Course Hero vs Absorb LMS

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Our analysts compared Course Hero vs Absorb LMS based on data from our 400+ point analysis of LMS Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Course Hero Software Tool

Product Basics

Course Hero is an educational technology platform that offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to assist students and educators in managing academic tasks. The software excels in providing a vast repository of study resources, including course-specific documents, practice problems, and step-by-step explanations. It is particularly well-suited for college students seeking supplemental learning materials and educators looking to enhance their teaching resources. The platform's key benefits include access to a wide array of study guides, textbook solutions, and the ability to connect with tutors for personalized help. Popular features include the extensive library of user-uploaded documents, flashcards, and the ability to ask questions and receive answers from subject experts. Compared to similar products, Course Hero is praised for its user-friendly interface and the breadth of its resource library. Pricing details are variable, often based on subscription models that can be monthly or annually. For precise pricing tailored to individual needs, users are encouraged to contact SelectHub for a detailed quote.
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Absorb is a cloud-based LMS designed to enhance corporate training and education. It caters to organizations of all sizes, offering scalability, a user-friendly interface, and a wide range of features such as gamification, personalized learning paths, content libraries and social learning tools to keep learners engaged.

You can create, manage and deliver diverse training materials, and integrate with various third-party platforms, including HR, video conferencing and CRM tools. Advanced reporting and analytics provide valuable insights into learner progress and training effectiveness, helping you make data-driven decisions that align with business goals.

The Absorb Learning mobile app, free on iOS and Android devices, provides anytime, anywhere access to training. Absorb Intelligence, an AI-powered toolset, uses predictive AI and natural language recognition to connect learners with relevant content, enhance search and microlearning, and streamline administrative tasks.

Users like Absorb LMS for its intuitive design, advanced features, scalability, comprehensive analytics and exceptional customer support, all of which contribute to a positive learning and administrative experience. You can request a quote for pricing information.

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$9.99 Monthly
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$16,200 Annually
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Product Insights

  • Enhanced Learning Support: Course Hero provides access to a vast library of study resources, including textbook solutions and expert Q&A, which can help students understand complex topics more effectively.
  • Time Management: By offering step-by-step solutions and explanations, Course Hero helps students save time on homework and study sessions, allowing them to focus on other academic or personal commitments.
  • Improved Academic Performance: With detailed explanations and practice problems, students can reinforce their understanding of course material, leading to better grades and a deeper grasp of the subject matter.
  • 24/7 Accessibility: Course Hero's online platform is available around the clock, enabling students to study and seek help whenever they need it, regardless of time zone or schedule constraints.
  • Peer Collaboration: The platform encourages collaboration by allowing students to share notes and resources, fostering a community of learners who can support each other’s academic journeys.
  • Expert Assistance: Students can get help from subject matter experts who provide detailed answers to specific questions, ensuring they receive accurate and reliable information.
  • Resource Variety: Course Hero offers a diverse range of study materials, including practice quizzes, flashcards, and lecture notes, catering to different learning styles and preferences.
  • Confidence Building: By providing clear and thorough explanations, Course Hero helps students build confidence in their knowledge and problem-solving abilities, which can reduce anxiety and improve overall academic performance.
  • Cost-Effective Learning: With a subscription, students gain access to a wealth of resources that can supplement their textbooks and classroom instruction, often at a lower cost than hiring a tutor.
  • Preparation for Exams: The platform’s extensive collection of practice questions and study guides can help students prepare more effectively for exams, leading to better outcomes and reduced stress.
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  • Offers Extensive Reporting Tools: When we tested Absorb, we found that it offers a vast suite of reporting tools that provide insights into nearly every aspect of your training program. You can drill down data to view reports on course activity, ILC sessions, assessments, learner progress and competencies, and more. Apply filters, sort data, and download and share reports—all on an easy-to-use, interactive interface.
  • Provides Comprehensive Capabilities: According to our analysis, it supports 100% of our content and course management, mobile and eCommerce capabilities entirely out of the box. It offers content creation and partnership, transaction management, mobile learning and collaboration, discounts and promotions, and more.
  • Creates an Engaging Learner Experience: Our experience with the product revealed that it offers many tools to enhance the learner experience. You can:
    • Customize the dashboard with templates, logos and design elements to reflect your branding.
    • Tailor widgets to meet specific needs and use the Billboard feature to embed videos and links to both external and internal pages.
    • Edit the Tiles to configure and display courses, catalogs, calendars and resources effectively.
  • Provides a User-Friendly Interface: Our testing revealed that the platform is straightforward and accessible. Essential features are conveniently located on the left-hand side, minimizing the need for extensive navigation. You can effortlessly switch between roles — administrator, learner and manager — and enable accessibility tools to enhance data visualization and webpage design.
  • Offers AI-Powered Course Creation: Absorb’s Create AI tool streamlines course development by quickly assembling content from brief descriptions, PDFs or pasted text. The AI efficiently processes and organizes this input, reducing the time and effort needed for course creation. This allows you to deliver high-quality training materials and focus on creative aspects while AI handles the technical details.
  • Personalizes Learning: Absorb Skills provides predefined skills and competencies aligned with employees' job functions across diverse industries and job roles. The platform leverages AI to tailor learning experiences for over 1500 job roles and nearly 200 competencies, supported by a comprehensive library of over 20,000 courses.
  • Award-Winning LMS: Absorb LMS won several awards in the LMS category in the SelectHub Awards 2024. It won best-in-class honors for content and course management, learning delivery, platform capabilities, and integrations and extensibility.
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  • Document Library: Access to over 40 million study resources, including course-specific notes, study guides, and practice problems.
  • Tutoring Services: On-demand help from subject matter experts available 24/7 for personalized assistance.
  • Textbook Solutions: Step-by-step solutions for thousands of textbooks, aiding in understanding complex problems.
  • Course-Specific Content: Resources tailored to specific courses and universities, ensuring relevance and applicability.
  • Study Groups: Virtual study groups that allow students to collaborate and share resources in real-time.
  • Flashcards: Customizable flashcards for efficient memorization and review of key concepts.
  • Practice Problems: Interactive practice problems with detailed explanations to reinforce learning.
  • Scholarship Opportunities: Access to various scholarships to support students financially.
  • Document Uploads: Ability for users to upload their own study materials, contributing to the community and earning unlocks.
  • Mobile App: A user-friendly mobile application for studying on-the-go, available on both iOS and Android.
  • Verified Educators: Contributions from verified educators, ensuring high-quality and reliable content.
  • Search Functionality: Advanced search tools to quickly find relevant documents and resources.
  • Course Recommendations: Personalized course recommendations based on user activity and preferences.
  • Community Q&A: A platform for students to ask and answer questions, fostering a collaborative learning environment.
  • Resource Ratings: User ratings and reviews for documents, helping to identify the most useful resources.
  • Privacy Controls: Robust privacy settings to protect user information and control document visibility.
  • Subscription Plans: Various subscription options to suit different needs, including monthly and annual plans.
  • Academic Integrity: Tools and guidelines to promote academic honesty and prevent plagiarism.
  • Customer Support: Responsive customer support to assist with any issues or questions users may have.
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  • Content Libraries: Access expert-curated, always-current courses via Amplify content portfolio. It offers three content libraries:
  • Amplify
    • Over 500 foundational courses ideal for small to mid-sized companies.
    • Features essential and mandatory business training.
    • Engaging micro-learning format for quick, impactful learning.
  • Amplify Plus
    • More than 2,000 courses covering basic to intermediate topics.
    • Includes compliance, safety, skills, and continuing education.
    • Versatile formats with bite-sized lessons, full-length courses, and instructor-led training.
    • Available in English and Spanish, with voiceovers in French and Spanish.
    • Accessibility features include closed captioning in multiple languages.
  • Amplify Max
    • Extensive library with over 20,000 courses from over 100 reputable publishers.
    • Covers essential to advanced levels, including safety, business skills, technology, wellness and industry-specific accreditations.
    • Supports diverse learning styles and is available in 90+ languages with localized content in over 40 languages.
  • Search Analytics: Track learner searches with the Search Analytics Report. This feature displays data on searches conducted by both authenticated and unauthenticated learners. Monitor which items learners select from search results, including details such as the item’s ID, name, type and rank. With the correct permissions, access information on the selected items to gain insights into learner behavior and preferences.
  • Salesforce Connector: Enable customers, partners and employees to access and engage with learning materials without leaving Salesforce.
    • Track training engagement and evaluate its impact on sales revenue and service metrics.
    • Display relevant courses on the home screen to upsell or educate prospects about new products.
    • Provide access to essential training across Salesforce Support, Sales and Community environments.
  • Course Catalog: Edit course access based on departments to ensure the right learners have the appropriate permissions. Refine course lists by name, type, vendor, tags, location, type and other criteria. Organize and view courses in various formats, including detailed, list and calendar views.
  • Third-Party Integrations: Connect with third-party apps to streamline learning management across your organization.
    • Integrate with communication tools like Zoom and HR platforms like ADP.
    • Develop custom integrations to facilitate data transfer between the LMS and other applications.
    • Integrate off-the-shelf eLearning content from the Absorb Amplify Portfolio.
    • Integrate LMS logins with existing SSO solutions to improve security and user experience.
    • Use RESTful APIs to manage and expand integrations. Build scalable workflows and connect with various systems, devices and learners both inside and outside your organization.
    • Create real-time integrations that respond instantly to key events. Use webhooks to automate notifications for events like course completions and user registrations.
  • Absorb Engage: Keep learners engaged and motivated with interactive tools. These include:
    • Polls: Gather learner feedback with customizable, open-ended polls. Design questions for fact-based, opinion-based or choice-based responses. Monitor results over time to adapt training content.
    • Collaborations: Create discussion spaces for learners to share ideas on specific topics or courses. Features include document sharing, post interactions and member messaging.
    • Leaderboards: Encourage competition by awarding points for course completions, curricula, instructor-led courses, and competencies. Learners earn points for achievements and interactions, with points being date-stamped and non-retroactive.
    • Billboards: At the top of the Learner Dashboard, display announcements, new initiatives or course promotions with eye-catching video or photo banners.
  • Dashboards: Design multiple dashboards for different departments and customize them with a variety of widgets, including competencies, reports, logins, activity and course enrollment.
    • Admin Controls: Only System Admins can create, edit or delete dashboards.
    • Permissions: Set access and editing permissions for users.
    • Report Handling: Download completed reports or have them emailed to you.
    • Dashboard Templates: Adjust the colors and images of the Learner Dashboard and the Login Page, and add a Public Dashboard.
  • Absorb Analyze: Generate custom reports to gain insights into various aspects of your LMS data, including:
    • Course Enrollment: Track details such as enrollment ID, key, type, status, dates (started, completed, expired), progress, score and more.
    • Course: Analyze course-specific data, including ID, type, name, status, language, tags, enrollment types, certificate details and other settings.
    • User: Examine user information, including ID, names, email, status, roles, job details and location, and sync data from external systems.
    • Department: Review department data such as ID, name, description, and contact information.
    • Reports: Access essential reports on learner activity, competencies, progress, course activity, curricula, evaluations, approvals, certificates, and credits.
  • Course Creation: Choose a theme for your course or build around content like screen recordings, videos, PowerPoint presentations or AI-generated materials.
    • Add and manage different content types, including course materials, instructor-led sessions, course bundles, curricula and categories.
    • Organize courses by ratings, access date, comments, self-enrollment, audience, author, automatic enrollment, average rating, category, certificate details, and more.
    • View detailed reports on learner course starts, ends, scores, departments, and certificates.
  • Course Settings
    • General: Adjust status, title, description, and default language.
    • Syllabus: Customize content, completion order, terms, mobile compatibility and proctoring.
    • Enrollment Rules: Set department restrictions, enrollment rules, self-enrollment options, automatic enrollment, approvals and eCommerce settings.
    • Completion: Define certificates, competencies, credits, leaderboard points, failure and re-enrollment policies.
    • Availability: Schedule access, due dates, expiration, prerequisites and offline access.
    • Catalog Visibility: Customize mobile app visibility, category, images and posters, and make courses mandatory or featured.
    • Course Administrators: Designate individual or department admins.
    • Messages: Manage and customize course notifications.
    • Resources: Add files and notes for learners.
    • Course Uploads: Provide instructions for uploading course materials and certificates.
    • Attributes: Enable ratings and evaluations, and add audience, vendor, goals, external IDs, time estimates and costs.
    • Social: Enable comments and collaborations.
    • Competencies: Reward users with custom designations, like 'CPR Certification,' for completing courses. Set up and assign competencies with unique names and images, which can serve as icons or badges.
    • Competency Levels: Award competencies on a scale from 1 to 10, allowing for incremental achievements and more control over user progression.
    • Access Management: Configure competencies to grant or restrict access to additional catalog content based on user achievements.
    • Reports: Use the Learner Competencies Report to view user achievements, modify data fields, create new competencies, message users, view transcripts or delete competencies.
    • Integration: Edit or add competencies to online courses, instructor-led courses or curricula.
  • ILC (Instructor-Led Courses): Facilitate live or asynchronous training sessions, either physical or virtual. Enrolled learners choose which session to attend. While a venue is optional, it helps specify the training location.
    • Recurring Classes: Schedule classes to repeat regularly with consistent time, instructor(s) and location, similar to Outlook calendar invitations.
    • Waitlist: Manage session capacity by adding learners to a waitlist when sessions are complete. Automatically enroll learners from the waitlist when seats become available or manually override capacity limits.
    • ILC Sessions Report: Access detailed reports on session details, learner enrollments, attendance, waitlists and instructor messaging.
  • Course Enrollments: Access and manage enrollments for curricula, ILCs, online courses and course bundles. Add, modify or delete course enrollments as needed. Re-enroll users in training, un-enroll them from courses, and update user details as required. Access detailed user transcripts, message users directly and review enrollments to track past training activities.
  • Enrollment Keys: Provide enrollment keys to users to automatically assign them to departments and courses, and manage validity and usage limits. Create and customize keys, name them, define access, and configure user details and notifications.
  • Observational Checklists: Use Observation Checklists to evaluate users based on specific criteria, and ensure they have the necessary skills and perform tasks effectively. Ideal for tracking mentoring and on-the-job training, these checklists help reviewers assess and document user performance.
  • Knowledge Checks: Add knowledge checks between courses to assess learners' understanding. Use question types like multiple-choice, true-or-false, matching, sequencing, pick one, pick many, drag-and-drop, fill-in-the-blanks and free text.
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Product Ranking

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#12

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Analyst Rating Summary

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AI-based Capabilities Assessments Collaboration Compliance Content And Course Management ECommerce Learning Delivery Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Reporting And Dashboard User Management And Gamification 43 71 75 67 100 100 80 100 93 97 91 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Fair User Sentiment 14 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 1162 reviews
66%
of users recommend this product

Course Hero has a 'fair' User Satisfaction Rating of 66% when considering 14 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

93%
of users recommend this product

Absorb LMS has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 93% when considering 1162 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

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Awards

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SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Absorb LMS and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Content and Course Management and Mobile Capabilities. Absorb LMS stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award
Content and Course Management Award
Mobile Capabilities Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Extensive Library: Course Hero offers a vast collection of study materials, including notes, study guides, and practice problems, aiding students in their studies and homework.
Resource Variety: The platform provides access to a diverse range of academic resources, covering various subjects and courses, which can be beneficial for students seeking supplementary learning materials.
Time-Saving: Course Hero allows users to quickly find and access specific resources, saving time and effort in searching for study materials.
Peer Connection: Course Hero provides a platform for students to connect and collaborate with peers, fostering a sense of community and shared learning.
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Professional Development: Over 90% of users who mentioned the professional training abilities of this system felt it helped with career planning.
Comprehensive Feature Set: Nearly 75% of reviewers appreciate its wide range of features, including customizable course settings, multi-tenancy support, observational checklists, e-signatures and third-party integrations.
Customization: More than 80% of reviewers who discussed the customization features were happy with the options for personalization and branding.
Ease of Use: In just under 80% of reviews that discussed the UI, users highlighted the platform's intuitive interface, stating that it's easy to use for both administrators and learners. The dashboard is noted for its clean design, making navigation straightforward and enhancing the overall user experience.
Excellent Customer Service: Over 70% of reviewers that mentioned support felt the staff was friendly and helpful, and provided workarounds for a multitude of issues. Many reviews mentioned that the project managers and account managers are proactive in assisting clients throughout their onboarding and ongoing use of the platform.
In-Depth Reporting: 60% of users who reviewed its data and analytical capabilities said it offers extensive reporting capabilities with the ability to export reports easily and set up automated reporting schedules.
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Content Quality Concerns: Course Hero's reliance on user-uploaded content creates inconsistency in quality, with some materials potentially inaccurate or incomplete, impacting reliability for business users.
Subpar Customer Service: Reviews highlight slow response times and unhelpful interactions with Course Hero's customer support, a significant drawback for businesses requiring timely assistance.
Subscription Costs: While Course Hero offers various subscription plans, the fees can be prohibitive for businesses, especially when considering potential limitations in content quality and customer support.
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Insufficient eCommerce: In over 90% of reviews that discussed the system's eCommerce abilities, users felt it wasn’t flexible enough to sell content properly.
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Is Course Hero a true champion, a Herculean force in the realm of learning management systems? User reviews from the past year present a somewhat mixed bag. While Course Hero is generally lauded for its expansive library of study materials, some users feel it doesn't quite hit the mark as an LMS. A recurring theme in positive feedback is the platform's impressive repository of study aids. Users consistently praise the platform for its wide array of course-specific notes, study guides, and practice problems, finding them particularly beneficial for exam preparation and tackling homework assignments. However, a consistent gripe among users is the high cost of a subscription, with some finding it difficult to justify the expense, especially given the variable quality of user-uploaded content. This inconsistency in quality raises concerns about reliability, as users can't always be sure of the accuracy and helpfulness of the materials they encounter. While some users rave about the platform's user-friendliness and intuitive design, others express frustration with the interface, finding it less intuitive than competing platforms. Ultimately, Course Hero, as an LMS, seems best suited for students who need supplementary study resources and are willing to pay a premium for a vast library of materials. However, those seeking a primary learning platform or relying on a tight budget might find more suitable options elsewhere.

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Absorb is a pretty impressive platform, especially if you're looking for something that's both easy to use and packed with features. It offers an intuitive interface and a clean dashboard with well-organized capabilities, a big plus for both learners and administrators.AI tools help you create courses in minutes and tailor training elements to each user's specific needs. One time-saving tool we really liked is Intelligent Assist. You just have to ask a question like, “How many learners have not been graded?” and you'll instantly get the report or action screen you need.Absorb Pinpoint, their video timestamping expert, uses AI and NLP to transcribe and timestamp video lessons. This allows you to find exactly what you want to learn in a long video without watching the whole thing, another great time-saver.Two more things that really stood out are Absorb’s course creation and reporting modules.With Absorb Create, you can build informational, crisp, good-looking courses using the most user-friendly tools. AI voiceovers, screen readers, themes and fonts, assessments and collaboration, and so many other elements help make course creation an enjoyable, creative and fun experience.We are also fans of Absorb’s insightful universe powered by it’s BI tool, Absorb Analyze. Learners, courses, sessions, certificates, and ILCs — you have a report for all aspects of your training program. You can add multiple filters to drill down to the micro level and schedule them for the future.Absorb’s gamification, user and role management, assessments and collaboration features are equally great and extremely easy to use. And if you need more help, they have Absorb Academy to fill you in on the know-how.The only downside is that it could have some more eCommerce features and built-in virtual classroom tools. Its question bank functionality is limited to only multiple-choice and text-based questions, so it’d be nice to see some variety there. Also, while the interface is undoubtedly a cakewalk to navigate, it could use a bit of color and style, some visual flair to engage learners quickly.Overall, Absorb LMS is a solid choice for anyone looking to boost their training and development efforts. We love that it offers a free trial, a suite of useful features for both small and big businesses alike, and excellent customer support. It has great built-in tools and integration capabilities, and rightly stands out among our top five LMS solutions.

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