What is an LMS? Definition, features and pricing

What is an LMS?

An LMS is the platform where a company, school or training provider stores its courses, assigns who must take them and checks that they have been completed. In French it is often called a « plateforme de formation » (training platform).

An LMS manages and delivers: in principle it does not produce the content. Content is created with an authoring tool (or, increasingly, with built-in AI generation features) and then imported into the platform.

What does an LMS do? The main features

Feature	What it covers
Catalogue	List of available courses, organised by topic, audience or obligation
Enrolment and assignment	Individual or group enrolment, automatic rules (new hire, job, site), reminders
Delivery	E-learning modules, videos, documents, quizzes, on desktop and mobile; management of classroom or virtual classroom sessions for blended programmes
Tracking and reporting	Logins, progress, completion rate, scores, certificates, exports for management and funding bodies
Assessment	Quizzes, exams, internal certifications, validity and renewal dates
Interoperability	Playback of SCORM, xAPI or cmi5 content, single sign-on (SSO), connection to the HR information system

For a learning and development (L&D) department, the main benefit is traceability: knowing who took what, when, and with what result. This is what makes the LMS indispensable for mandatory and regulatory training.

SCORM, xAPI, cmi5: which standards should an LMS support?

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) is a technical standard developed by the ADL Initiative (Advanced Distributed Learning). It packages a module so that any conformant LMS can play it, and reports a limited set of data: status, score, time spent.

xAPI (Experience API) describes how tools exchange data about a learner's activity, including outside the LMS (simulations, mobile apps, practical exercises). The data is stored in an LRS (Learning Record Store). The specification was standardised by the IEEE as IEEE 9274.1.1-2023, published on 6 October 2023.

cmi5 is an xAPI profile designed for the classic case where the learner launches a module from the LMS. Started in 2010 within the AICC, the project was transferred to ADL in 2014; its first production release dates from June 2016. It aims to provide SCORM's functions with more open data collection and content that can be hosted outside the LMS.

Note: ADL's official GitHub account states that the initiative has been shut down and that its repositories are archived for public use. The specifications remain usable, and xAPI is now an active IEEE standard. In practice, ask the vendor which versions it supports and test the import of one of your real modules.

What types of LMS are there?

Open source LMS. Moodle is the most widespread. It is distributed under the GNU GPL version 3 licence, with no licence fees, and developed by Moodle Pty Ltd (Moodle HQ). Costs relate to hosting, configuration, updates and support, provided in-house or by a service provider.

SaaS LMS. The vendor hosts and maintains the platform, and the customer pays a subscription. This is the model of 360Learning, TalentLMS or Docebo, for example.

Learning modules in HR suites. Some talent management suites include an LMS module, useful when the priority is to link training, reviews and skills in a single tool.

LMS platforms also differ by audience: employee training, customer or partner training ("extended enterprise"), or running a training provider.

How much does an LMS cost?

Vendors use four main pricing models. The examples below were taken from official pages on 10 October 2026, as displayed (in US dollars); they change often.

Model	Example	Public price on 10 October 2026
Per user per month	360Learning, Team plan	$8 per user per month, up to 100 users, billed monthly with no annual commitment; Business and Enterprise plans on quote
Flat fee by user tier	TalentLMS	Free plan up to 5 users and 10 courses; Core $119 per month (up to 40 users), Grow $229 (70), Pro $449 (100); 20% discount for annual billing; Enterprise on quote
Per active user, on quote	Docebo	On quote; counted as monthly, yearly or registered active users; one-year minimum contract; the vendor says it targets organisations with at least 250 learners
Free licence, paid services	Moodle	No licence fees; hosting, integration and maintenance to budget for

The list price is not the total cost. Add set-up fees (Docebo mentions them depending on deployment complexity), add-on modules, any consumption credits for AI features, content production and administration time. Total cost is detailed in How much does an AI training system cost a company.

Watch out: the difference between a "registered" and an "active" user changes the bill considerably for a population that trains irregularly.

What are the limits of an LMS?

An LMS measures activity: logins, time spent, modules completed. On its own, it does not tell whether a skill has been acquired; this is covered in Measuring skills acquisition beyond the completion rate.

Personalisation usually relies on rules defined in advance (a given audience receives a given path). Content must be produced and updated elsewhere, or with built-in authoring tools. Finally, completion of optional training remains a sensitive issue: the available data is presented in E-learning completion rates: what the research really says.

LMS or LXP: what is the difference?

The LMS is organised around a catalogue and obligations defined by the organisation. The LXP (Learning Experience Platform) is organised around the learner: it aggregates content from various sources and recommends it based on profile and usage. The two are often combined, and many vendors now offer both functions. The full distinction, including adaptive learning and systems that generate learning paths, is made in LMS, LXP, adaptive learning, AI training engine: how to tell them apart.

How to choose an LMS?

1. Describe audiences and volumes: number of registered users, share of users active each month, any external audiences. This determines the most favourable pricing model.
2. List the standards and integrations required: SCORM, xAPI or cmi5 depending on your content, SSO, HR information system, video-conferencing tools.
3. Set reporting requirements: data expected by management, auditors and funding bodies, and the conditions for processing personal data (see GDPR and training).
4. Calculate the three-year cost: subscription, set-up, modules, content, administration.
5. Check reversibility: export of training records and content at the end of the contract.
6. Test on your own content and your own cases, not on a standard demo.

The questions to ask a vendor are detailed in How to choose an AI training system: the right questions to ask, and a vendor comparison is available in Alternatives to 360Learning: comparing training platforms.