We use it for organizational governance and training.
Head Of Technology at a non-tech company with 11-50 employees
Provides a number of permissions and different ways to report, and it is incredibly wide in what it can do
Pros and Cons
- "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 biggest area for improvement is the UI. They should also make the navigation simpler to understand. They've recently introduced a new way of having navigation work in Moodle, but they all look very similar."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
The biggest area for improvement is the UI. They should also make the navigation simpler to understand. They've recently introduced a new way of having navigation work in Moodle, but they all look very similar.
Its updates should be stable, and the support and documentation should also be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I use it every day, and I have done that for the past seven years.
Buyer's Guide
Moodle
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Moodle. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Moodle at a period of time is very stable, but each upgrade is quite unstable because of the sporadic changes that are made and the sheer number of releases they do.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. It is used throughout the organization by content creators, site administrators, and standard learners. We have a team of about six people who do content creation, and we have another team of six people for site administration, and then we have a couple of thousand learners. Its usage would not be more than what is currently being used, but as we grow, it continues to grow. We're not planning to take on much more.
How are customer service and support?
The support is pretty bad. There isn't really any support for Moodle unless you pay an astronomical amount. It seems to be their intention to keep adding complexity to things and not providing sufficient documentation unless you go through a Moodle-certified partner. Unless you go down that route, you are in the dark quite a lot, and you have to work things out.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We've used Moodle since we needed this kind of tool.
How was the initial setup?
We have a copy of it on GitHub that is deployed through AWS's tooling to the servers. We have a variable spot in AWS for the database and things like that by using infrastructure in code to scale that out throughout the organization. So, we have a central team that manages it and uploads the users, managers, and people like that, and then we have another team that looks after the content, which is then just used throughout the organization for onboarding and training.
Its deployment probably took about two to three months.
What about the implementation team?
Our in-house development team looks after it, and we have about eight people who work with this solution. Two of them have a first-line technical support background. Two of them have a developer background, and the rest of them are learning and development people.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
What other advice do I have?
I'd recommend using what you need and not trying to use everything because Moodle is incredibly wide in what it can do. It's like a Swiss Army knife. If you try to use everything, you get lost and confused, and it gets messy. So, just keep things simple.
I would rate it an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Web Developer at Focus PPC
Useful exam question shuffle, highly stable, and useful document hosting
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
We use Moodle to schedule exams for students. A group of students will come into a classroom, login, and we will schedule exams for them. Students have their resources there, such as PDFs.
How has it helped my organization?
Moodle has really improved our education system. Students don't need to come to campus to get their textbooks. We used to print textbooks and other documents for students, but we stopped printing textbooks. We host all our educational resources on Moodle and students only need to connect and download them to use them.
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
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.
Moodle has a security feature which is good, but it's frustrating for some students. In the mobile operation, your login and password have a limitation, you cannot remain logged in. They always have to log in over and over, they have to always remember their login and password. It's a good security feature but it's an eligibility problem for some students.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Moodle for three to four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability and performance of Moodle have been very good.
If we have a problem, it is from our network, not from the Moodle application.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have a small school and we have not scaled the solution. However, I know large institutions that are using Moodle, it is scalable.
We have 500 to 800 students using Moodle. We have students who are doing two months and three months courses. Additionally, we have students who are doing one to two-year courses. The number of users can change quite frequently. At one time, we can have more than 600 students using Moodle.
How was the initial setup?
When I was deploying the Moodle server it was easy. However, the current updates of Moodle are limited on how you can deploy them and it is a little complex. The complexity could be because I am used to the older deployment methods. The whole deployment of the solution took me approximately four hours.
What about the implementation team?
I am the Moodle administrator and I do the maintenance of the solution. This includes updates, patches, and fixes.
What other advice do I have?
We are not using all the features of Moodle, as a small school, we are using it efficiently.
My advice to those wanting to implement Moodle is for them to read the documentation.
I rate Moodle a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Moodle
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Moodle. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
E-Learning Manager at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Open source, easy to integrate with other products, and is ideal for making customized learning solutions
Pros and Cons
- "Since it's an open-source product, you can integrate it with many other things."
- "They need to have a better way to illustrate competencies so that, when people go through the programs, they can actually show they are competent in the subject matter."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used for corporate and education purposes for sure. In corporate, in human resources, it can be used in order to train all the employees in different topics like soft skills or even regulations such as safety compliance and stuff like that. In educational situations, it can be used for classes.
How has it helped my organization?
We have 80% educational usage of Moodle. It's used a lot in university institutions and colleges. The other 20% is for corporate.
For corporate, one of the benefits is they can deploy all their courses around the world. They can do synchronous training. They can upload a lot of materials and they can track who saw the content, who did not, how many attended sessions, et cetera. The customer can do the test and have reports about various aspects of the program.
What is most valuable?
They integrate with Zoom and maybe with Teams. In Moodle, they make forums and assessments such as the evaluation of tests.
Since it's an open-source product, you can integrate it with many other things. There are no limits. If you know the product, you can use many features, and make some solutions. We like Moodle due to the fact that all the features, actually, are really common in different LMS. You can make a lot of deploy developments over Moodle.
What needs improvement?
They need to offer insights, such as, for example, identifying which question was the most difficult. Maybe they are not training well or maybe there is a hard topic and they have to make more training about it. If they had more insights into who had trouble where it would give them more insights into how to further develop topics and pieces of training.
They need to have a better way to illustrate competencies so that, when people go through the programs, they can actually show they are competent in the subject matter. Other platforms like Canvas or Blackboard do a better job in this regard.
The reporting could be a bit better, a bit more in-depth.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using the solution for 12 years. It's been well over a decade at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good. It's pretty reliable in general.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution does offer scalability, however, it is something you need to work at. It's not something you just download. You have to work at it and implement it correctly.
We have a number of different customers that use the solution. We have a customer base and implement Moodle for them and manage it, administer it for them.
We have 50 plus customers. Then, each customer has thousands of users. For example, the smallest one will have 1,000 users and the biggest one will have 15,000. The largest client has users that I believe are around 60,000.
How are customer service and support?
We don't need technical support from Moodle as we have our own team.
How was the initial setup?
While I know how to do implementations, I do not actually handle them directly.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We take it as an open-source product. We downloaded it from the Moodle dashboard and then we sell it.
What other advice do I have?
We are not in partnership with Moodle.
New customers have to understand that even though it is open-source, they will have to spend money. They'll need to rebrand it, however, they need to work with people who understand the product. If you just install it as it is, the user experience will be a disaster if you don't understand what to do. It's not refined. It's not user-friendly for new users. If you have a really good team helping you, you can design some really good classes and programs.
Overall, I'd rate the product at an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Developer, Tech Lead at iT corner
Very cost-effective and intuitive
Pros and Cons
- "Cost-effective and intuitive."
- "The solution architecture could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Moodle is an end-to-end solution that provides offline support. We mostly use it because it gives permission for content creation and self-enrollment into courses and access to content. In the educational environment, teachers can provide assessments and grading. We are customers of Moodle and I'm a tech lead. We provide the LMS solution to many organizations; educational, medical, etc. I'm a consultant and customize the solution for our customers.
How has it helped my organization?
This is open-source software, so it's very accessible to anyone even if you don't have a lot of knowledge. You can create codes, assign features, assign the student and give access to all the systems.
What is most valuable?
This is a very cost-effective solution that is intuitive. It doesn't require much training and is easily accessible.
What needs improvement?
As a developer, I think the UI could be improved. I also think Moodle lacks sufficiently good architecture to handle a lot of users simultaneously. I'd like to see the provision of multi-tenancy as an integral part of the solution because it's costly for users to add that.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is generally stable but there can be some stability issues depending on your server setup. The key is to set it up correctly and then you won't have any problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This is a scalable solution, anywhere from 10 to 5,000 users.
How are customer service and support?
Moodle has its own forum if you have any issues with their software
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward and not overly technical. You install your software, get a username and password and you can then use the software. For cloud deployment, I would suggest help from a developer to access the server on the cloud-hosting company. I can deploy the product in an hour but I've had a lot of experience with Moodle.
What other advice do I have?
If you're looking for a quick implementation of your LMS, Moodle is a great solution. It's open-source and has a limit of 1,000 users.
I rate this solution eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Senior Systems & Moodle Administrator at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
Scalable, open source LMS used for corporate training in 65 schools for 7000 users
Pros and Cons
- "The best thing about Moodle is that it is open source and has many useful plugins. It is a great solution for an organization that needs modifications and customization."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for corporate training online. We have 65 schools around the world and we use Moodle to educate our teachers on soft skills and and other competencies. We have 7,000 users. We ran a poll on how users feel about using Moodle and the feedback was magnificent.
What is most valuable?
The best thing about Moodle is that it is open source and has many useful plugins. It is a great solution for an organization that needs modifications and customization. You can also create your own plugins as a developer and modify some of the existing plugins.
The fact that an administrator can mark an activity complete by going to the administration site is useful. Previously, we were obliged to complete the activity in the database.
What needs improvement?
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 sub competencies to competencies. Once linked to one another, you cannot unlink them. Once the competency is acquired and needs to be added to another course, it will not be updated automatically. I have to update it manually for those students. This has been a challenge for us.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have used Moodle for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We experienced some issues using the older versions of Moodle but this has been resolved and it is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This is a scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
I've been able to solve many issues using the forum and the intervention of many other contributors but have not contacted the support team directly.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy from a developer perspective. The deployment is easy as there are many instructions for Moodle on how to install and deploy it. From an end users perspective, there are many other platforms that are maybe easier to use.
What other advice do I have?
If a company is looking for a simple solution to host courses and enrol students, I would recommend another platform. I would recommend Moodle for an organization that is growing and looking for competencies and customized courses. We have over 50 different plugins installed with Moodle and this level of customization has not been possible with other solutions we have considered.
I would advise those using Moodle to take advantage of all the plugins but to not modify the core code. It is much easier to upgrade to newer versions without making these changes. In a future release, it would be useful to have a tracking report for a score file to see each user and what answers they have selected.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Service designer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Good usability and great interface but allocating privacy settings is hard
Pros and Cons
- "It doesn't take long to learn how to use it and to set up basic courses and things like that."
- "Setting up groups and allocating privacy settings to different groups is quite complicated."
What is our primary use case?
The system is primarily used to host online learning products and to track completion as well as reporting.
What is most valuable?
Its basic usability is very good. Usability and accessibility are very, very good in Moodle and it's got all the basic features required to host a learning solution.
The interface is good.
It doesn't take long to learn how to use it and to set up basic courses and things like that.
What needs improvement?
Setting up groups and allocating privacy settings to different groups is quite complicated. Sometimes we need the help of administrators and sometimes backend supporters to set those things up. If that could be made more accessible, that'll be very useful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used it for two years until as recently as January this year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is completely stable. It's a rock-solid solution. There aren't issues with bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The simpler versions can scale. The cloud versions may be scalable. However, with on-prem versions and with the more custom settings you have, the more difficult it is to scale it.
We had over 20,000 end-users. It was used for a countrywide organization, for pharmacists. There were a fair bit of people. Internally, we had about 20 of us touching it on a regular basis.
An increase in usage is dependent on how many more members we would have in the organization. Every member had to use Moodle. If they had to complete their required certifications as pharmacists, for example, the solution was deployed on Moodle, so pretty much everyone used it. A large number of people would use it daily.
How are customer service and support?
We needed to reach out to support previously. Technical support is good if you can find someone, however, getting someone on an ad hoc basis is difficult. When we have an LMS person who is actually conversant with the Moodle backend and the tech behind it, then it's okay, otherwise, it's a challenge.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I don't know what they had before Moodle, however, my understanding was that it was legacy-based. It might have been some SharePoint LMS kind of a thing. I don't know if they had a specific LMS as a lot of the training and others were developed and deployed in face-to-face settings. When the world started changing towards a more digital learning platform, that's when the company got Moodle.
How was the initial setup?
I don't remember how they implemented Moodle. That was before my time. I only started using it as a learning designer.
The initial setup was at least a three-month process from what I understand.
It does require maintenance and we had a backend administrator who looked after that. Initially, when the external provider set Moodle up, they were there for a while until this administrator got his comfort level up. After that, he was on his own.
What was our ROI?
We did see an ROI while using this product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The enterprise pricing range is very good. I'd recommended Moodle at one point as it's open-source. The base features are available regardless. It's not like you pay for anything. It's the enterprise solution and tech support that you really pay for. Therefore, it's reasonably priced for what you get with it.
The only additional were setting up deployment, offering initial tech support, and customizing it. Out-of-the-box it is regular pricing, however, if you want it customized, then you will be paying something additional for that. Also, integrating it with the CRM, which is Salesforce, had an integration cost component.
What other advice do I have?
I was just a customer.
I'd advise potential new users to play around with the free version first.
Test it prior and get the blueprint right. Whenever the deployment happens, what people do, is they go for what looks like the easiest possible way to deploy it for a bandaid solution. That's what most frequently happens. They don't consider scalability, for example. They don't consider potential future states and so they build a blueprint. They don't consider potential future integrations with CRMs and other software. So plan. Plan it properly. Have your blueprint ready, follow a scenario. A lot of forward scenario planning is good.
Otherwise, it's a lot of cost overhead if you want to change the blueprint since you have data. Imagine if we had to change the organization's blueprint now with 20,000 people's ongoing certification data, and their compliance requirements with the government and other medical bodies. Therefore, depending on what the organization is, there's a lot to lose if you don't blueprint it properly. Get the functional specs right.
I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Project Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Open-source platform, flexible plugins, and enhances educational management
Pros and Cons
- "The valuable features of Moodle include its open-source nature, which makes it free to use, and the supportive community that assists with any issues."
- "The customization of the interface could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
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.
How has it helped my organization?
Moodle is free and open source, which reduces a significant portion of the Total Cost of Ownership. It is supported by the community, making it easy to find solutions to any issues. The plugins are also very flexible, allowing for additional features.
What is most valuable?
The valuable features of Moodle include its open-source nature, which makes it free to use, and the supportive community that assists with any issues. Additionally, the plugins are very flexible, and you can develop your own to add features. The anti-plagiarism plugin is one that we use most frequently.
What needs improvement?
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.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Moodle for roughly a year now. I also used it around 15 years ago.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Moodle is fairly stable with no significant issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Moodle meets our scalability needs to a satisfactory extent. We have not faced any issues with scalability.
How are customer service and support?
We don't get technical support directly from Moodle, so I can't provide a rating for their customer service.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not personally used any other solutions similar to Moodle for the same use case.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Moodle is straightforward for someone with decent knowledge in Linux.
What about the implementation team?
Assuming the infrastructure is ready, one person can handle the installation. However, it still requires maintenance from time to time. That said, it is minimal and nothing to worry too much about.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Moodle is a free tool and open source, so there are no direct costs for using it.
What other advice do I have?
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Oct 15, 2024
Flag as inappropriateCEO and co-founder at EDW International
Flexible learning platform that can be easily expanded and scaled
Pros and Cons
- "The fact that it's modular means you can easily expand with thousands of plugins that you can freely download from Moodle headquarters, and adding or removing functionality is easy."
- "Moodle's weakest point is the user interface."
What is our primary use case?
Moodle is used to supply learning management systems to companies, both big and small organizations. Normally, people load learning materials that are compulsory for their business environment and use Moodle to do all the activation.
What is most valuable?
Moodle allows a lot of flexibility - you can load and create the environment exactly as you like. The fact that it's modular means you can easily expand with thousands of plugins that you can freely download from Moodle headquarters, and adding or removing functionality is easy.
What needs improvement?
Moodle's weakest point is the user interface (although this is being addressed in upcoming releases). The reporting in the corporate version could also be improved. In addition, if you like to customize the platform with many plugins, you may need to spend a lot of time double-checking your plugins and code when upgrading to a new version.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Moodle for eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
If your implementation strategy is good, then Moodle will run smoothly. It updates on a six-month cycle and doesn't need much maintenance outside of that.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I haven't encountered any issues with scalability. Moodle is used by some of the world's leading educators (including the Open University and Sapienza University), which have thousands of connected users with no problems.
How are customer service and support?
For most users, Moodle offers support through its community instead of a technical support team. Its community is the best I have found, better than other major shared software like WordPress. The big advantage is that the support is provided by competent people and not just by an organization. Normally, you just have to wait a couple of hours for help.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is reasonably straightforward, but you require a bit of tech skill. You have to know what a database is, how to set up a PHP version, and so on. There is plenty of information available online to help with this, and with it, you should be able to build a Moodle version in a few hours.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
In the case of Moodle Workplace, you can pay for direct support.
What other advice do I have?
For those wanting to start using Moodle, I would advise clearly defining your objectives and how you want the content to be displayed. I would also recommend trying the free version you can connect to on MoodleNet to see directly how it functions before installing. In addition, since Moodle is a large and complex software, I would say it's best to start slowly and learn as you need in order to avoid being overwhelmed. I would give Moodle a rating of nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: December 2024
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