Canvas LMS vs H5P
Canvas LMS
instructure.comH5P
h5p.orgSide by side
| Figure | Canvas LMS | H5P |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $130/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Spec score · Education software | 8.4 (#5) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Spec score · Educational Software | 8.4 (#6) | 8.9 (#2) |
| Spec score · E-Learning Software | 8.4 (#9) | 8.8 (#4) |
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah, USA | Tromsø, Norway |
| Integrations | Canvas advertises integration with more than 1,000 external tools through open technology and standards. | Official integrations include Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard and Moodle through LTI, plus WordPress, Drupal and Moodle plugins. |
| License | Canvas LMS source code is released under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3. | H5P code is generally MIT-licensed, while third-party sanitizing code in the PHP library is GPL-licensed; h5p.org content is CC BY 4.0 unless stated otherwise. |
| Ownership | Thoma Bravo completed its all-cash acquisition of Instructure on March 24, 2020, at an approximately $2 billion equity valuation. | D2L announced its acquisition of H5P Group on July 9, 2024 and said H5P would remain open source. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.5 out of 5 from 1,839 reviews. | 4.5 out of 5 from 45 reviews |
| Self-hosting | The public Canvas LMS repository includes installation guidance for running the AGPLv3 code yourself. | Free core plugins maintained by the project are available for WordPress, Drupal and Moodle. |
| What it does | Canvas is a web-based learning-management system for institutions, educators and students to deliver courses, assess learning, communicate and track achievement. | H5P creates, shares and reuses interactive HTML5 content such as videos, presentations, games and quizzes through a browser and an H5P-enabled site. |
Plans
Canvas LMS
- Canvas CorePriced on request
- Canvas NextPriced on request
- Canvas PlusPriced on request
H5P
- H5P open-source softwareFree
- Pro$1,560 a year
- Premium$1,570 a year
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Canvas LMS
Canvas LMS is a cloud learning management system for creating and delivering courses, assessing learners, providing feedback, communicating with learners, and viewing analytics. Canvas Core includes course creation and delivery, assessment and feedback, essential analytics, and learner communication tools. Canvas Plus adds interactive video through Studio, in-app messaging and engagement through Impact, and advanced analytics. Canvas Next includes Plus capabilities plus IgniteAI Agent for administrators and instructors, IgniteAI Ask Your Data, and IgniteAI Study Tools for learners. The system supports assessments, single sign-on, API access, and a mobile app. Other listed capabilities include digital certificates and badges, public verification, expiry management, custom branding, automatic captions, searchable transcripts, and LMS delivery. Canvas LMS was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is a paid cloud service with no free plan; pricing for Canvas Core, Plus, and Next is available on request. Its listed platform is API.
H5P
H5P lets authors create, share, and reuse interactive content such as videos, presentations, games, and quizzes. Featured content types include Interactive Video, Course Presentation, and Branching Scenario, and a browser is enough to view or edit content. Core team plugins support WordPress, Drupal, and Moodle; H5P.com adds LTI integrations including Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard, and Moodle. H5P.com content can also be embedded where iframes are supported or shared by direct link. The free self-hosted software uses an MIT license but requires Drupal, WordPress, or Moodle, and its plugin does not include content types or support. H5P.com’s 30-day trial requires an application and approval. After the trial, users have 14 days to buy a plan or save and export content; activities become inaccessible afterward unless exported. H5P validates package files and sanitizes author input, but evaluates answers on the client side, which can let technically knowledgeable users cheat.