ProProfs Training Maker vs Lessonly – 9 Tests to Determine Which is the Best LMS

When it comes to picking the right Learning Management System (LMS), the options can be overwhelming, especially with top contenders like ProProfs Training Maker and Lessonly in the mix.

I had to select the perfect LMS for my unique needs, and I must admit that it was quite a daunting task.

In this blog, I’m sharing my journey to simplify this decision. I’m putting both ProProfs Training Maker and Lessonly through nine crucial tests and evaluating their most essential features.

By the end, you’ll clearly see which LMS – ProProfs or Lessonly – aligns perfectly with my specific requirements. So, let’s dive into the quest to discover the champion in this ProProfs Training Maker vs Lessonly battle.

Features	ProProfs Training Maker	Lessonly
Type	Cloud-based	Cloud-based
Pricing	Forever free for up to 10 learners. Paid plan starts at $1.97/learner/month for large teams. Billed annually.	Starts at $300/month for 20 users, billed annually.
User interface	It combines a user-friendly interface with customization options, insightful dashboards, and virtual classroom capabilities.	It impresses with a user-friendly, elegant interface, an intuitive authoring tool, insightful dashboards, and a rich resource library for effective training.
Customization	It allows easy alignment of online courses with your brand identity. This includes theme changes, logo customization, versatile brand colors, layout adjustments, and multilingual support.	It allows adjustments to course visuals and custom domains for branding.
Privacy & Security	It offers GDPR compliance, Azure Active Directory integration, session control, robust firewall, SSL encryption, and remote data backups, ensuring data protection and compliance.	It prioritizes privacy and security with GDPR compliance, SOC 2 Type II certification, Okta integration, SAML 2.0 support, enterprise-grade firewall, ensuring robust data protection and reliability.
Gamification	It offers badges, leaderboards, quizzes, and customizable settings. The tool supports interactive course creation with a library of 100+ expert-designed courses and templates.	It shines in gamification with elements like points, badges and integration with the authoring tool facilitates interactive course creation.
Reporting	It presents a comprehensive reporting suite covering course, attendee, class, and test metrics, offering customization and export options.	It provides in-depth tracking and performance measurement with a versatile suite, including course metrics, attendee data, class progress, and test scores.
Automation	It features AI-powered course creation, flexible enrollment, while also automating grading, certificates, and progress tracking.	It excels in automation with AI-driven course creation and progress tracking for efficient training management.
User management	It offers efficient organization of learners, instructors, and administrators, with robust role management and secure access management through integrations.	It allows easy addition, editing, deletion, and role assignment, along with flexible group management.
Integration	It offers a broad integration library spanning diverse categories. The user-friendly setup, including one-click and API options, simplifies integration.	Data import from sources like CSV, Active Directory, and APIs is effortless, as is data export in PDF, CSV, and Excel formats.

ProProfs Training Maker vs. Lessonly: A Feature-by-Feature Comparison

This is a fair and impartial evaluation of the two platforms across nine distinct criteria. To construct this analysis, I thoroughly examined each feature in question, considered insights from third-party software comparison platforms, gathered user reviews and testimonials, and sought input from colleagues.

1. User Interface

The user interface in an LMS tool serves as the gateway to the entire learning experience. It’s the first impression users get when they interact with the platform.

A well-designed user interface is crucial because it directly impacts user engagement, ease of navigation, and overall user satisfaction. It can make learning more accessible, efficient, and enjoyable, leading to better retention of information and improved training outcomes.

To start off our ProProfs Training Maker vs. Lessonly comparison, ProProfs Training Maker boasts an impressive user interface. It’s easy to navigate, with a clean, responsive design. The drag-and-drop feature simplifies course creation, while customization options add a personalized touch.

The dashboard offers insights into learner progress, reports, and certificate management. It’s a well-rounded interface that balances aesthetics and functionality effectively.

I love that it has virtual classroom software that enables me to administer any number of learners from anywhere, anytime.  I can also share courses and reports via social media, email, and downloadable links so that learners can find them easily.

I’d say Lessonly’s user interface is commendable, embodying simplicity and elegance. It offers a clear, organized design with minimalistic and professional theme and colors, promoting an engaging learning environment.

The authoring tool stands out for its ease of use, enabling the creation of interactive courses with various content types. The dashboard provides valuable insights into training program effectiveness and learner engagement.

Also, Lessonly’s resource library, filled with best practices and expert advice, enhances training strategies.

Winner

After a thorough evaluation, I would declare ProProfs Training Maker as the winner in this comparison, scoring 9 out of 10, while Lessonly, a strong contender, also scores impressively with 8 out of 10.

2. Customization

Customization is essential in LMS tools as it empowers organizations to tailor the platform to their branding and training needs. This feature ensures consistency in branding, adaptability to different learning styles, heightened engagement, flexibility for unique training requirements, and inclusivity.

For our next ProProfs Training Maker vs Lessonly comparison we’ll look at customization options.

ProProfs Training Maker excels in customization, enabling you to align your online training courses with your brand’s identity effortlessly. This includes theme adjustments, logo customization with various placement options, versatile brand color selection, layout customization, and support for over 70 languages. A library of 100+ ready-to-use courses and templates designed by experts covers diverse topics in ProProfs.

These features empower you to craft visually unique and appealing courses that resonate with your audience, making ProProfs Training Maker a top choice for tailored, branded training content.

I believe Lessonly’s customization feature, while decent, lets you tweak various aspects of the online training courses. You can set custom colors for headers, footers, buttons, links, and progress bars, ensuring a consistent and professional course appearance.

Uploading custom banner images is a breeze, adding visual appeal to the course pages. Lessonly even supports custom domains, accessible through a support request, allowing for unique branding like training.companyname.com.

These customization options enhance course personalization and branding, although they may not be as extensive as some alternatives like ProProfs Training Maker.

Winner

After careful evaluation, I would declare ProProfs Training Maker as the winner in this comparison, scoring 8 out of 10, while Lessonly, although offering decent customization options, scores a respectable 7 out of 10.

Watch: How to Configure Your Online Course Settings

3. Privacy and Security

Ensuring data privacy safeguards learners’ personal information and prevents breaches. Robust security measures protect against unauthorized access, data leaks, and cyber threats, safeguarding both the integrity of the educational content and the trust of users.

ProProfs Training Maker excels in privacy and security, with key strengths including GDPR compliance and a dedicated training course, roles-based permissions, single sign-on (SSO), and much more.

I like that it also features integration with Azure Active Directory for secure access management, session control to prevent data breaches, robust firewall, and SSL encryption, complemented by regular remote data backups.

These features collectively ensure data privacy, regulatory compliance, and protection against unauthorized access, making ProProfs Training Maker a trusted choice for online training software.

Lessonly places a strong emphasis on privacy and security, with notable features including GDPR compliance and accompanying training, SOC 2 Type II certification for comprehensive security evaluations.

It also provides integration with Okta for robust access management and support for SAML 2.0 for authentication and authorization, which I found to be very crucial.

Coupled with enterprise-grade firewall, SSL encryption, and regular remote data backups, Lessonly ensures the safeguarding of sensitive data, making it a reliable choice for secure online training software.

Winner

In this ProProfs Training Maker vs Lessonly by Seismic comparison, Lessonly emerges as the winner in this comparison, securing a strong 9 out of 10 for its impressive security features. ProProfs Training Maker, although solid in this aspect, also performs well with an 8 out of 10.

4. Gamification

Gamification is a vital feature in LMS (Learning Management System) tools as it enhances engagement and motivation among learners. By incorporating game-like elements such as badges, points, leaderboards, and rewards, it makes the learning experience more engaging and fun. It also encourages learners to compete with themselves and others, and to track their progress and achievements.

In our next ProProfs Training Maker vs Lessonly by Seismic comparison, ProProfs Training Maker offers various game elements motivating learners with points, badges, leaderboards, quizzes, and more while providing feedback and recognition. Customization options allow fine-tuning of gamification settings, including points and badges.

My favourite part is the authoring tool that empowers the creation of interactive courses with text, media, quizzes, and gamification elements.

Lessonly excels in gamification by offering diverse game elements like points, badges, leaderboards, quizzes, and more to motivate learners, provide feedback, and foster competition.

I like that customization options allow fine-tuning of gamification settings, including points and badges. The platform integrates seamlessly with a powerful authoring tool, simplifying the creation of interactive courses with various content types and gamification elements.

Winner

ProProfs Training Maker takes the lead in gamification with a score of 8 out of 10, surpassing Lessonly’s commendable 7 out of 10 due to its wider array of gamification elements and customization options

5. Reporting

Reporting allows us to track learner progress, measure performance, and assess the impact of their courses. Detailed reports help identify areas for improvement, customize training content, and ensure compliance with training goals and regulatory requirements.

I’m truly impressed by ProProfs Training Maker’s robust reporting feature, which has greatly simplified my progress tracking and learner performance evaluation.

It offers an extensive suite of reports, delving into course, attendee, class, and test metrics. This includes details on start and completion rates, test scores, time spent, attempts made, and certificates earned. The ability to customize report types and export formats to suit my preferences is a huge plus.

The user-friendly dashboard offers a concise overview of training program impact and results, streamlining certificate management and providing valuable insights into skill gaps and knowledge retention.

Lessonly excels in reporting, enabling comprehensive tracking, performance measurement, and data analysis.

It offers a powerful suite for insights into course metrics, attendee data, class progress, and test scores, including individual learner details. Various report types and customizable formats cater to specific needs and preferences, with export options like PDF, CSV, and Excel.

Winner

ProProfs Training Maker emerges as the winner in the reporting category, earning a score of 9 out of 10, while Lessonly, though offering commendable reporting features, also performs well with a 7 out of 10.

6. Automation

Automation is a vital feature as it streamlines administrative tasks and enhances the overall efficiency of training programs.

Automating routine processes like enrollment, progress tracking, notifications, and reporting reduces the manual workload for trainers. This not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of errors, ensures consistency in training delivery, and allows for real-time data updates.

ProProfs Training Maker offers robust automation capabilities where you get access to course creation tools that use AI to automate content generation. Also, the enrollment system allows self-enrollment, bulk enrollment via CSV or API, and group-based enrollment.

I like that automated delivery includes scheduling, reminders, and virtual classroom options, facilitating course delivery.

On top of that, I’ve seen that the automation extends to grading quizzes and tests, issuing certificates upon successful completion, and automatically tracking learner progress and performance, enhancing the efficiency of training management.

Lessonly excels in automation, streamlining various online training tasks as its AI-powered course builder simplifies course creation from topics or URLs, and it supports course imports from various sources like PowerPoint and SCORM.

I found that flexible enrollment options include self-enrollment, bulk enrollment via CSV or API, and group-based enrollment.

Lessonly also automates grading, certificate issuance upon course completion, and progress tracking through comprehensive reporting, enhancing the efficiency of training management.

Winner

ProProfs emerges as the winner in the automation category, earning a score of 8 out of 10, while Lessonly, though commendable in automation, performs well with a 6 out of 10.

Watch: How to Automate Quiz Scoring & Grading

7. User Management

User management is a pivotal feature that enables administrators to efficiently oversee learners’ engagement and progress. User management streamlines the process of adding, updating, and removing learners, simplifying the administration of training programs.

I’m truly impressed by ProProfs Training Maker’s user management capabilities, which provide an efficient way to organize and supervise learners, instructors, and administrators.

Its robust system lets me easily add, edit, delete, and assign roles to users, and the import and export options simplify user management.

Plus, secure integration with identity and access management tools ensures authentication and authorization options.

Lessonly’s user management system supports user addition, editing, deletion, and role assignment with versatile import and export options. Flexible group management streamlines group creation, editing, and assignment.

The integration with secure identity and access management tools guarantees authentication and authorization, including single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA).

An intuitive dashboard provides a quick overview of user activity, statistics, feedback, and ratings, accessible from any device.

Winner

Lessonly takes the lead in user management due to its robust and scalable user and group management system, achieving a score of 9 out of 10, while ProProfs Training Maker, though strong in this area, earns a 7 out of 10

8. Integration

Integrations enable seamless connections with other software and platforms, such as content authoring tools, video conferencing, HR systems, and more. Integrations enhance the LMS’s capabilities, allowing users to access a wide range of resources and tools without leaving the LMS environment.

I’m very impressed with ProProfs Training Maker and its integration capabilities that provide a seamless connection to various business tools.

Its extensive integration library covers a wide range of categories, from learning and content management systems to marketing and e-commerce platforms, simplifying data transfer and synchronization. Setting up integrations is user-friendly, offering one-click and API options.

I also like that real-time data sharing is possible through robust software integrations. They streamline workflows and enhance the efficiency of online training.

Lessonly’s integrations are pivotal to my workflow, seamlessly connecting my training software with essential business and education tools. Covering a wide array of categories, including learning management, content management, CRM, email marketing, e-commerce, and social media, they expand functionality.

The integration process excels in simplicity, offering quick setup without coding. One-click integration expedites connections, while API options enable customization.

Also, data import from sources like CSV, Active Directory, and APIs is hassle-free, as is data export in PDF, CSV, and Excel formats.

Winner

ProProfs Training Maker takes the lead in integrations due to its extensive range of connections and user-friendly setup, earning it a solid 9 out of 10, while Lessonly, with its respectable integration options, receives an 8 out of 10.

9. Pricing

In our final ProProfs Training Maker Software vs Lessonly comparison, we look at pricing. Pricing is a crucial aspect when evaluating LMS tools as it directly impacts the budget and cost-effectiveness of an organization’s training programs.

Understanding the pricing structure, including subscription models, tiered plans, and any hidden fees, is essential to make an informed decision.

It allows businesses and educators to align their training needs with their financial resources, ensuring they get the best value for their investment in online learning and development.

ProProfs Training Maker employs a subscription-based pricing model, where users are billed monthly and paid annually to access its features and services. It offers a Forever FREE plan for small teams (up to 10 learners) and a paid plan starting at $1.97 per learner per month for larger teams.

There are no hidden charges. With a 15-day money-back guarantee, canceling your subscription within the first 15 days incurs no charges.

All plans include unlimited courses and attempts, allowing learners to take as many training courses as needed, with the flexibility to change plans anytime.

Payment methods accepted include Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, while check payments are also accepted for purchases.

Lessonly offers transparent pricing with three plans: Standard ($300/month for 20 learners), Plus ($750/month for 50 learners), and Growth ($1250/month for 100 learners), all based on annual billing, including unlimited courses.

Custom pricing is available for larger teams, determined by learner count, support level, and integrations.

A 14-day free trial with Plus features and 10 free learners is available, accessible by email sign-up.

Winner

ProProfs Training Maker earns a solid 9/10 for its affordability and feature-rich plans, while Lessonly receives a 7/10 for its pricing and offerings.

Which Is Better: ProProfs Training Maker or Lessonly?

Both of these platforms present a formidable rivalry, making it a challenging choice to choose one. However, rather than leaving you undecided, I’ll give you my personal best. To determine the ultimate winner in this ProProfs Training Maker Software vs Lessonly battle, let’s begin by examining the advantages and disadvantages of each LMS.

ProProfs Training Maker 

Pros

• It is a versatile and flexible online training software that allows users to create, manage, and deliver various types of courses, such as employee training, customer training, compliance training, etc.
• It is a powerful and comprehensive online training software that offers a wide range of features and functionalities, such as course creation, course import, course library, course delivery, course completion, course reporting, course certification, etc.
• It is a simple and easy online training software that has a user-friendly and intuitive interface. It also has a drag-and-drop functionality that enables users to create courses in minutes without any coding or technical skills.
• It is a reliable and trustworthy online training software that ensures the privacy and security of user data and information. It is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• It has a gamification feature that enables users to make online training more fun, engaging, and rewarding for both learners and trainers. It supports various game elements such as points, badges, leaderboards, quizzes, flashcards, and more.

Cons

• The Forever FREE plan has a cap of 10 learners at most.
• The inclusion of a dark mode could enhance the user experience and be a valuable addition.

Lessonly

Pros

• It is a simple and effective online training software that allows users to create, manage, and deliver various types of courses, such as employee training, customer training, compliance training, etc.
• It is a powerful and comprehensive online training software that offers a wide range of features and functionalities, such as course creation, course import, course library, course delivery, course completion, course reporting, course certification, etc.
• It also has a smart and easy course creation tool that enables users to create courses in minutes without any coding or technical skills.
• It also has an AI-powered course builder that automatically generates courses based on the topic or URL entered by the user.
• It allows users to set custom colors for their courses, upload a custom banner image for their courses, create custom user fields for their courses, and set up a custom domain for their courses.

Cons

• It has a limited and basic course library that does not offer many ready-to-use courses and templates for different topics and industries.
• It has a lack of advanced features and functionalities that may limit the scope and quality of online training.

The Verdict 

Deciding between ProProfs Training Maker and Lessonly is challenging. ProProfs Training Maker stands out as the better option between the two for its versatility, accommodating various training needs. It offers a comprehensive feature set, an intuitive interface, robust data security, and engaging gamification.

However, its free plan has a 10-learner limit, and a dark mode addition could improve user experience.

In contrast, Lessonly prioritizes simplicity and effectiveness. It offers a smart course creation tool, an AI-powered course builder, and excellent customization options.

Yet, its course library is limited, potentially restricting the training scope. ProProfs Training Maker emerges as the preferred choice for its versatility and feature richness.

When we look at the types of industries and situations they work well for, ProProfs Training Maker is doing really well. It can help you make your employees better and your customers happier, no matter what kind of business you have or how big your team is.