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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

"It has 100% helped me organize my time. It provides more time for interaction and feedback with my students, both in the classroom or personally. This is why I consider the solution as an achievement. It feels more collaborative in the sense that planning not only depends on me, but also on my students."
"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."
"Another feature that is great for me... is the learning outcomes feature... In CYPHER Learning, it's called the Mastery feature. The learning outcomes feature allows us to measure whether students have achieved competency, based on the encoded learning outcomes."
"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."
"On the back end, the most important feature is the built-in reporting, which makes it possible to track all of the user activities: what kind of courses the learners enroll in, how they are progressing, and when they complete a course. We have full insight, and we can analyze the captured data..."
"The reports are also something that's very helpful from an administrative perspective."
"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 customization is very good because it allows us to completely brand the product so that it is our brand."
"What I like about Google Classroom are the video lessons. I enjoy using it because it makes my life easier, for example, I can easily change my class and my lecture notes."
"Assigning a unique copy of Google Classroom to students and giving out information is what the solution excels at."
"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 most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability for the lecturer to put in work. Additionally, the work can be graded after completion, and there can be feedback provided through the system which has a good interface."
"The product's UI is good and user-friendly."
"I like that Google Classroom is free and integrates with the entire Google Suite, which includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, etc. I also like its flexibility, which makes it perfect for synchronous, asynchronous, and blended courses, and including live and archived webinars, as well as other kinds of content."
"The product is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to meet people and it is online."
 

Cons

"I do wish that there could be some formatting option so that I don't have to do some manual work in terms of translating the data into, for example, a PowerPoint presentation."
"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."
"The mobile app has quite a lot of bugs and it has many fewer integration options."
"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."
"I have one team member who is in charge of monitoring and checking students' progress. She is very tech savvy and has really dove into the reporting feature in CYPHER Learning. If I had one complaint, it would be the reporting. It is so robust and detailed that it is hard to obtain some of the specific things that we want. That has been her response to me, and I have found the same thing. If I just want to know how many students have completed a course in a specific organization, then it is a little bit too daunting and difficult to obtain exactly what we use as our key indicators."
"There is a section where you can create games and tools. I don't know if it is because I didn't have the training, but I couldn't use the gamification tools. I would like them to create a link with a tutorial explaining how to do this from the platform."
"Improvement is needed to the reporting options and system because sometimes it's not very accurate. We feel that there are not enough aspects to report on. We need some more advanced reporting."
"There can often be language barriers when you're not dealing with local technical support, which can be challenging."
"There are certain things that I can do on PowerPoint that I cannot do on Google Presentations and Google Slides, such as using PowerPoint's animation feature, I have found that PowerPoint is generally more feature-rich and offers a wider range of tools that I can use to prepare and enhance my presentations."
"Google Classroom could benefit from tools that help correct coding errors for students, thereby enhancing learning."
"It would be useful if this solution had its own online teaching platform with an integration with a Google video conferencing tool."
"The product must provide different plans for different customers so that we can pay for only what we use."
"The initial setup is not very easy. It has modern complexity."
"Google Classroom could improve by being easier to use. For example, making it functional with only a few buttons. It's difficult to know how to connect with students and make a link and share it with them. I found it difficult, and this is why I didn't continue using it. Additionally, it should be available to be downloaded to the desktop for use, similar to Zoom."
"The user interface of Google Classroom could improve by being more user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"We have compared pricing with different vendors and found that CYPHER Learning was the most reasonable."
"Even though it's priced high, the return on investment is going to be phenomenal. It does what you want it to do."
"We are on a plan where we pay for 1,000 users every month. The pricing structure is pretty straightforward. It just depends on what you need. We are currently going with a monthly model because sometimes there are still months during the year where we will have a lot less students on the system, and we took that into consideration."
"It's affordable, but they have doubled the pricing at random times. That's a problem. They have to change that for forecasting purposes."
"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."
"Because our cost went down by 50%, I would say that the pricing is competitive."
"The product offers a yearly based license."
"Google Classroom is a free solution."
"We did not need a license to use Google Classroom."
"The solution is affordable."
"The product is free."
"Google Classroom is free to use."
"The tool is available for free."
"I use the free version of Google Classroom."
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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.