes. It's very useful."
"It's just fully managed online and manages the whole process from the start of the student engagement all the way through their training, communicating with them via the platform, and completion of their training. It's one of the few platforms that just works."
"Another feature that is great for me... is the learning outcomes feature... In CYPHER Learning, it's called the Mastery feature. The learning outcomes feature allows us to measure whether students have achieved competency, based on the encoded learning outcomes."
"I really like the fact that it's cloud-based. That means you don't have to look for updates. They happen automatically, which is great. It's also an easy, plug-and-play type of application. It is quite user-friendly and modern."
"Creating courses for our resources is one of the best features of CYPHER Learning."
"In terms of the user availability, there is access to the platform 24 hours. So, we don't need to determine a specific time for training. We just give them a link, password, and period for them to complete, e.g., four days, then it is up to them. What is important is they pass the minimum requirements needed to pass the exams and certification process."
"The customization is very good because it allows us to completely brand the product so that it is our brand."
"With class folders in place, it is possible to follow up on the children. I know when students have seen the material that has been uploaded to the platform and, thus, understand if they are following the classes."
 

Cons

"Blackboard could benefit from significant improvements in its data storage and software functionality to remain competitive with more innovative LMS solutions."
"Blackboard has limitations in terms of delivering content and assessing student assignments because it can't handle large file sizes. It's also limited in its ability to track student activity. Instructors can see the student's most recent login, but they can't follow the activity."
"The solution must provide better integration with third-party software."
"The solution is not flexible."
"It would be ideal to create a more responsive or more intuitive template for access from telephones or tablets."
"The system falls short in terms of managing assessments and exams effectively."
"There is a section where you can create games and tools. I don't know if it is because I didn't have the training, but I couldn't use the gamification tools. I would like them to create a link with a tutorial explaining how to do this from the platform."
"Perhaps there is room for improvement in the gamification part. I have used it but it has not been very clear to me. It may be my responsibility for not asking about it in the training sessions, but the way you use it is not so clear."
"The gamification option is a section that we have not learned because we have not been able to specify a training space for the use of this gamification tab. However, it would be good to have training and learn about how to use it."
"We have teachers of all ages and those who are a little older hardly interact with the platform. It needs greater accessibility and more detailed updates and information regarding all its tools."
"As an administrator of our LMS, there are a lot of things that could be improved, but these are not seen by students or professors. One is the admin features for adding students."
"Improvement is needed to the reporting options and system because sometimes it's not very accurate. We feel that there are not enough aspects to report on. We need some more advanced reporting."
"We manage a huge number of registered users and also offer a large number of courses on our platform, and our courses are offered via a large number of organizations. It's a very complex setup, but CYPHER Learning did an excellent job of fixing the initial speed issues we had."
"I would like to see better integration of the platform with Zoom or Meet so that programming of video conferences would be much more interactive within those platforms. Currently, if we have to do a conference in Zoom or Meet, we have to leave the platform because we cannot do so directly within it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"At the beginning, you can choose a basic plan. As your users grow you can buy a more expensive license."
"The product pricing tends to be higher than alternatives."
"It is cheap for us. We started with CYPHER Learning, and then when our contract was finished, we needed to undergo a bidding process. We had to look at other LMSs as well and compare it with them. Its price convinced us to stay with CYPHER Learning. The cost is low, but the quality is excellent. The lower price compared to other LMSs makes it perfect for us."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. It's not too expensive and, for what it is, it's very reasonable."
"It's a little bit more than I want to pay, but I'm okay with it."
"CYPHER Learning's price is slightly higher than other solutions."
"If you go for an open source solution, you're going to find out that the costs in the long run end up being a lot more, and the process is frustrating."
"It's affordable, but they have doubled the pricing at random times. That's a problem. They have to change that for forecasting purposes."
"It seems moderate and as per industry standards. In my previous organization, we had to hire an outside company, so I know what companies charge to do just a single course. Considering that, the price of CYPHER Learning is in the typical cost range."
"Our satisfaction with the pricing is a 10 out of 10."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
21%
Educational Organization
20%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Educational Organization
19%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Blackboard Learning Management?
The product pricing tends to be higher than alternatives like Canvas, making Blackboard more suitable for larger universities with substantial budgets.
What needs improvement with Blackboard Learning Management?
Blackboard could benefit from significant improvements in its data storage and software functionality to remain competitive with more innovative LMS solutions.
What do you like most about NEO LMS?
Creating courses for our resources is one of the best features of CYPHER Learning.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NEO LMS?
I did not negotiate the pricing, but from what I gathered, it was a significant purchase for us at West Music. We recognize its value and potential for growth, making it worthwhile.
What needs improvement with NEO LMS?
The primary area for improvement is the reporting between courses and eCommerce, which currently use two separate reporting styles. Information can be accessed within the courses themselves, as wel...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MATRIX LMS, NEO LMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Derby, University of Warwick, John Moore's University
Millions of users across business, academia, and entrepreneurs - worldwide.
Find out what your peers are saying about Blackboard Learning Management vs. CYPHER Learning and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.