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Google Classroom vs Moodle 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

Google Classroom
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Moodle
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Google Classroom is 6.2%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Moodle is 13.8%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
 

Featured Reviews

Susan Nash - PeerSpot reviewer
It's free and integrates seamlessly with many tools
When students don't have Gmail accounts, it creates a lot of hiccups, but the main issue is that the interface is somewhat primitive. It’s intuitive and you can be up and running in no time at all. However, it is not very attractive. But that may be because I installed it myself and I'm not using any fancy templates. It's primitive because that's how I've been able to get it going. I would like to see a better user experience, a prettier interface, and more templates. Google could make templates readily available or users could design and share them. As it is, 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. Most learning management systems also have a dashboard. It would be useful to have a dashboard with blocks on the side that lets you navigate all of your courses. It would like to have the ability to navigate at a glance and breadcrumbs. By breadcrumbs, I mean it should be designed to leave you a trail like you would use to find your way out of a forest. Go back to where you were and pick up where you left off. So, instead of going back, it shows you where you were. Moodle does something like this, but you don't see it in Canvas or Blackboard. I think that that would be a big advantage. And then, a dashboard would just be when you go to the front page, in addition to having your courses listed there, you would have something like other activities, as well. Further, the dashboard would include your calendar, you could have a calendar there, you could have different productivity apps.
Ertan Aslan - PeerSpot reviewer
Plenty of modules, highly flexible, and advantageous different user types
It would be a benefit if there was an easy single sign-on with social media services for Moodle. There are some plugins that I tried, but they didn't work seamlessly. it is a work in progress. Having the single sign-on with social media services would be appreciated because in my school we are using Google suite and the main reason why we use Google Classroom is that it is integrated seamlessly with the suite. If I have the same seamless integration with Google suite with Moodle, I would use Moodle more often. I'm using it for myself, but school-wise, it's limited because of the ease of access. Google Classroom is very simple, and straightforward for teachers. It has many features with most being basic. It's easy for everyone to learn. Moodle has a lot of advanced features which can scare people who are not advanced users. If Moodle could improve user-friendliness or more people would use it. This includes the user interface and the overall user experience could improve. When comparing it to Google, it's a bit more difficult. For example, with Google Classroom, as long as you have a Google account any teacher can go there and create a classroom. However, with Moodle, it's a bit difficult. You need to have a system first. It has to be installed, and then you need to know how to create a classroom. You need to know how to use those tools. It requires some getting used to and some training.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution integrates with all the other Google apps including Google Calendar and Google Docs. This makes it very easy to manage."
"A teacher can send assignments and upload results using the product."
"I find Jamboard to be a great tool for supporting classroom activities."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to meet people and it is online."
"Google Classroom is very effective for communication and excellent for assigning homework and resources."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"The product's UI is good and user-friendly."
"Google Classroom is very effective for communication and excellent for assigning homework and resources."
"The most valuable feature of Moodle is the exam question shuffle. Students in the classroom will all have different question list numbers. For example, one student's question one will be another student's question ten."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"It doesn't take long to learn how to use it and to set up basic courses and things like that."
"A really nice thing about Moodle is that it is very robust and flexible, and one of the big advantages of Moodle is that it is open source. It also has a lot of free documentation."
"The product's most valuable feature is the ability to import and export documents for courses, assessments, and questionnaires in any format."
"The most valuable features of Moodle are the ability to create assignments, divide them into teams, and the course delivery. In Cornerstone, I need to reach out to the team, and it is not as simple, a little more involved. Additionally, the solutions is easy to manage."
"The customization features of Moodle significantly enhance the learning experience for our users."
"What I liked most about Moodle was that I could create nice online quizzes. It takes very little time to do. You don't have to even read the paper, it automatically evaluates the quizzes. It gives the student grades and provides a lot of useful statistics. For example, it indicates which question was the hardest, easiest, and where students made the most mistakes. Everything is available to you. You couldn't do this in regular paper test hard copies. This was my first use case."
 

Cons

"There can often be language barriers when you're not dealing with local technical support, which can be challenging."
"The stability of the product is an area with certain flaws where improvements are required."
"Google Classroom could benefit from tools that help correct coding errors for students, thereby enhancing learning."
"The product must provide different plans for different customers so that we can pay for only what we use."
"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."
"The product's UI needs improvement."
"The solution's GUI is an area of concern currently that can be considered for improvement in the future."
"I like Google Classroom the way it is, but an area for improvement could be its dashboard."
"Moodle could improve by being more user-friendly. Sometimes it worked and other times it didn't. If you get stuck, then you don't have a point of contact. Additionally, a VPN is required to make sure the connection is secured."
"The solution architecture could be improved."
"Setting up groups and allocating privacy settings to different groups is quite complicated."
"Sometimes, discrepancies arise when the information is not updated or lacks precision, potentially leading to the model producing misleading or incorrect outputs based on its training."
"Moodle should improve the interface. You can download plugins, such as templates, and use them in Moodle, but they're limited. The interface component in Moodle can improve for students because we always have to train every student on how to use some of each feature. The solution overall could be more user-friendly."
"An improvement would be to have it support physically challenged students, who we think should be able to participate in some of our courses."
"The solution should continue to allow and foster the ability to integrate with cloud services."
"It would be a benefit if there was an easy single sign-on with social media services for Moodle. There are some plugins that I tried, but they didn't work seamlessly. it is a work in progress. Having the single sign-on with social media services would be appreciated because in my school we are using Google suite and the main reason why we use Google Classroom is that it is integrated seamlessly with the suite."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Google Classroom is a free solution. There is paid version that has more options, the cost is approximately eight dollars per student per month."
"The price of Google Classroom has been reasonable."
"There are competitors that offer free solutions, making the price of Google Classroom high."
"My child's school made payments on a subscription-based model to use Google Classroom."
"Google Classroom is a free solution."
"If you do a certain size and build, it's like any Google solution. You have to pay for storage, but you don't need to pay extra to use the interface. There may be Google Classroom partners that provide more integrated solutions, but I don't know. I'm strictly DIY."
"For Google Classroom, you don't need to pay for its license because they offer free access to the platform."
"I'm using a free version of Google Classroom, so it's a product I don't pay for."
"Moodle is a free open-sourced solution. This is one of the best aspects of Moodle."
"Moodle have a very robust licensing system that is user friendly. It's not very expensive."
"Moodle is free. It should probably stay free. There isn't really any support for Moodle unless you pay an astronomical amount, which is weird."
"Moodle is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"In terms of cost, it is available at no charge."
"The licensing cost is quite high and it operates on an annual basis."
"Moodle is a free solution."
"Moodle offer a 14 day free trial and then requires payment."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
13%
Comms Service Provider
13%
University
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Classroom?
The product's UI is good and user-friendly.
What needs improvement with Google Classroom?
There is room for improvement in AI integration, specifically in the education sector. Google Classroom could benefit from tools that help correct coding errors for students, thereby enhancing lear...
What is your primary use case for Google Classroom?
We are using Google Classroom for assessments, homework, and providing resources to students. We also use it for tuition and online interaction, focusing on IT subjects such as computing and progra...
What do you like most about Moodle?
The customization features of Moodle significantly enhance the learning experience for our users.
What needs improvement with Moodle?
The customization of the interface could be improved. Although we can load and change themes, it still always looks like Moodle. We have not found a way to significantly alter its appearance.
What is your primary use case for Moodle?
We use Moodle to manage our students' information, the classes, and the course catalog, which are mainly related to education. It serves as a learning management system for teaching in class.
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Acacia University, Alliant International University, American University of Health Sciences, Anaheim University Online, Aspen University, Cal State University San Bernardino, California State University Los Angeles, Chattanooga Fire Training, City of Humble Fire Department, George Washington University, Georgia Institute of Emergency Medical Services, Michigan Online Classroom, Virginia Beach Sheriffs Office, Washington Post
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Classroom vs. Moodle and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.