# Moodle review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Open-source learning platform you host yourself or on MoodleCloud Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Moodle is an open-source learning management system released under the GPL-3.0 license. Institutions and companies download it to run on their own web server, or use MoodleCloud, a hosted version with a free trial. A plugin marketplace, an official mobile app and a custom enterprise service for larger organizations sit around the core software. - **Category:** Courses & Communities - **Made by:** Moodle - **Website:** https://moodle.org - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you can't host and update a server, as that is your job. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Moodle has a free plan. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Moodle LMS is free to download and run on your own server; hosting, maintenance and support are your own cost. - **Free trial:** MoodleCloud: free 28-day trial, no credit card required. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Moodle LMS (self-hosted) | $0 | Free open-source download. You host it yourself; it needs a web server with PHP and a database. | Read from https://download.moodle.org/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Moodle before buying. ## Key features - **Self-hosted open source:** The full LMS is a free download under GPL-3.0, with total control over customization and source code on GitHub. - **MoodleCloud:** A hosted option for teachers and small teams with unlimited courses and activities and no server maintenance. - **Plugin marketplace:** Thousands of plugins and themes extend a site, available through the Moodle Marketplace. - **Official mobile app:** Students can reach course materials from the Moodle app, including offline. - **Enterprise service:** Moodle Solutions offers unlimited users, bespoke branding, custom theme and feature development and full-service support. ## Good for - Schools and universities with IT staff to host their own LMS - Organizations that want to modify the source code - Small teams that want a hosted trial before committing ## Worth knowing - Self-hosting requires your own web server with PHP and a database, plus upkeep and security updates. - MoodleCloud's paid prices are not listed on the downloads page; the trial runs 28 days. - The enterprise Moodle Solutions service is quoted individually. - The vendor's page mentions an official mobile app but does not list its platforms. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Moodle is a free open-source LMS you download and run on your own server, or try on MoodleCloud for 28 days. Self-hosting needs a server with PHP and a database, and paid hosting prices are not listed. - **Value for money: C.** Free to download, but only useful if you host it yourself, so it sits in the middle. MoodleCloud's paid prices are not on the downloads page. - **Free plan and trial: B.** Moodle LMS is free to run with no limit stated. MoodleCloud has a 28-day trial with no card. - **Features: B.** Self-hosted LMS, MoodleCloud, a plugin marketplace and an official mobile app. The listing shows no gap in the core job. - **Ease of use: D.** Self-hosting needs a web server with PHP, a database and upkeep. No store rating is on record. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web plus an official mobile app, whose platforms the page does not list, and a plugin marketplace. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Moodle's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among course and community platforms - Moodle's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 66 of the 98 other course and community platforms we grade, and level with 16. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 71 of 98) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/courses-communities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** You could make the core of Moodle for yourself: online courses. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. Moodle is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. - You could make: Online courses: an app builder makes this well. - You could make: It runs in a browser, which is where something home-made would run too. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Open source, Self-hostable, Online courses ## Alternatives - [Canvas LMS](https://toolgpa.com/tools/canvas-lms): Instructure's LMS for schools, universities and training programs. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/canvas-lms-vs-moodle) - [Open edX](https://toolgpa.com/tools/open-edx): Free open-source learning platform stewarded by Axim Collaborative. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/moodle-vs-open-edx) - [TalentLMS](https://toolgpa.com/tools/talentlms): Cloud LMS for employee, partner and customer training. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/moodle-vs-talentlms) - [LearnDash](https://toolgpa.com/tools/learndash): WordPress plugin for building and selling online courses. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/learndash-vs-moodle) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://download.moodle.org/ - https://github.com/moodle/moodle Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/moodle Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).