Absorb LMS vs. Totara LMS

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Absorb LMS
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Absorb LMS aims to empower organizations to train employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. The LMS software focuses on aligning learning needs with business demands.N/A
Totara LMS
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Totara Learning, headquartered in Wellington offers the Totara workforce learning management system with core LMS (Totara Learn) integratable social platform (Totara Social), support for instructor led learning, and cloud storage for learning materials, available on cloud.N/A
Pricing
Absorb LMSTotara LMS
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Absorb LMSTotara LMS
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
Absorb LMSTotara LMS
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
8.5
61 Ratings
4% above category average
Totara LMS
7.7
3 Ratings
6% below category average
Course authoring9.148 Ratings8.13 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.255 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Player/Portal9.255 Ratings7.53 Ratings
Learning content8.043 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.941 Ratings7.13 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.256 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Assignments8.450 Ratings7.53 Ratings
Compliance management9.246 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Learning administration9.659 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.156 Ratings7.93 Ratings
Social learning6.926 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Gamification6.425 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning8.439 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Absorb LMSTotara LMS
Small Businesses
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Absorb LMSTotara LMS
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(63 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(50 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Absorb LMSTotara LMS
Likelihood to Recommend
Absorb Software Inc.
Absorb LMS is appropriate for any continuing education organization or company that wants a reliable platform to host enduring educational content. It has been a great experience in terms of building and designing courses, monitoring learner progress, and as another touch point for learners to access other resources our organization offers.
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Totara Learning
As a real estate services company with properties (& employees) in six states, Totara LMS is well suited for implementing and our employee learning platform to our many team members that work remotely and cannot benefit from regular in-person learning courses. Totara LMS's comprehensive and customizable reporting system also allows us to accurately review and tell the story of employee performance and talent development, while tailoring this reporting to the needs of different internal stakeholders.
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Pros
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Usability - Both the User and Admin Experience is so simple and intuitive. The admin tools are clearly defined and laid out, yet the functionality makes it still powerful.
  • Integration - We used the Scheduled Data Imports and Exports to connect with our HRIS tool. After the initial configuration, it has worked reliably and gives me all the custom data I need to make assignments and reporting a breeze.
  • Design - I know it's covered a little bit in the Usability above, but the site just looks fantastic. There are a lot of options to customize and fit your branding requirements and all of the thumbnails/posters/billboards/etc give a very visual and appealing look to the LMS. Much better than I've seen in other products.
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Totara Learning
  • Distribute elearning
  • run exams
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Cons
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Uploading documents is perceived as hard for employees, especially with video uploads.
  • Sometimes the program lacks and then an employee has to start all over.
  • Spacing courses is possible but not with a certain amount of time, which would be useful if the next course could open after a week/month instead of when the employee finishes the previous course.
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Totara Learning
  • Reporting can be a little inflexible - sometimes, the report cannot be customized to have all the columns you need as they are not available from that area of the LMS.
  • Graphic reporting needs some more work to be a bit more professional looking.
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Likelihood to Renew
Absorb Software Inc.
We have no plans to move away from Absorb at this time. It has all of the functionality we are looking for in a learning management system and we have a lot of info stored in our LMS system for trainings including all of our current and past employee transcripts. It is also getting easier to manager with being able to connect the LMS to ADP to update employee reporting/department/location/etc. We don't have a need or reason to move away from Absorb at this time.
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Totara Learning
No answers on this topic
Usability
Absorb Software Inc.
It's a great place to house our trainings and keep things interesting for our associates.
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Totara Learning
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Absorb Software Inc.
I know the support team is hard at work! We are currently dealing with a confusing issue where our buttons don't connect to the pages we assign them, and they have been looking into this for a number of weeks. I hope they will unravel the issue soon so we can role out our modules!
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Totara Learning
Easy to access both local support and support/advice from other Totara LMS users as we keep in regular contact as a part of the totara government users group. Our vendor also keeps in touch with this group and a lot of knowledge is shared. It's easy to access the Totara LMS users academy, and one of my administrators has also set up a local forum where they ask each other questions and share knowledge as well. Our vendor is easy to access via our support plan and we have monthly catch-ups with our account manager where we hear about anything new coming up.
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Online Training
Absorb Software Inc.
I meet and do training with my absorb support every week. and I have all my questions answered! it's great
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Totara Learning
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Absorb Software Inc.
Our organization previously used LMS365, which did not support eCommerce and had difficulties supporting external users. (My understanding is the issues with external users may have been directly related to our Microsoft implementation and not directly LMS365's fault, but it was nonetheless a deal breaker for us.) Docebo was the runner up in our LMS selection process and I spent significant time chatting with the team at Docebo. It seemed like a strong competitor to Aborb. Ultimately, Absorb was both slightly more cost-efficient for our scenario.
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Totara Learning
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Course enrollments and completions have increased by 500% since implementation
  • Employee visits to our learning centre have increased by 300% since implementation
  • Cost saving from a time perspective as we can automate a lot of the admin work we used to do.
  • Pre Absorb we had about 3 or 4 e-learnings that were available. We now have over 100 that are accessible to all employees
  • Ability to seamlessly integrate with Workday and Udemy allowing all learning to be in one place, people data to be imported from WD, and very comprehensive reporting
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Totara Learning
  • Totara LMS has helped increase our employee retention by 15%.
  • Totara LMS has drastically improved our employee learning and development processes that weren't in place prior to having this system.
  • Totara LMS has decreased the time the onboarding process takes by 1 day.
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ScreenShots

Absorb LMS Screenshots

Screenshot of a company's unique identity with a training interface that is custom-designed for the brand.Screenshot of a company's image and values with a training interface that is tailored to the brand's specific needs.Screenshot of the course creation workflow, that offer a diverse set of formats, including instructional videos, quizzes, and assessments.Screenshot of Absorb's course details page, accessible from the course catalog dashboard, used to give learners an understanding of the course material.Screenshot of learners' progress insights, used to make data-driven decisions with the reporting capabilities of Absorb LMS.Screenshot of course creation with Create AI Beta.

Totara LMS Screenshots

Screenshot of Ensure compliance with programs and pathways to improve safety and reduce business risks.Screenshot of Cater to multiple groups, partners and customers from a single instance of your LMS.Screenshot of The learning management system, trusted by thousands of customers, upskills your workforce the way you want, with the power and flexibility to deliver transformational learning.Screenshot of The Totara Mobile app is developed by Totara for Totara users. Our native app is available for both Android and iOS devices and offers a number of authentication options, including support for both single sign-on and manual login users. Your app login screen can be customized and branded to match your Totara Learn site so learners are offered a familiar and intuitive user experience.