A More Feasible Alternative to Docebo LMS – iSpring Learn
If you landed on this article, chances are that you already have Docebo in your company but are not happy with it. Or, maybe, you’re just about to purchase your first LMS and you don’t want to go with the wrong product.
In either case, this post will have you covered with a direct comparison of Docebo and its robust competitor, iSpring Learn. We’ll highlight the pros and cons of each platform to let you decide which LMS will be the best fit for your company.
Docebo LMS Review
Initially developed as a university project of CEO Claudio Erba, the Docebo brand took off in 2005 and slowly gained traction as a learning management system for business. Currently, Docebo is a fully featured cloud-based LMS, with e-commerce, gamification, advanced reporting, and a wide range of integrations with webinar services and Single Sign-On providers.
Docebo poses itself as a modular platform. There are many modules including Social learning, Gamification, Audit trail, and MOOC Builder that can be enabled on demand. The problem is that most of these modules need to be paid for separately from the monthly subscription on starter pricing plans, which makes it harder to predict the total cost of your future LMS.
The vendor claims that the platform is powered by an AI that makes organizing learning content a much easier task. But, in fact, the AI analyzes uploaded video and automatically tags it based on the words it “hears” in the audio. This mechanism has a few not so obvious disadvantages, like much slower content processing during upload and serious concerns about content privacy.
Here are the main advantages and disadvantages of the Docebo LMS:
Pros
- Advanced social learning features with the “Coach & Share” module (available for an additional fee)
- Allows for scheduled reports and custom reports (available for an additional fee)
- Lots of integrations with webinar services, SSO providers and various products like Zendesk, Slack, and WordPress
- Integration with Elucidat and LectoraOnline authoring tools (should be purchased separately)
- Built-in course marketplace where learners can buy courses created by professionals
- Powered with a Stripe integration for eCommerce
Cons
- No onboarding, unintuitive, and a sometimes overly complicated interface – it’s easy to get lost in a tapestry of menus, buttons, and pop-ups
- Requires a lot of customization to provide a good learning experience for users
- Customers often complain about the quality of technical support for entry-level pricing plans
- Various additional modules like “Coach & Share” are only included with higher-priced plans
When to choose Docebo LMS
Docebo will be a good fit when you:
- Need a highly customizable learning platform with a strong leverage over design and integrations with 3rd-party services
- Are looking for an LMS with e-commerce to both train your staff and sell courses outside your company
- Use Elucidat or Lectora for content creation and want faster content upload
- Want to get and start using ready-made learning courses on common topics in a couple of clicks
Why iSpring Learn Might Be a Smarter Choice
iSpring Learn is a cloud-based LMS that began as a continuation of iSpring Suite, a desktop authoring tool. Since its initial release in 2009, the learning platform has been constantly improved with new features like gamification and Instructor-Led Training support, while simultaneously getting rid of things like eCommerce, the importance of which in corporate training is questionable.
The core idea behind iSpring Learn is keeping things simple and intuitive, while maintaining an aesthetically pleasing design and total reliability. There are no hidden fees and you get full functionality for a standard subscription fee that is based on how many learners you’re planning to train on an average month.
Let’s look at the main positives and negatives of iSpring Learn:
Pros
- Meticulously crafted, beautiful user interface – you don’t need any previous LMS experience to admin this platform or study on it
- Has a built-in course authoring tool that can be used to create responsive content that works perfectly on smartphones (and desktop)
- Comes bundled with iSpring Suite, a powerful desktop authoring toolkit (no additional fee)
- Seamless integration with Zoom webinars for live online training
- A state-of-the-art mobile app that’s on par with desktop functionality and features a possibility for learners to download content and study even when they’re not connected to the Internet
- Great in-house technical support
Cons
- No marketplace with ready-made learning content
- Doesn’t analyze your content for keywords to tag it automatically
- No xAPI, PENS or LTI support
- No eCommerce
- Report customization lacks compared to Docebo
When is it better to favor iSpring Learn over Docebo?
Go for iSpring Learn instead of Docebo LMS when you:
- Need a straightforward learning platform with a clean user interface and transparent pricing that you can start using right away
- Don’t need eCommerce
- Want to be able to create beautiful learning courses in a short time. Use the built-in online tool or go desktop with the almighty iSpring Suite to extend your authoring abilities even further
- Would like to save yourself tedious hours of customizing the product to make it visually pleasing
Feature Comparison
Let’s make a head-to-head comparison with this complete feature list:
| Features | Docebo | iSpring Learn |
| Interface design | Messy, sprawling navigation, overwhelming | Simple, clean, easy to navigate |
| Unlimited storage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Maximum upload size for video | 800 MB | 2 GB |
| eLearning standards support | SCORM 1.2/2004, xAPI, LTI, PENS | SCORM 1.2/2004 |
| Calendar of events (ILT) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Learner discussions (social learning) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audit trail | ✓ | — |
| Learner portal localizations | 30 languages | 13 languages |
| Mobile app for iOS/Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Report customization | ✓ | — |
| Built-in authoring tool | quiz editor | course editor |
| eCommerce | Stripe/Shopify | — |
| Single Sign-On | SAML, Auth0, LDAP, OpenID | SAML, JWT, OpenID |
| Webinar integrations | BlueJeans, AdobeConnect, Webex, GoToMeeting, Zoom | Zoom |
| Authoring integrations | Lectora Online, Elucidat | iSpring Suite |
| Other integrations | WordPress, Vivocha, Google Analytics, Optimizely, Zendesk, Shopify, Slack, Google Drive | — |
| Free trial | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing | not listed on the website, provided on request | 100 users – $4,392/year 300 users – $10,800/year 500 users – $16,920/year |
To Sum Up
Both Docebo and iSpring Learn are very capable LMSs that, however, were built with different scopes of application in mind. If you like total control over interface layout and find joy in spending hours to refine your learning platform before it can start to pay dividends, choose Docebo. You won’t be disappointed, as the number of customization levers and integration possibilities here are truly staggering.
But, if you’re looking for a fast, reliable, modern-looking LMS that doesn’t make administering it feel like rocket science, go for iSpring Learn. You’ll be amazed at how well it can do what a learning platform for business is supposed to do – help your employees grow and make that growth measurable.
