Top 11 Free Learning Management Systems for HR / Business - 2023

In order to determine the key features that a learning management system must have, one should start by reviewing the primary function that it will be fulfilling at an organization. Course building, distributing, and tracking is the most common use for an LMS, but depending on one’s needs, X or Y LMS could also prioritize remote learning, developing materials from scratch, or integrating with different content types. 

A good LMS should work like a master archive where employees can access the company’s online training resources at any time. Instructor-led training could also be facilitated by an LMS. Overall, the primary hope with an LMS is that it’s user-friendly and effective for both the learner and the team that is distributing and updating the company’s content library.

With that in mind, these are the key features for a corporate LMS: 

1. Reporting & Tracking: Like any sort of relationship, online training is a two way street. It doesn’t end with choosing a learning platform and uploading course content. You have to be able to understand how people are interacting with said content in order to fine tune it as you go. Any LMS should come with some reporting, analytics, and tracking capabilities, such as learner progress, completion rates, time to complete each course, individual learning paths, etc. If they don’t, you can check and see if they’ll support any plugins that would help you get those reports.
   
2. Integrations: The learning experience with any LMS is enhanced when it can communicate with the rest of your software stack. Depending on your needs, you might want to make sure that the new tool integrates with your HRMS or ATS.
   
3. Assessment tools: While it may be up for debate if every course should come with a test or some kind of learning assessment at the end, it’s certainly better to have this tool than to lack it. Most of the training tools we’ve discussed come with one or another way of evaluating learning outcomes. They can be as simple as a multiple choice quiz or as complex as exams with several types of questions and assignments.
   
4. Gamification: Features like points, badges, and leaderboards can be a fun way of increasing employee engagement during the learning process. If your company is already into these kinds of dynamics, it will certainly make your life easier if the LMS of your choice has these built-in tools. It is also worth mentioning that the benefits of gamification in eLearning are widespread. ‍
5. Compliance Training & Certification: If your business requires employees to remain compliant with government regulations or a corporate policy of your own, this can cover that need. The exact shape and form of these features will vary from vendor to vendor, but they may include a log of all training activity to easily download and present in the event of an audit, for instance.

We always recommend booking demos with a few vendors before committing to any LMS, even if it is a free one. Not only do you get a walkthrough of the tools, but you also can ask all questions you have in mind and get specific answers. To help you out, we’ve put together the following questions you can ask LMS vendors during demos:

• What features are included in the free version versus the paid version? Make sure the free version has the core LMS functionality you need.
• Is there a user or course limit on the free version? This will determine if it can scale with your organization's growth.
• What level of technical support is included with the free version? Limited or no support can make a free LMS harder to work with.
• How customizable is the LMS platform? Can you brand it and integrate it with other systems? More customization capabilities are better.
• What type of reporting and analytics are available? Reporting is key for tracking learning.
• Is the platform mobile-friendly and accessible across devices? More accessibility is better for learners.
• How easy is the LMS to use and configure? Simpler interfaces don't require as much training or IT overhead.
• What type of course authoring tools are included? Built-in authoring tools can simplify content creation.
• Is integration with other EdTech tools like video hosting straightforward? Integration expands capabilities.
• Can you migrate courses if you outgrow the free version and upgrade? Migrating your content to a paid version should be easy.
• How is user data and privacy handled? You'll want to make sure they're securely managed.

As most of the best LMS software is cloud-based & from SaaS vendors, implementing these tools can be as quick as setting up an account and your company domain. After that, it all depends on the needs of your organization, but you should consider ample time to add users and other admins, manage permissions, upload the training materials and course content you already have, and set up certifications. 

In other words, course building will likely be more time consuming than implementing the software. All of these are made with both the user and admin experience in mind, so often setting up an admin account will be almost as quick as it is for a future learner to set up theirs.

The obvious exception would be an open source system such as Chamilo or Moodle. The initial set-up process will be far more tech-intensive since it’s self-hosted. It will also be more time consuming for a user, since depending on how it’s set up, they may need to download their own version and then log-in to the company portal.

What does LMS mean?

LMS means learning management system.

What does a learning management system do?

Learning management systems allow your business to train new employees and teams on a variety of skills and topics. An LMS is typically used to efficiently onboard new hires and keep employees engaged, leading to increased productivity and higher retention rates.

How do you use a learning management system?

You use a learning management system to provide numerous functions for employees, including efficient and effective onboarding, skill augmentation, certifications and incentive-based learning. In addition, employers can use an LMS to track employee progress and performance.

What features should a learning management system have?

A learning management system can have the following features: administrative suite for instructors and managers, engaging training modules, tracking and reporting, course creation tools, evaluations, gamification, messaging capabilities, certifications, calendar management, mobile adaptability, and social aspects.

We’re always big fans of software companies choosing to make some version of their product available for free. Nevertheless, you should always keep in mind that your organization’s current needs likely won’t stay the same. Even if you’d prefer a free tool today, you should make your decision considering how you might evolve with it as your business grows.

To put it differently, our last piece of advice would be to pick a free tool if you prefer to save money right now, by all means, but do it with a growth mindset. Many of the tools we outlined here offer quite a clear path to more capabilities and advanced features for competitive prices. This should also go into consideration in your decision making, as picking one tool or another and having to replace it in a year or two could be more time-consuming and expensive than going with a mildly-priced solution from the beginning. So to close off, we’d highly recommend taking a look at the full pricing models of each software outlined here and just how expensive they can become if you choose to upgrade.

In conclusion, when selecting your next & free LMS, make sure to keep the following steps in mind: 

• Have clear objectives. 
• Define your present & future training needs. 
• Make a list of the deal-breaker features as well as nice-to-haves. 
• Make a list of vendor options with all the relevant stakeholders. 
• Demo them as a team
  

Best of luck!