Moodle vs. Canvas: 2026 Comparison

Both Moodle and Canvas provide students with a personalized student portal upon login, serving as a central hub for their online learning experience. However, their approaches to organizing and presenting information, while similar in function, offer slightly different user experiences. Moodle's portal emphasizes a direct overview of course activities and materials, while Canvas places more emphasis on a streamlined, module-based organization and a prominent "to-do" list. Moodle's portal provides a personalized dashboard with an overview of enrolled courses, upcoming assignments, and recent announcements. Students can easily access course materials (files, pages, activities), participate in discussions, submit work, check grades, and communicate with instructors and peers.

Similarly, Canvas greets students with a personalized dashboard displaying current courses, upcoming assignments, recent announcements, and a to-do list. It allows students to navigate to individual courses, access content organized in modules (files, pages, assignments, quizzes, discussions), collaborate, submit assignments, view grades and feedback, and communicate through built-in messaging and forums.

Student portal for Moodle:

Among the 125 reviewers who gave detailed accounts of their use of the Student Portal, 97% rated this feature as important or highly important, with an average rating of 4.4. Users highly value the portal's ability to centralize all course materials, assignments, and communication, enabling them to effectively track progress, receive deadline notifications, and access grades and schedules. The portal's support for communication with instructors and peers, along with its provision for online exams and homework submissions, is viewed as a crucial tool for online learning.

Student portal for Canvas: 

Our analysis of 245 Canvas reviews highlights its student portal's high value for organization and access to course materials, grades, and assignments. Users commend its intuitive navigation, which aids in tracking progress and deadlines, and appreciate features like customizable settings and real-time grade updates for efficient task management. A significant majority of reviewers (95%) rate Canvas's student portal as important or highly important, with an average rating of 4.6.

Moodle and Canvas take distinct approaches to how they manage course content, reflecting different strategies in how learning materials are organized and presented to students.

Moodle allows administrators to structure materials using sections, labels, folders, and books, and easily add various resources like files, pages, and URLs, along with interactive activities. The platform's file management system allows for simplified uploading, organizing, and integration with external repositories. Features like import/export, backup/restore, and the 'Content Bank' further aid in content reuse and preservation.

In contrast, Canvas employs a more module-centric approach. Course materials are primarily organized into modules, serving as containers for diverse content types such as files, pages, assignments, quizzes, and discussions. Canvas offers fewer granular file management options than Moodle but provides a streamlined workflow for creating and formatting page content with its rich text editor. Canvas also supports importing and exporting course content for reuse and duplication.

Course management for Moodle:

Among the 182 reviewers who shared feedback of their use of Moodle's Course Management feature, 97% rated it as important or highly important, with an average rating of 4.6. Users highly value its intuitive interface and the comprehensive tools for organizing and delivering course content. They appreciate its ability to facilitate course setup, track student progress, and manage assignments and exams. Other benefits include the capacity to create personalized, dynamic learning experiences and the integration with Microsoft's directory service, Active Directory.

Course management for Canvas: 

Our analysis of the 185 Canvas reviews evaluated finds that its course management features are highly valued for their comprehensiveness and ability to facilitate clear communication. Reviewers frequently highlight the platform's effectiveness in tracking assignments, grades, and due dates, along with its support for announcements, messaging, and discussion threads between students and instructors. Features like duplicating courses and creating blueprint courses are also appreciated. A majority of 96% of reviewers rate this feature as important or highly important, with an average satisfaction score of 4.5.

Both Moodle and Canvas provide tools for creating and managing tests and assessments. Moodle offers a broader range of question types and configurable options, while Canvas focuses on an integrated quizzing engine with more streamlined grading.

Moodle includes a quiz module that supports many question types. These include multiple choice, true/false, short answer, essay, matching, numerical, and calculated questions. Instructors can set various quiz configurations, like time limits, how many attempts students get, feedback options, and access rules. Moodle also has a question bank to organize and reuse questions across different quizzes and courses. Beyond quizzes, the platform allows for assignment submissions, rubrics, and peer assessment, offering a flexible way to evaluate students.

Canvas handles assessments primarily through its Quizzes tool. This allows instructors to create different types of quizzes, such as graded quizzes, practice quizzes, and graded and ungraded surveys. The platform provides an interface for building questions, supporting common types like multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, and essay. Canvas focuses on streamlined grading with features for feedback and annotation. Finally, Canvas supports assignments with rubrics, peer reviews, and discussion forums that can be graded, creating a connected environment for student evaluation.

Tests and assessments for Moodle:

Among the 127 reviewers who shared their experience regarding Moodle's tests and assessments feature, 92% rated this feature as important or highly important, with an average rating of 4.5. Users highlight the flexibility and variety of this feature, noting its support for multiple question types, automated grading, and customizable settings designed to prevent cheating. They appreciate its ability to provide feedback, track student progress, and manage assessments efficiently. The feature is widely considered vital for evaluating student knowledge and performance, enhancing the assessment process and supporting effective learning outcomes.

Tests and assessments for Canvas:

Our analysis of 154 Canvas reviews indicates that its strengths in flexible and varied tests and assessments, supporting different question types, randomization, and immediate feedback, make it a valuable tool for educators. Users praise its anti-cheating measures and integration with plagiarism checkers like Unicheck, as well as the ability to track progress and performance. The SpeedGrader feature is highly appreciated for its efficiency in marking assignments and tests. A majority of reviewers (94%) rate Canvas’s tests and assessment capabilities as important or highly important, with an average rating of 4.5.