Top LMS Plugins On WordPress
LearnDash
Widely considered as one of the most popular LMS extensions on WordPress, Justin Ferriman’s LearnDash is a force to reckon with. The plugin immediately transforms your WordPress back-end into a full fledged LMS upon activation, complete with the ability to create Course, Lessons, Topics, Quizzes and Reporting. But that’s just the standard fare. What sets LearnDash apart is its attention to detail and overall flexibility for creating e-learning content. Admin settings, course creation and quizzing options are in plenty, which means you can alter your content as per your target audience.
Priced at $129 for a single site, $159 for up to 10 sites and $299 for an unlimited number of sites, LearnDash also has a fairly large number of integrations with ecommerce systems like WooCommerce and EDD, most major Membership plugins and payment gateways. It also has several add ons of it’s own that add rich features and functionality to the LMS, and is one of the select few LMSs on WordPress that are TinCan compliant and integrate with LRS services.
Add to this a strong support and detailed documentation, which makes LearnDash a strong contender for possibly the most feature rich LMS solution out on WordSpace.
Tutor LMS
Defined as a “Smart, Simple, and Scalable WordPress Plugin”, Tutor LMS is a comprehensive learning management system. It has powerful tools to help you create extensive courses and quizzes. Built by Themeum, Tutor LMS is relatively new to the WordPress LMS space, but is as good as any of its closest competitors.
Tutor LMS’ unique selling proposition is that it offers a bunch of services right in the base platform. You don’t need to struggle with finding and integrating extensions. Everything right from crafting courses on the front-end, easy course and instructor management, reporting, analytics, to payouts are buit into the platform. But it’s Tutor LMS’ exclusive commissions module that truly stands out. With options to control commissions and earnings at a granular level, the platform offers features like no other LMS out there.
Priced at $149 for a single site license, Tutor LMS offers a killer deal. The number of features offered make it a plugin worth the look.
WP Courseware
Developed by the folks over a FlyPlugins, WP Courseware is probably the fastest way to set up an online course on WordPress. One of the very first LMS plugins to enter the WordPress space, WP Courseware is extremely easy-to-configure and let’s you publish e-learning content in a matter of minutes. It features a graphical drag-and-drop Course builder that lets you sort and organize all your content simply by, you guessed it, dragging and dropping it into appropriate positions.
Quizzing is another area where WP Courseware shines bright. Quizzes in WP Courseware are highly versatile, and allow users to add quiz questions to a Question Banks, where they categorize questions and save them for future use. WP Courseware has integrations with most major ecommerce and membership plugins, and let’s you monetize your content with relative ease. You can also find detailed tutorial videos housed right within the plugin under ‘Documentation’, which are more than enough to sail you through.
Priced at $99 for two sites, WP Courseware is one of oldest and most reliable elearning solutions on WordPress, which lets you create content and publish it in no time.
Lifter LMS
LifterLMS is relatively new to the e-learning scene, having been around for a little over 16 months. But that does not stop it in the slightest from being featured on this list because, let’s face it, it’s a darn good e-learning plugin.
LifterLMS presents itself to be an all-in-1 elearning solution, and breaks down it’s feature set into 4 components, namely: LMS, e-commerce, engagement, and membership. While the LMS part may not be as intuitive and polished as it’s more experienced counterparts, it’s definitely ambitious. Course content creation is the standard fare. What works for it is, you wouldn’t need additional plugins to sell courses or add membership levels, and there is also an in-built gamification system that rewards learners with achievement based badges.
The pricing model it follows is unique. The base plugin is absolutely free it all it’s glory. The Pro version of the plugin has you paying $99/year for premium “front-of-the-line” support, where you get access to office hours with dedicated developer to take care of your issues. LifterLMS is looking to position itself as an e-learning community, complete with forums and discussions from users around the globe.
Sensei
Sensei is an LMS extension for WordPress by WooThemes. Which now falls under Automattic. The company that frikkin created WordPress.
Enough said?
While it may not be the best LMS plugin ever, Sensei has seriously upped it’s game since it’s inception, and is now feature rich in terms of options and Course creation settings. Sensei devotes much emphasis on reporting and grading, and that reflects on the extensions it has to offer. The UI is very intuitive and makes the most of out of WordPress as an ecosystem, as one would come to expect from a product that has the name Automattic attached to it.
What goes without saying is it’s seamless integration with WooCommerce, still the number one WordPress plugin for online selling. WooThemes also provides custom themes for Sensei, so you can style your system accordingly.