Based on 202 reviews and ratings
Based on 229 reviews and ratings
Highlights
Blackboard Learn and Canvas are both learning management systems (LMS) designed primarily for colleges, universities, and other higher education institutions. Blackboard is the classic academic LMS for higher education, with a broad range of features designed to meet the requirements of many different institutions. Canvas is a cloud-based LMS that excels at providing core LMS features efficiently and effectively. Since both platforms are aimed at meeting the needs of sizable learning institutions, medium-to-large organizations make up the majority of the user base for each.
Features
Blackboard Learn and Canvas offer very similar feature sets, but they each stand out in different areas.
Blackboard Learn offers a wide array of features designed to fit many different needs. For instance, it offers multiple communication paths for both students and educators, including an email portal, built-in live chat, and discussion forums. These tools help students collaborate without leaving the platform, which can be particularly valuable for fully-online classes. Recent additions to Blackboard Learn include read-only messaging options for one-way communication and improvements to the integrated content editor.
Canvas excels at delivering LMS fundamentals. Users find its document and assignment management features to be robust, and they also appreciate its numerous content creation tools, including video editing tools. Reviewers also highlight Canvas’s gradebook capabilities, which includes features to help give students full visibility into their grades and gives educators options for additional feedback. Canvas continues to improve their UI options, with recent additions such as a navigation history bar to help users return to recent pages.
Limitations
Although both Blackboard Learn and Canvas are fully-featured LMS platforms, they also have limitations that are important to evaluate before choosing either.
Blackboard is often criticized for its UI. It’s notorious for being hard to use, especially for users with less technological savvy. Some users specifically call out Blackboard Learn’s in-system content editor for being buggy and unintuitive. The interface issues also extend to the mobile application. Additionally, its online grading capabilities are relatively limited and can be difficult to use for some educators. Some reviewers claim that Blackboard Learn is not cost-competitive with Canvas, but that information is not publicly available.
Canvas, on the other hand, has a noticeably steep learning curve. It also lacks the depth of collaboration abilities that Blackboard Learn offers. Some users specifically wished for built-in video conferencing tools or better quiz proctoring options. Also, while Canvas’s content creation tools are generally well-regarded, some users find that creating and administering tests and assessments is more difficult than creating other content.
Pricing
Pricing for both Blackboard Learn and Canvas is available via a quote from the respective vendors.
Provided by the TrustRadius Research Team
Published on July 16, 2020
Feature Set Ratings
- Canvas ranks higher in 1 feature set: Learning Management
Learning Management

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Course authoring


Course catalog or library


Player/Portal


Learning content


Mobile friendly


Progress tracking & certifications


Assignments


Compliance management


Learning administration


Learning reporting & analytics


Social learning


Gamification


Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning


Attribute Ratings
- Blackboard Learn is rated higher in 1 area: Implementation Rating
- Canvas is rated higher in 4 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Likelihood to Renew, Support Rating, Online Training
- Blackboard Learn and Canvas are tied in 1 area: Usability
Likelihood to Recommend

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Likelihood to Renew

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Usability

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Support Rating

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
In-Person Training

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Online Training

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Implementation Rating

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Product Scalability

Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Likelihood to Recommend
Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Pros
Blackboard Learn
- Blackboard Learn makes submitting assignments electronically simple and provides a variety of built-in Web-based tools like e-portfolios, wikis, and blogs that our students use to create their own content.
- Blackboard Learn is intuitive and easy to navigate from a students perspective
- Blackboard Learn has many integrations available for connecting this LMS to other tools we use at our institution.

Canvas
- Creativity options for teachers to create a virtual space that still has fun graphics and accessibility options.
- Canvas has versatility in viewing options for assignment due dates such as the calendar built in feature as well as the dashboard options to display upcoming and due assignments.
- Allowing teachers to create community with each other and collaborate in each-other's space.
- Discussion platforms within classrooms for students to communicate with each-other and with their teachers.
- Easy messaging portal within each virtual classroom.

Cons
Blackboard Learn
- Blackboard Learn has some limitations when it comes to submissions
- It is not that user friendly, I had to spend some time to get a hang of it in the beginning
- I have been struggling a bit with deletion of manually added courses
Canvas
- Their integration with Big Blue Button was a bust for distance learning. Would be great to see them collaborate with Zoom or Google Meets.
- Their "feature request" process is slow and cumbersome at times because it relies on user "up votes" to get ideas addressed by the developers.
- They seem to have a lot of turn-over with their staff. We get a new Customer Success Manager far more frequently than with other vendors.
Pricing Details
Blackboard Learn
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
Starting Price
—Canvas
General
Free Trial
Free/Freemium Version
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
Starting Price
—Likelihood to Renew
Blackboard Learn
Canvas
Usability
Blackboard Learn
Canvas
Support Rating
Blackboard Learn
Canvas
In-Person Training
Blackboard Learn
Canvas
Online Training
Blackboard Learn
Canvas
Implementation Rating
Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Alternatives Considered
Blackboard Learn

Canvas
Return on Investment
Blackboard Learn
- At one of the institutions that I worked for, the ROI was excellent for the number of users we were serving; however, I could not speak to other instances as I was not aware of the overall cost of the contract.
Canvas
- Canvas has helped us provide a more robust online component to our courses.
- Canvas has helped us better adapt to a rapidly changing educational landscape.
- Canvas has reduced the time that we have to spend training faculty on how to use our learning management system.
