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Most buyers should pick Moodle LMS.
Choose Moodle LMS if you can manage hosting or need a free, open-source platform: self-hosted Moodle costs $0 and lists unlimited users, with storage limited by your infrastructure. MoodleCloud starts at a reference $13.33/month, billed annually, for 50 users and 1GB. Choose LearnDash if your courses already live on WordPress and you want course sales, memberships, quizzes, reporting, and group enrollment. Its one-site plan is $350 billed annually; neither option publishes a monthly billing price.
01Side by side
| LearnDash | Moodle LMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29.17/month equivalent; $350 billed annually | $0 self-hosted; hosted reference $13.33/month, billed annually |
| Free plan | No free plan; 48-hour free trial | Free self-hosted LMS; MoodleCloud 28-day trial |
| Best for | WordPress course sellers wanting built-in sales tools | Institutions and teams needing open-source control |
| Core strength | Course builder, quizzes, memberships, reporting, groups | Course management, grading, communication, progress tracking |
| Learning curve (ease score) | Review ease-of-use score: 6/10 | Review ease-of-use score: 5/10 |
| Integrations / data | Bundle includes The Events Calendar, Give, Kadence | H5P, BigBlueButton, and AI-provider connections |
| Team / seat costs | $29.17–$83.25/month equivalent; 1–100 sites | Cloud: 50–750 users; self-hosted unlimited users |
| Support | Support terms not published | Support terms not published |
LearnDash Choose LearnDash if
- Choose LearnDash if your course site already runs on WordPress.
- Choose LearnDash if you need built-in memberships and scheduled releases.
- Choose LearnDash if organizational seats and team management matter.
Moodle LMS Choose Moodle LMS if
- Choose Moodle LMS if free self-hosting and unlimited users matter.
- Choose Moodle LMS if you need modular courses, grading, and Gradebook.
- Choose Moodle LMS if accessibility, 160+ languages, or AI-provider connections matter.
02Pricing compared
LearnDash starts at $29.17/month equivalent, but the listed price is $350 billed annually for one WordPress site; no monthly billing price is published. The bundle also includes The Events Calendar, Give, and Kadence. Annual totals rise to $599 for 10 sites, $799 for 25, $899 for 50, and $999 for 100. There is no free plan, and the listed trial is 48 hours.
Moodle has two cost paths. Self-hosted Moodle LMS is free, with unlimited users and storage limited by your infrastructure. MoodleCloud starts at a reference $13.33/month equivalent, billed annually, for 50 users and 1GB. Its Standard plan is $173.33/month equivalent for up to 750 users and 50GB. Monthly billing prices and other add-on or overage costs are not published. Choose self-hosted only if you can manage the hosting and infrastructure.
03Features and depth
LearnDash is the more direct fit for a WordPress course business. Its builder arranges lessons, topics, and assessments with drag-and-drop; quizzes support eight question types, including essays and sorting. Built-in memberships cover tiers, subscriptions, bundles, and scheduled content releases. Group enrollment lets organizations buy seats and manage teams. Reporting covers enrollments, completion, quiz performance, and individual progress. Its AI course builder generates an outline and lessons from a topic prompt.
Moodle supports a wider set of classroom workflows: modular course sections, H5P content, quizzes, assignments, rubrics, peer assessment, and a centralized Gradebook. Forums, wikis, messaging, calendars, and BigBlueButton support communication. Progress tools include activity tracking, completion, Open Badges, and custom reports. Moodle says it meets WCAG accessibility standards and is translated into more than 160 languages. It can connect to OpenAI, Azure AI, and Ollama for content generation and summarization. That flexibility comes with more to configure, especially if you self-host.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The easier choice depends on your setup. LearnDash is a WordPress LMS, so it fits best when your site already runs on WordPress. Its drag-and-drop course builder and built-in memberships cover course structure and selling features in one product. The source does not publish setup requirements or a learning-time estimate, so the 48-hour trial alone is no reason to assume switching will be simple.
Self-hosted Moodle is free, but your organization supplies the hosting and infrastructure. That gives you control, not a turnkey service. MoodleCloud is the hosted route, with user and storage limits by plan. Its grading, communication, and reporting tools may suit institutions and training programs, but teams should map their existing workflows before migrating.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, LearnDash or Moodle?
At the software-license level, self-hosted Moodle is cheaper: it is listed at $0, with unlimited users and storage subject to your infrastructure. That does not include the infrastructure you supply. MoodleCloud starts at a reference $13.33/month equivalent, while LearnDash’s one-site bundle is $350 billed annually.
Can I pay monthly for LearnDash or MoodleCloud?
Neither product publishes a monthly billing price in the published pricing information. LearnDash’s one-site price is $350 billed annually. MoodleCloud lists annual billing, with reference prices shown as monthly equivalents. Treat those figures as comparisons, not confirmed month-to-month rates.
Which LMS is better for selling courses?
LearnDash includes course sales and built-in memberships for subscriptions, bundles, and scheduled content releases. MoodleCloud includes a Stripe course-selling integration on Small, Medium, and Standard plans, but not on Starter or Mini according to the listed inclusions. Choose based on the selling features and hosting model you need.
Should I choose LearnDash or Moodle?
Choose LearnDash if your courses already run on WordPress and you want course sales, memberships, quizzes, reporting, and group enrollment. Choose Moodle if you need open-source software and can manage self-hosting, or want MoodleCloud’s hosted plans with defined user and storage caps.