The Best LMS for a Small Business: Quality Training for Your Employees

Founded in 2001, iSpring has created various business software solutions, with almost 60,000 client companies internationally. Some of its best-known customers are IBM, Samsung, SONY, LEGO, PUMA, and many more.

Main Features

Once you’ve registered and uploaded your learning material, you can assign training courses to teams or individuals. This small-business learning management system features reports, so you can seamlessly monitor employee progress. All packages include the authoring tool iSpring Suite, which allows you to create interactive courses and quizzes effortlessly.

iSpring Learn’s application programming interface (API) allows you to easily integrate other software, such as customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and human resources (HR) systems.

Furthermore, its integration with Zoom lets you create online meetings on the platform, with comprehensive follow-up reports about who attended the meeting and for how long. This is especially useful when you have many employees, which would make it challenging to keep track of who attended.

Pricing

You may choose between three pricing plans with iSpring Learn. The first one costs $3.66 per month for one user. It includes storage space for 50 courses, one authoring tool, and allows you to provide small-business employee training for up to 100 users.

The second plan retails at $3 a month per user for up to 300 users. Signing up for this plan gives you the ability to create an unlimited number of online courses, one authoring tool, and the single sign-on option.

The final package is suitable for up to 500 users and allows you to upload as many courses as you want. It also features the single sign-on option and two authoring tools, for $2.82 per user per month. You can also select the custom plan, which is helpful if you plan to train more than 500 employees.

What’s great about the iSpring Learn pricing system is the fact that you only pay for active users. However, while inactive users won’t be able to log in, all of their progress will be saved. All plans are billed annually, but there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you may try this small-business LMS out before making a final decision.

User Experience

iSpring Learn’s clean and easy-to-navigate user interface doesn’t take long to get accustomed to, so the provider definitely delivered in that department. There is also an iSpring Learn mobile app, which is very convenient for users who prefer learning through their phones. Both Android and iOS users can download the courses, and study offline.

Customer support is available 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email. The live chat option makes it easy to access tech support. The agents answer very promptly, although they ask a lot of questions before answering your inquiries.

JoomLMS, founded in 2006, is another popular LMS on our list, with over 1,000 businesses in 30 countries. JoomLMS, which is more than just an LMS, allows you to have full command over your eLearning project and go far beyond the confines of traditional course delivery.

Main Features

The platform features eCommerce tools that allow you to profit from the courses you create. Thus, if you’ve built a budget for your company but are still short on cash, you can earn extra money by selling online courses you make.

JoomLMS allows you to integrate third-party learning materials from popular websites and other platforms like Joomla, Zoom, and GoTo Meeting. Furthermore, the JoomLMS mobile app provides learners with on-the-go access to learning materials and other course information.

This LMS for small-business purposes, medium-sized businesses, freelancers, public administrations, larger enterprises, and nonprofits makes learning a transparent process, as users can track their progress and access it anytime. 

JoomLMS’s intuitive, uncluttered, and user-friendly interface is bolstered by the fact that it supports multiple languages, can be tailored to reflect your brand, and is in line with modern eLearning industry standards.

Pricing

JoomLMS offers three pricing plans: Standard, Professional, and Enterprise, as well as a free trial period. You can select a user count ranging from 100 to over 10,000. The table below contains the plans’ annual prices and the number of active users they support.

A cloud-based JoomLMS platform is also available to prospective users, with the Standard plan starting at $37 per month and the Professional plan starting at $64 per month, both for up to 50 users.

Furthermore, you can request a demo or a 30-day free trial to test this LMS solution before purchasing it. The company does not disclose pricing information for the Enterprise plan on its website, so you will have to request a quote to find out.

User Experience

Creating interactive courses with JoomLMS is pretty straightforward, as its intuitive platform doesn’t require advanced computer skills. 

Customer service is available for users via the help desk, live chat, and email. The agents ask for some basic information, such as your name and email address, before they answer your questions. They are well-informed and willing to help.

The TalentLMS platform was launched in 2012. So far, this learning management system for a small business has had over 10,000 customers. In 2021, it won the Finances Online “Best Software Award.”

Main Features

As is common with training software tools, the platform automates a lot of repetitive processes, such as grading. It also allows you to build courses with ease and keep learners engaged with leaderboards, badges, and rewards, all available on the platform. 

The software works on desktops and mobile devices. Users may access the learning material offline and sync their progress once they’re connected to the internet again.

TalentLMS supports blended learning by enabling business owners to:

• Host webinars.
• Use virtual whiteboards, upload files, and chat in real time during the webinars.
• Alert the employees about future blended learning activities.

The platform is compatible with video conferencing software like Zoom, and Microsoft Teams, allowing you to host meetings. What is more, you can integrate it with many other types of software, including CRM, HRIS, and SSO.

You can track employee progress by reviewing the reports available on the platform. TalentLMS allows you to export them as Excel sheets, so they’re open to you offline as well.

Pricing

TalentLMS has two sets of pricing plans - Standard and Active. You may choose to pay on a monthly or yearly basis. Of course, the latter option is more affordable in the long run. The certification management tool enables you to issue custom certifications to your employees when they finish a course.

There are five Standard Plans with this LMS solution, including a free plan. However, remember that this package lets you include only up to five users. Nevertheless, it’s an excellent option for startups or businesses who want to test the software before purchasing. Here is a table featuring all the options.

When it comes to the Active Plans, there are four options. These plans allow you to pay only for active users.

As you can tell, this is a genuinely affordable small-business learning management system. However, there’s no option for those who would like to train more than 1,000 employees, although most small businesses wouldn’t mind that limitation. 

User Experience

TalentLMS’ user interface is elegant and simple, which is what most users look for, as needing a long time to learn how to use the software can be frustrating.

The platform features friendly and knowledgeable customer support ready to answer all questions. Support is available to all users, even those subscribed to the free plan.

360Learning is a company that promotes collaborative learning. It built small-business employee training software to help business owners and employees create and participate in interactive and collaborative training. It’s the LMS of choice of over 1,700 companies, including Toyota and LVMH.

Main Features

360Learning features comprehensive learning management tools, including the authoring tool, which gives you a wide range of options for course, quiz, and assignment creation. The software comes with course templates, a screen recording feature, and eleven question types.

The diverse question types enable you to make the learning experience dynamic and interactive. Classic options include true/false, multiple-choice, and open-ended questions. In addition, learners can fill in the blanks or match questions and answers. 

The platform allows you to integrate other software into the learning experience. For instance, you can add content from platforms such as Coursera, and Udemy Business, use HR systems on the platform, and create learning materials using Google Drive, Loom, SCORM, Canva, and other software. You can also use your company logo and customize the URL to reflect your branding.

Pricing

With 360Learning, you get to choose between two plans, namely Team and Business. The former plan retails at $8 per registered user per month and allows you to invite up to 100 employees. It’s billed monthly. The latter option is suitable for over 100 users, and the price is quote-based.

User Experience

Overall, users are very pleased with the platform. They cite its elegant interface, responsive customer support, and neatly presented statistics as some of the reasons they enjoy this training software for a small business. However, some did note that the user interface took them some time to get accustomed to.

Customer support agents can be contacted via contact form only, as the website unfortunately lacks a live chat.

EdApp is a ​​learning management system for a small business, which also has plans for mid-sized businesses and large enterprises. It was created by educational psychologists and software experts.

Main Features

The features you get access to depend on the pricing plan you select. Here’s a table that illustrates what you can expect from each plan.

As you can tell, even the free plan offers several handy features, like the offline mode, certificates, and gamification. To form groups, you’ll need to sign up for a paid plan. Some plans feature AI translation, which can be helpful if you have employees from non-English-speaking countries.

Pricing

There are five EdApp pricing tiers - EdApp Free, EdApp Growth, EdApp Plus, EdApp Mid-Size, and Enterprise. Contrary to some other platforms on our list of LMS options, the packages don’t have any limitations in terms of how many users can join. Instead, you simply pay per active user and get the features included in the plan.

The first three plans are best-suited to small businesses. Of course, EdApp Free doesn’t cost anything. EdApp Growth is $1.95 a month per user, while EdApp Plus costs $2.95. There’s a 30-day trial for each program.

User Experience

Just like the other online training platforms for a small business on this list, this software was designed to be simple to use. Customer service is available 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email.

Most user reviews are positive, with many citing the price and simple-to-follow platform architecture as significant benefits. Some users noted that the 10 MB limit for a video upload is a bit of an inconvenience, but overall, they were very pleased with the platform.

Furthermore, users would like to see some additional features, such as branching scenarios. They also noted that user management needs improvement. Other than that, they reported enjoying the regular software updates and ease of use. They were also pleased with the customer support and many different course creation templates.