Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Trainual

ChiefOnboarding is a free, open-source employee onboarding platform designed to structure and automate the onboarding journey for new hires. It supports both Slack-based and web dashboard workflows and can be self-hosted or hosted by ChiefOnboarding from Europe.

Key Features

• Automatically provision user accounts and trigger webhooks, with ready-to-use integrations and custom webhook support
• Pre-boarding: create pages to welcome new hires before they start
• To-do items: track tasks and collect forms from new hires
• Resources: access knowledge bases and complete courses to accelerate ramp-up
• Sequences: drip-feed items over time or on completion of previous items
• Badges: reward progress to motivate new hires
• Introductions: connect new hires with colleagues
• Admin to-dos: collaborate with teammates on onboarding tasks
• Multilingual: supports English, Dutch, Portuguese, German, Turkish, French, Spanish, Japanese
• Timezones: per-hire timezone to avoid late-night messages
• Slack bot and dashboard: accessible via Slack or web; both can run standalone
• Customizable: branding, color schemes, logos, email templates, and domain
• Open-source and privacy: licensed under AGPLv3; allows self-hosting or hosted by us
• Deployment options: containerized via Docker; deployment options include Docker Hub, Heroku, Render, and Elestio

Use Cases

• Design and run repeatable onboarding journeys for remote or distributed teams using blueprint-based workflows with preboarding, to-dos, resources, and badges
• Accelerate IT/HR onboarding by provisioning accounts and triggering integrations automatically
• Support multilingual, timezone-aware onboarding for global teams

Conclusion

ChiefOnboarding offers a transparent, flexible onboarding platform with Slack and dashboard access, strong integration capabilities, and an open-source model. It enables teams to design and run onboarding journeys while retaining data control and customization.

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.

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.