Canvas vs. Google Classroom

Canvas

Google Classroom

Overview
Product	Rating	Most Used By	Product Summary	Starting Price
Canvas	Score 8.6 out of 10	N/A	Instructure is an educational software company based in Sandy, Utah. It is the developer of the Canvas learning management system, which is a comprehensive software package that competes with such systems as Blackboard Learning System, SumTotal and Saba.	N/A
Google Classroom	Score 8.1 out of 10	N/A	N/A	$0 per license/per month

Pricing

Canvas

Google Classroom

Editions & Modules

No answers on this topic

Education Fundamentals: $0
per license/per month
Google Workspace for Education Standard: $3
per student/per year
Teaching and Learning Upgrade: $4
per license/per month
Google Workspace for Education Plus: $5
per student/per year

Offerings

Pricing Offerings
Canvas	Google Classroom
Free Trial
Yes	Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes	No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No	No

Entry-level Setup Fee

No setup fee

Additional Details

Must contact vendor for pricing information.

Education Fundamentals Version - 30-day free trial for qualifying institutions.

More Pricing Information

Community Pulse
	Canvas	Google Classroom
Considered Both Products	Canvas Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas This is much easier to use than Blackboard. Everything is easy to locate. The interface is clean and intuitive, which makes navigation smooth for both instructors and students. Assignments, grades, and messages are all centralized, reducing confusion. Setup is quick, and the … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas Canvas is much more robust, has more features, and is more accessible. In canvas it can be specified to your specific organization and have its own domain which I do not think that Coursera can do. Coursera is good for sharing a single course or CEU but does not have the same … Incentivized Helpful? WH William Hazevoets Student Chose Canvas Canvas is in the experience way better than Google Classroom. Canvas has a more robust agenda system that also allows adding in new personal deadlines. [Assignments] can be submitted past [the] deadline (if allowed), Incentivized Helpful? JH Jarne Horemans Student Chose Canvas Canvas is more secure, has a cleaner design, and has more features. For the features, they have in common canvas still stacks up against [Smart school] by going for the extra mile. Besidfor e that, [the] canvas looks a lot more [professional] than [Smart school]. I didn't make … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas Canvas is a stronger platform. I used it as a teacher AND as a student in graduate school, and it is just the most put-together, professional version of a learning management system that I've used or seen. I do assume that Canvas is more expensive than its competitors, which … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas I believe Canvas is worse than all of them. In my experience, it is harder to use, uglier to look at. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas Moodle is open source and it is free. So we can implement our own server with Moodle very easily. But it is not very customizable. When we need a new feature, it is very hard to change as we do not have the ability to change. Canvas has been great help in this because we can … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas NONE Incentivized Helpful? Brett Flitton President Chose Canvas I've used a few other management systems and Canvas is one of the better ones I've tested. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas Canvas is a powerful learning management tool that combines so many key elements of an actual classroom and allows teachers to mirror their classroom environment into a virtual platform. It is simply amazing what can be done on Canvas. Grading systems/analysis, progress … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas Canvas takes the better parts of both Skyward and Google Classroom and combines them to work pretty seamlessly - grading, assignments, attendance, document/file sharing - all integrated into one platform. In addition, the internal communication feature makes communication … Incentivized Helpful? Devarajulu Ravichandran Vice President and CIO Chose Canvas Much more refined user interface Incentivized Helpful? Patrick Woessner Coordinator of Instructional Technology Chose Canvas Canvas was far easier to use, more feature rich, and much better supported. Teachers and students prefer it to the other solutions we've evaluated or used in the past. Anything that kids can use with minimal instruction is a major win for schools. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas Simple design interface combines with powerful functionality within the platform. Incentivized Helpful? Shay Kotian Software Engineer Chose Canvas How content is delivered using Moodle is not up to the mark when compared to Canvas. The user interface is clunky when compared to a much simple and easy to understand user interface that of Canvas. Configuring Moodle can be quite tedious if one comes from a non-IT background. … Incentivized Helpful? Ashley Milton Alumni Development Manager, College of Education Chose Canvas I was not part of the team that selected Canvas, however, I used Blackboard as a student and very little as a staff member. Blackboard was especially difficult in navigating organizations or shared sites. I used it to organize mandatory training for students in one of my … Incentivized Helpful? DH Danielle Healey ESOL Teacher Chose Canvas Canvas has some unique features that are superior to Google Classroom, but I prefer Google Classroom because of its ease of use. It does have some of the same problems as Canvas though in terms of assigning work to particular students. Incentivized Helpful? KD Kari Doherty owner Chose Canvas I have not used any other platforms for this type of experience. I appreciated the thorough introduction that was offered to onboard onto the platform. It made it easy to use right off the bat. Incentivized Helpful? Victoria L. Graduate Teaching Assistant Chose Canvas Canvas surpasses Blackboard not only visually, but technically as well. It offers more customization options, as well as more features for students and teachers a like in regard to grading, notifications, and uploading files. It also seems to stream videos more successfully, … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas Canvas is a pricey option, at least when compared to something open source like Moodle. Personally, I don't feel that Canvas has the same ability to customize as Moodle. However, the customer support from Canvas makes it stand out. With an open-source platform, it might be … Incentivized Helpful? Nicolas Hanhan Distance Education Instructional Coordinator Chose Canvas Canvas is more cost-effective when compared to Blackboard Learn. Canvas has lately worked on features improvement especially in the grade center, for example, moving columns around like an Excel sheet, a feature not found in Blackboard Learn. Incentivized Helpful? Stefanie Cash Digital Marketing Manager Chose Canvas Canvas is the only platform we have used as a learning management system Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas The Canvas interface is easier for students to use and navigate. It is also cleaner so students enjoy using the tool more than Sakai. Canvas was easier for our IT department to implement. Training faculty on how to use Canvas was easier than Sakai. The analytics in Canvas are … Incentivized Helpful? Christopher Sweets Manager, Systems Administration Chose Canvas Canvas's ease of use and ease of administration were huge deciding factors in the decision to use Canvas as our preferred LMS. We found that on average Canvas took 1/3 the clicks to accomplish the same tasks as Blackboard, and the structure of data in Canvas is far superior to … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Canvas I believe Canvas out does all of these because of its robustness. It allows for more design opportunities including HTML and HTML5 and has many built-in features that are not offered by all of the other LMSs. Some of those features are discussions, assignments, pages, quizzes, … Incentivized Helpful?	Google Classroom Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom has clearer due dates, they can see what’s due, what’s new, and what’s missing immediately after opening the Google Classroom, even in their mobile. That makes it more intuitive and simpler to use, especially for people that aren't tech savvy. It also can be … Incentivized Helpful? Chrisse Olsson Literacy specialist Chose Google Classroom This is a different platform, but it's easy to chat with others when you need to for work or other conversations.I like how convenient it is to access. Incentivized Helpful? JB Jessica Barrera Talent Development Expert Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom is good for testing learning program structure in a low-cost solution. It is also good for short and simple learning paths, that need to be integrated with Google Forms or other tools from Google Suite. It stacks up against other platforms when learners already … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom Skyward and Google Classroom are completely different programs that are used for completely different things. The only comparable areas are communication with students. Skyward does so through the class rosters and message center and Google Classroom does so through the … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom is more intuitive but with fewer options than Canvas. Incentivized Helpful? LS Louis Schietekat Founder and Tutor Chose Google Classroom I was lucky enough that I was referred to Google Classroom by the head of the math department at a local school who have been using the platform since Covid. The only other education platform I've used is Udemy where I did some courses. I have not Used Udemy to build a course … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom is very similar. Had more comparability with other digital learning sites. Links more easily with Epic, discovery education, etc. Incentivized Helpful? Souleymane Diop Assistant training Chose Google Classroom I chose Google Classroom for its diverse range of features, user-friendly interface, and the great value it offers in terms of quality and price. Incentivized Helpful? Oleksandr Torlo Product Manager Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom stacks up well against similar platforms, offering a user-friendly interface, seamless integration with Google Workspace, and efficient assignment management. The selection of Google Classroom often depends on existing software ecosystems, user familiarity with … Incentivized Helpful? AD Andrew Defever Teacher Chose Google Classroom Classroom is much more user friendly, but doesn't store nearly as much data. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom's toolset is suited better for younger students. In our use of systems like Schoolbox and Canvas, they are better suited for older students(Year 7-12). These tools offer integrations into a school database which helps in cutting down double handling data. But, … Incentivized Helpful? Shubham Pandey Teaching Assistant Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom has a well-organized data sharing and data collection pipeline whereas others don't. Google Classroom has a plagiarism checker whereas others don't. Incentivized Helpful? Armand Ruci Teacher Chose Google Classroom I think Google Classroom is a more complete package than Khan Academy because of its integration with Google Classroom and it is a well-suited platform for student learning because it allows students to post questions on discussions and participate in its platform. Google Meet … Incentivized Helpful? Subayyal Khan - SHRM-CP Deputy Manager HR Chose Google Classroom Zoom Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom I selected Google Classroom because it is a great website for managing and organizing learning. It is simple to use for interface; interacts with a wide range of apps and websites; effortlessly shares, collects, and grades Google Workspace documents. It is also free , … Incentivized Helpful? Ai Ashe Instructor Chose Google Classroom Schoology is more customizable. It allows for user customization. Cleaner user interface; able to organize things in multiple folders. Incentivized Helpful? Syed Tauqeer Haider Rizvi Software Data Analyst \| Pharmabridge Chose Google Classroom Class for Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts (Classic) Incentivized Helpful? Gabrielle Wayman PTA Board of Directors Chose Google Classroom As mentioned previously, the low barrier to entry was the final decision. Intuitive user interface is friendly for children. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom Honestly, both the software's are equally good for online classes and meetings. Incentivized Helpful? Ian Hansen Client Success Manager Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom ties to the Google G Suite for EDU which has very good support and documentation as needed, at no additional cost, which is a big deal for setting it up. The integration with Chromebooks, Active Directory, Clever and other common platforms make it very … Incentivized Helpful? HM H. P. Molloy Instructor Chose Google Classroom Google Classroom was chosen unilaterally for one of my places of work, although I had checked Google Classroom when it was first released and decided against it for my own company owing to its poor reporting and other controls. Provided one has the servers to use it and an … Incentivized Helpful? RA Rahul Ajithkumar Assistant Professor Chose Google Classroom We think Google Classroom is better than the existing platforms like Moodle, Canvas, and Microsoft Teams due to the following reasons: Moodle is a better platform that can compete with Google Classroom, since it is free and we can download and customize as per our wish and we … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom I think Google Classroom is better suited for younger audiences and less tech-involved than a Blackboard or Canvas site. I would much rather use google classroom with my student in a middle school than Blackboard and Canvas which are better suited for colleges. I think those … Incentivized Helpful? DO David Obeid Classroom Teacher Chose Google Classroom I have not used other products. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Anonymous Chose Google Classroom To create an instructional space online, Google Classroom is ahead of its competitors. It does precisely what educators need - create a virtual classroom where students can collaborate, post discussions, post their work, and receive immediate feedback. It feels like a real … Incentivized Helpful?

TrustRadius Insights
	Canvas	Google Classroom
Highlights	Research Team Insight Published July 15, 2020 Canvas and Google Classroom are both academic learning management systems. They are used across all sizes of educational institutions for course management, including assignment creation and grading. The difference between Canvas and Google Glassroom is that Canvas is primarily used by higher education institutions, while Google Classroom is primarily used by primary education institutions. While Canvas does have a K-12 offering, it’s core use is for colleges and universities. It serves primarily as an assignment management and gradebook system, with additional features like discussion forums. In contrast, Google Classroom is more commonly found in earlier education, such as middle schools and high schools. It’s free for schools to use and is included in G Suite for Education, making it a low cost, accessible LMS platform. Features Canvas and Google Classroom both have unique focuses tailored to their target user bases. Canvas better serves the more administratively-focused needs of higher education. It excels at document management, including assignment creation and management. The flexibility in assignment creation makes Canvas more appealing to higher ed institutions that encompass a very wide range of course content. It also has robust gradebook management for scalability with large universities. In contrast, Google Classroom excels as a more accessible option in terms of price and usability. Its ease of use makes it accessible for younger students in remote or in-person situations, such as independent work in the classroom. Since Google Classroom is free for schools, it makes an attractive offer for schools and institutions that lack the budget for additional administrative or IT overhead. Limitations Canvas and Google Classroom also have some limitations and cases where they would be less ideal options. For instance, Canvas is not as user-friendly as Google Classroom. It comes with more of a learning curve, and lacks as intuitive an interface. This difficulty can limit its usability among younger students, or even schools that lack the IT support to administer the platform. Since Canvas is not a free tool, it also comes with more of a financial burden than free options. In contrast, while Google classroom is easier to use at face value, there are some more complex mechanisms and processes that can cause problems. For instance, integrating and interacting with other applications in the G Suite, such as Docs or Slides, have caused confusion for student users. For instance, managing permissions and sharing documents across the classroom can be less intuitive of a process and take some learning by students and teachers alike, particularly in younger classrooms. Google Classroom’s gradebook capabilities are also relatively limited compared to paid alternatives. Pricing Canvas is priced by quote from the vendor. There is a one-time implementation fee and then an annual subscription cost. Google Classroom is free for schools to use, and is included in the G Suite for Education package as well.

Features

Canvas

Google Classroom

Learning Management

Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
	Canvas 9.8 Ratings 20% above category average	Google Classroom 7.5 Ratings 7% below category average
Course authoring	9.90 Ratings	8.60 Ratings
Course catalog or library	9.80 Ratings	7.70 Ratings
Player/Portal	9.90 Ratings	6.80 Ratings
Learning content	9.90 Ratings	7.90 Ratings
Mobile friendly	9.90 Ratings	7.50 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications	9.90 Ratings	7.20 Ratings
Assignments	9.90 Ratings	7.20 Ratings
Compliance management	9.80 Ratings	7.00 Ratings
Learning administration	9.90 Ratings	7.40 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics	9.90 Ratings	7.00 Ratings
Social learning	9.90 Ratings	8.60 Ratings
Gamification	9.60 Ratings	4.30 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning	9.80 Ratings	9.70 Ratings

Best Alternatives
	Canvas	Google Classroom
Small Businesses	iSpring LMS Score 9.6 out of 10	iSpring LMS Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies	Schoology Learning Score 8.0 out of 10	Schoology Learning Score 8.0 out of 10
Enterprises	Schoology Learning Score 8.0 out of 10	Schoology Learning Score 8.0 out of 10
All Alternatives	View all alternatives	View all alternatives

User Ratings
	Canvas	Google Classroom
Likelihood to Recommend	9.6 (0 ratings)	8.2 (0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew	9.3 (0 ratings)	10.0 (0 ratings)
Usability	10.0 (0 ratings)	8.2 (0 ratings)
Availability	- (0 ratings)	9.0 (0 ratings)
Performance	- (0 ratings)	9.0 (0 ratings)
Support Rating	9.0 (0 ratings)	1.9 (0 ratings)
In-Person Training	10.0 (0 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Online Training	8.0 (0 ratings)	- (0 ratings)
Implementation Rating	8.5 (0 ratings)	2.0 (0 ratings)
Product Scalability	8.0 (0 ratings)	10.0 (0 ratings)

User Testimonials
	Canvas	Google Classroom
Likelihood to Recommend	If you have a school you can let teachers easily create new deadlines which [automatically] get shown in the calendar. Teachers can also [temporarily] hide deadlines [until] they've given the explanation about the tasks. [Besides] that the teacher can also choose what should be uploaded, should it be a link, file, pdf, link,... JH Jarne Horemans Student Read full review	- During the pandemic, the college needs a fast and easy solution to conduct Google Classroom. The integration with Google Accounts and Google Meet allows the university to run and access the Classroom on a large scale. - The teacher wants to conduct some exams in third-party software like Moodle. But we have not found any plugin for this famous open-source learning platform. The exam system in Google Classroom is so poor that it doesn't even fully screen the test when students are writing their exams. AMIT SANPUI Marketing Executive Read full review
Pros	Learning management - Even as the educational landscape rapidly shifts due to current events, Canvas is a great LMS for providing a consistent learning environment for students. Mobile accessibility - Students can access their courses on Canvas from a variety of devices, including their smartphones. Rich content - Instructors have the ability to create dynamic and engaging content for their courses. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Student-teacher communication - I love using Classroom for this because my students can always go back and check what was on Classroom by looking through the stream. This way they don't have to go dig through emails to find what they're looking for. Posting to multiple classes - I can post the same announcement or assignment to multiple classes at once without having to repeat the process or send separate emails. Streamlining grading - when students turn work in on Classroom, it all goes to one place and then when I'm grading I can open their documents directly from Classroom or my Drive folder. This way, I'm not looking through emails and Google Doc shared files for their assignment. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Cons	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. Incentivized Patrick Woessner Coordinator of Instructional Technology Read full review	Although usually in the discussion with other LMS apps such as Schoology and Canvas, Google Classroom doesn't possess as in-depth of a platform. There is no ability to set individual learning paths, pace student work with completion settings, or embed other apps directly into teacher-created assignments. The assignment creation options are limited. Teachers can only choose from creating an assignment (usually a link with directions), a material (usually a doc/slide/website, etc), a question, and a quiz. With gamification taking on a new lens in education, there really isn't any way to use gamification elements with Google Classroom. There isn't any way to create Individual learning paths, or use badges and micro-credentials within Classroom. Outside programs would have to be used. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Likelihood to Renew	Several factors contribute to my "10" rating. First, our university just made an enormous switch to Canvas, after we were with Blackboard for almost a decade. So garnering buy-in was critical, and not something we took lightly. After nearly 18 months (start to finish) of training faculty, educating stakeholders, and migrating courses, I am not looking to make a change again anytime soon. But I am happy with the result and the product overall and that is also demonstrated in my rating. Melissa Metzger Director, Academic Technology & Digital Media Read full review	Testing is particularly important in online learning, and Google Classroom falls far short of other learning management systems in this regard. Security is also a concern: while account control is reasonable for the account used with Google Classroom, the person controlling a particular account is often able to, for example, forward or download proprietary materials. HM H. P. Molloy Instructor Read full review
Usability	The functions in Canvas are well integrated and consistent across the application, and mostly intuitive. Overall navigation and setup is streamlined through integrated features and navigation. The feedback we've gotten from our program participants is that it is easy to learn to use. It also integrates well with third party software like Google Docs and Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing software Incentivized Jeanne Rewa Online Instructional Designer Read full review	This is only a product I would recommend to a humanities teacher. Math and science teachers cannot use this product the same way that I can as an English teacher. It is great for word process and for reading, but unable to handle the demands of math and science. Therefore, I would highly recommend this product to English or Social Studies teachers, but NOT math or science teachers Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Reliability and Availability	No answers on this topic	We have had very little trouble in accessing Google Classroom. Our issues, if any, have risen from our server and not the Google servers. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Support Rating	I do not personally use Canvas support since we have a central office that helps us. However, our central office always has the answers we need and are always able to solve our issues - so I would assume that get great support from the Canvas team on their end. They also offer great training, which uses materials directly from Canvas Incentivized Ashley Milton Alumni Development Manager, College of Education Read full review	Since this platform is provided by Google, the technical support is better than any others, and we are not required to bother about the space constraints for adding the contents. If we have a good uninterrupted internet facility we can access Google Classroom without any delay or lag. They have app support in both Android and iPhone. RA Rahul Ajithkumar Assistant Professor Read full review
In-Person Training	The training sessions were broken down into several days as well as different levels depending upon the knowledge of the user Incentivized Bethany Cleveland, PhD Adjunct Professor Read full review	No answers on this topic
Online Training	The online tutorials and videos are very clear and addressed the issues/questions that I had about using the system. Incentivized Bethany Cleveland, PhD Adjunct Professor Read full review	No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating	Once you purchase and sign the contract there is nothing to install or hardware to buy. You can almost immediately start using it and have courses up and going within weeks. We signed in December and had pilot courses online ready to go for the start of school in January Incentivized Kevin Reeve Director - Teaching and Learning Technology Read full review	It was relatively easy to implement due to the simplicity of the platform. Even our more technology challenged teachers found it easy to get started with Google Classroom. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Alternatives Considered	Canvas is in the experience way better than Google Classroom. Canvas has a more robust agenda system that also allows adding in new personal deadlines. [Assignments] can be submitted past [the] deadline (if allowed), this isn't allowed by Google [Classroom], If you're too late you can't submit anything anymore. In Classroom [assignments], presentations/theory, and [announcements] are all put in 1 feed instead which gets confusing way faster. Incentivized WH William Hazevoets Student Read full review	Skyward and Google Classroom are completely different programs that are used for completely different things. The only comparable areas are communication with students. Skyward does so through the class rosters and message center and Google Classroom does so through the classrooms for each student and their teacher, but each is unique in their own way. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Scalability	No answers on this topic	It is very easy to push out this program across our buildings. Teachers are able to use it without much trouble. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Return on Investment	Teachers have consolidated their content onto one platform which has decreased reliance of students on so much support staff assistance to access content. Canvas has helped make technology transitions more seamless for the school community. Once teachers have set up their page, Canvas really takes care of it all- they have much more time to focus on content creation and synthesis rather than the actual learning management system. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Students are able to continue learning in a remote environment Parents have a single, consistent organization structure to make it easy to track assignments and progress for multiple children Much better solution than the quickly assembled Zoom-and-gloom of the previous spring when school abruptly went remote with no planning Incentivized Gabrielle Wayman PTA Board of Directors Read full review
ScreenShots

Features

Limitations

Pricing