Three tiers of LMS
The HR LMS market splits into three tiers. Enterprise (Cornerstone, Docebo, SAP SuccessFactors Learning, Workday Learning): $6+/user/mo, suite-integrated, AI features standard, 250+ user minimums common. Built for organisations of 1,000+ employees with dedicated L&D teams.
Mid-market (TalentLMS, Absorb, 360Learning, SAP Litmos, Bridge): $3–11/user/mo, broad feature parity, fewer AI bells but adequate compliance reporting. Built for 50–1,000 employees with one HR generalist running training. The sweet spot for most growing organisations.
HR-suite-bundled (Bridge, Deel Engage, BambooHR Learning, Trakstar): $4–20/user/mo, simpler standalone, deeply integrated with the parent HR product. Useful where the HR suite is already in place; less useful as a standalone.
The three questions that actually decide
Question one: do you have content already, or do you need a publisher? Most LMSs are content-platforms — you upload your own. If you don't have content, the platform is empty. Some publishers (HumanResourcely LMS in Spring '27, Trakstar partners) own a curated catalogue.
Question two: do you need SCORM/cmi5 export? If you're going to switch LMS in the next three years, exportability matters more than features. Most platforms lock you in; ask explicitly.
Question three: do you need it tightly integrated with HR processes? Onboarding workflows that auto-assign compliance training, performance reviews that reference completed courses, etc. Suite-bundled LMSs do this well; standalones don't.
The publisher-vs-platform decision
The biggest decision is whether you want a platform (you bring the content) or a publisher (the content is curated for you). Platforms cost less and offer more flexibility; publishers cost more but solve the 'we don't have content' problem.
The HR LMS landscape is heavily platform-skewed because content is hard. The HumanResourcely LMS is taking the other side of that bet: we publish the catalogue, you assign and track it, no upload required. Different bet, different price, different fit.
Affiliate disclosure
This guide will eventually carry affiliate links to LMS vendors. Today it does not — when it does, every link will be marked and the disclosure will appear at the top of the article. We will only carry affiliate links to vendors we'd recommend without the affiliate relationship.