CYPHER Learning vs Canvas LMS comparison

Instructure and CYPHER LEARNING are both solutions in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category. Instructure is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3, while CYPHER LEARNING is ranked #3 with an average rating of 9.1. Instructure holds a 4.7% mindshare in LMS, compared to CYPHER LEARNING’s 3.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Instructure users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of CYPHER LEARNING users who would recommend it.

Canvas LMS

Read 11 Canvas LMS reviews

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681 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

CYPHER Learning

Read 55 CYPHER Learning reviews

1,985 Views
1,945 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Canvas LMS

CYPHER Learning

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

CYPHER Learning and Canvas LMS are competitive products in the e-learning market. Canvas LMS is frequently seen as superior due to its expansive feature set, but CYPHER Learning garners attention for its pricing and support.

Features: CYPHER Learning offers gamification, personalized learning paths, and adaptive learning, which enhance engagement and motivation. Canvas LMS provides robust course management and integration options, offering extensive customization and advanced analytics, attracting larger institutions seeking flexibility.

Room for Improvement: CYPHER Learning could enhance its scalability for larger enterprises and expand its integration capabilities. It could also improve its mobile interface and analytics insights. Canvas LMS might benefit from streamlining its setup process and enhancing its customer service responsiveness. Additionally, it could improve cost transparency and reduce overall complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: CYPHER Learning is praised for an easy deployment process and responsive support, simplifying onboarding for users. Canvas LMS, while offering detailed documentation, may have a more complex initial setup compared to CYPHER Learning, but provides a comprehensive range of technical support resources.

Pricing and ROI: CYPHER Learning stands out with competitive pricing and a strong ROI for small to mid-sized organizations, focusing on cost-effectiveness and scalability. Canvas LMS, though pricier, offers a high return on investment for larger institutions with its advanced features and robust functionalities, appealing to those seeking a comprehensive educational solution.

To learn more, read our detailed CYPHER Learning vs. Canvas LMS Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

CYPHER Learning vs. Canvas LMS

July 2025

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Helped 865,295 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Canvas LMS

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

6th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

CYPHER Learning

Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)

3rd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Canvas LMS is 4.7%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CYPHER Learning is 3.9%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Featured Reviews

Lance Levin

Learning Magic Solutions | Managing Director at CTI

Comprehensive learning system transforms education with innovative features

The integration capability of Canvas LMS with other educational tools is probably the best for integration. They have thousands of apps that are already integrated with Canvas LMS. It uses a very simple API LTI method where you just have to input a number and then it's integrated. When assessing the analytics features and reporting features of Canvas LMS, they have comprehensive capabilities. They have reporting, attendance registers, and the back-end SIS system. The reporting is very easy and analytics is excellent. Regarding its mobile compatibility feature, Canvas LMS is probably the easiest to use. It's user-friendly and operates with simple copy and paste functionality. It operates similarly to Word, with no difficulty at all. It's extremely user-friendly. When speaking about scalability and flexibility, Canvas LMS is very scalable. Everything's on the AWS cloud, so content is not a problem offline. It's scalable because the largest universities in the world use it.

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Roland Lorenzo M Ruben

Philosophy Professor at De La Salle University - Dasmariñas

Offers flexible learning and saves printing costs; it has been excellent for us

There is room for improvement in the CYPHER Learning mobile application because my students have given feedback that they are not using the mobile app as it takes time to open. I also use the app. For me, it is easier to use than using the browser, but some of the students do not use it because it takes a very long time to open. Most of our students are using smartphones. Some students do not have laptops, so if the mobile app is more responsive, it would be a great help for us. The peer feedback feature is not user-friendly. Some of our faculty members were very happy when CYPHER gave the news that there is already a peer feedback feature because we were asking for it, but when they used it, they found it complicated and not user-friendly. They were disappointed with the peer feedback feature. When students submit their outputs, we want their classmates to give feedback as well, but that is not very easy to use. After I tried it, I also did not find it very friendly to use. They have this assessment type where we can group our students. We create groups, and they can work and collaborate with the group. While grading the submissions of the groups, although we can see that the students are separated by groups, we still have to grade them one by one. We would like a way to grade the group as one. For example, if there are five members in a group, currently, we give each member a grade. It would be easier to be able to give the same grade to all the members of the group. The team assessment feature could be improved to allow grading the group as one.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It's easy to follow. It flows well, and it's easy to use."

"Canvas LMS is user-friendly. Its assessment tools help to find the weaknesses and strengths of students."

"I used a lot of other systems in my IT career and Canvas LMS truly has everything that I would look for in an enterprise system."

"They have a more extensive support base in terms of infrastructure."

"Its easy adaptability to whatever form or methodology you are using to teach is valuable. It tends to be seamless, and it is very much a self-intuitive product. It requires almost no instruction, and you can be fully up to speed and ready to run on it. You can bring someone in who has never worked with any online learning or LMS system, and in a week's timeframe, they would almost be fully functional because Canvas is so simple to use."

"We have been using Canvas LMS, and overall, it has served our needs well for managing courses and general settings."

"The integration with Zoom is a notable feature. It allows for seamless access to live class sessions directly from Canvas after authentication, enabling quick entry into Zoom calls. You can also schedule Zoom calls or private recordings directly within Canvas, making it convenient, especially for situations like self-recording exams. Additionally, Canvas excels in collaboration and discussion capabilities. Users can engage in discussions on various topics, and there's the option to create custom groups for more focused interactions. These groups provide a level of privacy and isolation from the broader class, which is a significant advantage."

"The solution is easy to access."

More Canvas LMS pros

"It is very easy for educators to communicate with students using CYPHER Learning. The entire community is on the platform and we all know the process. There is fluid, fast, and effective communication that consists of sources that give us what we need to continue our educational processes."

"I can use a template to replicate class content so that I can use the same content in the three sections where I teach. That way, I don't have to continuously edit my classes. It's very useful."

"E-commerce is still one of the exotic features, meaning that not all LMS providers offer it. It is critical for us. We have had no trouble implementing payment gateways with this system and it works out-of-the-box without any special tricks."

"When I do a survey, CYPHER Learning is helpful because then I can more quickly peruse students' responses. I don't have to go through question by question. Grading-wise, it has certainly helped, when giving a survey, to streamline my grading for that assignment."

"It is very easy for educators to communicate with students using the CYPHER Learning messaging system, which is imperative for our organization."

"I am able to monitor the classes: who has entered, who has not entered yet, and who has viewed the classes. If we are working on an assignment it allows me to upload an assessment rubric where they can see and learn about their progress."

"One of the features that is very good is the automation for setting trigger rules that show or hide specific class sections or assignments."

"In terms of the user availability, there is access to the platform 24 hours. So, we don't need to determine a specific time for training. We just give them a link, password, and period for them to complete, e.g., four days, then it is up to them. What is important is they pass the minimum requirements needed to pass the exams and certification process."

More CYPHER Learning pros

Cons

"It would be good to be able to do teleconferencing within the LMS."

"There are a couple of areas that could be improved. Firstly, the discussion feature is not very interactive and can be slow to respond, making it less intuitive at the moment. This is an aspect that needs substantial improvement. Another point to consider is related to the cost of the LMS system. It's perceived as relatively expensive, which has led to discussions about transitioning away from Canvas, potentially to a more cost-effective alternative. This cost-related aspect is a significant factor to consider when implementing such a system."

"Integrating more AI capabilities for the product could enhance its functionality, particularly in automating repetitive tasks and personalizing learning experiences."

"In our working, we are encountering many challenges with Canvas LMS. One of the major area is their business model which is having a very different pricing structure. The structure is made in such a way that the license fee is needed to be paid for the complete year even if the student has been enrolled for a programme of short duration. This structure is not conducive with our needs and hence, in the past few years, been increasing our costs manifold. Along with this, Canva LMS also lacks many functionalities such as notifications and adaptive learning. There is a specific issue with the licensing model that affects us in continuous education. The inability to reuse a license for the same course in different terms hinders our cost efficiency. For instance, if a program runs from January to April, we are required to pay for the license twice within the same academic year. This contrasts with other platforms like Hyper, where reusing a license is possible, allowing us to use the same license multiple times in different terms. Along with the use, we are exploring the integration of artificial intelligence into our processes, and Canvas LMS falls short in this regard. While some platforms allow connections with external AI services, Canvas does not currently offer built-in artificial intelligence capabilities, a feature we find valuable for enhancing the learning experience."

"The solution could be upgraded and improved."

"The learning curve is not steep, but it is intermediate."

"The high-tech interactivity with other software, like ArcGIS or RSA Archer, can be better. It is not as easily compatible with them. You can put apps in it that the students can then access, but the routing of apps through the Canvas system slows down functionality on the other types of products."

"The product could be integrated with a talent management system."

More Canvas LMS cons

"There needs to be greater granularity of user packages. We don't always have 100 users per month. However, we pay for 100."

"We can see who has accessed the portal, but it is not very intuitive. There is an issue with MATRIX user reporting. It is not that useful a lot of the time because we see conflicting dates in the activity and login. I have tried to work with their engineers, and asked, "Well, what's the real deal here," and there is no clarity around it."

"There could be improvements in the dynamic and accessibility tools for the youngest students. For example, I create or attach links from other pages, and I use activities and games, such as roulettes, that encourage student participation."

"An important addition would be training so that we can exploit the platform much more. The platform is advancing and being updated. It is important to know and understand everything in more detail, and how to work with it."

"The gamification option is a section that we have not learned because we have not been able to specify a training space for the use of this gamification tab. However, it would be good to have training and learn about how to use it."

"If there is one area that I would like to see more improvement in, it would be around detailed reporting. There are some little things that they could add that would give us more insights and we'd like to access those things through the reporting."

"One of the things that I would like to see improvement on is detecting duplicate users by identifying them by their names and not only by their email addresses. Many people change their email addresses but we don't know that they have. This can result in unnecessary duplication of user accounts."

"The list of students needs to be organized according to gender. The list of students in the product contains both male and female students, whereas, in our grading system, we list the male students followed by the female students."

More CYPHER Learning cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform can be expensive for smaller organizations with fewer students."

"The pricing of Canvas is satisfactory for my university. We have negotiated a good price, especially considering that we are a large university with twenty-six campuses across the country. Canvas offers a favorable pricing model for academic institutions, and the cost is reasonable. However, in continuous education, the challenge lies not in the price itself but in the business model. The requirement to pay for the entire year when our students may only use the license for a shorter duration creates challenges. The inability to adjust the licensing based on actual usage is a significant drawback for us, making the effective cost higher compared to other platforms like Hyper Learning"

"Canvas LMS is an affordable solution."

"Canvas LMS is low-priced compared to other vendors."

"CYPHER Learning's price is slightly higher than other solutions."

"For our for-profit entities, CYPHER Learning is the perfect solution in terms of cost. It is not too expensive and is about the same as what other service providers charge."

"CYPHER LEARNING is very flexible when it comes to pricing. They hear out their customers and see where they can help them as far as cost is concerned."

"We actually want to look at other systems or develop our own system because the cost point of MATRIX is so high. It doesn't feel like we get any value for it."

"I did not negotiate the pricing, but from what I gathered, it was a significant purchase for us at West Music. We recognize its value and potential for growth, making it worthwhile."

"It has helped us save from 90% to 100% of our costs. The most valuable thing that we have earned in the last three years is time, e.g., my personal time versus my work time. There is more harmony."

"Overall, the pricing of CYPHER Learning is okay. There are cheaper solutions that offer way fewer features and there are more expensive and more capable solutions, but they might be overkill for many companies that are not big enough. It's about balance. CYPHER Learning is in the middle; not very expensive, not very cheap."

"The system is not cheap but it's affordable. The pricing is fair... The cherry on top was that we received all the functionality with the simplest plan, the one with the minimal number of users. It couldn't be any better."

More CYPHER Learning pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

19%

University

19%

Manufacturing Company

Non Profit

Educational Organization

21%

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Canvas LMS?

We have been using Canvas LMS, and overall, it has served our needs well for managing courses and general settings.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Canvas LMS?

There are some disadvantages with Canvas LMS and always improvements to be made. That comes with technology. As technology improves, the product will improve. Regarding features that Canvas LMS cou...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Canvas LMS?

Canvas LMS is the best solution because they have enabled scaleability and cutting edge technology transfer through Thomas Bravo, a multi-billion dollar company and will soon have the financial the...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NEO LMS?

The pricing for CYPHER Learning is on par with other solutions. I've been a single user of the system for a while and priced out several other options, and it's probably standard pricing if not may...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NEO LMS?

One of the areas that I believe CYPHER Learning could improve on is having a saving function as you type in, much as some Google products. That would really help in my classroom because we do a lot...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering NEO LMS?

I absolutely recommend CYPHER Learning to other users. My students really connect with it because it doesn’t resemble anything else available. The ease of use, the autonomy it provides my students,...

See all answers

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Compared 45% of the time

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Compared 23% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Canvas LMS

August 2025

Download Canvas LMS product report

Buyer's Guide

CYPHER Learning

August 2025

Download CYPHER Learning product report

Also Known As

No data available

MATRIX LMS, NEO LMS

Overview

Canvas LMS is a comprehensive learning management system that enhances the educational experience. It offers a user-friendly interface that allows educators to create and manage courses, assignments, and assessments. Canvas enables seamless communication and collaboration between students and teachers. It supports various multimedia formats, making it easy to incorporate engaging content into lessons. Canvas also provides a mobile app, ensuring accessibility on the go. Its built-in analytics and reporting allow educators to track student progress and identify areas for improvement. Canvas LMS can integrate with other educational tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality. Canvas LMS is a powerful and versatile platform that empowers educators to deliver effective and engaging online learning experiences.

Instructure

CYPHER Learning provides an AI-powered platform designed for efficient, personalized learning. It supports an ever-evolving educational and professional landscape with intuitive, comprehensive tools.

CYPHER Learning offers a unified learning experience, simplifying course creation and improving learner engagement through automation, gamification, and adaptive learning. Its intuitive design enhances communication and multimedia integration, making it suitable for trainers, educators, and HR professionals. Advanced analytics and customization options bolster its capabilities, positioning it as a leading choice for competency-based education and training.

What features define CYPHER Learning?

Gamification: Encourages engagement through game-like elements.
Adaptive Learning: Tailors content to individual learner needs.
Competency-Based Learning: Focuses on skill development and mastery.
Automation: Streamlines content delivery and administrative tasks.
Customizable Course Materials: Allows tailored content and pathways.

Why consider CYPHER Learning?

Enhanced Engagement: Keeps learners motivated with captivating experiences.
Improved Productivity: Increases efficiency for trainers and administrators.
Comprehensive Analytics: Provides insights into learner performance and engagement.
Seamless Integration: Integrates with external platforms for a unified experience.

CYPHER Learning finds applications in industries like health, insurance, and retail management, supporting technical training, onboarding, and professional development. Organizations leverage its customizable features for both self-paced and cohort-based learning, enriching their educational initiatives across sectors.

CYPHER LEARNING

Sample Customers

Pragmatic Group, MRWED Training and Assessment, RedHill Education

Millions of users across business, academia, and entrepreneurs - worldwide.

Buyer's Guide

CYPHER Learning vs. Canvas LMS

July 2025

Free Report: CYPHER Learning vs. Canvas LMS

Find out what your peers are saying about CYPHER Learning vs. Canvas LMS and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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