CourseLit Cloud

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to CourseLit Cloud

A curated collection of the 3 best self hosted alternatives to CourseLit Cloud.

Hosted platform to create, deliver and sell online courses and digital products. Provides content delivery, student management, payment processing, and basic marketing/sales tools for course creators.

Alternatives List

#1
Chamilo LMS

Chamilo LMS

Chamilo LMS is an open-source learning management system for delivering online courses, managing users, and tracking learning activities with an accessible, easy-to-use interface.

Chamilo LMS screenshot

Chamilo LMS is an open-source e-learning platform (LMS) designed to create, deliver, and manage online training and educational courses. It emphasizes ease of use and accessibility, and is commonly used by schools, universities, NGOs, and enterprises for structured learning programs.

Key Features

  • Course creation and management for structured online learning
  • User and role management for learners, teachers, and administrators
  • Assessments and quizzes for evaluating learner progress
  • Learning progress tracking and reporting features
  • Web-based interface designed with usability and accessibility in mind

Use Cases

  • Delivering online courses for schools, universities, and training centers
  • Corporate training programs with structured learning paths and evaluations
  • NGO and public-sector training initiatives requiring an accessible LMS

Limitations and Considerations

  • Chamilo 2.x is still in development; many deployments rely on the stable 1.11.x branch for production use

Chamilo LMS is a mature LMS project with a strong focus on practical course delivery and accessibility. It is suitable for organizations seeking a traditional, full-featured learning platform they can run and manage on their own infrastructure.

915stars
531forks
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#2
ILIAS

ILIAS

ILIAS is a PHP-based open-source learning management system for creating courses, assessments, wikis, forums, calendars and extensible training platforms.

ILIAS screenshot

ILIAS is an open-source, web-based Learning Management System written in PHP. It provides tools to create and manage courses, assessments, collaborative spaces and user groups, and is extensible via plugins and configuration. The project is community-driven and used in education and corporate training environments.

Key Features

  • Course and learning content management with support for modular course structures and content repositories
  • Assessment and quiz engine for tests, assignments, and automated grading workflows
  • Collaboration tools including wikis, forums, group spaces and calendaring
  • Granular user, group and role management with permission controls
  • Plugin/extension architecture to add custom functionality and integrations
  • Multilingual interface and extensive documentation for administrators and instructors
  • Runs on modern PHP runtimes and supports common relational databases for persistence

Use Cases

  • Deploying a university or college LMS to deliver courses, quizzes and student collaboration spaces
  • Running corporate training and compliance programs with centralized user and content management
  • Building structured e-learning offerings with assessments, documentation and group-based activities

Limitations and Considerations

  • Installation and configuration can be complex for non-PHP administrators and requires a supported PHP runtime (modern PHP versions) and a relational database; careful planning for hosting and dependencies is needed
  • The system is feature-rich and can present a steep administrative learning curve for customizing workflows and permissions

ILIAS is a mature, feature-complete LMS suitable for institutions that need a self-hosted, extensible platform for structured learning and assessment. It emphasizes flexibility and control for administrators and integrators.

458stars
395forks
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#3
OpenOlat

OpenOlat

Open-source Java LMS for course authoring, assessments and institutional learning management with SCORM/QTI support and REST API.

OpenOlat screenshot

OpenOLAT is a modular, Java-based learning management system for creating, delivering and assessing online courses. It provides tools for course authoring, assessments and administrative workflows suited for universities and enterprises.

Key Features

  • Modular course authoring with flexible course elements (content pages, tests, assignments, forums and groups)
  • Assessment engine with support for QTI/e-assessments and integrated exam workflows
  • SCORM import and content packaging support for standardized learning content
  • Role- and group-based user management, permissions and attendance/rollcall features
  • REST API for integrations and automation, plus options for JNDI/DB configuration
  • Responsive, themable web UI and a scalable Java/Tomcat architecture optimized for institutional deployments
  • Support for common relational databases (PostgreSQL recommended; MySQL supported)

Use Cases

  • University or college learning platform for course delivery, assessments and student administration
  • Corporate training and compliance programs with SCORM/QTI content and structured assessment workflows
  • Blended learning setups combining online content, scheduled events and collaborative group work

Limitations and Considerations

  • Production deployments expect Java application servers (Tomcat) and a proper RDBMS; PostgreSQL is the recommended database
  • MySQL is supported but not recommended for new installations; Oracle support is experimental
  • As a comprehensive enterprise LMS, setup and customization require Java/Maven experience and operational resources

OpenOLAT is a mature, feature-rich LMS suitable for institutions that need a customizable, standards-compliant platform for teaching, assessment and learning administration. It emphasizes modularity and integration options for existing IT landscapes.

407stars
169forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running