Start with the content, not the feature list.
Most LMS comparisons are won by whichever platform has the longest specification, which is a poor predictor of whether anyone will use it.
What questions actually decide an LMS choice?
Who maintains the catalogue day to day, how a change to the product reaches the learner, what reporting the business genuinely needs rather than would like, and how many languages the platform has to hold.
Those four cover most of the real decision. Feature comparisons tend to reward platforms that do many things adequately over platforms that do your specific things well.
Does the platform fix a content problem?
No, and this is the most common expensive mistake. An LMS hosts, delivers and tracks. If the training is not landing, a new platform will host, deliver and track training that is not landing.
The symptom to watch for is an organisation on its second or third platform with the same completion rates.
What about the platforms aimed at selling courses?
Kajabi and similar tools are built around commerce, marketing automation and direct-to-consumer delivery, which makes them a strong fit for course businesses and a poor fit for internal compliance training.
Julia Mattey migrated Bonjour Sublime's 15-product catalogue to Kajabi for exactly this reason. The business needed marketing and course management integrated, not enterprise reporting.
How much should migration influence the choice?
More than most buyers allow for. Check SCORM support, export options and what happens to your learner records if you leave. A platform that is difficult to leave is a platform you will be on for a decade.
Common questions.
What is the difference between an LMS and an LXP?
An LMS is built around assigning, delivering and tracking required training. An LXP is built around discovery and self-directed learning. Most organisations need the first and buy the second because it demonstrates better.
Can you migrate between platforms without losing content?
Yes, when content and learner flows are mapped before the migration begins. On the Bonjour Sublime project Julia Mattey moved 15 products for 5,000 users with zero content loss and minimal downtime.
Where this applies.
Fifteen e-learning products spread across WordPress and ActiveCampaign, migrated to Kajabi for 5,000 users. Hierarchies, sequencing, drip content and navigation all restructured on the way through.
Read the case study →Training for rapidly evolving HCP-facing software was going out of date faster than the agency model could keep up with. Julia Mattey designed a global blueprint and production process in Articulate Rise, catalogued in Cornerstone.
Read the case study →Other guides.
Tell me what is not working.
If your training is expensive to maintain, slow to update, or not landing with the people it is for, I can usually tell you fairly quickly whether that is a content problem, a platform problem or a process problem.