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Canvas LMS vs Udemy Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Canvas LMS
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Learning Management Systems (LMS) (5th)
Udemy Business
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
eLearning (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Corporate Compliance solutions, they serve different purposes. Canvas LMS is designed for Learning Management Systems (LMS) and holds a mindshare of 5.5%, up 5.2% compared to last year.
Udemy Business, on the other hand, focuses on eLearning, holds 2.3% mindshare, up 0.6% since last year.
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
eLearning
 

Featured Reviews

James Phelps - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Divya Prakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps to learn from anywhere and offers region-based learning
One area for improvement is ensuring that courses are updated regularly. Often, courses are not updated according to the schedule mentioned by the instructors. It would be beneficial if Udemy Business had a process to evaluate and ensure timely course updates. Udemy Business' remote support needs to be more reliable. Also, some courses are not well-rated or commented on, but they are still good. Currently, courses need more than a 4.5 rating and a certain number of comments to be included, which excludes some good courses. It should define rules to include these courses on request without ignoring rating settings. However, this is challenging because it could be misused by instructors or course providers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have been using Canvas LMS, and overall, it has served our needs well for managing courses and general settings."
"It's easy to follow. It flows well, and it's easy to use."
"The product's flexibility is exceptional."
"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."
"Canvas LMS is user-friendly. Its assessment tools help to find the weaknesses and strengths of students."
"They have a more extensive support base in terms of infrastructure."
"Its easy adaptability to whatever form or methodology you are using to teach is valuable. It tends to be seamless, and it is very much a self-intuitive product. It requires almost no instruction, and you can be fully up to speed and ready to run on it. You can bring someone in who has never worked with any online learning or LMS system, and in a week's timeframe, they would almost be fully functional because Canvas is so simple to use."
"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 solution enables us to train our users."
"What attracted us most to Udemy Business was the content. The amount of content on the platform covers all our requirements. Secondly, I would mention the structure of the e-learning platform. Those are the most important things to me. It is also easy to use."
"I like the solution's training modules because the content is rich."
"The most valuable features depend on the course. Some courses are informative, while others provide practical projects that you can modify to fit your needs. A specific project we are considering involves integrating new database technologies like Kafka into our existing systems. We'll analyze use cases to determine the best practices and apply these insights to our applications."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"The Udemy Business platform has a list of courses and a dashboard."
"Udemy Business makes it easy to explore resources. It is easy to integrate with other platforms."
"The main advantage of Udemy Business is its region-based learning. For example, if a learner from India wants to learn technology, they can find instructors from India who understand their learning style and thought process. This makes learning easier and more relatable. Additionally, Udemy Business is a global platform, so learners can access courses from instructors worldwide. A person from the USA or someone with a higher skill set can create videos. Another advantage is the range of available courses, with no limitations on what you can learn. You can get the right content for the specific technology."
 

Cons

"It would be good to be able to do teleconferencing within the LMS."
"The solution could be upgraded and improved."
"The product could be integrated with a talent management system."
"The high-tech interactivity with other software, like ArcGIS or RSA Archer, can be better. It is not as easily compatible with them. You can put apps in it that the students can then access, but the routing of apps through the Canvas system slows down functionality on the other types of products."
"It would be nice to be able to do more real-time comprehensive reporting with Canvas LMS."
"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."
"The learning curve is not steep, but it is intermediate."
"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."
"I want the tool to improve by providing more learning opportunities in various dimensions or purposes. Additionally, it would be beneficial if there were specific examples related to our domain, as it would help us understand how to apply what we've learned to our business."
"The solution could have a more user-friendly interface. You don't need to recommend the top-rated courses at the beginning of the minutes."
"We have faced some glitches with the product. The tool should increase its price and give access to two or three devices for the same content."
"We can have something like an organization account. Even for small groups, if we can have some account where we can create a group. Right now I either purchase a course license or attend free courses and then send the link to my team members to join from their accounts. Instead of that, maybe we can have a corporate or group account where we can add people and assign courses to them."
"One area for improvement is ensuring that courses are updated regularly. Often, courses are not updated according to the schedule mentioned by the instructors. It would be beneficial if Udemy Business had a process to evaluate and ensure timely course updates."
"The tool must be made easier for new users."
"The tool needs to offer a way to save the courses on mobile."
"Most of the courses that I would also like to enroll myself in are not free."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Canvas LMS is an affordable solution."
"The platform can be expensive for smaller organizations with fewer students."
"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 low-priced compared to other vendors."
"We have individual subscriptions for five to six users."
"I suppose there is a license for the tool at the company level, but not for individuals."
"The courses can be expensive."
"You can test the tool monthly and then switch to yearly licensing. The pricing is reasonable."
"You can purchase individual courses and complete them at your own pace. If you want to explore more topics, you can purchase additional courses. It's a one-time purchase for each course, not a monthly subscription."
"The tool is very affordable."
"The system provides good value for its cost, as evidenced by its widespread adoption across organizations of various sizes. Whether it's mid-level or high-level organizations, many are implementing it. Pricing is based on subscriptions and the number of users."
"The platform offers decent pricing"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
University
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
17%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Healthcare Company
10%
 

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.
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Udemy Business?
Courses on Udemy are less expensive compared to other platforms, allowing learning at one's own pace.
What needs improvement with Udemy Business?
The platform could improve by classifying courses into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Additionally, collaborating with governing bodies to offer certifications from original organizat...
What is your primary use case for Udemy Business?
I have been using Udemy to take courses, particularly one focused on Google's programming language. Although I have not completed the course due to time constraints, I find the platform excellent f...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Pragmatic Group, MRWED Training and Assessment, RedHill Education
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