After reviewing 15 solutions, we think these are the best learning management systems (LMS) for small business:
If your business is larger or has more complex needs than a typical small business, check out our LMS Software Guide to browse other solutions.
In this article...
What is the best LMS for small businesses?
| Standout feature | Starting price | Free trial? | ||
| Coassemble | Guided content authoring | $50/mo. for up to 10 users | 7 days | Try Coassemble |
| iSpring Learn | Scalable support | $2.87/user/mo. for up to 100 users | 30 days | Try iSpring |
| TalentLMS | Number of features for price | $69/mo. for up to 40 users | Free plan available | Try TalentLMS |
| 360Learning | AI-powered content creation | $8/registered user/mo. for up to 100 users | 30 days | Try 360Learning |
| Zoho People | Native integration support | $1.25/user/mo. + $18/user/yr. for LMS | 30 days | Try Zoho |
Learn more about our top overall LMS favorites in our video overview below:
Coassemble: Best for businesses developing a training program for the first time
Pros
Cons
Coassemble is a beginner-friendly LMS that walks you through course creation, from idea to distribution. New users can consult with Coassemble’s training experts about their campaign idea, and they can help outline your course plan with the necessary LMS elements before you even start using the platform.
Afterward, you can access Coaseemble’s template library of around 50 courses, such as OSHA safety or product training. With these templates, you can easily add or remove aspects using drag-and-drop functionality for an intuitive experience. Similarly, Coassemble’s various assessment options and lesson screens — such as video, slideshow, and timeline — make learning more engaging, increasing employees’ chances of knowledge retention.
While Coassemble succeeds in its content authoring and certification tracking functionalities, it is somewhat limited when it comes to a company’s overall learning and development (L&D) strategy.
For instance, Coassemble lacks AI to suggest learning paths for employee career development, native eCommerce options to sell created content, or blended learning to support online and in-person teaching methods. Other platforms like 360Learning and Zoho People may be the better option if you need these features.However, for a small company, you may not need anything more than content to meet industry regulatory requirements or onboarding training. Coassemble accommodates this by consolidating all your training modules in one place, with an auditable record showing employee course completions.
Design support
Coassemble offers a support article library, blogs, and webinars to walk you through designing and creating your first eLearning course. For more in-depth help, Coassemble also has live chat, 30-minute one-on-one kick-off sessions to help with your training courses and goals, and design reviews to examine your created content.
For your small business HR team, these support offerings speed up content creation while ensuring your training courses are effective for your target audience.
Customizable templates
Users in all of Coassemble’s plans have access to around 50 pre-built templates for onboarding, recruiting, company handbooks, and brand strategies. Each template is customizable so that you can remove or add content relevant to your company and procedures.The templates also make it easier to quickly implement cross-company learning if you currently do not have any training modules you use. Even if you already have electronic training courses, you can easily upload your SCORM-compliant modules to Coassemble, start enrolling employees, and track their progress.
- Pro 10: $50 per month for up to 10 users.
- Pro 20: $120 per month for up to 20 users, billed annually.
- Premium 20: $160 per month for up to 20 users, billed annually.
- Volume discounts for Pro and Premium tiers kick in at 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 users.
- You will need to contact Coassemble for pricing for users over 250.
Coassemble provides multiple support methods and add-ons to help small businesses that have never created training content before. The software lacks some advanced features like those of iSpring Learn, but this makes for a very simple-to-use interface.
Plus, if you only need a centralized hub to start tracking your employee’s course completion, Coassemble may be the way to go.
iSpring Learn: Best for flexibility
Pros
Cons
While Coassemble focuses on businesses using an LMS for the first time, iSpring Learn is versatile enough to handle first-time and advanced users. iSpring’s content authoring is simple enough that you don’t need advanced technical skills or knowledge to make lessons with relevant video, audio, or engagement elements.
However, iSpring also offers features to help develop and engage your existing workforce for a more long-term and strategic approach to L&D. For example, outside of course creation, iSpring offers native 360-degree performance appraisals and communication features to monitor professional development over time.
Meanwhile, iSpring’s robust reporting and analytics track course completion and enrollments. By comparing these numbers to employees’ performance metrics, you can see which training programs are the most effective. You can also see correlations between the courses employees take and their success in their roles.
Additionally, iSpring comes with standard automations, such as automatic course enrollment for new hires based on department or role. Email notifications also inform you when employees complete quizzes or courses so you can monitor their learning progress. These automations improve course completion efficiency while ensuring consistency among various training groups.
Custom branding
iSpring allows you to add your brand to its web and mobile applications to help increase your brand awareness. This can be particularly useful for a small startup with team members abroad. A consistent look and feel across your various applications adds legitimacy to your company and helps associate your brand with a culture valuing cross-company learning initiatives.
Gamified training
Beyond in-lesson assessments or certifications, iSpring Learn includes gamified elements such as badges and learning leaderboards to reward employees and encourage friendly competition. According to TalentLMS’s 2019 Gamification at Work Survey, employees say gamification makes them more productive and happier.
In other words, using a platform with gamified options like iSpring can increase the likelihood that your employees will remain focused and motivated to complete training courses and advance in their roles.
Start tier
- Includes: training management, analytics, content management, iSpring Suite authoring toolkit, and support.
- 100 active users: $2.87 per active user per month, billed annually.
- 300 active users: $2.29 per active user per month, billed annually.
- 500 active users: Contact sales.
- 1,000 active users: Contact sales.
Business tier
- Includes: everything in the Start tier plus 360-degree performance appraisal, corporate portal, and API.
- 100 active users: Contact sales.
- 300 active users: $3.14 per active user per month, billed annually.
- 500 active users: $2.83 per active user per month, billed annually.
- 1,000 active users: $2.55 per active user per month, billed annually.
iSpring Learn offers a cloud-based application, a mobile app, and on-premise deployment options, making it adaptable enough to fit your company’s unique L&D cadence. It also balances user-friendly course creation with analytics and company branding to accommodate you as your employee training becomes more strategic.
Moreover, its availability in 24 languages can help you reach your global workforce, improving training consistency. iSpring’s flexibility makes it great for dynamic companies that expect to change.
TalentLMS: Best for affordability
Pros
Cons
360Learning: Best for collaborative learning
Pros
Cons
Zoho People: Best all-in-one HR and LMS software solution
Pros
Cons
Zoho is well-known for offering a variety of products, from sales to marketing, HR, finance, project management, and security. In fact, Zoho boasts both a stand-alone knowledge base and learning platform, Zoho Learn, and a corporate LMS add-on as part of their Zoho People platform. Zoho People, though, is an excellent option if you want to consolidate both your HR software and LMS in one place.
Zoho People’s LMS includes a sizable list of features, including blended learning, customizable notifications, gamification, and feedback forums. And, because Zoho People’s LMS is an add-on, you get access to its complete set of features as soon as you purchase, expanding the functionality of the human resources information system (HRIS) you use every day.
Despite this, Zoho People’s LMS works best if you are already dedicated to other Zoho products as its LMS features are very similar to other platforms like iSpring and 360Learning. Alternatively, Zoho Learn offers both a knowledge management place for document sharing and retention and course creation.
Nevertheless, Zoho People prevents you from manually tracking employee learning progress or importing data from third-party solutions to your HRIS. Plus, you can access its advanced automations, time-tracking, scheduling, performance management, and engagement features to help simplify workforce management for your small business.
Blended learning
Zoho People’s LMS gives you the flexibility to schedule and conduct self-paced, virtual, and in-person classroom training. This allows you to accommodate employees with various learning styles and cover topics that work better in different learning environments.
For instance, you can mandate self-paced training courses in Zoho People for your small business sales team to learn your brand strategy. Then, you can schedule in-person sessions to facilitate role-playing so they can practice what they learned.
HR software integration
Because of Zoho People’s LMS connection to its HRIS, you can easily manage learning courses as part of the larger employee life cycle. For example, once an employee completes a course in its LMS, new skills are automatically added to their skill set. You can then use this data to help pinpoint skill gaps for more strategic recruitment and development initiatives.
For a small business, this also makes tying mandatory lessons to your new hire onboarding process easy. New employees do not have to worry about shuffling between multiple systems as they get used to their new role, resulting in faster time-to-productivity.
Zoho People’s LMS costs an additional $18 per user annually on top of its Essential HR, Professional, and Premium price tiers. It is included automatically in its Enterprise and People Plus tiers. Prices for each tier are outlined below:
- Essential HR: $1.25 per user per month.
- Professional: $2 per user per month.
- Premium: $3 per user per month.
- Enterprise: $4.50 per user per month.
- People Plus: $9 per user per month.
Note: All prices are based on annual billing rates.
Zoho People is all-in-one HR software with a robust LMS add-on. Moreover, adding the LMS gives you access to a full range of features, such as automations that competitors often relegate to higher price tiers. If you need affordable and scalable HR software with a native LMS element, Zoho People is a great choice to help consolidate your business’s HR tech stack.
How to choose the best LMS for your small business
Learning management systems (LMSs) help companies develop, implement, and manage training programs among their employees. Businesses of all sizes and industries use LMSs not only to ensure consistency in their training processes and procedures but also to foster employee engagement, growth, and development.
However, where enterprises search for LMSs with a higher focus on employee career development and upskilling, smaller companies need LMSs that are user-friendly, automate training processes, and meet necessary compliance requirements for their industry.
If you’re a small company, our roundup meets all of these LMS features, plus added specialties in integration support, course catalogs, collaboration tools, and affordability:
- Go with Coassemble if this is your first LMS and you need extra assistance in creating courses.
- Select iSpring Learn if you need a flexible solution to adapt to your scaling business.
- Choose TalentLMS if you need an affordable solution to start your own L&D initiatives.
- Pick 360Learning if you want an engaging platform and already have internal experts to create courses.
- Select Zoho People if you need affordable and integrated HR and LMS software.
If none of these fit your needs, browse our Learning Management System Software Guide for a complete selection.
About the author
Featured partners: LMS software
1 Wrike
Create a better way to work with Wrike work management software. Automate time-consuming admin tasks so you can focus on work that matters most. Kick-start projects and workflows with pre-built templates, increase collaboration with intuitive communication tools, and boost visibility with a variety of project views. Visualize projects with Gantt charts or Kanban boards and keep stakeholders informed with automated reporting and status updates. Anything is possible with Wrike at your fingertips.
2 Coursera for Business
Grow the skills and confidence your employees need to advance your business—and their careers.
Coursera for Business delivers critical skill development paths for any role, so you can realize the extraordinary talent within your entire workforce. Retain, advance, and accelerate the growth of any employee, chart the value and progress of learning programs, and establish a talent-driven advantage against your competitors—all within one talent platform.
