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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 February 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Google Classroom is 5.6%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Moodle is 13.2%, down from 16.4% 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

"I like that Google Classroom is free and integrates with the entire Google Suite, which includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, etc. I also like its flexibility, which makes it perfect for synchronous, asynchronous, and blended courses, and including live and archived webinars, as well as other kinds of content."
"Google Classroom is very effective for communication and excellent for assigning homework and resources."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"When a teacher uploads material, all students connected to that class will receive the same information at the same time. I have found this to be a valuable feature. I also like that the material remains in Google Classroom until the teacher removes it. The UI is user-friendly, and you don't have to have prior experience to use the solution."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability for the lecturer to put in work. Additionally, the work can be graded after completion, and there can be feedback provided through the system which has a good interface."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to share my lectures with many students, assign tasks to be completed, and overall student engagement."
"Google Classroom is easy to use and intuitive, and it's not difficult to set up."
"The number of permissions that are available and different ways to report and get the information out are the most valuable features. We have been able to get precise bits of information out, and we have also been able to delegate a lot."
"The product's most valuable feature is the ability to import and export documents for courses, assessments, and questionnaires in any format."
"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 ability to insert a variety of tools, create and organize course content, and share large volumes of materials, written, audio, or visual, is very valuable."
"The monitoring aspect is important for students."
"Since it's an open-source product, you can integrate it with many other things."
"It doesn't take long to learn how to use it and to set up basic courses and things like that."
"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 are a lot of things that need to be fixed in order for it to be called a learning management system. I think that's where a lot of people are very confused in terms of what Google Classroom actually does. Google Classroom is not a learning management system. A learning management system allows teachers to grade with authenticity and doesn't provide only one grade for a particular document or assignment."
"The product must provide different plans for different customers so that we can pay for only what we use."
"We found that Google Classroom is it is missing a lot in current engagement. We know it has got guardian access, where it sends the reports to the guardian at the end of either the week or the month, depending on how you set it. However, it lacks collaboration between the teacher, student, and parents. The engagement is mostly between the student and the teacher. If you have a school similar to ours, where you're dealing with little children where the parent is supposed to be engaged, you need a system that can engage them as well. It's good for senior students, but not for our students."
"The product's UI needs improvement."
"Google Classroom could improve by being easier to use. For example, making it functional with only a few buttons. It's difficult to know how to connect with students and make a link and share it with them. I found it difficult, and this is why I didn't continue using it. Additionally, it should be available to be downloaded to the desktop for use, similar to Zoom."
"Google Classroom could improve by having better integration with other platforms, such as Google Meet."
"The user interface of Google Classroom could improve by being more user-friendly."
"The initial setup is not very easy. It has modern complexity."
"The solution architecture could be improved."
"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."
"Its interface design could be more user-friendly."
"It would be good to have a feature that would ensure that students are the ones performing the given assessment."
"Moodle Mobile is a really good area for improvement. All of 4.0 hasn't been released yet, and Moodle Mobile is not yet available for all different devices."
"One aspect that I found a bit confusing was the dual editing system, where you could edit the layout of the course separately from editing the content."
"We have needed to complete many customizations for Moodle to use it in all of our relevant organizations. We have found many issues with the competencies as we cannot assign many sub competencies to competencies."
"Moodle's weakest point is the user interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are an educational institution, and it is free of charge for us. Normally, if you are a private company, you have to pay a lot of money to get this service, but they are giving it for free to schools."
"The solution is affordable."
"I use the free version of Google Classroom."
"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."
"We did not need a license to use Google Classroom."
"For Google Classroom, you don't need to pay for its license because they offer free access to the platform."
"There are competitors that offer free solutions, making the price of Google Classroom high."
"The tool is available for free."
"Moodle offer a 14 day free trial and then requires payment."
"Moodle is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"Moodle is a free open-sourced solution. This is one of the best aspects of Moodle."
"It is a free-of-cost solution."
"It varies depending on the partner you're going with. It depends on whether they are a certified partner or not. It also varies depending on the demand. Usually, with Moodle and other LMSs, there is concurrent licensing. It's hard to figure out the best way to do it at the company that is selling the LMS. Moodle is usually one of the most cost-effective LMSs you can get."
"This particular organization is a relatively small academic institution. It is a single campus, not very big, with 4,500 to 5,000 total students. It is not a big faculty. There are no hard sciences other than undergraduate-level hard sciences. So, Moodle is functional, and it is relatively simple because it is open-source software. It has sub advantages, and it is inexpensive. Small schools with small enrollment numbers just can't afford the more expensive ones."
"Moodle is a free online learning platform, but it also offers a paid version of it."
"Moodle have a very robust licensing system that is user friendly. It's not very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
23%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Educational Organization
14%
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.
 

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.
838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.