Schoology vs TalentLMS

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

Schoology Software Tool

Product Basics

Schoology is an online learning platform that focuses on K-12 students. Overall, it serves over 1,600 customers, 60,000 schools and boasts more than 20 million users. It aids in course creation, content curation, lesson design, personalized instruction, testing, assessment and more. Learners can use it on PCs, mobile, tablet, iOS, Android or Kindle.

There’s an enterprise edition with greater functionality for organizations with more robust needs. The functionality includes increased assessment abilities, communications, administrative control and integrations to allow for more customization and advanced analytics for a larger or more complicated organization.
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TalentLMS is an online training tool that facilitates learning through features like course management, progress tracking, reporting and gamification, branching and automation, and third-party integrations. The solution supports enterprise-level learning initiatives with personalized themes and unique sets of courses and audiences.

It supports multiple languages, runs on Amazon's CDN for reliable performance, and provides a user-friendly interface for learners, admins, and instructors alike. It also includes mass action tools, automation options, and a RESTful API for data access. Plus, it offers custom fields and a marketplace for easily accessing additional classes.

User reviews praise TalentLMSs intuitive interface, responsive customer support and course creation capabilities. I tested the product and found that it’s really easy to use, even if you're not tech-savvy. You can create courses, track your team's progress and even add some fun games to keep them engaged.

It offers four pricing options: Core, Grow, Pro and Enterprise, each with a varied set of features. The free plan accommodates up to five users, and paid plans start at $89 per month. You can choose between monthly and annual billing options, and there are no long-term contracts, giving you the flexibility to adapt to your changing needs.

Our Research Process for TalentLMS

I tested TalentLMS through its free plan, diving into everything from course authoring to reporting and gamification. Getting started was easy — just create an account, add up to five users, and you’re off to explore key features like course creation, reporting and integrations.

The interface was super intuitive, with two options: a legacy and a modern version. Both were easy to navigate, with a clean design that helped me quickly access course materials, progress tracking and reports.

I was able to build courses from scratch, upload documents and even use AI to generate content in minutes. The platform supports various content types like tests, surveys, videos, SCORM files and more. I also tested the reporting features, which offered great flexibility, including customizable infographics and training status reports.

For a little fun, I explored the gamification features, where learners can earn points and badges and track their progress on leaderboards. To wrap it all up, I checked out the mobile app, which let me track progress, view achievements and send messages, though it lacked the ability to create courses or generate reports on the go.

Keep reading to get the full scoop on how each feature performs and where the platform shines (and where there’s room for improvement).

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$10/Student, Monthly, Freemium
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$89 Monthly, Freemium
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Product Insights

  • Increased Organization: Organize and centralize a content library with assessments, text, video, multimedia and more that students, teachers and administrators can access. Make it easier to find essential assets like logos, policy information and more.
  • Better Connected Campus: Open valuable opportunities for learners and faculty to continue discussions after class, ask questions regularly and join collaborative groups. Allow educators to speak with learners, create discussions and speak with other teachers and parents. Provides a window for parents into their child’s progress and what they’ve been doing or not doing. Keep everyone on the same page with consistent messaging through a clear line of communication across the district. Last, moderated discussions encourage creative collaboration.
  • More Engaged Students: Cultivate more engaged and invested learners through the use of multimedia, group discussions and many opportunities for collaboration. Access images, video and other elements to enrich the content as well as increase retention.
  • Greater Efficiency: Free up instruction time through automation for grading, commenting, testing and sharing data. Eliminate the tedium of manually inputting information.
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  • Provides User-Friendly Interfaces: TalentLMS provides a Modern and Legacy interface. In my testing, I found both interfaces to be very well organized, offering a smooth browsing experience for administrators, instructors, and learners. Users can access all key features on a single screen, ensuring easy navigation and efficiency.
  • Offers Needs-Specific Features: According to our analysis, TalentLMS supports features that allow you to sell courses online, create and manage courses, help users communicate in real time and generate insightful reports, fully out of the box. It offers a vast suite of features, including content sharing, course bundles and marketing, reporting dashboards, content creation and two-way messaging.
  • Helps Create Innovative Content: You can address skill gaps with personalized, AI-generated courses made using TalentCraft (only accessible on the new interface). Create a variety of content using AI, including texts, images, lists, step-by-step guides, flashcards, content pages, labeled graphics, charts and MCQs.
  • Saves Money: The solution’s free version supports up to five users and ten courses. Even when using a paid subscription, the various automated and AI functions free up time. You can add new users and features as needed, without having to switch the system altogether.
  • Easy To Use: When I tested the product, I found that the features were neatly arranged and simple to find. The intuitive interface makes navigation a breeze, making it an ideal choice for organizations with a novice user base.
  • Customizable: Our experience with TalentLMS revealed that it's a very customizable platform with an option to personalize every aspect of your training. From language, themes, date and time formats, and the homepage to eCommerce controls, certificates and gamification elements, you can turn the platform into your own ideal training hub, all from a single location.
  • Increases Revenue: Want to boost your income? Join the affiliate plan. Find a unique URL to send traffic to the website and track all visitors/sign-ups/conversions. For every sale originating from a referred user, get a recurring commission added to your account.
  • Offers Valuable Insights: According to our data, TalentLMS supports 100% of reporting features fully out of the box. Its infographic reporting feature provides clear snapshots of training activities. With detailed activity logs, you can capture every action for comprehensive day-to-day records. Microstats and printable infographics keep learners motivated by showcasing their progress, pass rates and earned certificates and badges.
    • Another standout feature from our testing is the Training Matrix, which offers a single-page view of the training status for all learners across multiple courses, using color-coded blocks for easy visualization.
  • Award-Winning LMS: TalentLMS received many accolades in the SelectHub Awards 2024 across various LMS features. It earned honors for collaboration, content and course management, mobile capabilities, platform capabilities, and integrations and extensibility.
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  • Intuitive UI: Navigate a clean and easy-to-use interface for quick onboarding and easy adoption across organizations. Lets students move through lessons more naturally with instructional tools designed for K-12 usage.
  • Web Conferencing: Offers a virtual conferencing system with video capabilities for long-distance learning, parent-teacher conferences, questions, additional tutoring and other cases where one-on-one instruction is needed.
  • Collaboration: Create communication channels, make and join groups, curate group content libraries, share resources within a course and more. Access a public content library of assignments, tests and lessons from other educators. The content is great for educators looking for additional materials. Connect with a professional learning community where faculty can get help from other educators, coaches and education thought leaders.
  • Data and Analytics: Analyze multiple metrics to test the effectiveness of courses, lessons and quizzes. Gauge student engagement and performance data to conduct high-level research. Examine data at the class, institution or district level and turn metrics into an action plan to address problem areas. Standardize the metrics and tests to ensure a more fair comparison. Gather reliable information to inform policy. Build assessments or download tests that were built by multiple individuals or sourced from the larger community. Check curriculum against different standards such as Common Core, NGSS and others while identifying gaps in learning and skills.
  • Instructor Feedback: Give learners immediate feedback after tests and quizzes. Understand where learners are competent as well as areas that need more attention. Leave comments for teachers as well to better coordinate learning.
  • Course Management: Manage and develop courses and necessary materials like assignments, quizzes, tests, assessments and more. Assign due dates for assignments and activities. Create text lessons and then embed materials from Google Drive, Microsoft Office, YouTube and other places for better learner engagement.
  • Personalized Instruction Track students individually or in groups with different learning methods. See what works and what doesn’t for each student, and design a path that plays to their strengths.
  • Single Sign-On: Cut down on password management and long log-in times with an SSO. Help organizations that have multiple apps integrated into the solution. Makes adoption easier since administrators and learners can navigate it more easily.
  • Mobile App: Allow learners, educators and administrators to work on the go. Grade, message, learn and communicate through the app. For grading, the UI makes it easier to swipe between assignments, manage edits and filter by lateness. Inspect performance next to rubrics and use comments and annotations for written and video feedback.
  • Integrations: Access over 200 apps already integrated into the program. This includes external sites, games, authoring tools and student information systems. Enable easier movement between programs, cutting down on loading times. Link programs such as Aeries, BrainPOP, Edpuzzle, Google Drive, Khan Academy, OneDrive, Scrible, Skyward, Vimeo and more to the tech stack.
  • Interoperability: Use published content from other vendors like McGraw Hill, CK12 and others. Find content that’s compliant with LTI, QTI, Common Cartridge and SCORM should integrate easily. Automate passing data between an SIS and other systems for data consistency. Plug in a variety of custom options with the program’s open API.
  • Assessment Management: Store and use high-level assessments within the workflow from one centralized location. Create a more in-depth analysis of the creation of personalized teaching. It provides an assessment management platform to control testing distribution and analysis across districts. Access a broader learning community allows teachers to collaborate and improve the ways they measure progress.
  • Enterprise Administration: Give administrators a higher level of control. Manage roles, permission, privacy grading and more. See system analytics, extract data, develop and share centralized resources and create custom SSOs, URLs, logos and colors.
  • Enterprise Integrations: Let users make courses, accounts and enrollments from SIS data and give them all functionality from the core program. Integrate with grade books and over 100 third-party educational apps. Import content that follows IMS Global LTI and Common Cartridge standards
  • Enterprise Class Management: Access additional resources to help and develop courses. This can record audio and video into assignments, comments and testing. It can also create an online portfolio to show off student work, view materials on mobile and use technology-enhanced testing. Last, it provides mastery reports to measure learner progress against national, state or institution goals.
  • Enterprise Communications: Connect all faculty in departmental, PD or other groups to encourage collaboration and sharing across more than 130 countries. Give advisors access to their students’ attendance, enrollments, schedule and grades. Parents can see overdue notifications and get email summaries of their children’s activity. The solution can also send messages to the entire system in an instant.
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  • Dashboard: Get an overview of active users, assigned courses, training time, course completion rates and more. Use the Timeline widget to track account activity, monitor each course’s progress status, and add or delete widgets to customize your dashboard.
  • User Management: Create and store users' personal information, such as name, location, bio, sign-in credential, learner type and email.
  • Course Creation: Add the course code, specify the category and pricing, insert intro videos, assign start and end times, set completion rules and include certificates for each course. Fill the courses with text, videos, PPTs, images, assignments, surveys and more.
  • Course Management: Reuse presentations and videos or find external media to build classes. Offer certifications for compliance courses and create learning paths tailored to each user’s requirements.
  • Course Store: Subscribe to TalentLibrary to access over 900 English and Spanish courses in various fields, such as HR, leadership, safety and compliance, personal development and business skills.
  • Gamification: Offer discounts as rewards when learners achieve a set number of points, badges or levels. Reset users' gamification statistics as needed, either for the whole portal or for a specific group or branch. You can:
    • Award users with points for different learning activities.
    • Give badges to highlight milestones in their learning journey.
    • Represent stages in their learning journey with levels.
    • Show users their learning progress in points compared to others with leaderboards.
  • Integration: Integrate directly with third-party apps like WordPress, BambooHR, GoToMeeting, Salesforce and Shopify. Add Zapier to access over 750 additional options like Slack and Zendesk, and use the API and JavaScript integrations for additional extensibility.
  • Security: Protect sensitive data with features like AWS storage, 2FA, DDoS, BCDR, incident response plans and STAR compliance.
    • Restrict registration to specific email domains and prevent multiple logins from different browsers.
    • Disable video transcoding if videos are web-compatible and add a system logo watermark on uploaded videos.
    • Meet the guidelines for various security and accessibility standards, such as ISO 27001, ISO 9001GDRP, PCI Compliance and WCAG-2.
  • Files Repository: Organize, reuse and share files with selected users. Upload and store various types of files in your account, and easily manage and distribute them.
  • Collaboration: Allow instructors and learners to engage in discussions, interact through video conferencing, send group and private messages and stay connected at each touchpoint of the training process.
  • Branches: Create independent sub-portals (branches) for various departments, user types and customers. Customize each portal with its own URL, theme, language, users and courses.
  • Automation: Automate day-to-day tasks to avoid manual admin work and reduce errors. Assign courses to many users simultaneously, send reminders, deactivate users and more.
  • Reporting: Generate data reports to track key metrics like course completion rates, courses not started or passed, courses in progress, and training time for each learner, branch, group and course. Track users and their roles, progress status, scores, and completion dates and times for each course. Create and automatically export custom reports.
  • Learning Activities: Add learning activities like assignments, tests, surveys and ILT training to courses.
  • Blending Learning: Use blended and instructor-led training (ILT) to organize classroom events, manage all aspects of ILT sessions, set up automatic notifications and deliver virtual lessons in real time.
  • Assessments: Build a variety of tests with different question types, such as multiple-choice, drag-and-drop matching, ordering, fill-in-the-blank and open-ended questions. Use them to evaluate learner progress and knowledge retention.
  • Surveys Engine: Build surveys to gain insights into your learners and training. Send surveys, collect responses and analyze results to gather valuable feedback and data.
  • Learning Paths: Set up learning paths by selecting the desired course. They can link courses to create the path and add prerequisites, so learners must complete these courses in any order before proceeding. They can also create alternative paths using the Add an alternative rule option and enable Levels in the Gamification tab to require learners to reach a certain level before accessing a course.
  • TalentLibrary: With a subscription, you can access high-quality content in the form of interactive quizzes, expert-created materials and new classes stored in the online library.
  • Embedded Video Conferencing: Use a built-in tool for conducting meetings via video call and integrate it with popular apps like Zoom, Google Meet and Skype.
  • Mobile App: Allow learners to complete their training on the go using the iOS and Android-compatible mobile app.
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Product Ranking

#17

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LMS Software

#3

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LMS Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Reporting and Dashboard
Platform Capabilities
Mobile Capabilities
Learning Delivery
Content and Course Management
Collaboration
Content and Course Management
Reporting and Dashboard
eCommerce
Platform Capabilities

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Schoology
TalentLMS
+ Add Product + Add Product
AI-based Capabilities Assessments Collaboration Compliance Content And Course Management ECommerce Learning Delivery Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Reporting And Dashboard User Management And Gamification 0 82 83 83 85 0 87 91 92 100 55 0 71 100 67 100 100 76 87 96 100 91 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

71%
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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 972 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 1419 reviews
86%
of users recommend this product

Schoology has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 86% when considering 972 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

91%
of users recommend this product

TalentLMS has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 91% when considering 1419 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

4.9 (11)
5.0 (25)
4.4 (380)
4.6 (737)
4.4 (436)
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4.7 (542)
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4.4 (24)
3.7 (145)
3.3 (91)

Awards

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

User Favorite Award
Content and Course Management Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Intuitive Interface: Schoology's interface is generally considered user-friendly and easy to navigate, even for those with limited technical expertise. This ease of use can lead to a smoother transition for institutions adopting the platform.
Mobile App: The availability of a mobile app enhances accessibility for both educators and learners, allowing them to engage with course materials and activities on the go.
Assessment and Feedback Tools: Schoology provides tools for creating and administering assessments, including quizzes and assignments. It also facilitates the provision of timely and effective feedback to students, which is crucial for their learning progress.
Communication and Collaboration: Features such as discussion forums, messaging, and group projects foster communication and collaboration among students and between students and instructors. This can contribute to a more engaging and interactive learning environment.
Customization Options: Schoology offers a degree of customization, allowing instructors to tailor the platform to their specific teaching styles and course requirements. This flexibility can enhance the overall learning experience.
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Ease of Use: 85% of users praise TalentLMS's intuitive and user-friendly interface, which makes it easy for both administrators and learners to create courses and navigate the platform.
Affordability: Over 70% of users regard TalentLMS as an affordable LMS, especially for small to medium-sized businesses.
Excellent Customer Support: 70% of users highlight the responsive, knowledgeable and helpful customer support team that’s quick to address any issues and questions.
Feature-Rich: According to 65% of users, the solution offers a diverse feature set that caters to varied industry-specific requirements.
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Limited Customization: Teachers may find it challenging to personalize their courses due to the platform's rigid structure and limited theme options.
Gradebook Challenges: The gradebook functionality can be cumbersome, especially when dealing with complex grading schemes or needing to make bulk edits.
Mobile App Issues: The mobile app's interface and functionality may not be as user-friendly or comprehensive as the web version, potentially hindering on-the-go access for students and teachers.
Integrations and External Tools: Schoology's compatibility and integration with external tools and platforms can vary, potentially limiting options for incorporating diverse educational resources.
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Mobile App Limitations: 45% of users who reviewed the mobile app said it has limited functionality compared to the web-based platform, with some users unable to perform specific tasks on the go.
Onboarding and Implementation Challenges: A few users (30%) expressed that the initial setup and onboarding process can be challenging, especially for users who’ve never used an LMS before.
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Schoology is like the Swiss Army knife of classroom tools, helping teachers juggle everything from lesson planning to grading. But is it all sunshine and rainbows? Not quite. While some users sing its praises for being user-friendly and feature-packed, others find it a bit rigid and pricey. So, let's break it down. Schoology's strengths lie in its comprehensive suite of features. Think attendance tracking, online gradebooks, and even a social media-esque interface for collaboration. It's like having a virtual classroom at your fingertips. Plus, it plays nicely with other tools like Google Drive, making file sharing a breeze. However, this robust functionality comes at a cost – both literally and figuratively. Some users find the pricing structure a bit steep, especially for smaller institutions or individual educators. Additionally, the platform's customization options can feel limited, making it less adaptable to unique workflows or teaching styles. So, who's Schoology's ideal student? It's a great fit for schools or districts seeking a one-stop shop for their learning management needs. Its ease of use and extensive features make it perfect for those who want a comprehensive solution without a steep learning curve. However, if you're looking for a more flexible and budget-friendly option, you might want to explore alternatives like Moodle or Canvas. Remember, the best LMS is the one that fits your specific needs and preferences, so do your homework before committing!

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TalentLMS stands out as a user-friendly and adaptable LMS that caters largely to small and midsize businesses. Its intuitive interface, advanced feature set and focus on customization make it a useful tool for employee, customer and partner training.According to our data, TalentLMS supports several key LMS modules fully out of the box. These include: Collaboration: 100 Content and Course Management: 100 Ecommerce: 100 Reporting and Dashboard: 100Its extensive feature set allows you to create and manage content, sell courses online and facilitate real-time communication. The AI-powered course creation tool, TalentCraft, enables you to generate personalized courses that address specific skill gaps quickly.You can use custom certificates to showcase your company’s branding and course completions. Users can quickly log in to the system using SSO, and learn anytime, anywhere on the mobile app.Integrations with tools like Zapier add automation options, and the support team and community resources provide valuable resources and guidance to help you set up. You can also add new users and features as needed to the platform without having to switch systems.I recently tested TalentLMS through its free plan and explored key features like course authoring, reporting, gamification and integrations. The platform’s dual interface options — legacy and modern — made navigation smooth and intuitive, and I appreciated how easily I could access course materials, progress tracking and reports.TalentLMS also impressed with its AI-driven course creation tools and the ability to quickly add a variety of content types, including assessments, SCORM files and multimedia. The platform’s customizable dashboard and notification features made managing courses and users effortless.I dive deeper into my experience in the “See It in Action” section, where I provide more insights on the course authoring process, reporting tools and gamification elements.One area where TalentLMS could improve is its video capabilities. The platform lacks full support for virtual classrooms, attendance tracking, session recording and interactive whiteboards. Additionally, the mobile app could benefit from push notifications to keep learners updated on their training progress.TalentLMS is great for small to medium businesses, with a vast feature set and affordable starting price. It’s ideal for straightforward setups, though costs can increase with more users or added courses, which might be a challenge for larger organizations.

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