A free LMS is a learning management system you can use to publish courses and teach students without paying. In practice there are three kinds: an ongoing free plan on a hosted platform, a time-limited free trial, and open-source software that is free to license but that you host and maintain yourself.
The word free hides very different commitments. Understanding which of the three you are being offered tells you what the next twelve months will actually cost your team in money and in hours.
Active students
348
Live rooms in use
6
Course completion
82%
Courses in progress
This termA trial, a freemium plan and an open-source download are all advertised as free. They differ in who carries the cost: a trial defers it, a free plan caps it by usage, and open source moves it from a licence fee to your own servers, upgrades and support time.
Ask three questions. Does it stop working on a date? Then it is a trial. Does it keep working but cap students, storage or features? Then it is a free plan. Does it need someone to install, update and back it up? Then it is open source, and your real cost is staff time.
Hosted, ongoing, capped by usage limits. Nothing to maintain.
Full features, fixed end date, usually a card up front.
No licence fee; you supply hosting, upgrades, backups and support.
A free base with paid extras such as extra live meeting time.
A free plan lets you run a real cohort instead of a demo, at your own pace.
Knowing the type of free tells you whether costs arrive as fees or as hours.
Create your workspace, invite your teachers and publish your first course. Start on a free plan and upgrade when your numbers grow.