bulb vs Mahara
bulb
my.bulbapp.com
Mahara
mahara.orgSide by side
| Figure | bulb | Mahara |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.42/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 0 |
| Spec score · Eportfolio Software | 8.3 (#3) | 7.6 (#10) |
| Audience | The K–12 product page describes students using portfolios to capture learning, reflect, and showcase growth and accomplishments. | The site presents Mahara for students and staff in learning communities and for organisations using portfolios in learning and assessment. |
| Founded | 2011 | 2006 |
| Integrations | The K–12 page names Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, Blackboard, Clever, and ClassLink among its LMS and app integrations. | The manual says Mahara supports LTI for connecting to LMS platforms and provides a wider web services suite for deeper integrations. |
| Sharing | Users choose who can view each page and collection on their profile. | Portfolios can be shared with one person, a specific group, or the public, with access restricted by time frame or assessment task. |
| Support | The site links to a Help Center, chat, and contact support. | The site links to community forums, a manual, a wiki, an issue and enhancement tracker, and extended security support. |
Plans
bulb
- EducatorsFree
- IndividualFree
- Universities & Colleges$5 a year
- Students (classes, schools and districts)$6 a year
- Corporate$8 a year
- Students$20 a year
In their own words
bulb
bulb is a digital portfolio platform for assembling and sharing work, skills and accomplishments. Its K–12 offering is designed for students to record learning, reflect on it and present their growth. Portfolios can include typed or arranged content, photos, video, audio, PDFs, presentations and other material. Users set who can view each page and collection. The K–12 page describes support for more than 2,000 embedded media types and integrations including Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, Blackboard, Clever and ClassLink. Teachers can make template pages and distribute them to classes through groups. The product page states compliance with FERPA, COPPA and GDPR; the privacy policy says user information is not sold or given away and data is used only for permitted purposes. bulb has a native iOS app with image annotation, audio and screen recording, and page creation. Individual accounts include one shared page and 2GB storage on the free plan; paid plans start at $1/user/mo.
Mahara
Mahara is a free ePortfolio system for learning communities. Students and staff can collect evidence, reflect on experiences, and relate work to competencies or registration requirements. Listed uses include study, professional development, work-integrated learning, assessment, presentation, and employability. Portfolios can be shared with an individual, group, or the public, with access limited by a time frame or assessment task. Users can comment, give feedback, build portfolios together in groups, and take part in group forums. Portfolios can be submitted to learning management systems through LTI for marking. Mahara is open source, under conditions that include providing source code with copies and using the same license for derivative works. It can be hosted on a Linux server; the manual also describes Docker setup for development and testing, and advises securing that environment before live use. The manual describes LTI 1.3 Advantage as experimental and tested only with Brightspace. The project links to community forums, a manual, a wiki, an issue tracker, and extended security support; Catalyst is named as maintainer.