What Are Learning Management Systems?

 

Choosing learning management systems for education or training is hard and time-consuming.

That’s because the market is flooded with platforms—each claiming to be the best.

Some offer extensive training features but lack user-friendliness.

Others are simple to use but too limited for professional development. And just when you think you’ve found the right system, it turns out the pricing doesn’t match your budget, or it doesn’t integrate with your current management system.

The struggle is real—especially when you’re looking for something that fits both your learning goals and management needs.

In this guide, you’ll discover what learning management systems are, what they do, who uses them, how they work, their pricing models, features, and why ProductDyno is ideal for small businesses.

 

ProductDyno offers a simple yet powerful lms platform with features for education and training—making it easier for businesses to manage learning without overwhelm.

ProductDyno is one of the best learning management systems for small businesses that allows you to create text, audio, and video courses, has a video training portal, and supports different digital formats.

 

If you’re comparing platforms, don’t miss my blog post: The best learning management systems for small businesses.

Teachable is a well-known learning management system, but it’s got big limitations and so users seek alternatives. I cover better options that include ProductDyno in a blog post “Teachable alternatives.”

Thinkific and Teachable are also popular systems. I compare both in a blog post Thinkific vs Teachable.

 

 

What Is an LMS?

A learning management system (LMS) is software that helps manage, deliver, and track education or training programs.

It allows users to create, store, and share learning content through an online platform.

These systems simplify learning and make it easier to manage both students and training sessions.

 

What Does a Learning Management System Do?

A learning management system enables you to build courses, assign them to learners, and monitor progress.

It manages every step of the training journey—from content creation to performance tracking.

This kind of management system supports various learning formats like video, PDFs, quizzes, and discussion forums.

 

What Are LMS Platforms Used For?

A learning management system can be used in many ways. Let’s look at how different users apply these systems in education, business, and training environments.

 

Education: Teaching Others Online

LMS platforms make it easy for teachers to deliver online lessons. They allow students to access educational content, submit assignments, and take quizzes—all within a centralized education system LMS.

 

Creating and Selling Online Courses

Experts can package their knowledge into online courses and sell them using an LMS. These platforms handle course delivery, payment processing, and learner access, simplifying the selling process.

 

Onboarding

Businesses use learning management systems to train new hires on company policies, tools, and roles. It’s a simple way to onboard employees while tracking their development and progress.

 

Employee Training

An LMS is great for internal staff training and professional development. Whether it’s upskilling, safety training, or compliance, a management system ensures everyone gets consistent training across departments.

 

Customer Education

Businesses also use learning management systems to educate customers. It helps them understand how to use a product or service better, leading to improved satisfaction and fewer support tickets.

 

Who Uses an LMS, and How Do They Do So?

Learning management systems are for anyone with knowledge or skills to share. Let’s break it down.

 

Anybody with Skills or Expertise

If you have knowledge that can help others—whether it’s digital marketing, finance, or fitness—you can use an LMS to package your learning content and share it online.

 

Online Course Creators

Content creators use learning management systems to create, organize, and sell online courses. These platforms offer features like content drip, quizzes, and certification tools.

 

Small Business Owners

Small businesses use LMS platforms to train staff and educate customers. A system LMS reduces training costs and improves performance tracking across departments.

 

Teachers

Educators use LMSs to supplement classroom teaching. They upload lessons, track student progress, and encourage engagement through online forums and assignments.

 

Nonprofits

Nonprofits use learning management systems for volunteer training and community education. It helps with onboarding, compliance, and outreach efforts.

 

Healthcare Department Managers

Healthcare institutions use learning management systems to deliver mandatory training, track certifications, and ensure compliance across their department education systems.

 

What Are the Benefits of an LMS?

For Course Creators

An LMS provides a system to organize, deliver, and monetize learning content. Features like certificates, quizzes, and course progression help deliver professional development experiences.

 

For Small Businesses

It simplifies staff training and customer education. The right management system improves knowledge retention and productivity across teams.

 

For Mid-Size Businesses

These systems help centralize training across departments, improving consistency and saving time. Learning management platforms also support performance reporting.

 

For Enterprises

Large companies use LMS platforms for global training programs. It helps maintain compliance and manage learning across thousands of employees.

 

For Global Brands

Multinational companies rely on learning management systems to provide consistent, multilingual training for worldwide teams, vendors, and customers.

 

Types of LMSs

Free LMSs

Examples include Moodle and Canvas. These systems are open-source and free to use.

However, they often require technical knowledge to set up, lack customer support, and may not include advanced features without custom development.

 

Paid LMSs

ProductDyno is a leading example. It is easy to use, supports multiple content types, and allows you to create secure training portals.

Paid systems like this offer dedicated support, professional features, and seamless integrations.

 

Academic LMSs

Used in schools and universities. Examples include Blackboard and Google Classroom. While these are great for academic education, small businesses prefer options like ProductDyno, which is more tailored to business training and online course sales.

 

Corporate LMSs

Used by companies for employee onboarding and development. Popular platforms include SAP Litmos, TalentLMS, and Absorb LMS. These systems offer extensive tracking, compliance tools, and integration with HR systems.

 

Locally Hosted LMSs

Examples include Chamilo and ILIAS. These systems are installed on a local server, offering full control and customization.

Downsides include high setup and maintenance costs, plus limited scalability.

 

SaaS/Cloud LMSs

They’re hosted online and maintained by the provider. Examples include ProductDyno, Thinkific, and Teachable.

These systems offer quick setup, automatic updates, and remote access—ideal for modern training and online education platforms.

 

LMS vs. LCMS (Learning Content Management System)

An LMS focuses on managing and delivering training, while an LCMS is designed to create, store, and manage learning content.

LCMS platforms are often used by instructional designers to collaborate on course materials.

While LMS platforms like ProductDyno offer some content creation tools, LCMSs are more complex and best for large teams creating a lot of content.

 

Features Every LMS Must Have

Every good LMS must support multi-format content, track learner progress, allow automation, issue certificates, and integrate with payment systems.

ProductDyno checks all these boxes. Read about more features in my blog post: The best learning management systems for small businesses.

 

LMS Pricing Models

Pay Per Active User

You pay for each user who logs in during a billing cycle. On average, this costs about $5 per user/month. The downside is that it’s hard to predict monthly costs, and inactive users don’t count, so budgeting becomes tricky.

 

Pay Per Learner

You pay a fixed rate for a set number of learners. Rates range from $1 to $10 per user/month.

The downside is you’ll still pay even if some learners never log in, leading to wasted money.

 

Pay As You Go

You’re billed based on usage—storage, bandwidth, or active users. This model is flexible but hard to forecast. Sudden spikes in user activity can lead to unexpected costs.

 

License Fee / Subscription

You pay a monthly or yearly license, with prices ranging from $500 to $25,000 depending on the features.

It’s predictable, but often expensive upfront, especially for small businesses with fewer users.

 

ProductDyno’s One-Time and Installment Payments

ProductDyno stands out by offering one-time payment and installment options.

You don’t need to worry about monthly user caps or unpredictable usage charges.

This pricing model gives small businesses full access to professional learning management system features without recurring stress, making it one of the most budget-friendly platforms available today.

 

Learn more about ProductDyno and how it compares to other tools in these posts:

The best learning management systems for small businesses

Teachable alternatives

Thinkific vs Teachable

 

 

How Does an LMS Work?

A learning management system works by hosting content, assigning it to users, tracking their engagement, and offering analytics on performance.

You create content—video, audio, text, or quizzes—upload it to the platform, and organize it into a course structure.

Then, learners access it on-demand.

ProductDyno handles all this in one easy-to-use platform and even includes license protection to prevent unauthorized access to your content.

 

Best LMS for Corporate Training

ProductDyno is the best lms for corporate training, providing these features:

 

1. Video Training Portal

Organizations can create a branded video training portal on ProductDyno to centralize learning materials for employees.

For instance, a bank can upload cybersecurity awareness videos and assign them to all staff. New hires can be directed to the portal for onboarding videos.

Managers can use it to deliver team-specific training, such as leadership coaching or time management skills.

ProductDyno’s interface makes it easy to organize videos by department or topic (you can use the collections feature for this).

The portal keeps content in one secure place, allowing employees to access training anytime, whether in the office or working remotely.

 

2. Video Courses

ProductDyno supports structured video courses, allowing companies to build step-by-step lessons.

For example, a tech firm can create a “Product Knowledge Course” with weekly video lessons teaching sales staff about product features, benefits, and customer objections.

Videos can include screen recordings, presentations, or tutorials. Each lesson can be followed by a quiz or activity, and employees can move at their own pace.

Managers can track who’s completed which videos. This works well for technical training, sales enablement, or customer support preparation—ensuring everyone gets consistent knowledge through high-quality video instruction.

 

3. Online Courses (Multimedia Guides)

With ProductDyno, organizations can build multimedia online courses combining text, images, videos, and downloadable files.

A hospital’s HR department could create a compliance training course using PDFs, instructional videos, and interactive checklists.

Employees can access policies, watch safety demos, and complete tasks—all in one place. This format suits industries like healthcare, construction, and finance where rules and procedures must be followed precisely.

Multimedia keeps content engaging, while ProductDyno’s course builder makes it easy to update training materials when regulations change, keeping staff informed and compliant without the need for in-person seminars.

 

4. AI Tools

ProductDyno’s AI tools can assist companies in generating course outlines, writing lesson scripts, creating quiz questions, and summarizing complex topics.

For example, an insurance company can use the AI assistant to quickly build a “Customer Service Best Practices” course.

Instead of hiring content writers, team leads can input prompts and get training drafts instantly.

AI tools also help repurpose existing content into digestible formats like short guides or onboarding steps. This dramatically reduces the time and cost of course creation, enabling companies to roll out new training faster and more frequently.

 

5. Support Articles (Support Guides & Knowledgebase)

Organizations can use ProductDyno to build a searchable knowledge base filled with support articles.

A software company, for example, can create troubleshooting guides, FAQs, and step-by-step walkthroughs to help new hires or customer service reps learn the system.

These guides reduce the need for constant live training and support tickets. Employees can find answers instantly, boosting productivity. Articles can cover common tools, internal workflows, or product updates.

By centralizing support content, the company ensures consistent training across teams and locations—ideal for onboarding, refresher training, or ongoing employee self-service learning.

 

6. Membership Site (Drip Content Delivery)

Using ProductDyno’s membership site feature, companies can release new training content gradually using the drip feature.

For example, a marketing agency might launch a “90-Day Skill Building Program,” releasing one new lesson each week on topics like branding, client communication, and analytics.

This keeps employees engaged over time and prevents overwhelm. Managers can reward completion milestones, keeping motivation high. Drip content is perfect for ongoing professional development programs, leadership pipelines, or compliance refreshers.

It creates a steady learning journey rather than dumping all materials at once—encouraging consistent participation and application of knowledge.

Use ProductDyno’s Learning Management System Today

Choosing learning management systems can be a hassle—but it doesn’t have to be.

ProductDyno takes the stress out of training and education by giving you everything you need to create courses, train teams, and teach students.

You can create video courses, add quizzes, deliver downloadable materials, and track learners—all from one dashboard.

 

Learn more about how its features compare to those of other platforms in  The best learning management systems for small businesses.

 

Read how ProductDyno compares to 12 other platforms in my post “Teachable alternatives.”

 

See how it performs against two other platforms in Thinkific vs Teachable.

What Is An Example Of A Learning Management System? Frequently Asked Questions

 

 

What is an example of a learning management system?

ProductDyno is a good example of a learning management system (LMS). It allows creators to securely host and deliver digital products like courses, ebooks, and memberships.

With ProductDyno, you can build a custom course area, control access, integrate payment gateways, and track user progress.

It also supports video hosting, email marketing tools, and third-party integrations like PayPal and Stripe.

ProductDyno is especially useful for entrepreneurs and small businesses that want an easy, all-in-one LMS without high monthly costs.

Its user-friendly dashboard makes it simple to organize lessons, protect content, and give students a smooth learning experience.

 

What are the four types of learning management systems?

There are four main types of Learning Management Systems (LMS):

Cloud-based LMS: Hosted online (e.g., Teachable, Thinkific) and accessible from any device.

Self-hosted LMS: Installed on your own server, offering full control (e.g., Moodle, WordPress LMS plugins).

Enterprise LMS: Designed for large organizations with advanced features (e.g., SAP Litmos, Cornerstone).

Open-source LMS: Free to use and customizable (e.g., Moodle, Open edX).

Each type suits different needs.

Cloud-based LMSs are ideal for beginners, while enterprise or self-hosted systems suit organizations needing deep customization, control, or employee training systems.

 

What is the most commonly used LMS?

Moodle is one of the most commonly used learning management systems worldwide.

It’s open-source, which means it’s free and customizable, making it popular among schools, universities, and organizations.

Moodle supports quizzes, forums, assignments, grading, and user management. Educators can create structured courses with interactive elements and track student progress.

It works well for both online and blended learning. Its flexibility, multilingual support, and wide user base make it a global favorite. While it may require technical setup, Moodle’s strong community and plugin library help users tailor it to fit their exact educational or training needs.

 

Which two are examples of an LMS?

Canvas and Moodle are both examples of learning management systems (LMS).

Canvas is widely used by universities and schools for its modern interface, mobile app, and integration with tools like Google Drive. It allows teachers to create assignments, quizzes, and modules while tracking student performance.

Moodle, on the other hand, is an open-source LMS used globally by educational institutions. It’s highly customizable and great for both small and large learning environments.

Both platforms help educators deliver content, engage learners, and monitor progress, making them powerful tools for both traditional education and online course creators.