# Brightspace Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Brightspace the right Higher Education solution for you? Explore 236 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/122854/Brightspace/reviews --- Brightspace 4.2 (236) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/122854/Brightspace/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Brightspace Ease of use 4.1 Customer Service 4.1 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews KK Kanika K Technical ManagerEducation Management, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It offers a smooth and well-structured learning management environment that makes it easy to handle courses, assignments, grading, and communication in one place.“ May 7, 2026 KK Kanika K Technical ManagerEducation Management, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “At times, the interface may also feel slightly inconsistent across different modules, which can affect the overall user experience.“ May 7, 2026 KK Kanika K Technical ManagerEducation Management, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The platform is also very easy for instructors to use when managing courses, tracking student progress, grading students and sharing learning content.“ May 7, 2026 LA Louis A Adjunct InstructorHigher Education, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Everything I need to do takes way too long, too many clicks and then it makes such a mess on the student end of things because it is full of bugs and no one at D2L cares.“ July 31, 2025 KK Kanika K Technical ManagerEducation Management, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Overall, Brightspace provides a reliable and flexible platform for effective online and hybrid learning.“ May 7, 2026 SA Sameer A StudentEducation Management, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Its not for the website but the app does not show number grades or all the different days where the things are posted.“ October 3, 2025 JN Jean-Pierre N Instructional DesignerHigher Education, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I like the fact that D2L is user-friendly, including mobile and PC users, and accommodates the accessiblity to all users. “ December 22, 2025 EB Erika B Massage TherapistAlternative Medicine, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “It seemed like it was glitchy at times, my log in occasionally needed to be updated more than it seemed like it should because my credentials weren’t recognized.“ October 14, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 236 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Heather W. Student E-Learning Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Hands down the best learning software to date " January 5, 2023 5.0 My other experience with this software it has made me love to learn again maybe love school again it’s so easy to use. It’s so user-friendly I can’t say that enough it is hands-down, the best learning software there is. Pros Everything about this software is super user-friendly they think about the student when they made this it’s not hard to years. It’s not hard to follow as long as you do the tutorials and follow what they say. At the beginning you can’t go wrong there’s nothing negative I can say about it. I’ve never had any issues using this and I’ve used this software at two different colleges. Hands down the best. Cons There’s only one thing that I kind of don’t really understand is the virtual classroom thing I’ve still not understood why some places use the virtual product classroom and sign the right space software and some don’t but I think that’s more of a college preference instead of a software preference to bright space Review Source CR Carol R. Adjunct Professor E-Learning Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "User friendly!" February 4, 2025 5.0 Logical and easy to use, especially coming off of programs like Canvas and Blackboard. Pros It's easy to add content and grade. Organization of a course is logical, and it doesn't require a lot of training to use, whether from an instructor or student standpoint. Cons Zeros are entered automatically for quiz and test questions that must be manually graded, which causes my students to stress at their initial grades. Keeping the initial grade hidden until those questions can be addressed would be nice. Switched from [Blackboard](https://www.capterra.com/p/14500/Blackboard-LMS-for-Business/) My college chose to move from Blackboard to Brightspace due to better functionality and features. Review Source RN Razi N. Professor Higher Education Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Worst Learning Management System" November 17, 2024 1.0 This is the worst LMS I have experienced as a teacher or student, considering four different systems that I have used. It is not intuitive and the simplest thing takes many steps. It is very poor in organizing what you see on the screen. Pros Nothing. See comments below about experiences. Cons Everything. See comments below about experiences. Switched from [Canvas](https://www.capterra.com/p/127214/CANVAS/) Higher management decision, faculty had no choice. Review Source LL Lucy L. Associate E-Learning Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Easy to Use, Could Be Improved" August 20, 2024 4.0 I do enjoy Brightspace, however certain functions could be improved. It would be nice if it had an "Upcoming Assignments" section on the dashboard. Pros I enjoy the way in which the content or each class is organized. Cons I am not a fan of the amount of email notifications sent by Brightspace (discussions, announcements, etc.). If you do not want to receive any of these notifications, you have to unsubscribe from each thread. It is timely and clutters the inbox. Switched from [Canvas](https://www.capterra.com/p/127214/CANVAS/) Switched due to changing higher education institutions. Review Source AK Amber K. Administrative Specialist Higher Education Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "D2L LMS Review" November 1, 2021 5.0 My overall experience with D2L is a great experience. I enjoy using this product as a staff, as well as a student. There are also many tutorial videos out there to search through when having an issue. Pros What I like most about this product is the ease of navigating each feature of the product. There are quite a few features, all of them being outstanding and easy to use. Cons There seem to be quite a few bugs for us with this product. However, the product has been integrated going on two years, so there is bound to be some issues going forward. Alternatives considered [Canvas](https://www.capterra.com/p/127214/CANVAS/) Reason for choosing Brightspace Brightspace was cheaper than others, with a much better quality. Switched from [Blackboard](https://www.capterra.com/p/14500/Blackboard-LMS-for-Business/) The other LMS was going away, and we had to look for a new product, also one that was cheaper. Review Source NB Nathan B. Principal E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Aesthetically Pleasing and Easy to Use" June 11, 2021 5.0 We have been able to boost productivity consistency, and quality using Brightspace. It is easier to build out courses and map them in a simple hierarchy. Course templating allows us to ensure consistency when building copies of courses or new versions. Brightspace has also allowed us to automate a number of functions we would normally need to perform in terms of student management, which has freed up personnel for other tasks but also removed human error from the equation. Pros Brightspace is very intuitive; users can jump into the LMS and figure out what they need to do with little to no instructions. I like the power it gives admins to build in automation and customize how students work through the course. This is done via intelligent agents and release conditions. Brightspace just looks great. Is the most aesthetically pleasing LMS on the market as far as I have seen. Cons The platform seems more geared toward traditional schooling systems rather than asynchronous models at times. For example, there is no easy way for students to add their own due dates to assessments; they can only be added for the entire course, which does not work when students are all pacing differently. Brightspace for Parents is also not as strong as I would have expected. There seems to be limited features and out parents are just not really interested in using it. Alternatives considered [Edsby](https://www.capterra.com/p/122855/Edsby/)[Canvas](https://www.capterra.com/p/127214/CANVAS/)[Schoology](https://www.capterra.com/p/128481/Schoology/) Reason for choosing Brightspace We felt Brightspace packed in the most functionality and also looked (and felt the best). Switched from [Moodle](https://www.capterra.com/p/80691/Moodle/) We were looking for something that worked well out of the box. D2L manages all of the updating of the system, hosting, etc. Using something like Moodle requires at least one person on the team with a strong tech background. Brightspace can be run with little to no tech experience. Review Source SR Shanyce R. student Medical Practice Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "One of the Best Softwares to Use as a Student" May 24, 2022 5.0 Pros What I liked most was the simple and effective organization. It was a software that was definitely created in mind to set students up to succeed. Firstly, the way the Chapters, sections, topics, and individual assignments were organized on the side was something that was consistent for each of the subjects I was studying. Then on the top bar, you were able to click on pages that would essentially "filter" the types of class material. You could see all the assessments in one place, all the assignments in one place, and your grades. On top of that, every single thing was linked back to the corresponding item. For example, if you couldn't recall what "assignment 2" was when looking at it in the gradebook, you were able to click it and redirect it to the original post. There was also notifications for when assignments were open and reminders for when exams and homework was due. As someone who has used canvas, blackboard, google classrooms, and a few other softwares for school, these functions were not common. There were also times where it would be extremely hard and confusing to navigate. However I never ran into that issue with D2L. Cons It is hard to find any qualms about D2L Brightspace, there is nothing negative I've noticed the entire time I have been using the software. Switched from [Class for Web](https://www.capterra.com/p/141222/Blackboard-Collaborate/) Not my choice, the school decided to switch to using Brightspace on their own. Review Source DM Danilo M. Digital Products Manager Latam E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A Canadian Masterpiece like a Lego with 3000 pieces" March 26, 2024 4.0 I used for almost ten years, in 2013 help me to replace a huge straming infra strutucture , sattelites and big antesnas, was update by caption, just me a web cam and my note could increase the opportunitties to offer content to k12 schools that we never dreamed before, after that we use almost all D2L portfolio. was amazing. Pros Very trustable Visibility of team productivity Helpful students reports Cons Hard to assemble Negotiation complicated Small support Review Source TD Teddy D. Director of Recruiting Education Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Alright There are better options" May 27, 2023 5.0 My experience with Brightspace has been somewhat positive although I would go researching more alternatives Pros One of the features I like most about Brightspace is the progress tracking. If a student is behind on an assignment or more than it highlights on their course. Cons At the time I was introduced to Brightspace, the previous learning environment stopped operations resulting in everyone having to adjust to Brightspace. One of the features I like the least about bright space is not being able to access Brightspace on mobile. It is difficult to view it on mobile and other classroom tools are able to view it on mobile Switched from [Blackboard](https://www.capterra.com/p/14500/Blackboard-LMS-for-Business/) Blackboard was ceasing operations resulting in institutions to find an alternative within a short span of time. Review Source TC Teresa C. Student E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Please let us toggle the menu bar along the top" March 28, 2025 4.0 Pros When used well it is great to have everything I need all in one place, course readings, assignments and lecture content is easily accessible Cons The bar along the top takes up so much space on IOS that it is difficult to read PDFs, I wish this was a feature I could toggle on and off. Switched from [Sakai LMS](https://www.capterra.com/p/124698/Sakai-CLE/) My University made the switch to Brightspace Review Source SW Steve W. Contract Instructor Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Complicated work made simple!" December 20, 2024 5.0 Helps me keep a good grip on assignments my students have completed, as well as grades for the term at a glance. Easy to use and covers pretty much every function that a professor or instructor is likely to need. Pros Using the program means you don't have to re-invent the wheel. It's a great and well-designed educational program that I use as a university prof. Cons There are a few little things such as color coding for certain assignments that I still don't fully understand. But it's not critical. Review Source MP Michael P. Financial Analyst Government Administration Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great educational product" March 27, 2025 5.0 Great product that helped me advance my career. Pros Very easy to navigate classes and learn without combatting technology Cons Seemed a little outdated for some other classes I have taken Review Source ES Ed S. Professor of Aviation Aviation & Aerospace Used the software for: 2+ years ### "D2L - Academic Freedom!" September 18, 2024 5.0 I have used it as a Faulty member for the last 10+ years without any assistance for regular use. Now I am using Widgets, Icon's, and Homepage design without involving the Administrator Pros D2L is always looking ahead and improving and adding new features Cons Some features have a few got ya's such as not being able to manage due dates in discussions Review Source EW Ella W. Full-time student Primary/Secondary Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great learning source if teachers know how" June 12, 2022 5.0 It makes learning accessible to all with its compatibility, mobility, and clear navigation for first time users. Their resources provide great service and always fix the problem when one occurs. Pros Brightspace is flawless. It makes seeing your grades, assignments, class resources, discussion forums, and online lectures accessible from anywhere. It is compatible with every device (laptop, desktop, phones). Brightspace help services are clearly stated and always available. Great customer service skills as well. Cons Brightspace is not the easiest when teachers do not know how to properly use it. A simple video how to guide for each feature would enhance all aspects of Brightspace. Review Source TT Tyler T. Student Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Very helpful tool throughout university" December 15, 2022 4.0 Overall positive, it was an efficient and effective tool that I used throughout university that allowed me to be very successful in my courses. Pros I used D2L Brightspace throughout all of university. In terms of uploading any learning documents such as assignments, solutions, homework, PowerPoints, lecture videos, and more, it was always very easy to navigate and get what you need on your computer or on mobile. Navigation is very simple, and the user interface is easy to learn. The best feature was the notifications bell which I used the most to have consistent and clear updates for all of my courses. Cons I think there are some aspects of the user interface which could be redesigned to be more aesthetically pleasing. Some features and sections appear out of date and could use some visual improvements. The onus of including or excluding certain sections I believe is on the onus of the professor, but maybe there could be more clear instruction to them on how to best format course pages/sections. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer PostDoctoral Researcher Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A Comprehensive Platform for Effective Teaching" April 8, 2023 5.0 As a professor who has used D2L Brightspace for many years, I can confidently say that it is an excellent platform for managing course content, assignments, and grading. Its user-friendly interface and advanced features make it easy for both instructors and students to navigate and use. The ability to create folders for student assignments and manage everything in one place is a major advantage of the platform. Overall, I highly recommend D2L Brightspace for educators looking for a comprehensive, efficient, and user-friendly platform for managing their courses. Pros As a professor, I've used D2L Brightspace for many years and have found it to be an excellent tool for managing my courses. I love that I can easily post class content, syllabus, and grade assignments all in one place. It's also great for creating forums and discussions for students to engage with each other. One of my favorite features is creating folders for students to submit their assignments. It makes it easy to grade and provide feedback all in one place. Cons Some advanced features may require additional training or guidance. Review Source CO Candace O. Student Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "As a student, Brightspace/D2L gave me the opportunity to take classes I couldn't fit in my schedule!" July 21, 2018 4.0 I have gained the ability to take some higher-level courses online which are necessary for college admissions/success, which I could not fit into my senior year schedule due to being a busy student! Pros I love that I can take these classes outside of school. I am currently taking four classes on Brightspace (Sociology, Psychology, Spanish III Semesters 1 & 2) because I could not fit them into my schedule for my senior year. In addition, each class comes with a "90 Day Plan" in the course materials, which helps keep me on track; I try to do more per day than what is on the plan, as I'm trying to get most of the workload finished before school starts again. This brings me to my next point: Working at my own speed! As evidenced by my taking four classes over the summer, I am an advanced student who is serious about her education. Brightspace gives students the flexibility of working at their own speed. Although a "90 Day Plan" is offered as a guideline, there are no daily requirements set by the software itself. As a high schooler, some days I'm just busy, plain and simple. I don't have to worry about fulfilling a daily requirement with Brightspace. Again, the flexibility of completing online courses at my own pace is invaluable to a busy student like myself. Cons There's not much to complain about with this software. However, there is one issue I face on the daily with Brightspace. When working on a lesson, every now and again there will be a little box that pops up warning the user that if the session exceeds 30 minutes of inactivity, they will be logged out and will have to log back in again. I understand that it is set to do this for security reasons, but it is incredibly annoying when I'm taking notes on the lesson (which takes a decent amount of time) to have to be wary of the pop up appearing. Review Source PD Pam D. Associate Dean Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Its okay" February 8, 2022 4.0 We had to move platforms and this seemed a good choice. Not as changeable as I though it would be and to have them integrate anything new you have to submit and get on a "list" and get votes with the highest votes getting the work. Ridiculous. Hire more people. Service everyone. That's what companies do no? Pros The interface looks nice, and it's easy to sort student. The discussion board threading works well, and the left hand menu bar is easy to navigate. I appreciate that there are multiple ways to arrive at different areas in the course, and the seminar integration is really easy and nice. Cons I wish the seminar would let me review the actual comments as I grade, the integration of a competency based rubric is clunky, when you have a CLA as well as something else for an assignment one overwrites the other in a very maddening way taking multiple steps to finish up a grade. The announcements section is now difficult for students to read, but that could just be our set up as well. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Instructor Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Average but does the job" March 21, 2023 4.0 I won't say it was either good or bad. My school would not let me integrate other products into Brightspace. Pros I think because it is similar to other LMS systems, it does not take long to learn if you know others. Cons I had to often find user YouTube videos on how to do things. Users that struggled with finding answers themselves. Review Source VW Val W. Professor Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "D2L Brightspace" December 29, 2022 5.0 Tracks students progress and grades so that students and faculty may track student progress. Pros It is easy for faculty and student to use and integrates with publisher assignments. Cons There is nothing that is missing to that I don't like about D2L. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Brightspace was easy to learn as a student!" January 22, 2019 4.0 It allows for great communication between students and teachers and overall was simple to understand from both perspectives! Pros I enjoyed the formatting and how easy to use brightspace was compared to the previous software my university used. It made tracking grades and all of the content my teacher posted so much easier to follow. It also shows how your grades were compared to other students and allows you to track your own performance. When I was a TA, it was also really easy to post news items, enter grades and insert comments on students' papers. Easy to understand for all users! Cons It can be difficult to operate on mobile devices - there are less buttons to navigate the pages but it's not impossible to use. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Digital Marketing Specialist Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great online classroom tool" April 14, 2022 5.0 Pros It’s easy to see what’s next/where you’re at. Cuts down on much of the visual clutter and steps you need to take to get where you want. Cons It could be a bit slow at times, but I think that was a server/isolated IT issue. Review Source Natalie S. Academic and Financial aid Advisor Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Simple for students, set up takes work " October 13, 2019 4.0 Very happy with it from a student side when the faculty take time to set it up. But setting up a good classroom can be more work than teaching. Pros Have used Brighspace as a student and as a faculty. As long as the faculty sets it up well it is exceedingly easy to navigate. The features really benefit the educational experience. Cons Setting up the individual course takes time. I felt like I needed to be a coder to actually use to features. We have two full time hired staff to help keep the online classes in this running. Also, the email is ridiculously complicated. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Graduate Student Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Fantastic for everyone from beginners to people who want to do some unique activities and grading" July 19, 2019 5.0 Pros I was recently employed by Texas Christian University as an adjunct professor, and this was the first time I had ever taught a class at a different university. I had never used Brightspace before and to be honest I was a little bit overwhelmed with it at first. There are so many different functions and options that at first glance it seems like it will take months to learn. However, I think their help section is really user friendly and within a day I had my class pretty much set up. I love all of the more advanced grading features and automatic % calculations that this does, it saves so much time as I used to do this all in Excel. Also, I was only on campus once/week and was driving from over 40 minutes away on days that I was there. So, having office hours on days off was pretty much not going to happen. However, Brightspace has an amazing feature that can connect you to students over video chat from anywhere! This allowed me to have more personal 1-on-1 time with students who needed help while not having to drive all the way to campus! Cons There is quite a bit of a learning curve to get to the more complex stuff, but after you learn it your productivity skyrockets. Review Source Audra W. Admissions Assistant Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The BEST resource for school" December 27, 2018 5.0 Pros This resource carefully organizes all your school material. It allows for each class to have a separate section. It is like a virtual binder. Teachers can upload quizes, tests, and any additional material. Such a great resource for any age student. I have been using it for over 6 years now. Cons It sometimes glitches which makes it difficult to submit assignments, look up something, but that will happen with any software. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Learning Management System](https://www.capterra.com/learning-management-system-software/)[Training](https://www.capterra.com/training-software/)[Healthcare LMS](https://www.capterra.com/healthcare-lms-software/) ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.