We performed a comparison between Google Classroom and Moodle based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Features: Users appreciate Google Classroom for its simplicity, intuitive design, and seamless integration with Google applications. Moodle has earned high marks for its adaptability, extensive customization options, and diverse feature set, including course backup and integration with platforms like Zoom and Teams. Some users have said that Google Classroom lacks certain features of a true learning management system, has a confusing interface, and struggles with tracking assignments and feedback. It also has limited collaboration. Moodle could enhance its interface, mobile operation, and reporting features. Users say they would like to see better integration with social media, an easier setup process, and enhancements in the user interface
Service and Support: Some Google Classroom users reported challenges in obtaining assistance, while others value the forums and resources provided. Moodle's support quality depends on the circumstances. Some users reported prompt issue resolution from the team. Others expressed a desire for improvement.
Ease of Deployment: Google Classroom's initial setup is simple and quick, requiring only a few minutes to complete. Moodle's setup process is somewhat more involved. Users may require technical skills and additional training to implement Moodle correctly.
Pricing: Google Classroom pricing varies depending on the type of customer. Educational institutions can access the platform for free, but private companies need to pay. Customers may incur additional expenses for storage and integration. Moodle is a free open-source product with no yearly or monthly fees. However, companies may need to spend money to customize and integrate Moodle.
ROI: Google Classroom does not offer a quantifiable return on investment, whereas Moodle has proven to be a valuable and efficient solution, resulting in financial and time savings.
Comparison Results: According to our reviews, users prefer Google Classroom over Moodle. Users appreciate its easy-to-use interface, integration with other Google apps, and the ability to communicate with students and assign points. They also say that uploading class materials is easy and convenient. Users find Moodle's interface and mobile operation less user-friendly and in need of improvement. Overall, users like Google Classroom better because of its simplicity, convenience, and responsiveness to user feedback.
"A teacher can send assignments and upload results using the product."
"This solution integrates with all the other Google apps including Google Calendar and Google Docs. This makes it very easy to manage."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"The product's UI is good and user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is its clouds based. It can be accessed anywhere. Additionally, the GUI is good, we have not had any complaints and the platform has built-in security. For example, email has protection."
"The most valuable features of Google Classroom are the meetings, mark book, and assignments."
"Company-wise, the most important feature is that it is a product of Google. It is a part of Google Suite. With Google Classroom, you can easily embed a Google Sheet, Google Doc, or Google Form. You can easily create a quiz in Google Form. It is integrated with Google Drive. So, everything is on Google Drive, and you can easily use it. With single sign-on, you can use it with Google Apps as well."
"The product is easy to use."
"Almost all the activity modules are available inside the courses, so that makes our training easier and more comfortable."
"What I liked most about Moodle was that I could create nice online quizzes. It takes very little time to do. You don't have to even read the paper, it automatically evaluates the quizzes. It gives the student grades and provides a lot of useful statistics. For example, it indicates which question was the hardest, easiest, and where students made the most mistakes. Everything is available to you. You couldn't do this in regular paper test hard copies. This was my first use case."
"One of the most valuable aspects is the ability to input data into the model."
"The fact that it's modular means you can easily expand with thousands of plugins that you can freely download from Moodle headquarters, and adding or removing functionality is easy."
"They have made it really easy for you to see the flow on the forums. The information is well organized and the UI is fairly easy to navigate."
"The most valuable feature of Moodle is the exam question shuffle. Students in the classroom will all have different question list numbers. For example, one student's question one will be another student's question ten."
"A really nice thing about Moodle is that it is very robust and flexible, and one of the big advantages of Moodle is that it is open source. It also has a lot of free documentation."
"It is relatively easy to use to build processes for establishing and conducting work within the templates that are used. It is not that hard to follow along or use, and it is pretty simple to pick it up and run with it."
"The stability could be improved."
"I would like to see a better user experience, a more engaging interface, and more templates. Google should develop templates or at least encourage developers to share them. You'll only get a basic framework when you create a new course. You don't have different themes to choose from like you do in Moodle."
"The initial setup of Google Classroom is straightforward. The deployment took us two to three months because we had to train the faculty."
"The product must provide different plans for different customers so that we can pay for only what we use."
"Students used to have points that were accumulated and the letter grades, such as A's, B's, C's, et cetera. Google Classroom should add a feature by which you can toggle in between both of them. It's more than only accumulated points, which are not going to mean that much for students unless there's a prize at the end or some type of reward for the effort. However, if there's a way to toggle in between allocating points versus allocating a grade, it would be nice."
"It would be useful if this solution had its own online teaching platform with an integration with a Google video conferencing tool."
"The product should provide features that allow teachers to be on video while taking the class."
"Initially, the product's initial setup phase may not seem user-friendly."
"Its interface design could be more user-friendly."
"The ability to input modified, individual, independent grades in a grade center component is not just hard. It almost always requires you to get tech involved. When you're dealing with a learning system where you have people in an open enrollment with all different levels of learning modes or methodologies, and as well as a worldwide student body, you end up with situations where you have to absolutely exempt somebody from a grade or an assignment and enter a new, different kind of assignment because of their skillset or lack thereof. You can't do that in Moodle. It is virtually impossible to do that in Moodle without having a tech do it for you, and when you have to have that level of tech support, it becomes problematic. They need to fix the grade book center. It is the part where you do evaluations. They need to fix it so that the individual professors can make changes directly without having to get a hold of tech support to do it for them."
"It would be good to have a feature that would ensure that students are the ones performing the given assessment."
"The solution should have more student-centric details in the modules."
"The multi-tenancy system within Moodle could be improved. IOMAD is what makes the multi-tenancy possible but this comes with many issues."
"Sometimes, the gradebook can get broken if an incorrect formula is entered during creation."
"Moodle is missing a subscription-based system where learners can subscribe to available courses and make the payment for those courses."
"The UI and interface of Moodle could be greatly improved. There has been some improvement in recent releases by Moodle but there is still a lot to be improved upon. It is challenging to get buy-in from different stakeholders when they see what it looks like."
Google Classroom is ranked 3rd in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 23 reviews while Moodle is ranked 2nd in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 26 reviews. Google Classroom is rated 8.2, while Moodle is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Google Classroom writes "An easy-to-use and intuitive solution that can be used to facilitate excellent teaching and learning". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Moodle writes "Inexpensive and pretty easy to use, but not easily adaptable for an individual". Google Classroom is most compared with Canvas LMS, Blackboard Learning Management and CYPHER Learning, whereas Moodle is most compared with SAP SuccessFactors Learning, CYPHER Learning, Chamilo LMS, LearnWorlds and TalentLMS. See our Google Classroom vs. Moodle report.
See our list of best Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors.
We monitor all Learning Management Systems (LMS) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.