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CYPHER Learning vs Google Classroom comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

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

CYPHER Learning
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
3rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Google Classroom
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of CYPHER Learning is 1.7%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Classroom is 2.8%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
CYPHER Learning1.7%
Google Classroom2.8%
Other95.5%
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
 

Featured Reviews

Roland Lorenzo M Ruben - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Wafaa Salah - PeerSpot reviewer
Professor at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
User-Friendly Platform with Valuable Features but Needs Improvement in Pool of Questions and Statistics
The integration with Google Workspace is great because we have many tools such as Google Meet, Google Sheets, and Google Drive. However, the space is very limited. We purchased extra space until it reached 100 gigabytes. I have been using Google since having a Gmail account in 2001 when I was a student. Google Classroom allows me to make quizzes and assignments for students with random ordering, but I would appreciate having a pool of questions feature. For example, having 1000 questions and extracting 20 for each student would allow every student to have a different version. Currently, while using quizzes, every question appears to every student, though the order might differ. Adding the pool of questions would be beneficial. Having statistics while students take their exams would be helpful - showing how many students submitted, how many are in progress, and how many have not started the quiz. Having a log file to track students who opened documents would be valuable. In Moodle, I can see which students opened files, downloaded them, or watched videos. This feature is not available in Google Classroom, which is why I prefer other applications with more powerful statistics to trace student performance.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The entire system is incredibly valuable, but one of the reasons we chose CYPHER Learning was the social interaction features, such as forums, student groups, and messaging."
"The lessons we offer in each course can be both in written format and in audio or video format. This dramatically helps participants to choose their best way of learning."
"The most valuable feature is competency tracking. All apprentices follow particular programs where they have to demonstrate competencies, skills, knowledge, and behavior standards. The ability to track and measure their progress against the norm is functional."
"The feature I use the most is the rubrics tool. I have built all my rubrics in the platform and, using them, I can mark the scores that the students have and it provides transparency between the students and the teachers."
"Initially, I was very excited about the automations. But when we started using the actual courses, I found that the ability to sync content and settings from parent courses to child courses is what I value the most. But both the automations and syncing are at the top of the list."
"One of the most valuable features is the ability to use private external portals through which we can sell our courses, which is enormous. This feature is one of the primary reasons we stitched from our previous LMS, as it allows us to grow and create customization. We can customize the portals within CYPHER Learning for specific clients, and that's huge."
"It brings students together in one place with teaching materials. Also, it has a social capability to it by way of forums and groups. That is definitely important for our programs. There has been a lot of engagement in our programs."
"Compared to other platforms, it is very user-friendly and intuitive, and both teachers and students can easily find what they need and use the functions without extensive training."
"Google Classroom is easy to use and intuitive, and it's not difficult to set up."
"I would rate the initial setup a nine out of ten. It is very straightforward."
"I find Jamboard to be a great tool for supporting classroom activities."
"When a teacher uploads material, all students connected to that class will receive the same information at the same time. I have found this to be a valuable feature. I also like that the material remains in Google Classroom until the teacher removes it. The UI is user-friendly, and you don't have to have prior experience to use the solution."
"What I liked most about Google Classroom is it was very easy to communicate with the students and simple for me to learn even though it was the first time I was using it. I was able to learn the features very well by navigating through the different discussions forums and becoming proficient, not necessarily a master but knowledgeable in using the solution. The ease of use was the best feature."
"Google Classroom is simple to use."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is its clouds based. It can be accessed anywhere. Additionally, the GUI is good, we have not had any complaints and the platform has built-in security. For example, email has protection."
"The features I found most valuable in Google Classroom are live chatting, sending messages, notifications, and accessing documents, which is very easy, simple, and user-friendly."
 

Cons

"I would like to see better integration of the platform with Zoom or Meet so that programming of video conferences would be much more interactive within those platforms. Currently, if we have to do a conference in Zoom or Meet, we have to leave the platform because we cannot do so directly within it."
"Most of our wish list for CYPHER Learning has already been addressed. One that we are still asking them for is to include competencies from different industries, since they have industry partners. These would be the competencies that these industries need so that we can make sure that we are developing our students toward those competencies or skill sets."
"The user interface looks dated compared to more modern learning management systems, which are really clean. There is so much functionality that it almost becomes too much for the user, so the user interface could be improved."
"The search function needs to be improved; it isn't currently working correctly and has no value to us at this point, but it should be of great value. To my knowledge, CYPHER Learning is presently working on this issue."
"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."
"The mobile app has quite a lot of bugs and it has many fewer integration options."
"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."
"Screen sorting can be improved by providing more filtering options."
"Google Classroom could improve by having better integration with other platforms, such as Google Meet."
"It would be helpful to add voice or audio capabilities to the classrooms instead of text only."
"The initial setup of Google Classroom is straightforward. The deployment took us two to three months because we had to train the faculty."
"There's room for improvement in the offline functionality. When you're working with a class, you can't close the class or perform certain tasks when you're offline."
"The stability could be improved."
"The solution's GUI is an area of concern currently that can be considered for improvement in the future."
"Students used to have points that were accumulated and the letter grades, such as A's, B's, C's, et cetera. Google Classroom should add a feature by which you can toggle in between both of them. It's more than only accumulated points, which are not going to mean that much for students unless there's a prize at the end or some type of reward for the effort. However, if there's a way to toggle in between allocating points versus allocating a grade, it would be nice."
"I would like to see a master list of documents with folder names so that it is more convenient for students to know whether they have submitted a particular document. At present, you need to go to each classroom to check what you have submitted."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Our satisfaction with the pricing is a 10 out of 10."
"NEO's price is good."
"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."
"Their plans are based on enrollment numbers. We're at the silver level with 100 active learners. So, you're really beholden to how many learners you're going to accommodate. There are no extra costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"CYPHER Learning is more cost-efficient for us compared to others."
"CYPHER Learning is a bit more expensive than our previous solution."
"Understanding your active users, compared to total users, in terms of the plan you choose, is something to be aware of."
"For Google Classroom, you don't need to pay for its license because they offer free access to the platform."
"The price of Google Classroom has been reasonable."
"The solution is affordable."
"We did not need a license to use Google Classroom."
"The tool is available for free."
"My child's school made payments on a subscription-based model to use Google Classroom."
"Google Classroom is a free solution."
"We are an educational institution, and it is free of charge for us. Normally, if you are a private company, you have to pay a lot of money to get this service, but they are giving it for free to schools."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
21%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
University
6%
Educational Organization
22%
University
16%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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...
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,...
What do you like most about Google Classroom?
The product's UI is good and user-friendly.
What needs improvement with Google Classroom?
The integration with Google Workspace is great because we have many tools such as Google Meet, Google Sheets, and Google Drive. However, the space is very limited. We purchased extra space until it...
What is your primary use case for Google Classroom?
I'm not creating classrooms using Google Classroom, as I join courses that other professors have created. Our university works with Outlook and Teams, but I still use Google Classroom when joining ...
 

Also Known As

MATRIX LMS, NEO LMS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Millions of users across business, academia, and entrepreneurs - worldwide.
Google Classroom is used in major urban school districts throughout the United States, including: * Los Angeles Unified School District * Chicago Public Schools * New York City Department of Education * Houston Independent School District * Miami-Dade County Public Schools * Dallas Independent School District * Broward County Public Schools * Clark County School District (Las Vegas) * Philadelphia School District
Find out what your peers are saying about CYPHER Learning vs. Google Classroom and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.