G2's LMS category lists over 500 products. Capterra lists hundreds more, each with feature matrices that run to dozens of rows.
You don't need to evaluate all of them. You need to evaluate three or four, make a decision in a week, and get your training program running. Here's how to do that without turning it into a six-month project.
The Core Problem With LMS Evaluation
Most businesses approach LMS selection as a feature comparison exercise. They create a spreadsheet, list every feature they might conceivably want, and score each platform against it.
The result: they end up with enterprise software packed with features they'll never use, priced for organisations ten times their size, and requiring an implementation process that takes longer than their last product launch.
The better approach is to start with your actual use case — the specific training you need to run, for the specific team you have — and work backwards to the simplest platform that handles it well.
The 5 Things That Actually Matter
1. Can your team actually use it?
This sounds obvious but gets ignored constantly. If you need to watch a tutorial before you can create a module, most managers in your organisation won't create modules. They'll route around the system and go back to email.
The right test: can someone with no training experience build and publish a short course in under 30 minutes? If yes, you have a usable platform. If the answer is "probably, after a bit of practice," you have a platform that will be underused.
2. Does the pricing model make sense for how you'll grow?
LMS pricing falls into three main structures:
- Per-learner pricing — you pay for each active user. Scales predictably as you grow. WyzAZ uses this model, starting at $3/learner/month.
- Flat tier pricing — you pay for a block of seats (e.g., $119/month for up to 40 users). Works if your team size is stable; you overpay if it's not.
- Per-admin pricing — you pay per course creator, regardless of how many learners. Rarely makes sense for small businesses.
Per-learner pricing is usually the most honest model for growing teams. You only pay for what you use.
3. Does it handle your compliance requirements?
If you're running training for compliance purposes — health and safety, privacy, code of conduct — you need specific capabilities: completion tracking, quiz/assessment with pass marks, and certificates. Not all platforms handle this well. Some produce basic reports; others give you audit-ready exports.
Ask specifically: can you export a report showing each person, each course, the date they completed it, and their score? If the answer is "yes, easily," you're in good shape.
4. Will the certificate mean something?
Compliance certificates need to look credible and contain the right information: the learner's name, the course name, the date, and some form of verification. A certificate that looks like it was generated in PowerPoint won't hold up in a WorkSafe audit or an insurance review.
Look at sample certificates before you commit. WyzAZ generates branded PDFs with a unique verification code. It's the difference between documentation and a document.
5. What does support actually look like?
Enterprise platforms have account managers. Mid-market platforms have ticketing systems. Some small-business platforms have genuinely responsive human support. Find out which you're getting before something goes wrong.
Red Flags to Walk Away From
- "Implementation required" — you shouldn't need an implementation project to start using training software
- Annual contract with no monthly option — bad signal about confidence in their product
- Minimum user commitments — you're paying for learners you don't have yet
- Per-module or per-content pricing — the most opaque model; you lose visibility over total cost fast
- No free trial or free tier — a platform with a good product lets you try it before you pay
Green Flags Worth Paying Attention To
- Free tier with real functionality — not a 14-day trial, but an actual ongoing free option for small teams
- Setup time measured in minutes — the product should be self-evident
- Transparent pricing on the website — if you have to talk to sales to find out what it costs, it's going to cost a lot
- Exportable reports — this matters the moment you have a compliance requirement
- Responsive support with a real response time commitment
A Simple Decision Framework
If you're comparing two or three options, run them through this process:
- Build a test course in each platform. Time yourself. Did it take under 30 minutes? Was it obvious how to do it?
- Assign it to a test user. Was the learner experience clean? Did the completion register correctly?
- Export the completion data. Is the report useful? Does it contain what an auditor would want to see?
- Look at your total cost for 12 months at your realistic learner count. Not the headline pricing — the actual cost.
- Pick the one that passed all four tests. Don't overthink it.
The Comparison Trap
There's a failure mode where businesses spend weeks evaluating LMS platforms, get paralysed by the feature differences between very similar products, and end up either making no decision or choosing the most feature-rich (and expensive) option because they've convinced themselves they'll need those features eventually.
You probably won't. The businesses that get the most value from an LMS are the ones who get it running quickly with their actual content, learn what works for their team, and build from there. Not the ones who spent three months choosing the "perfect" platform.
WyzAZ is designed for exactly this: get training running this week, see what completion looks like in real time, and iterate. You can read how it compares to TalentLMS if you want a direct comparison — or just start free and see whether it works for your team in the next 20 minutes.
The best LMS is the one you'll actually use.