# Totara Learn Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Totara Learn the right Learning Management System solution for you? Explore 51 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/123703/Totara-LMS/reviews --- Totara Learn 4.4 (51) 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 Totara Learn Ease of use 4.2 Customer Service 4.5 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews RB Rebecca B eLearning Program ManagerMachinery, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The software is highly configurable and allowed us to turn a Learning Mangement System into a Learning Experience Platform.“ January 24, 2022 RM Rob M Online systems architectHuman Resources, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Our clients hate it.“ April 9, 2021 Becky M Digital Content ManagerE-Learning, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “We are using it as a custom learning platform for our digital leadership development content.“ June 17, 2020 SM Stephen M Head of EducationMedical Practice, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “We find Totara Learn to be incredibly versatile and we're always finding new ways to use its features.“ February 4, 2022 SW Steve W eLearning project managerCivic & Social Organization, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The product is easy to implement - it is fairly intuitive for the learner and easy to brand and upkeep as an administrator.“ April 9, 2021 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 51 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Enrrique P. Instructor Telecommunications Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Perfect application for corporate training and learning." April 23, 2018 4.0 Have an application focused on business learning, with tools focused on the corporate area to prepare quality professionals who know the business and its function in the company is optimal. Pros Totara is one of the most complete learning applications for the business world, noting the great detail that it is free, extremely complete where you can manage face-to-face and non-face-to-face training, evaluate the performance of workers, create reports on the progress of each employee to evaluate their evolution, strengths and devilities and all with a very comfortable interface and all this for a fraction of the cost of a private application, as it is focused on the corporate area its functionalities are focused on the development of complete professionals, to teach them the rules of business and strengthen your company, use it!!!! Cons Being free may not have the service and attention problems of a proprietary software, this is why you need the support of software specialists for problems that may arise, or solve any inconvenience of the stability of the program. Review Source SA Sahar A. eLearning Specialist and LMS consultant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "From Learnforce to Totara and beyond" April 26, 2021 4.0 We have been using Totara Learn for past 2 years (almost). We love it even more because of the exceptional customer support by our vendor Kineo. Since we moved from Learnforce LMS, which had a completely different interface, some ulearners find it difficult but LMS admins love the flexibility now they have to configure even things like custom fields etc. Pros The flexibility that an admin has in configuring this software. Cons Inconsistency in different reports. e.g. SCORM reports are filtered differently where as other USer reports are filtered differently. Alternatives considered [BRIDGE](https://www.capterra.com/p/145699/Bridge/)[Litmos](https://www.capterra.com/p/133660/Litmos-LMS/) Reason for choosing Totara Learn We chose totara by going through an extensive Tender process. Totara Learn fulfilled most of our functional/non-functional requirements. Review Source Response from Totara May 3, 2021 Hi Sahar, thanks for the lovely review! Our partner Kineo will be delighted to hear that. I'll pass on your feedback about the user reports. Glad to hear your LMS admins enjoy the flexibility of the platform. VR Verified Reviewer Technical Writer II Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Our company implemented Totara through a third party reseller. We migrated from Moodle." July 13, 2018 3.0 Pros It is hosted off-site so we don't need to rely on our small Systems team. This is really the true value to me as an LMS administrator as previously it was impossible to upgrade our Moodle versions. Navigating to the courses is very simple. The look and feel is decent. So far it's been pretty stable. Cons I would like to see more features that are not already available in the free Moodle LMS system. I would like to see the Reporting features better implemented. I would also like to see support for plug-ins that are currently supported in free Moodle, particularly H5P. Review Source SW Steve W. eLearning project manager Civic & Social Organization Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Totara works for us" April 9, 2021 5.0 Really happy with the supplier support and the way the software keeps evolving Pros The product is easy to implement - it is fairly intuitive for the learner and easy to brand and upkeep as an administrator. Cons The moodle base means you have to be careful about retakes - it only records the first one - so if you need certifications updating then plan ahead Alternatives considered [Cornerstone LMS](https://www.capterra.com/p/150446/Cornerstone-LMS/) Reason for choosing Totara Learn Cost was a factor - cheaper - plus a organisation wish to go moodle based. Review Source Response from Totara April 14, 2021 Hi Steve, thank you for the amazing review! Glad to hear that it was easy to implement and that you're happy with the support from your Totara Partner. We have lots of stuff coming up on our roadmap so stay tuned :) RM Rob M. Online systems architect Human Resources Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great but lacking some aspects." April 9, 2021 4.0 We love it. Our clients hate it. They find it difficult to navigate and over complex. Pros Payment gateway for access to courses is a major challenge. The use of HR import and a Wordpress shop make for a clumsy integration. Cons Better certificate issue and management for different instructor groups Switched from [Moodle](https://www.capterra.com/p/80691/Moodle/) Needed a \[professionally managed and stable environment. Moodle partner hopeless. Review Source Response from Totara April 12, 2021 Rob, thank you for your review of Totara Learn. We're happy to hear that you're enjoying the many adaptable features, functionality and value for money. We're always actively working on improving Totara Learn with every release (and gathering the required research and customer feedback in order to do so), so we really do appreciate your feedback. Speaking of which, we'd kindly suggest ensuring that you're using the latest version of Totara Learn, Totara Learn 13. It features multiple improvements to user experience for your learners and admins. This includes improvements to site accessibility, more streamlined navigation (particularly when viewing learning plans or creating user accounts) and much more. VR Verified Reviewer Digital Content Manager E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good LMS choice for heavily customized use cases" June 17, 2020 4.0 We are using it as a custom learning platform for our digital leadership development content. We have enjoyed using it to address the various business requirements of our end users and departments. We will continue to use it to address the evolving needs of the organization, because it is such a flexible system. Pros Totara is open source, so it is highly customizable based on your organization's use case. We are using it for leadership development content, and we have been able to implement custom themes to make the platform our own, and even co-brand content for our clients. Cons Its complexity and extensive functionality available can be a bit overwhelming, causing our users to mistakenly use a particular feature because it is very similar to one we built for custom use cases. It has required a ton of development to implement our processes. Review Source Response from Totara April 19, 2021 Thank you! We are happy to hear that Totara Learn is proving to be a versatile and adaptable platform that meets your complex needs. Louise V. Learning Experience Specialist Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Benefits of Totara Learn" April 9, 2021 4.0 Pros \- Possibility to adapt the learning platform based on the needs of the end-user (fully customizable) - Audience management for adaptive learning: programs & certifications, activity/course completion tracking, ... - Design and navigation: responsive themes, dashboards, ... (branding) Cons Recommend courses/programs to colleagues (features is not available) Add more standard features to the course page so that we (as an instructional designer) can create courses that are qualitative for end users. For example, the possibility for end-users to upload video's/podcast/pdfs. Review Source Response from Totara April 19, 2021 We're elated to hearing your 10 out of 10 recommendation! Thank you so much, Louise. We are also very big fans of the way Deloitte adapts our LMS to deliver a uniquely bespoke training platform for Deloitte learners. It serves as an inspirational example of adaptive training and adaptability in general! We want to make Totara Learn as good as it possibly can be, so please feel free to add any feature requests in the Totara Community. VR Verified Reviewer Manager, Talent Management Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Totara LMS for small organizations" November 20, 2018 5.0 Very positive - it was a first LMS for our company and the set up and implementation were smooth. Users did not have much difficulty using this (construction workers) and it has been easy to maintain. Pros I liked the ability to customize and make the system work for our needs. We were able to work with our vendor to add some functionality to fit our business. Cons From an admin role it helps to be a little techie/geeky. But the support from our vendor really helped get through that. Review Source Daniel T. Diseñador Instruccional Experto Elearning Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The open LMS with better support" June 19, 2018 4.0 For large companies I have recommended it since they allow to create individual development plans, so each person in charge of the team will be able to see the progress of their employees in charge and adjust the learning objectives needed within the platform. Pros This LMS has all the characteristics of the well-known moodle plus a set of extra functions for business training, among them the personalization of reports and the planning of individual and group objectives. Cons What did you like least about the software? Some plans can be expensive, but it depends on the provider. By having a subscription you can be calm before the failures or errors that arise, because the support team of the company will help you at any time to solve it. Review Source Response from Totara June 22, 2018 Thank you for your kind words Daniel. We really appreciate it! Josefina V. Consultor externo de SAP MM PM Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Excellent tool for education and online training" April 25, 2018 5.0 Pros I have tried this platform and I think it is very complete, since it allows you to educate other people individually and train both employees and clients, very good Cons Despite being very good, its interface is not competitive with other platforms, they have to develop a better interface because this platform has potential Review Source LR Lakshminarayanan R. Leader - Learning Technoologies E-Learning Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Value for money" November 1, 2016 5.0 Buying Totara LMS is value for money according to me. What attracts me for this value is, 1. Features list, 2. Ease of installation and configuration of the LMS 3. Flexible Analytics/Reporting 4. Integration possibilities (with other systems through webservices, SSO, LTI etc) 5. Great community/customer support (with regular releases) 6. Plug in-plug out customizations Pros Ease of use Cons User interface could be made attractive. Review Source JM Jennifer M. General Manager E-Learning Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Totara" December 14, 2018 3.0 Pros The software is relatively easy to use if you understand the concept behind a learning management system. Cons To simple. There software is not very robust and is limited in its features and capabilities. Review Source JM Janine M. Instructional Designer Education Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Moodle supercharged! " November 29, 2016 4.0 I have found Totara LMS to be as administrator focused as Moodle but is like Moodle on steroids! The feature set and reporting capabilities were very noticeable and welcome addition to my prior use of Moodle. Pros Feature set, flexibility, ability to host locally vs cloud, cost effective Cons The UI and general look and feel still feel very outdated compared to the latest web sites, technologies, and UI you expect today Review Source RR Rahul R. Used the software for: ### "Totara LMS is awesome!" November 1, 2016 5.0 The best part of Totara LMS is that it is open source and a lot of feature/functionalities come straight out of the box. Configurations are also pretty easy and can be easily configured without coding knowledge. An hour or two spent on the application can help you modify the entire UI, look and feel, and other configurations enabling you to have the desired visual appeal. The support and users community is very good and always active with new suggestions and improvements. Review Source DS David S. Used the software for: ### "Totara LMS is great" November 29, 2016 5.0 I have been using Totara since the first release and I have found it's flexibility and it's open source code to be very useful. The standard options and extensive feature set has allowed me to meet most requirements through configuration only, but when necessary the ability to add to, or edit the code to achieve non standard functionality has allowed us to tailor Totara to any need. Review Source LG Lee G. Used the software for: ### "Totara is an awesome LMS" November 1, 2016 5.0 Totara is easy to use and offers all of the reporting options that we need. Easily tracks information for both large and small projects and multiple clients. Review Source mL mark L. Used the software for: ### "Great LMS" November 1, 2016 5.0 i have been working with TOTARA for the last 6 years and they keep on improving it with every version Review Source DB Daniel B. Education Advisor Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Meets our needs" January 25, 2022 5.0 Pros Totara is flexible, customisable and allows us to provide staff training the way we want to. Cons Past decisions (especially around the design of appraisals and certifications) have meant that the product isn't able to meet our needs as fully as we might like. Review Source SM Stephanie M. Project Manager Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great customisable Learning Management System " April 14, 2021 5.0 Pros It can do everything you expect an LMS can do and is customisable. Cons It would be great if it had an observation activity for practical tasks that the 'observer' could completed on behalf of the learner. Review Source Response from Totara April 16, 2021 10 out of 10, wow! Thank you so much, Stephanie! Glad you were able to fully customize your LMS. We want to make Totara Learn as good as it possibly can be, so please feel free to add any feature requests in the Totara Community. CO Christian O. Consultant E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Feature rich and open source vs Complex handling" November 15, 2016 4.0 As a consultant for Totara LMS I would totally recommend Totara to other customers. In short... The Downside: - Very complex to learn for people who do not have any technical understanding - Usability very low because of too complex site-structure and permission management - Design very simple and overloaded with blocks, nobody knows what they are for in the first place - Documentation partially very poor, especially when it comes down to programming and adding advanced features - Many useful features are still lacking some important settings for establishing real logical learning workflows The Upside: + Very rich of standard features that make it easy to establish simple learning workflows + Open Source let the system be flexible by adding your own plugins and adjusting the system core to your needs + Great support in fixing bugs and advancing the system with new features (Evergreen) + Continuous Development All in all I would say it still needs some improvement, although I know that some requests are not as easy to programm as it might seem in the beginning. It is still a great tool, that can though still be adjusted to whatever someone likes it to be. If you have on the one side people who see the potential of TotaraLMS and have a great idea of how it can be used and on the other side people who can develop within that system, you can accomplish great things and have tremendous success by offering that tool to customers. Pros Open Source Great standard features Many possibilities of how it can be used Cons Poor Documenation (on the technical side) Missing important settings in detail (advanced use of features) Design not very user friendly (blocks overload) Review Source SM Stephen M. Head of Education Medical Practice Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Totara Learn" February 4, 2022 5.0 Pros We find Totara Learn to be incredibly versatile and we're always finding new ways to use its features. Cons You can configure just about everything in Totara, which we found a little overwhelming at first. But once you've set things up and gained a bit of experience, it's fairly straightforward to use. Review Source FS Frantisek S. Senior Consultant E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Totara Learn review" April 30, 2021 4.0 Pros Freedom to learn - still open source and it can grow with company needs. Support for blended learning and the possibility to create courses directly in LMS. Cons There is no central notification center. But it is currently under development. Review Source Response from Totara May 7, 2021 Hi Frantisek! Thanks so much for the 5 star review! We love working with you guys at e-learnmedia. The central notification center is on the way and should be with you in a matter of days in Totara Learn V14 :) We love suggestions to improve Totara products so please feel free to keep them coming. RB Rebecca B. eLearning Program Manager Machinery Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Custom Tailored User Experience" January 24, 2022 5.0 Totara allows for custom tailored experiences for employees / extended enterprise. The system is highly configurable, and working with a Totara partner opened the door to creating a multi-layer learning ecosystem. Pros The software is highly configurable and allowed us to turn a Learning Mangement System into a Learning Experience Platform. Cons Advanced reporting / analytics would be desirable. Reason for choosing Totara Learn Configuration and customization options, previous experience with the platform Review Source PP Pablo P. Director Of Operations E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Aura Gold Partner" November 1, 2016 4.0 Through the last 5 years, Totara leads us won opportunities that we might lost in case of not having an enterprise LMS like Totara. It has helped us as companie to incorporate our full e-learning solutions (consulting, content authoring tool and LMS) at important companies. It represents between the 5 or 10% of our incomes and it gives also to Totara trough the last 4 years more than $40,000 USD anual revenues. Eventhough we feel the growing of the tool (Totara) or their features expansion has been limited during the last 4 years. Example: It doesn't integrate x.Api compliance (with a LRS Module), and we do not see intelligence guideness trhough the training experiencie taked from the training sessions of the user. We do not have so much reference about how to explote gamification through it (and what kind of tools are they innovating related with this model) Why do not integrate an authoring tool with the LMS like Shift, so you just not focus on the user that take courses, and let the creators, build content. Doesn't offer options for the smaller companies because the ntermediate price between 500K and 3K has a huge difference, that always is letting us a big issue on how to deal wiht those price diffeerences. Pros Incorportate Coporative elements Cons The improvements or features grow slowly. Review Source PW Patrick W. Server Admin / Web Developer Oil & Energy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Totara Review" November 7, 2016 4.0 I mostly work with the Totara LMS from a server admin and web developer point of view and so far my experience has been ok. Not the easiest / most simple system I work with or have worked with, but manageable. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I find the support material and documentation from Totara to be pretty lackluster for server admins. If I find answers to my questions, 99% of the time I find it on Moodle documentation or forums. Bad thing because for the price of Totara I would expect much better, good thing that I am able to utilize a very large community. I do spend quite a bit of time developing themes and plugins for Totara for our clients, and I do have to say that I like and support your decision use the native Bootstrap class names as well as using Grunt as the task runner since use Bootstrap and Grunt quite often with other projects. I look forward to migrating to Totara 9 towards the end of this year / beginning of next year. Pros Fairly simple server setup Cons Almost never does what our clients' needs 100% out of the box. Every implementation we do for a client requires custom made plugins to fill the gaps Review Source Similar Products Featured