17 years helping Canadian businesses
choose better software
About Absorb LMS
An AI-powered strategic learning system for enterprises to train and upskill employees, customers, partners, and members.
Our biggest pluses for Absorb are the integration with Salesforce and users being able to take courses directly from salesforce and the ease of use for our admins to create and manage courses.
When assigning courses you can only assign to a whole or sub-department, you can exclude.
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Filter reviews (286)
Easy to use and highly customizable LMS
Comments: In an organization where the employee training process is very significant, it is necessary to have a robust tool that facilitates the planning and execution of staff professional improvement courses. This platform offers a very versatile set of tools.
Pros:
I really like that navigating through its functions is very easy. It allows you to design a personalized, interactive and very flexible learning experience. The tracking of participants' progress is very effective and offers very complete reports that provide detailed information for the improvement of the following courses. The electronic signature helps to confirm the fulfillment of the different training stages that are planned.
Cons:
I would like to see more integration options to strengthen corporate learning paths.
Why would I suggest Absorb?
Pros:
Robust reporting and Dashboards - Implementing robust reporting and dashboard features in Absorb LMS involved configuring custom reporting tools and dashboards to track learner progress, performance, and engagement metrics effectively. Customizing reporting for license usage and billing to meet specific organizational requirements has posed complexity, data integration, and usability challenges. Close collaboration between the Absorb billing and internal delivery teams was essential to define reporting requirements and configure custom reports accurately.
Cons:
e-Commerce - Business to Customer is one of our lead profit generation initiatives, and we want to create a unique learning experience for individuals interested in shaping their DEI learning journey. Challenges were introduced in secure payment processing, and outdated knowledge-based articles were found in Absorb. Extensive collaboration was required between the finance, IT, and Absorb LMS specialists to identify the payment issues. A temporary solution was enabled to capture the payments that still pose a risk. Integrations admin authorization - While Absorb has essential integrations on a button click, it has dependencies on the admin authorization between different systems. Admin within Absorb should also have admin privileges in other systems, which is not always the case within the organization.
Great Software, Suffers terribly from its customer service.
Comments:
I rushed into this purchase a little and didnt investigate the level of support that would be offered. In hindsight this would have been a game changer for me as I would have went elsewhere.
The software is good, though it doesnt manage blended learning easily which is frustrating.
Customer Support is absolutely non existent.
Pros:
Good User Interface, Good Course Management. Good sync with BambooHR on most things. Good Learner interface. Good Customisation options.
Cons:
Difficult to manage blended learning. Some factors in course management could use improvements. (Managing assessments) Cannot see how many absences from courses that users have. Some issues with how it syncs with Bamboo(overwriting course information) Customer Support is non existent. 10+ days to resolve any issues. Most issues I have to try and resolve myself by resetting and that causes me other issue. Can sometimes be 'buggy' and will introduce random bugs which can be time consuming to fix and result in me resetting the system sync.
Review of Absorb LMS
Comments: Absorb LMS does meet our needs and the people at Absorb are always great partners. I am interested in seeing new products and how we can use Absorb more in our business.
Pros:
Absorb's customer support has always exceeded expectations when needed. Fortunately, we have needed their assistance often, but they have always been a great partner when working through any issues. A great example is working with Absorb's support as we transitioned to a new HRIS platform. I had the pleasure of working with [sensitive content hidden] and he was fantastic. Always quick to reply and willing to help! He made the migration a smooth process! Highly recommend [sensitive content hidden]!
Cons:
The new Learner Portal updates are not simple for learners to navigate. We use online courses consisting of several modules/chapters. It has become a challenge for our learners to move to the next module. Please add a button that allows them to move forward to next module.
Absorb LMS review
Comments: I found it to be a valuable tool for managing our organization's L&D initiatives. The platform offered a user-friendly interface that facilitated navigation for all sets of users enhancing overall usability especially since it was our first LMS.
Pros:
One of the aspects I appreciated the most about the Absorb LMS is its user-friendly interface. Navigating through the system was intuitive, which made it easy for both adminis and learners to access courses, track progress, and engage with content seamlessly. Additionally, I found the customizable reporting tools to be exceptionally useful. The ability to generate detailed reports on learner progress, course effectiveness, and other metrics allowed us to make informed decisions and tailor our training programs effectively. Overall, the combination of usability and robust reporting capabilities made Absorb LMS a valuable asset for our organization's learning and development initiatives.
Cons:
While the LMS offers many valuable features, one area tat could be improved is its performance on mobile app. Addressing it could enhance the platform's versatility and make it even more adaptable to diverse organizational requirements. Also, if they had full integration with Opensesame my content management would have been smooth.
Alternatives Considered: 360Learning, Oracle PeopleSoft, CrossKnowledge Learning Suite, Cornerstone LMS, Docebo and Litmos
Reasons for Switching to Absorb LMS: Cost, performance, customer support and user-friendliness.
Absolutely Thrilled!
Comments: Absolutely thrilled with the customer support provided by [sensitive content hidden] at Absorb! [sensitive content hidden] is knowledgeable, patient, and incredibly helpful. She resolves any issues we have swiftly, making the entire process incredibly smooth. Couldn't be happier with the on-going service we receive from both [sensitive content hidden] and the Absorb team.
Pros:
Customer Support has been outstanding and the platform is very easy to use, our users are completely satisfied.
Cons:
Nothing, everything is suited to our needs at this point.
Alternatives Considered: Axonify
Reasons for Switching to Absorb LMS: Our users were already comfortable with the platform and Absorbs ability to customize was enough for our company, not to mention pricing was more attune to our budget.
Exceptional implementation experience!
Pros:
Our biggest pluses for Absorb are the integration with Salesforce and users being able to take courses directly from salesforce and the ease of use for our admins to create and manage courses. Our implementation experience with [sensitive content hidden] as our Implementation Manager was exceptional. We always felt informed, supported, and capable of transitioning to our new LMS. Customer support ranging from the development team to the billing team has been outstanding.
Cons:
The only thing we'd love to see is the ability for the Absorb design/customizations be able to transfer over to the Salesforce experience for users, for course branding consistency.
Alternatives Considered: MapleLMS and Forj
Reasons for Choosing Absorb LMS: We wanted to have a simpler process for variable pricing by audience and allow learners to access the courses directly from salesforce.
Switched From: Forj
Absorb Experience
Comments: I enjoy Absorb and their commitment to evolving every day. The ideas portal is fantastic and they show what they are working on.
Pros:
It has most features that are out in the LMS world and their customer service is great!
Cons:
The 3rd party content provider integration. It takes too much time to make course edits and syncing is over a week, not instantly.
Alternatives Considered: Docebo
Reasons for Switching to Absorb LMS: Better price and customer service. I felt a connection with our sales person and implementation person.
We Love Absorb
Pros:
Absorb has made it so easy to design custom content and roll-out training courses necessary for our organization. Absorb is easy for our learners to use, and the system has made integrations simple and straight-forward.
Cons:
We've had zero issues with Absorb implementation & use.
Alternatives Considered: Cornerstone LMS
Reasons for Choosing Absorb LMS: NAVEX did not allow for custom content creation.
Switched From: NAVEX One
A great platform and an even better implementation team!
Comments: The LMS is very new to us. We just launched on March 25th, so I can really only speak to the implementation process, which was an amazing experience. Our IPM was absolutely wonderful, I was sad to say goodbye when the implementation was complete!
Pros:
It's pretty intuitive from both a user and admin perspective. It's reliable and has a ton of different reporting capabilities.
Cons:
There are certain aspects of Absorb I wish were more customizable.
Easy to use LMS platform with the right amount of features for our needs
Comments: We were looking for an LMS platform for internal training that could be expanded to customer training afterwards. The sales engagement with Absorb LMS has been a great experience, providing us with the tools and knowledge to properly evaluate the platform (including a trial portal which we could test with our own content). Onboarding was well structured, with a clear plan of tasks to accomplish both on our side and on the vendor side. Absorb provides a series of well-made self-training modules to go through, which complemented the training provided by the implementation project manager. Compared to other LMS, the platform itself is easy to use while providing a good breadth of features for our use. It's a mature product, with a solid backend. We did not experience any performance issues or security concerns. Look and feel customization is relatively basic. The interface is also quite rigid: for example, thumbnails or banners must have precise dimensions, otherwise images are stretched. Because of that it requires a lot of efforts, trials and errors, if you want to have a visual experience distinct from the Absorb default. The main shortcoming we experienced is that some common workflows could be streamlined. They can involve a lot of clicks, which is irritating when you're repeating the same workflow several times in a row. Keyboard shortcuts could be introduced to facilitate some operations, which would alleviate this.
Pros:
Easy to use Solid onboarding training for admins Provides content hosting Supports SCORM and xAPI (Tin Can) Supports Instructor Led Classes Zoom integration BambooHR integration Salesforce integration Overall mature platform Great customer support
Cons:
Look and feel customization lacks flexibility Some workflows could be streamlined, especially for course management No actual course authoring functionality: users need to import learning objects created with external tools, such as 3rd party eLearning authoring tools. This is fine for our needs, but it would add flexibility if there was at least some content authoring functionalities.
Alternatives Considered: Skillsoft, Cornerstone LMS and Litmos
Reasons for Switching to Absorb LMS: The intersection of ease of use, features, customer service and costs of Absorb was superior to all other alternatives we considered. Some were superior in terms features but were too expensive for our needs. Some were less expensive but the customer service was a concern. Some were not as user-friendly. It all came down to that equation: ease of use + features + services + costs. Absorb LMS hit the sweet spot for us.
Intuitive, Adaptable System
Comments: We have not had the option to easily view student logins, update courses, create courses and manage our student experience to date, and Absorb has solved all of these problems immediately. The system has been very easy to set-up, easy to navigate within - from a student and admin experience - and the Absorb Create function is invaluable.
Pros:
The simplicity of the system - back end and front end - have made the implementation and launch of our Absorb LMS very straightforward. My company has some unique use cases and my implementation manager, [sensitive content hidden], workshopped a number of issues with me and together we came up with effective solutions. The ease of uploading content has meant that I have had the opportunity to test various course set-ups very quickly.
Cons:
Our courses require individualised feedback for assessments and currently Absorb is not set-up to allow for this in a comprehensive manner.
Alternatives Considered: Simplify LMS and Docebo
Reasons for Choosing Absorb LMS: Our previous LMS did not have any of the functionality we needed. It was set-up without planning or assessment of our requirements.
Reasons for Switching to Absorb LMS: The features available in Absorb LMS were similar to these other products, but Absorb Create and the pricepoint were what set Absorb apart.
One of the easiest system that I have developed and deployed
Pros:
I found Absorb to be easy to use, from implementation to development. My Project Coordinators and integration teams were phenomenal in navigating the process and when challenges arise. We were able to customize the site to our likening and needs. The features are easy to use and user friendly for everyone. I would recommend this product!
Cons:
The only downside that I experience was using one template for internal employees (using SSO) and external partners with e-commerce pricing. There were several issues that came up that we needed to be creative to address.
A solid LMS that just keeps getting better.
Comments: Overall, our company was looking for a platform to offer both mandatory and optional training for our employees during the COVID lock downs. When implementing Absorb, we found it also was platform for not only training, but also an informational channel, complete with acknowledgements of receiving the information. It will also be the backbone for all of our ILCs moving forward, and hopefully with more solid integration with our Teams platform.
Pros:
Ease of use as both a learner and administrator. ADP integration and automation. Learner and Admin portals load quickly and are responsive. Excellent support and implementation experiences with quick turn around, and constant updates and improvements in the pipe line.
Cons:
Limited assessment options when it comes to answer types. Reporting structure takes a bit to get used to. Setup takes quite a bit of time investment, but pays off with future proofing the system.
Alternatives Considered: Litmos
Reasons for Switching to Absorb LMS: Value and robust functionality. Highly customizable. ADP simultaneous integration.
Best training and onboarding
Pros:
The main thing for me was the onboarding process with [SENSITIVE CONTENT] was fantastic. She was patient and understanding of my crazy schedule. She hit all the key points that were important to me with a new program. Also, the ability for the employees to choose their own ongoing trainings was very important.
Cons:
Cost is quite high in my opinion. I will not be using the entire program but have to pay for modules that I will not use.
Great for Small Organizations
Comments: I've used a variety of learning management systems (LMS) over the years including Blackboard, Moodle, scormLMS, Canvas, Success-Factors, custom LMSs, and Absorb LMS. All of these had their place. Some were geared toward academics and schools (Blackboard, Moodle, and Canvas). Others were for huge enterprises (Success-Factors). While others were great to test your E-Learning modules on-line (scormLMS). So what do you do if you have a small organization with under a hundred employees and not enough server space or talent on hand to customize an open-sourced program like Moodle. If that's the case, you turn to the cloud. Software-as-a-service (SAAS) has now become a way of doing business for individuals and small organizations. You can save money and time on resources while reaping the benefits of frequent or constant updates to the software. Absorb LMS is a purely cloud-based application. It's a SAAS that lets you customize the front pages of your LMS, the landing or welcome page perse while giving you a hybridized version of LMS Administrator controls. You see the secret behind every LMS is that somebody, either you as the administrator or someone else working behind the scenes with the SAAS has to upload your content (E-Learning modules, Job-Aids, Videos, Presentations, etc.). So with Absorb, you get a fairly well-featured LMS, but with the benefit of having someone else go through the pains of uploading your content. After having to do the full admin tasks behind the scenes of an LMS, I can say that having someone else do it is quite an appreciable service. Overall, Absorb is a good LMS for small and large organizations that want to save money on resources and overhead. Your trainers can also function as the LMS "admins". My only complaint about Absorb is that it has decent reporting tools. After years of working as an LMS admin, it seems that reports are an after thought with most LMS developers. Yet, sooner or later someone up your chain of command will want to know the value of the LMS and that's where good reporting tools come in handy. I can gladly say that the folks at Absorb listened to customer requests for better reporting and they delivered.
Pros:
1. Ease of use - it's in the cloud. 2. Simplified admin functions 3. Decent reporting tools. 4. Customized landing page.
Cons:
1. Responses from Absorb can be slow. 2. Customer service isn't the best. 3. Can suffer from service outages.
Cotton Holdings Review
Comments: I would rate it 10/10 after implementation once we received help from [sensitive content hidden]. Absorb LMS addressed a critical challenge within our organization by consolidating multiple learning management systems (LMS) and training accounts into a single platform. This consolidation streamlines the management of training resources and records, eliminating the need to navigate through numerous systems. Furthermore, Absorb LMS enhances our reporting capabilities by centralizing data collection and analysis. Instead of pulling information from disparate sources, we now access comprehensive training data from one centralized location, enabling more efficient and insightful reporting processes. [sensitive content hidden] have been prompt in responding to, assisting with and resolving our concerns. [sensitive content hidden] is a wealth of knowledge, I am so thankful to have his expertise to assist me as I learn the ins and outs of the administration side of Absorb.
Pros:
What I appreciate most about Absorb LMS is the invaluable support provided by resources such as [sensitive content hidden]. Their guidance has been instrumental in our journey with the platform, particularly during the initial stages when onboarding took longer than anticipated. Their expertise has enabled us to overcome challenges efficiently and make significant progress, ensuring that we maximize the benefits of our Absorb LMS account.
Cons:
While Absorb LMS's customizability is undoubtedly a strength, it also presents a unique challenge: starting with a clean slate. Unlike more rigid systems with predefined templates, Absorb LMS offers a blank canvas, requiring organizations to invest time and effort into tailoring the platform to their specific needs. However, this process, while initially demanding, ultimately ensures that the learning experience is precisely aligned with the organization's goals and values, resulting in a more effective and engaging training program in the long run.
Effortless Success
Comments: We have had an absolutely wonderful experience with Absorb thus far. There were a few temporary hiccups along the way with our account manager. This has all been fixed since. The absolute best part of the experience besides the software is our Client Success Manager, Taylor. I do not know if we could have stayed with Absorb as long as we have without him. He is the ultimate reason we have chosen to stay so long.
Pros:
There are so many great things I can say about Absorb. The absolute best feature of the software itself is the individuality it allows us to create for users. We have some standard courses that clients are interested in, however, the biggest pull is allowing us to make the experience feel custom to them. Our customers can easily navigate their own portals effortlessly. Customizing the templates and organization of courses is the personal touch that makes this software so great.
Cons:
There are a few key features that I have noticed are not a part of Absorb software that could really be useful. The templates and options on how it is set up are pretty standard, however, certain options such as the calendar for example. Our clients love the calendar. However, you cannot really edit the calendar for full customization. I think if all of the template options had more range in customization it would be a bit better.
No Regrets
Comments: Absorb has allowed us to provide customized learning experiences for our employees, and we were also able to incorporate additional professional development course libraries to expand learning opportunities.
Pros:
We chose Absorb as our first Learning Management System. The design isn’t too complex, which made it easier to transition previously manual instruction to online learning. It is intuitive enough that we can allow non-trainers to create content without needing to be system experts. While we were not initially satisfied with Absorb’s customer service, within the last year (2022), they have become extremely responsive to all requests for assistance and also invite feedback and recommendations for improvement.
Cons:
Sometimes the system design has what seems like obvious gaps or things that don’t work as smoothly as we would prefer for learning management. We would also like to see much more effort in the user experience to allow better filtering and course organization.
Robust and easy-to-use learning platform
Pros:
It offers a very pleasant experience when browsing its interface and viewing the content of the learning programs. Its search tool is very precise to quickly find the required courses. It provides a lot of versatility with its mobile app, which allows you to log in from anywhere and at any time. The evaluation process is very intuitive and simple to carry out.
Cons:
So far, the only thing I think it can add is a better level of personalization of the learning processes, however, this is a versatile and very complete platform.
Team Absorb provides the perfect mix of Yoda and Obi-Wan for anyone new to the LMS universe!
Comments: We introduced Absorb ten months ago and have been able to centralize/track a lot of internal and external learning for staff. These are exciting times and there is so much more to learn!
Pros:
My favourite feature is the people behind the software and their willingness to provide meaningful/practical answers for each question I ask. There really are no silly questions and that is most reassuring for novel LMS users! I had no prior experience with this type of technology so it's been quite the learning curve for me and my organization. Thanks to Team Absorb's reliable customer service, I'm still learning something new each day! I also appreciate how many ways there are to customize the software for organizations of any size. We're relatively small (under 1,000 learners) but we have some unique features in our reporting structure. I was able to work with Team Absorb to build some behaviours/rules into our LMS that reflect our set-up and match the information coming in the nightly imports from our HRIS.
Cons:
Right now, about 98% of supervisor approval requests make it to the supervisor but it would be awesome if 100% of the requests made it through.
Easy to implement tool with great potential to develop further
Pros:
Easy to implement, easy to learn as an admin. Support Team always ready and helpful. Very customisable to cater for different audiences
Cons:
It's missing bulk actions for courses and user management that would make life easier
NBCU - Technical Operations Absorb Training
Pros:
Helped with course creation, easy enrollment, and helped with our hands-on training teams with managers manually updating certifications.
Cons:
Not able to edit multiple courses for multiple employees. This was helpful for trainers/admins who did hands-on training for employees who were enrolled in the same courses and completed them on the same date.
Initative platform and great customer focused team
Comments: The LMS allows us to uplift our capability to encourage a modern and user friendly experience. From implementation and roll out the process has been fairly smooth and the team have been really helpful to ensure we are making the most of the system. Our support team in Australia has been prompt and guiding in answering any queries and ensuring we use our system in the best way possible.
Pros:
The platform is intuitive and fairly easy to navigate. The help guides are useful and if further detail is required, the support team are always on hand for guidance.
Cons:
A little more work around the dynamic targeting of user groups would be great.
Absorb more with Absorb
Comments: Mostly positive. I especially appreciate how supportive our CSM is to our team. Very responsive when we have questions.
Pros:
Versatile. Great support. Leader in the industry. Lots of content available, as well as the ability to add our own content.
Cons:
Learner AI assist would be great as navigation is not always intuitive to some learners. THis is on the roadmap, so that will solve that.