Canvas LMS vs Google Classroom comparison

Instructure and Google are both solutions in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category. Instructure is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3, while Google is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2. Instructure holds a 4.6% mindshare in LMS, compared to Google’s 7.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Instructure users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Google users who would recommend it.

Canvas LMS

Read 10 Canvas LMS reviews

664 Views
453 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Google Classroom

Read 24 Google Classroom reviews

2,488 Views
896 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Canvas LMS

Google Classroom

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Canvas LMS and Google Classroom are two leading e-learning platforms, with Canvas LMS offering more robust customization and flexibility, while Google Classroom is known for its simple user interface and seamless integration with Google Apps.

Features:Canvas LMS provides advanced customization, integration with Zoom, and powerful analytics tools, making it ideal for complex educational needs. Google Classroom offers seamless integration with Google Suite, allowing effortless use of Google Docs, Sheets, and more alongside intuitive usability, making it perfect for quick adoption and use in diverse settings.

Room for Improvement:Canvas LMS could enhance its user interface to reduce complexity for novice users and improve real-time collaboration features. Google Classroom could benefit from offering more advanced grading tools and better analytics, along with enriching offline accessibility options to enhance usability in varied teaching environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Google Classroom is favored for its easy deployment, leveraging existing Google Suite familiarity to quickly transition users online. Canvas LMS, while more complex, offers extensive customer support to assist with its deeper feature set and integration options, ensuring smooth implementation.

Pricing and ROI:Google Classroom is free and fits seamlessly within the Google ecosystem, resulting in minimal costs and immediate value. Canvas LMS, with its higher initial costs, justifies the investment for larger institutions through its extensive features and potential for high returns on educational deliverables, catering to more comprehensive institutional needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Canvas LMS vs. Google Classroom Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Canvas LMS vs. Google Classroom

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Canvas LMS

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Google Classroom

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Canvas LMS is 4.6%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Classroom is 7.0%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Featured Reviews

James Phelps

Adjunct Professor at Nova Southeastern University

Intuitive, easy to learn, and easy to adapt to various teaching methodologies

It is scalable. There must be 20,000 people using it on that campus. We run a medical college, a public health department, and the hard sciences department. We also have a lot of things that are spread out across the state of Florida through Canvas. So, it is pretty scalable. In terms of our plans to increase its usage, I don't know what the university is going to do, but right now, the university is saturated with Canvas. Even if you're doing classes in a regular standard classroom, all of your exams, all of your quizzes, all of your practicals, and all of your teaching are recorded and loaded into the Canvas system for future review by accreditors. So, it is pretty well saturated on that particular campus.

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Neeraj Tiwari

Student at Queens University Belfast

An easy-to-install tool that is available for free but needs to improve the stability it offers

The product's initial setup phase was easy. The deployment process was not an issue since the product was easy to access. The students in our institution used to get a link from our faculty or module coordinator for Google Classroom, after which we used to access the platform. There is a Google Classroom code to deal with privacy issues, which allows the students to access different modules, which was an easy process. I never found the aforementioned steps hard since I could get access to Google Classroom via my Google ID and Gmail. It is really easy to use the tool by clicking on the link for Google Classroom. The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The integration with Zoom is a notable feature. It allows for seamless access to live class sessions directly from Canvas after authentication, enabling quick entry into Zoom calls. You can also schedule Zoom calls or private recordings directly within Canvas, making it convenient, especially for situations like self-recording exams. Additionally, Canvas excels in collaboration and discussion capabilities. Users can engage in discussions on various topics, and there's the option to create custom groups for more focused interactions. These groups provide a level of privacy and isolation from the broader class, which is a significant advantage."

"The solution is easy to access."

"I used a lot of other systems in my IT career and Canvas LMS truly has everything that I would look for in an enterprise system."

"The assessment tools in Canvas significantly contribute to educational outcomes by allowing instructors to create and manage assessments effectively."

"The product's flexibility is exceptional."

"They have a more extensive support base in terms of infrastructure."

"It's easy to follow. It flows well, and it's easy to use."

"We have been using Canvas LMS, and overall, it has served our needs well for managing courses and general settings."

More Canvas LMS pros

"What I liked most about Google Classroom is it was very easy to communicate with the students and simple for me to learn even though it was the first time I was using it. I was able to learn the features very well by navigating through the different discussions forums and becoming proficient, not necessarily a master but knowledgeable in using the solution. The ease of use was the best feature."

"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is its clouds based. It can be accessed anywhere. Additionally, the GUI is good, we have not had any complaints and the platform has built-in security. For example, email has protection."

"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to meet people and it is online."

"Assigning a unique copy of Google Classroom to students and giving out information is what the solution excels at."

"What I like about Google Classroom are the video lessons. I enjoy using it because it makes my life easier, for example, I can easily change my class and my lecture notes."

"Company-wise, the most important feature is that it is a product of Google. It is a part of Google Suite. With Google Classroom, you can easily embed a Google Sheet, Google Doc, or Google Form. You can easily create a quiz in Google Form. It is integrated with Google Drive. So, everything is on Google Drive, and you can easily use it. With single sign-on, you can use it with Google Apps as well."

"I can see all the submissions in a central place."

"The product is easy to use."

More Google Classroom pros

Cons

"Integrating more AI capabilities for the product could enhance its functionality, particularly in automating repetitive tasks and personalizing learning experiences."

"The product could be integrated with a talent management system."

"It would be nice to be able to do more real-time comprehensive reporting with Canvas LMS."

"It would be good to be able to do teleconferencing within the LMS."

"The solution could be upgraded and improved."

"In our working, we are encountering many challenges with Canvas LMS. One of the major area is their business model which is having a very different pricing structure. The structure is made in such a way that the license fee is needed to be paid for the complete year even if the student has been enrolled for a programme of short duration. This structure is not conducive with our needs and hence, in the past few years, been increasing our costs manifold. Along with this, Canva LMS also lacks many functionalities such as notifications and adaptive learning. There is a specific issue with the licensing model that affects us in continuous education. The inability to reuse a license for the same course in different terms hinders our cost efficiency. For instance, if a program runs from January to April, we are required to pay for the license twice within the same academic year. This contrasts with other platforms like Hyper, where reusing a license is possible, allowing us to use the same license multiple times in different terms. Along with the use, we are exploring the integration of artificial intelligence into our processes, and Canvas LMS falls short in this regard. While some platforms allow connections with external AI services, Canvas does not currently offer built-in artificial intelligence capabilities, a feature we find valuable for enhancing the learning experience."

"The learning curve is not steep, but it is intermediate."

"There are a couple of areas that could be improved. Firstly, the discussion feature is not very interactive and can be slow to respond, making it less intuitive at the moment. This is an aspect that needs substantial improvement. Another point to consider is related to the cost of the LMS system. It's perceived as relatively expensive, which has led to discussions about transitioning away from Canvas, potentially to a more cost-effective alternative. This cost-related aspect is a significant factor to consider when implementing such a system."

More Canvas LMS cons

"Students used to have points that were accumulated and the letter grades, such as A's, B's, C's, et cetera. Google Classroom should add a feature by which you can toggle in between both of them. It's more than only accumulated points, which are not going to mean that much for students unless there's a prize at the end or some type of reward for the effort. However, if there's a way to toggle in between allocating points versus allocating a grade, it would be nice."

"There's room for improvement in the offline functionality. When you're working with a class, you can't close the class or perform certain tasks when you're offline."

"I would like to see a better user experience, a more engaging interface, and more templates. Google should develop templates or at least encourage developers to share them. You'll only get a basic framework when you create a new course. You don't have different themes to choose from like you do in Moodle."

"There can often be language barriers when you're not dealing with local technical support, which can be challenging."

"There are certain things that I can do on PowerPoint that I cannot do on Google Presentations and Google Slides, such as using PowerPoint's animation feature, I have found that PowerPoint is generally more feature-rich and offers a wider range of tools that I can use to prepare and enhance my presentations."

"The stability of the product is an area with certain flaws where improvements are required."

"The initial setup is not very easy. It has modern complexity."

"There are some websites where you can create activities and guide students to do them in a sequence. You can guide them to do an activity first and then go to the next one. You can automatically link activities, and there is a flow, but in Google Classroom, you don't have that feature. All you can do is put the material and tell students what to do. For example, I have an assignment, but I want my students to read a particular text before that. They need to tick it, or they need to click next before they start doing the activity. After that, I want them to do comprehension questions or something else. In Moodle, there are activities such as assignments, quizzes, etc. There is a lesson module in which you can put all of the activities in a flow. So, you can decide what they need to do first. If students answer a question incorrectly, you can decide and design to which page do they need to go next, and which part do they need to review. This is currently missing in Google Classroom."

More Google Classroom cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of Canvas is satisfactory for my university. We have negotiated a good price, especially considering that we are a large university with twenty-six campuses across the country. Canvas offers a favorable pricing model for academic institutions, and the cost is reasonable. However, in continuous education, the challenge lies not in the price itself but in the business model. The requirement to pay for the entire year when our students may only use the license for a shorter duration creates challenges. The inability to adjust the licensing based on actual usage is a significant drawback for us, making the effective cost higher compared to other platforms like Hyper Learning"

"Canvas LMS is an affordable solution."

"The platform can be expensive for smaller organizations with fewer students."

"Canvas LMS is low-priced compared to other vendors."

"I'm using a free version of Google Classroom, so it's a product I don't pay for."

"The solution is affordable."

"We did not need a license to use Google Classroom."

"Google Classroom is a free solution."

"The price of Google Classroom has been reasonable."

"The product is free."

"The tool is available for free."

"I use the free version of Google Classroom."

More Google Classroom pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

24%

University

12%

Government

Non Profit

Educational Organization

24%

University

12%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Canvas LMS?

We have been using Canvas LMS, and overall, it has served our needs well for managing courses and general settings.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Canvas LMS?

Integrating more AI capabilities for the product could enhance its functionality, particularly in automating repetitive tasks and personalizing learning experiences.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Canvas LMS?

I rate Canva LMS a nine out of ten.

See all answers

What do you like most about Google Classroom?

The product's UI is good and user-friendly.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Classroom?

There is room for improvement in the notification. Just managing the Guardian invitations and ensuring they get notifications. That's what I mean. We're currently using GAM to do that.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google Classroom?

It is for students, for learning, assignments, and all that. Just learning management. I don't use it as a teacher. I just support it, so I don't use it a lot as an end-user.

See all answers

Comparisons

CYPHER Learning vs Canvas LMS

Compared 23% of the time

Moodle vs Canvas LMS

Compared 20% of the time

Schoology Learning vs Canvas LMS

Compared 13% of the time

Brightspace vs Canvas LMS

Compared 13% of the time

Kajabi Course vs Canvas LMS

Compared 12% of the time

More Canvas LMS Competitors

Moodle vs Google Classroom

Compared 70% of the time

Blackboard Learning Management vs Google Classroom

Compared 16% of the time

More Google Classroom Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Canvas LMS

December 2024

Download Canvas LMS product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Classroom

December 2024

Download Google Classroom product report

Learn More

Instructure

Google

Overview

Canvas LMS is a comprehensive learning management system that enhances the educational experience. It offers a user-friendly interface that allows educators to create and manage courses, assignments, and assessments. Canvas enables seamless communication and collaboration between students and teachers. It supports various multimedia formats, making it easy to incorporate engaging content into lessons. Canvas also provides a mobile app, ensuring accessibility on the go. Its built-in analytics and reporting allow educators to track student progress and identify areas for improvement. Canvas LMS can integrate with other educational tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality. Canvas LMS is a powerful and versatile platform that empowers educators to deliver effective and engaging online learning experiences.

Google Classroom is an online learning platform that allows teachers to create and manage virtual classrooms. With Google Classroom, teachers can easily distribute assignments, communicate with students, and provide feedback. Students can access their assignments, submit their work, and collaborate with their peers all in one place. The platform integrates seamlessly with other Google tools like Google Drive and Google Docs, making it easy for students to create and share their work. Google Classroom also provides a streamlined workflow for teachers, allowing them to save time and stay organized. Google Classroom is a user-friendly and efficient tool that enhances the learning experience of teachers and students alike.

Sample Customers

Pragmatic Group, MRWED Training and Assessment, RedHill Education

Google Classroom is used in major urban school districts throughout the United States, including: * Los Angeles Unified School District * Chicago Public Schools * New York City Department of Education * Houston Independent School District * Miami-Dade County Public Schools * Dallas Independent School District * Broward County Public Schools * Clark County School District (Las Vegas) * Philadelphia School District

Buyer's Guide

Canvas LMS vs. Google Classroom

December 2024

Free Report: Canvas LMS vs. Google Classroom

Find out what your peers are saying about Canvas LMS vs. Google Classroom and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.

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