D2L Brightspace vs. Saba Cloud

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
D2L Brightspace
Score 5.7 out of 10
N/A
Brightspace is an academic and corporate learning management platform. It provides core e-learning features, as well as mobile accessibility and granular personalization and analytics insights.N/A
Saba Cloud
Score 7.2 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Saba Cloud is a talent management suite which includes performance management, succession planning, learning management, planning, and recruiting. The vendor intends the cloud-based platform to be highly scalable to enable continuous corporate employee development.N/A
Pricing
D2L BrightspaceSaba Cloud
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
D2L BrightspaceSaba Cloud
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMust contact vendor for pricing information. 30-day free trial is available.—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
D2L BrightspaceSaba Cloud
Considered Both Products
D2L Brightspace

No answer on this topic

Saba Cloud
Chose Saba Cloud
Saba has a competitive LMS with both Brightspace and Canvas. It offers class and course management that is easy to use. It out classes the others by its use of assessment tools and analytics. Where Saba excels is in its talent management system. Being able to track users and …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
D2L BrightspaceSaba Cloud
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
D2L Brightspace
5.8
10 Ratings
34% below category average
Saba Cloud
8.9
31 Ratings
23% above category average
Course authoring2.010 Ratings9.024 Ratings
Course catalog or library10.06 Ratings9.030 Ratings
Player/Portal9.87 Ratings8.628 Ratings
Learning content9.69 Ratings9.029 Ratings
Mobile friendly1.09 Ratings8.025 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.49 Ratings9.630 Ratings
Assignments2.010 Ratings9.629 Ratings
Compliance management8.01 Ratings9.030 Ratings
Learning administration2.09 Ratings8.930 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics2.010 Ratings8.930 Ratings
Social learning8.49 Ratings8.021 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
D2L Brightspace
-
Ratings
Saba Cloud
7.9
24 Ratings
8% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings7.511 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.119 Ratings
Compliance tracking and reporting00 Ratings8.223 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
D2L Brightspace
-
Ratings
Saba Cloud
7.8
26 Ratings
9% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings8.224 Ratings
Subordinate goal setting00 Ratings7.025 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings8.026 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings8.525 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings7.025 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
D2L Brightspace
-
Ratings
Saba Cloud
7.3
28 Ratings
10% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings8.022 Ratings
Plan weighting00 Ratings6.514 Ratings
Manager note taking00 Ratings7.016 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.218 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings8.019 Ratings
Rater nomination workflow00 Ratings7.415 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings8.118 Ratings
Workflow restrictions00 Ratings6.414 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings7.116 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings7.027 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
D2L Brightspace
-
Ratings
Saba Cloud
7.5
14 Ratings
7% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings8.113 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings7.312 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings7.412 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings7.313 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
D2L Brightspace
-
Ratings
Saba Cloud
8.6
8 Ratings
17% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings7.75 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings8.35 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings8.54 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
Customized Application Form00 Ratings8.34 Ratings
Resume Management00 Ratings7.64 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings9.15 Ratings
Candidate Search00 Ratings8.55 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings9.25 Ratings
Collaboration00 Ratings9.15 Ratings
Email Templates00 Ratings9.26 Ratings
User Permissions00 Ratings9.15 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings9.17 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings9.28 Ratings
Best Alternatives
D2L BrightspaceSaba Cloud
Small Businesses
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.9 out of 10
Paycor
Paycor
Score 7.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.6 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Score 7.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.6 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Score 7.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
D2L BrightspaceSaba Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
1.1
(45 ratings)
9.0
(50 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(25 ratings)
4.5
(5 ratings)
Usability
6.4
(11 ratings)
7.8
(11 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(6 ratings)
8.3
(16 ratings)
Online Training
4.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.6
(3 ratings)
4.5
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
D2L BrightspaceSaba Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
D2L
If you're an educational institution (K-12, Higher Ed, etc.), this is an amazing tool, and it will provide you all the functionality to support anything you may want and need it to do. If you are looking at Brightspace as a tool for corporate training, I'm not sure exactly how good or bad it will be for you. My guess would be that it likely depends on your organization's size. Along that line, what I can speak to is how we use it for our customized training and in-house professional development/training, and it works fantastically for that. While we primarily use it for normal higher ed coursework, we regularly do training and professional development for all of our employees and I manage those along with our HR department. Because we use it for many other things as well, all of our employees are familiar with the product, which makes our trainings go that much smoother and makes my job that much easier.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
Our organization uses Saba Cloud primarily to manage all types of learning systems or staff training empirically. In addition, it provides us with a quick test-based follow-up to the trainees. We use Saba Cloud to train our clientele in a professional manner with respect to our worldwide online service. With this tool we are able to enhance the customer experience with the organization. Similarly, our organization uses Saba Cloud to monitor the performance and effectiveness of our employees and customers after having access to all the information provided by the application to subsequently make learning and development reports.
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Pros
D2L
  • Allowing users to embed content links from YouTube or Google Drive enables learners to experience a richer lesson.
  • Providing a powerful editor that allows developers to also include content from Adobe Stock as well as textbook publishers and cloud storage companies gives more power and creative ability to instructors.
  • Providing scaling for mobile and traditional computer systems ensures students will not have issues on the go.
  • The customization of home pages and groups enable courses to be used for small training sessions with breakout groups, large courses with separate sections, and even just more engaging courses that present themed icons and logos.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Skills Management - Saba has allowed us to set specific expectations for employees based upon their role, and this has clarified the skill requirements for employees.
  • Goal Management - With Saba, managers can easily create goals aligned up to senior leadership, and then work with their direct reports to create supporting goals.
  • Learning Management - Using Saba's built-in Smart Lists, assigning compliance training is a simple process that used to be a challenge in our former LMS.
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Cons
D2L
  • One can feel a bit rushed on the Brightspace platform during the log-out period. Security requirements may require this, but it makes end-users more conscious about getting through content than taking notes.
  • From my experience, there is not a direct connection between the platform and Outlook.
  • Some content on the platform can feel redundant.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Saba continues to improve their reporting and analytics. While it is much improved over previous versions, it can be improved.
  • Release Notes for system updates need to be delivered to admins farther in advance of the update in order to prepare properly.
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Likelihood to Renew
D2L
I would never give any system a perfect score. In the technology environment today we need to be constantly looking at ways to improve the user experience and LMS companies like Desire2Learn need to know that we have options today with other systems and they need to stay current with features and listen to their customers.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
Typically customers that acquire a Saba solution rarely move away. There are reasons and "legends" behind this. The investment is significant. Time and money are required to make the engine go smoothly. But once it runs at full capacity, it doesn't stop! Professional Services are extremely competent and able to close implementation gaps quickly.
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Usability
D2L
Overall, the learning environment works as expected. However, there are plenty of bugs. For example, for a few versions, trying to print out a PDF from the Content screen in several browsers would produce a blank page. We inform D2L support about these issues, most of which are known issues. However, they are very slow to respond. D2L seems to spend more time selling than actually coding and testing their product. Most of the issues are not major -- however, there have been a few that are unbelievable. In fact, this past week we had a sudden issue where the "Submit" button in quizzes would not appear if users had a certain browser/operating system combination. This is a major problem, if students cannot submit their exams! D2L is slow to respond to these kinds of situations, which do occur more often than I would like.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
As someone who creates classes and is also a learning administrator in the system, I have run into some issues with the system's capabilities for my needs. I am not a fan of having to use Adobe Captivate to download a PowerPoint presentation into the system, as my training sessions are much more than a glorified PowerPoint. Our organization has yet to turn on Saba Meetings, which may help with these limitations.
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Reliability and Availability
D2L
Both students and instructor enjoy the 24-hoiur access. After, all isn't that the point of online learning. As an instructor located in an Eastern time zone state it is great to connect with students located in a Pacific time zone state. I have gotten comments about the early hours I am in the course room grading assignments . . . 4:00 a.m. PST; 7:00 a.m. EST So, it's sleep time for my students and "first cup of coffee" time for me.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
No answers on this topic
Performance
D2L
Easy to navigate; little to no delay from one section of the course room to another; actually fun to use after overcoming the learning curve.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
D2L
I have had excellent support from Desire2Learn. Any ticket that I submit is acknowledged immediately and the correction is usually almost as quick. We use this for thousands of classes and it is pretty well liked by both faculty and students. We have been using it for almost 4 years now and most of our instructors have become pretty proficient with it.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
For the times that we have used the support provided by Saba, it has been a very pleasurable experience for our department. Part of our package with Saba includes a specified number of hours of "training" time with Saba. During these meetings, we have shared our desires of the product and the support personnel have either shown us how to accomplish our task or they have taken our requests to their developers to look at future enhancements. Overall, very pleased with the support.
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In-Person Training
D2L
Did not participate in the in-person training due to distance; training was completed online
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Cornerstone OnDemand
No answers on this topic
Online Training
D2L
The training provided online did not, necessarily, fit the version of the system that I was using. Screens were somewhat different and not all options were readily available. This could have been due to customization on the part of my institution however, I rather believe it was due to version changes and training materials not yet being updated.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
D2L
The D2L implementation team listened to our concerns and built a system based upon our needs. We wanted to keep them after the initial implementation.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
Was not involved with integration.
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Alternatives Considered
D2L
I have used Blackboard Learn 8 and 9. I am currently learning about Canvas. Blackboard is overall much clunkier and lacks the intuitive feel in some parts of D2L. Its grade book is much harder to control and manipulate than D2L's. Its navigation menu can be more radically modified from the default than D2L's, but this doesn't seem that useful to me. Discussions in Blackboard can be more easily reorganized than in D2L, but no grading of discussions is possible. Blackboard Assignments is a good innovation which allows markup directly in the students' submissions, but it displays student work in a confusing manner that doesn't allow for any customization, and its markup options need further tweaking. Furthermore, no rubrics can be used in Blackboard in any way to grade any kind of work (that I am aware of). Overall, I would choose D2L over Blackboard.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
We had extensive reviews with a plan of what we needed and must have out of the system, including custom learning paths and tracking inside our HRIS system to grant permissions and positions based on completed learning certifications and courses. We weighed each option and chose based on the one that met the most of the must-haves.
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Scalability
D2L
During my first semester working with Desire2Learn the integrated learning management system was more down than up. This meant reconfiguring assignment due dates, frustration for both the instructor, students, and help desk staff. After an upgrade, Desire2Learn has been reliable.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
D2L
  • I cannot speak to whether this system is less expensive than the more fully featured Blackboard, but employees are far less efficient, frustrated, and require frequent calls to the help center to set up fairly simple course templates.
  • I have been asked to consider teaching courses which will be completely online at my current institution. I have done such online courses several times at other universities, but I have decided Desire2Learn is too frustrating and cumbersome to do so. I am now exploring using Google Drive to teach a course online. Otherwise, I will not teach online until required or I find an alternate system.
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Cornerstone OnDemand
  • This may seem small but with 90% of our workforce not at our main facility just the fact that since July 1, 2021, we have had over 18,956 compliance-related training completed by our staff. Do the math the ROI is wonderful.
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ScreenShots

D2L Brightspace Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of

Saba Cloud Screenshots

Screenshot of The Intelligent Mentor in Action - RecommendationsScreenshot of Learning PlanScreenshot of Informal LearningScreenshot of Performance Check-insScreenshot of Succession Talent DashboardScreenshot of Organizational Planning