Canvas vs. Joomla!

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting 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
Joomla
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Joomla! is a free and open source content management system used to publish web content. Included features are page caching, RSS feeds, printable versions of pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, a search function, and support for language internationalization.N/A
Pricing
CanvasJoomla!
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
CanvasJoomla
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMust contact vendor for pricing information.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
CanvasJoomla!
Features
CanvasJoomla!
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Canvas
9.8
41 Ratings
18% above category average
Joomla!
-
Ratings
Course authoring9.941 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.838 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal9.832 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content9.834 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly9.940 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.837 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments9.941 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management9.832 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration9.836 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.838 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning9.833 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification9.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.82 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Canvas
-
Ratings
Joomla!
8.4
51 Ratings
2% above category average
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.451 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Canvas
-
Ratings
Joomla!
6.8
48 Ratings
13% below category average
API00 Ratings7.346 Ratings
Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings6.347 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
Canvas
-
Ratings
Joomla!
7.7
54 Ratings
1% below category average
WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings8.253 Ratings
Code quality / cleanliness00 Ratings8.551 Ratings
Admin section00 Ratings8.349 Ratings
Page templates00 Ratings7.052 Ratings
Library of website themes00 Ratings6.450 Ratings
Mobile optimization / responsive design00 Ratings7.650 Ratings
Publishing workflow00 Ratings8.450 Ratings
Form generator00 Ratings7.646 Ratings
Web Content Management
Comparison of Web Content Management features of Product A and Product B
Canvas
-
Ratings
Joomla!
7.6
52 Ratings
2% above category average
Content taxonomy00 Ratings7.951 Ratings
SEO support00 Ratings7.750 Ratings
Bulk management00 Ratings8.049 Ratings
Availability / breadth of extensions00 Ratings7.052 Ratings
Community / comment management00 Ratings7.250 Ratings
Best Alternatives
CanvasJoomla!
Small Businesses
iSpring LMS
iSpring LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
ManageWP
ManageWP
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 8.0 out of 10
RWS Tridion Sites
RWS Tridion Sites
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 8.0 out of 10
RWS Tridion Sites
RWS Tridion Sites
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
CanvasJoomla!
Likelihood to Recommend
9.4
(83 ratings)
8.2
(75 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.3
(5 ratings)
10.0
(28 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(9 ratings)
8.1
(14 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
7.8
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(11 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.5
(2 ratings)
8.7
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.9
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
CanvasJoomla!
Likelihood to Recommend
Instructure
It is really well suited for school situations like knowing what [assignments] need to be done when, getting feedback, getting points, finding the slides that the teacher used for explaining an [assignment] or theory. I think It would be less suited in business situations because it's [primarily] made to be a [one-way] communication tool for schools. Businesses need more control on individual levels I think[.]
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The Joomla Project
If your developers want to have some fun, Joomla offers the stability and friendliness to do custom coding. Certain marketing initiatives require us to get "cute" with the interface, and Joomla allows for that a bit easier than WordPress (and definitely easier than sites like Squarespace). The security of Joomla is also always a plus.
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Pros
Instructure
  • 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.
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The Joomla Project
  • Security. Its got many new features in the new Joomla! 4 which make the already good security even better. I like the ability to use my Yubi keys to log in with the new webauth standard, I don't think any other CMS has that built in
  • W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 (with AA compliance)
  • Really good SEO that gets our sites to the top of the search engines again without the need for any extra things
  • Speed, it gets a really good score (100%) in the google lighthouse on our server, can't beat that
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Cons
Instructure
  • 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.
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The Joomla Project
  • Because Joomla's user community is smaller than WP, it lacks as many choices from 3rd party developers, meaning it can be a little more difficult to find the right extension for what you need to accomplish
  • Along the same vein, most of the best 3rd-party software for Joomla! is paid
  • Simple features such as Add to Menu and Cache cleaners should be adopted as part of the Joomla! core, though they are available as extensions
  • Joomla! could use a simpler and easier URL rewriting process
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Likelihood to Renew
Instructure
The other LMS tools have fallen behind. One reason is they are not able to update their systems, features, toolsets in a timely manner. While other LMS providers release bug fixes and new features several times a year, schools struggle to install and implement them in a timely manner. It is not uncommon for a school to take 6 months to a year to fully install and implement new releases on other LMS platforms. With Canvas, those features are released every 3 weeks, and there is nothing for a school to do other than choose to turn them on once released. This has allowed Instructure to innovate faster, and get new features and tools to customers quicker. Other factors include great pricing, customer support, and the innovative way in which LTI is implemented in the tool.
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The Joomla Project
I gave it a rating of 10 because I just love how Joomla! works, how it is set up and how it handles many users. Also it is very fast, and there is no overload on the MySQL database or servers ever.
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Usability
Instructure
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
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The Joomla Project
Joomla! 3.x is easily installed either manually or via a script provided by your host. It contains most of the tools needed to begin creating websites right from the start. Those features that it doesn't have are easily installed via links and buttons from the thousands of extensions available in the community
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Performance
Instructure
No answers on this topic
The Joomla Project
Today's Modern Joomla performs very well and is robust and durable. The pages load faster than they ever did in the past and Modern Joomla's integration into other software or systems has become seamless. Modern Joomla sites will last long and will stay running forever.
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Support Rating
Instructure
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
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The Joomla Project
Between the core Joomla developers who are excellent at answering questions and providing support, you have a whole community of developers who work with Joomla and are happy to help fellow developers out answering questions and supporting the Joomla project. Out of the many communities I am involved in for open-source software, Joomla's community is by far the best.
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In-Person Training
Instructure
The training sessions were broken down into several days as well as different levels depending upon the knowledge of the user
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The Joomla Project
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Instructure
The online tutorials and videos are very clear and addressed the issues/questions that I had about using the system.
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The Joomla Project
It is good if you know Joomla! if not it can get a bit confusing
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Implementation Rating
Instructure
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
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The Joomla Project
Joomla has gone through tremendous growing pains. It is now better than ever. But before, when it was going from 1.5-2.5, the templates and plugins would break over and over again. If you don't understand what Joomla was trying to do back then, you might have a bad attitude toward it. Today, those pains are over and things don't break like they used to during that time period.
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Alternatives Considered
Instructure
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 the decision myself to get canvas instead of [Smart school] but I'm happy they did.
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The Joomla Project
We tested other platforms like WordPress, Magento and some local CMS. 
But Joomla offered us better resources for generating content.
Joomla is a CMS suitable for many types of projects, especially if you have several people editing content at the same time.
It allows you to maintain visual standardization and offers many options for working with images.
With its ability to control access to different articles, categories or even different components, it is a great tool, even if they are managed by different people.
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Return on Investment
Instructure
  • 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.
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The Joomla Project
  • Joomla has reduced our costs of rolling out a new website because it uses less developer time and can be rolled out by individual users as needed.
  • Joomla has a lot of extensions and add-ons that make it easy to create and implement advanced solutions quickly.
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ScreenShots