Alternatives to Docebo: Best Platforms for Learning Management

Docebo is a SaaS-based learning management system designed to provide an engaging user experience. It has a good reputation in employee learning communities, thanks to its AI functionality and customizable range of add-on modules. That said, there are plenty of alternatives to Docebo on the market, each with their own unique strengths and features. Here are 4 key alternatives and why you should consider them:

Learn365
360Learning
TalentLMS
Cornerstone Learn

Why compare learning management systems?

The World Economic Forum released The Future of Jobs Report 2023, which revealed that approximately 44% of worker skills will be disrupted over the following five years. Furthermore, future-proofing tech skills will likely be one of the most major business challenges on the horizon.

In order to stay ahead of the curve, employers need modern, agile learning management systems that can meet training demand. That’s why it’s worth checking out Docebo alternatives, and more deeply evaluate learning management software options.

About Docebo and Learn LMS

The company was founded in 2005 by current CEO, Claudia Erba. Markedly, Docebo positions itself as a flexible option for learning management with its emphasis on page customization, user interface functionality, and a large number of add-ons.

Learn LMS primarily targets organizations with between 500 and 10,000 learners, and they’ve reached over 25,000 customers since 2023.

Core features of Docebo

Skills training plays an important role in supporting workforce planning, and it’s much easier when employees don’t have to jump through hoops to access their courses. Hence, Docebo’s Learn LMS platform allows companies to build pages to host training material and educational content.

Hence, this makes it easy to organize different resources while still keeping L&D content centralized. These pages can be customized with various menu and gamification options. Besides its page-building system, Docebo advertises several key features:

Docebo Virtual Coach: A bot designed to help users navigate the platform and engage with learning materials. This means employees can get support with issues while learning, without always having to wait on a response from their course leader.
Coach and Share: Docebo’s solution for collaborative learning management. Users can create content, peer review each other’s work, and run Q&A. Social learning tools support work culture and engagement by allowing anyone to be proactive.
Learning Impact: A set of data-driven benchmarking tools for quantifying LMS performance, and survey packages for gauging learner sentiment. Learning Impact helps improve learning management by providing metrics for success.
Process Automation: Docebo lets you set up various scheduled and unscheduled rules based on triggers such as specific user input. Further, this allows for easy automation for your various page functions.
Extended Enterprise: In recent years, Docebo has scaled up to much larger clients. Its extended enterprise functions are one way it supports these types of businesses. It allows you to establish and individually support multiple user groups, like customers and partners in addition to your workforce.

Strengths and selling points of Docebo

Before we get into why you might need alternatives to Docebo, let’s break down what the platform does right. For starters, it’s a flexible system with strong permissions support. Docebo’s other selling points include:

A broad range of features: The platform has a lot to offer, including multi-portal support, data-driven impact analysis and social learning capabilities. These features, along with its customizable page system, are what give Docebo a reputation for flexibility.
Lots of add-ons to choose from: In addition to its main features, Docebo has an increasingly wide array of add-ons and bolt-ons available for purchase. With these, you can tweak the platform to suit specific business needs.
Expanding enterprise functions: Docebo’s extended enterprise functions are gradually replacing outdated legacy LMS platforms. This enables them to compete with Docebo alternatives more specifically aimed at enterprise businesses.

Pricing and best fit of Docebo

Docebo built up their brand by serving small and medium businesses, and continues to serve them well to this day. On top of that, their Extended Enterprise features show they’re a good fit for larger, more expansive organizations too.

Being a SaaS provider, Docebo offers term-based subscriptions of between one and three years. Subscription fees are calculated on a per-user basis, with discounts if you pay for learners in bulk.

On top of that, Docebo offers a variety of add-ons available for purchase to customize your L&D platform. These include some of the features we’ve discussed, like Discover, Coach & Share, Learning Impact, and Extended Enterprise. There are plenty of others as well, like Shape and Flow.

Drawbacks and limitations of Docebo

For all its versatility, Learn LMS has a few clear flaws that make it worth looking at alternatives to Docebo. Consider if any of the following are deal-breakers:

Lacks flow-of-work support: While Docebo does a good job of hosting course content, it doesn’t quite bridge the gap between training and reality. Particularly, there aren’t really any support tools designed with on-the-job training methods in mind.
Limited admin streamlining: While there are plenty of options for automating page functions, the same can’t be said for behind-the-scenes admin. This means course leaders may have less time to engage employee learners directly.
Outdated functions: Although Docebo offers an engaging, functional UI for users, its course creation and content management tools need dragging into the 2020s. You’d do better with Docebo alternatives if you want something more sleek and modern.
Increasing platform complexity: Docebo’s increasing number of add-ons may support flexibility, but it’s a double-edged sword. Especially using too many add-ons can be too much to keep track of, and risks bloating your LMS.
Customization and compatibility issues: Despite offering internal customization and integrations for various virtual platforms, Docebo sometimes fails to meet client requirements in these areas.

1. Learn365

First on our list of alternatives to Docebo is our own platform, Zensai’s Learn365. It’s one of three connected platforms we offer, along with Engage365 and Perform365 as our Human Success Platform, for truly comprehensive employee experience management.

While other Docebo alternatives may include integrations with Microsoft platforms like Teams, this LMS is the only one 100% built into Microsoft 365. Companies using Learn365 include Wirral University Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust, Phoenix Software, and Rail Projects Victoria.

Core features of Learn365

Even without the rest of the Human Success platform, Learn365 easily keeps pace with both Learn LMS and the various Docebo alternatives. Here are several core features that make it worth consideration.

Complete integration with Microsoft 365: Unlike other alternatives to Docebo, Learn365 is built from the ground up to work through Microsoft Teams for seamless implementation. No tabbing between apps, and no usage training needed.
Content365: This add-on grants access to the world’s largest online content libraries. You’re free to mix and match materials from world-class content creators, and even import your own.
End-to-end automation: Automate nearly everything, from course management and admin, to AI-driven personalized recommendations delivered through learner dashboards.
AI-powered course creation: AI tools allow you to quickly assemble course materials from your content libraries based on your criteria. This makes retooling your training programs quick and painless.
Platform customization: Make Learn365 your own by modifying color schemes, importing logos, and even embedding your own homepage. Additionally, you can add app integrations and custom content rules to suit your needs.

Strengths and selling points of Learn365

Learn365 is designed to enable agile, scalable learning management solutions. Besides the specific features we’ve already talked about, here are its strengths and selling points compared to other alternatives to Docebo:

Support for learning during workflow: Whereas Docebo creates a strict separation between learning environments and actual workspaces, Zensai’s platform does away with it. Basically, this makes training more readily applicable, and means employees don’t need to learn how to navigate a distinct training app.
Low total cost of ownership (TCO): Learn365 is more affordable compared to Docebo’s convoluted pricing system and numerous add-ons. In fact, Learn365 even has a free option. It’s also quicker to get up and running than Docebo’s suggested implementation time of three months.
Enables collaborative learning: Our AI-assisted course creation tools allow anyone to get stuck in without the need to learn bloated, overly complex course management systems. Plus, learning and training can be taking on the go through a mobile application, expanding support to frontline workforces.
The combined power of the Human Success Platform: Plenty of learning management tools make for fine Docebo alternatives, but learning management is all they’re good for. Learn365 works alongside Engage365 and Perform365 to show you the full impact of how your L&D policies affect your organization’s success.

Pricing and best fit of Learn365

Learn365 is designed with total scalability in mind. As such, it’s as useful for small teams and start-ups as it is for budding enterprises and major corporations.

As noted, it’s one of the more affordable and scalable alternatives to Docebo on this list. If you’re not sure about the platform, try our Freemium version, which gives you access to our skill manager, audit trail, basic data security and recovery, and access to third party integrations. It also includes one course catalogue, and limited learning modules and enrollments.

The paid version of Learn365 is available through these packages:

Standard ($): Get unlimited content catalogs, modules and enrollments. This also includes success planning and basic data security and recovery.
Professional ($$): Get everything from the Freemium and Standard tiers. Additionally, this includes offline mobile synchronization and the ability to copy courses across catalogs.
Select ($$$): Get access to audit and penetration reporting, advanced data security and recovery, and everything from the Standard tier.

As for the rest of the Human Success Platform, you can also add-on the engagement software, Engage365 and the performance management tool, Perform365 for an additional price.

2. 360Learning

Secondly as one of the potential alternatives to Docebo, 360Learning certainly has something to offer. Their platform focuses on collaborative learning management as an alternative to traditional, top-down training hierarchies.

Core features of 360Learning

360Learning offers a decent array of clearly defined core features designed to support collaborative learning, which include:

Co-authoring
User reactions
Packaged reporting insights
LXP learning hub
Learning groups called Academies

Strengths and selling points 360Learning

If your main goal is to foster a culture of learning while keeping things streamlined, 360Learning provides almost everything you’ll need. Its main strengths are:

Broad systems and deep functionality: 360Learning offers a wide array of features, but doesn’t sacrifice depth.
Saves time with packaged reporting metrics: What makes 360Learning one of one of the best Docebo alternatives is that it provides streamlining features that the former sorely lacks.
Excels at enabling L&D collaboration: For any drawbacks it may have, 360Learning lives up to its name by perhaps being the best enabler of collaborative L&D on this list.

Pricing and best fit 360Learning

360Learning casts a wide net by supporting organizations with between 500 and 10k employees. In addition to a variety of paid add-ons, its service packages include:

Standard ($): All basic features.
Business ($$): Depending on how many users you’re paying for. This adds additional features, like single sign-on (SSO) and nested groups.
Enterprise ($$$): Price is depending on group size. This adds all remaining 360Learning features besides paid add-ons.

Drawbacks and limitations 360Learning

As is the case with most alternatives to Docebo, 360Learning still has its share of flaws, such as:

An outdated interface: Poor user-friendliness means 360Learning can struggle to match competitors with more modern designs.
A lack of content creation flexibility: This LMS only allows for a narrow range of document formats, which limits the types of training and education you can deliver.
Shallow Teams integration: Despite technically having Microsoft Teams integration, 360Learning doesn’t offer much support or functionality for it.
Escalating costs: Between the sharp increases in price between service packages and the sheer range of paid add-ons required for the full experience, 360Learning can be a costly choice.

3. TalentLMS

Unlike most alternatives to Docebo, TalentLMS is decidedly small-scale. Even so, it maintains a presence as the platform of choice for teams in major corporations, such as Google and Amazon.

Core features of TalentLMS

Many of TalentLMS’ main features focus on accessibility and engagement. These include:

A GUI course builder
Automated course assignments
Systems for content rules called categories and paths
Gamification options to motivate learning

Strengths and selling points of TalentLMS

What TalentLMS may not be the most scalable platform, it makes up for with:

Standalone functionality: TalentLMS functions by itself without the need for additional add-ons or integrations.
Simple automation features: The ability to automate course assignments makes it easy to support continuous learning.
Incredibly easy to use: The graphic user interface stands apart from other Docebo alternatives, which can feel quite complicated to use.
Price flexibility: A range of packages, from Starter and Basic to Premium and Enterprise, provide options to suit your budget.

Pricing and best fit of TalentLMS

Although it does technically have an enterprise option, TalentLMS’ main focus is clearly on small businesses and individual teams. It works best as a standalone solution for start-ups or departments with a lot of L&D autonomy. Its range of packages include:

Starter ($): Up to 40 active users.
Basic ($): Up to 100 active users. You also get SSO functionality and support for custom domains.
Plus ($$): Up to 500 named users. This package includes support for up to three branches, and access to custom reports.
Premium ($$$): Up to 1,000 named users or 500 active users. You can also support up to 15 branches, automate processes, and access to various other features.
Enterprise ($$$): A custom plan with variable pricing.

Drawbacks and limitations of TalentLMS

Despite the sheer functionality of TalentLMS, it still has several drawbacks which might be deal-breakers:

Poor scalability: Despite having an enterprise-level option, it’s still arguably the least scalable LMS on this list.
Lack of support for admin streamlining: If you’re looking at Docebo alternatives, you probably need something to streamline L&D admin. Unfortunately, TalentLMS isn’t the solution.
Very similar to other platforms: TalentLMS has a lot in common with other small-scale, standalone platforms, to the point where it doesn’t really stand out.
Only has native content integration: While its content may be perfectly serviceable, the inability to import other assets is severely limiting.

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4. Cornerstone Learn

The final entry on our list of Docebo alternatives is Cornerstone Learn. This LMS is one of five platforms offered by Cornerstone. Altogether, they take a modern approach to user experience that helps them stand out from the crowd.

Core features of Cornerstone Learn

Like TalentLMS, Cornerstone also has an interesting UI, and a few interesting features besides:

Content navigation via virtual tiles
Four additional modules beyond its LMS
AI-driven learning personalization
Cornerstone Content Anytime for third party libraries

Strengths and selling points of Cornerstone Learn

Here’s a quick rundown of what Cornerstone’s service can offer your business:

Feedback and review automation: Feedback and performance reviews take up valuable time you could use to support L&D in other ways. That’s why Cornerstone lets you automate them.
Very supportive of HR: The full range of Cornerstone platforms provide a rich assortment of valuable insights and functions for HR. These apps work together in a way that’s somewhat similar to the Human Success Platform.
Excellent content options: Cornerstone understands that varied content from popular sources helps win the war for clients.
A unique, engaging layout: The tile system is an engaging combination of novelty and simplicity, which makes it easy for new users to get started.

Pricing and best fit of Cornerstone Learn

Chiefly, Cornerstone is the only LMS on this list that doesn’t support SMBs. Although they maintain a diverse roster of client businesses, their platform is specifically designed with medium and large businesses in mind.

Like many Docebo alternatives, Cornerstone charges on a per-user basis. It also charges for each module, which share identical pricing. Cornerstone offers savings for companies paying for learners in bulk.

Drawbacks and limitations of Cornerstone Learn

Despite its sleek design and great content libraries, Cornerstone Learn does have its share of issues, such as:

Redundancies between modules: Each module offers a variety of functions, but these overlap in strange places. As such, it’s hard to tell what the most optimal way actually is.
Has complex custom requirements: The platform requires a lot of complex setup, such as hybrid teams and separate user permissions.
No learning collaboration: Learners have no options for creating content, or even influencing it.
Other modules are basically necessary: In theory, you can just stick to Cornerstone Learn. In practice, the other modules are some of the only tools which reliably integrate with it.

What to look for in Docebo alternatives

Generally, Docebo has some great learning management features, but is far from perfect. If you’re set on finding Docebo alternatives, here are some important things to bear in mind:

Support for flow-of-work learning

The problem with learning in a vacuum is that it doesn’t necessarily translate to real life. It’s important to find a learning management system that facilitates learning in your actual workspace. Platforms like the Human Success Platform centralize learning on the tools you already use.

Admin automation functionality

Between course management, sign-ups, certification and all the rest, modern learning management has a lot of moving parts. Doing it all manually requires so many additional work hours it just isn’t worthwhile. Strong alternatives to Docebo should provide streamlining capabilities for more agile learning and development practices.

Modern design sensibilities

Furthermore, outdated LMS design risks alienating users. Especially younger employees who may not be used to more archaic virtual systems. A more sleekly designed LMS leads to more efficient use. This is part of what makes options like TalentLMS and Cornerstone Learn so popular.

Strong AI integration

Additionally. artificial intelligence has begun to play an increasingly significant role in modern learning management. For course leaders, it streamlines content management and course creation. For users, it supplies bespoke recommendations and personalized learning paths to support self-learning. An AI-driven LMS can help drive employee learning satisfaction rates.

Start choosing a modern LMS today

There will never be a better time to shake up how your organization handles learning and development. Finding alternatives to Docebo is only the starting point.

Modern learning management systems are taking strides forward to deliver more efficient, more engaging results. Updating your choice of LMS gives businesses a clear-cut advantage over their more hesitant competitors. Just be sure to do your research. Take your time. Try out some demos, or even a Freemium LMS to see how you get on!