Question 1

Which LMS vendors publish per-user pricing in 2026?

Accepted Answer

Two of the twelve vendors covered on this site publish a per-user or tier rate on their pricing page: 360Learning (Team plan $8/user/month, capped at 100 users) and TalentLMS (Free $0 / Core $119 / Grow $229 / Pro $449 per month, annual billing). iSpring publishes the pricing model (per-active-user) but not the rate. The other nine are quote-only.

Question 2

What does “per-active-user” mean?

Accepted Answer

Per-active-user billing counts only users who meet a defined activity criterion in a billing period (login, content launch, or completion), instead of every registered account. Docebo offers MAU (monthly active), YAU (yearly active), and RAU (registered active) options. iSpring uses monthly active counting. The trap is that the definition of active is vendor-defined; pin it in the order form.

Question 3

Is Moodle a free LMS?

Accepted Answer

Moodle LMS Core is open source and free under the GPL; you can self-host it indefinitely at zero licence cost. Moodle Workplace is a different product, licensed enterprise software sold only through Moodle Premium Certified Partners, with no published rate. Self-hosted Moodle Core has real ops costs (hosting, engineering time, plugin compatibility, upgrades) that are not zero.

Question 4

What are the hidden LMS costs?

Accepted Answer

Beyond the per-user subscription, expect six other cost lines: implementation services, content libraries, integrations, AI features, portal or tenant upcharges, admin and end-user training, and the renewal cap on price escalation. At enterprise scale these can collectively rival the subscription line.

Question 5

How much does Workday Learning cost?

Accepted Answer

Workday does not publish a standalone Workday Learning rate. The dedicated learning pricing URL returns 404; the product is sold as a module of Workday HCM. The same dynamic applies to SAP SuccessFactors Learning (sold inside SAP SuccessFactors HCM) and Adobe Learning Manager (sold inside Adobe Experience Cloud).

Question 6

What is the cheapest LMS in 2026?

Accepted Answer

Cheapest published-rate options: TalentLMS Free ($0, 5 users, 10 courses, no time limit) is the only persistent zero-dollar SaaS LMS. For paid: TalentLMS Core $119/month (up to 40 users) is the lowest published tier price. 360Learning Team at $8/user is cheapest per-user but scales linearly. Moodle LMS Core is $0 licence but has real ops costs.

Question 7

What is the most expensive LMS?

Accepted Answer

Cornerstone OnDemand, Workday Learning, SAP SuccessFactors Learning, and Adobe Learning Manager all reach six- and seven-figure contracts at enterprise scale; none publish a rate. The highest absolute spend usually attaches to multi-module contracts where learning is one line in a broader talent or HCM suite.

Question 8

Should I sign a 3-year LMS contract or a 1-year?

Accepted Answer

Multi-year commits are the standard discount lever; 3-year deals typically attract 5-15 percent off year-one pricing. The trade-off is reduced flexibility if your needs change. If you sign multi-year, the renewal cap on price escalation matters less for the term but more for the next renewal; pin it either way to CPI or a hard percentage (3-5 percent typical).

Question 9

How do I run an LMS RFP?

Accepted Answer

Use a seven-section scaffold: programme scope and learner profile, billing model and active-user definition, functional requirements (must / should / nice-to-have), integrations, AI features priced separately, implementation and ongoing services, commercial terms (term length, renewal cap, true-up cadence, termination). Get three quotes minimum. Force every quote into the same per-user-per-month unit.

LMS Pricing FAQ