Absorb LMS vs. Brainshark

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
Brainshark
Score 5.4 out of 10
N/A
Brainshark is a video presentation platform for sales enablement, now from BIgTinCan (acquired August 2021).N/A
Pricing
Absorb LMSBrainshark
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Absorb LMSBrainshark
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
Absorb LMSBrainshark
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
8.5
61 Ratings
4% above category average
Brainshark
-
Ratings
Course authoring9.148 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.255 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal9.255 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content8.043 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.941 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.256 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments8.450 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management9.246 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration9.659 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.156 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning6.926 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification6.425 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning8.439 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Absorb LMSBrainshark
Small Businesses
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Lead411
Lead411
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Paperflite
Paperflite
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Paperflite
Paperflite
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Absorb LMSBrainshark
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(63 ratings)
7.7
(52 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(5 ratings)
8.2
(39 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(1 ratings)
10.0
(8 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(50 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
Online Training
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(1 ratings)
8.7
(2 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 LMSBrainshark
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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Bigtincan
Brainshark is very user-friendly and it’s very easy to create learning content, even a beginner could walk through it fairly easily. They also have a great support team and help site that can pretty much answer any question with video tutorials.
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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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Bigtincan
  • I love how easy creating a Brainshark and their formal learning is to use. Upload an animated Power Point, record audio, add music, or use videos etc.
  • Their formal learning also keeps track of people in classes, allows us to invite people to a curricula, send notifications when classes are added, and update on the fly without having to resubmit all new classes.
  • I also love that people in classes can run their own transcript and see where they are in a program, and if graded how they scored.
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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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Bigtincan
  • Brainshark has addressed a number of feature enhancements over the past two years...it really performs at a high level on a consistent basis...
  • Ocassionally we run into a large video file >500mb that we have to address directly with support but it does not happen very often...
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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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Bigtincan
Our customers (internal employees) have expressed desired for online learning and we have received positive feedback on the Brainshark modules used in eLearning and communications. We are also increasing usage at the project level as the word spreads about the benefits of using Brainshark.
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Usability
Absorb Software Inc.
It's a great place to house our trainings and keep things interesting for our associates.
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Bigtincan
The vendor offers customer support services that are reliable and diverse and this ensures that users do not get stuck anywhere in using the platform and are able to use with minimal hitches.
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Reliability and Availability
Absorb Software Inc.
No answers on this topic
Bigtincan
I'm always able to access Brainshark, whether it is to upload, record, share, download, or view presentations. Whenever I do need to contact someone at Brainshark, there is always someone there. I have never had a problem accessing a presentation and any updates to presentations are viewable immediately.
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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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Bigtincan
We've found a few glitches and needed some branding updated. Each time we've called, they were super responsive and cared about my issue as much as I did! They've even helped me (and another vendor) figure out how to have this other outside software integrate with theirs to achieve an even greater presentation. I'm super impressed with their Customer Service people.
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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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Bigtincan
The training is easy to use. You can take as little or as much as you need. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. There is a variety of training you can take. There are mini lessons, courses, and webinars. The folks at Brainshark truly want to help you have the best presentation possible.
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Implementation Rating
Absorb Software Inc.
No answers on this topic
Bigtincan
Their ongoing support after implementation is excellent and easy to access...
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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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Bigtincan
There are a lot of sites that allow you to host/share content in the loud. What won for me was their tracking, analytics, and reporting. At the time there was nobody even close to Brainshark and I have not seen anything since that would make me want to switch. I look forward to many years working with them.
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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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Bigtincan
  • Client satisfaction - we send out summaries of our big webcasts/conference calls via Brainshark. We've received lots of replies stating they love the format because they can consume the information on their own time.
  • Time to market - before Brainshark, it took several days, if not weeks to work with a design team to get professional-looking summaries available. Now, we have the process down to a day or two.
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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.