Self-hosted alternatives to Blackboard
Want learning management for schools and universities without handing your data to Blackboard? These 15 self-hosted apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $5/month.
About Blackboard: Learning management system used by schools and universities.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canvas LMS | Maintained | 6.9k | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Chamilo LMS | Active | 1k | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Gibbon | Active | 638 | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| ILIAS | Active | 507 | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| OpenOLAT | Active | 449 | Apache-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| RELATE | Active | 437 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| INGInious | Active | 243 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Open eClass | Active | 170 | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| RosarioSIS | Active | 65 | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Helium | Active | 12 | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Digibunch | Active | 3 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Digiscreen | Active | 3 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Digitools | Active | 1 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| edX | Unknown | – | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Moodle | Unknown | – | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Canvas LMS
Learning management system (LMS) that is revolutionizing the way we educate.
Maintained Last commit 2026-04-30. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. Chamilo LMS
Create a virtual campus for the provision of online or semi-online training.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v3.0.2 (2026-11-03). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. Gibbon
Flexible school management platform designed to make life better for teachers, students, parents and leaders.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 2 releases in the past year. Latest release v30.0.01 (2026-02-06). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. ILIAS
Learning management system that can cope with anything you throw at it.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v12.0_beta1 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. OpenOLAT
Learning management system for teaching, education, assessment and communication.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. RELATE
Courseware package that includes features such as: flexible rules, statistics, multi-course support, class calendar.
Active Last commit 2026-11-01. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. INGInious
Intelligent grader that allows secured and automated testing of code made by students.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v0.10.0 (2026-10-30). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. Open eClass
Advanced e-learning solution that can enhance the teaching and learning process.
Active Last commit 2026-10-23. Latest release Release_4.4.3 (2026-10-23). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. RosarioSIS
Student Information System for school management. Features students demographics, grades, scheduling, attendance, student billing, discipline & food service modules.
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. 19 releases in the past year. Latest release v13.0.3 (2026-10-28). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. Helium
Color-coded student planner for classes, homework, grades, and notes with smart notifications and multi-device sync.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. Digibunch
Create bunches of links to share with your learners or colleagues.
Active Last commit 2026-10-15. 9 releases in the past year. Latest release 0.9.3 (2026-10-13). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. Digiscreen
Interactive whiteboard/wallpaper for the classroom, in person or remotely (documentation in French).
Active Last commit 2026-10-20. 6 releases in the past year. Latest release 1.2.2 (2026-10-14). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. Digitools
Set of simple tools to accompany the animation of courses in person or remotely (documentation in French).
Active Last commit 2026-10-11. 5 releases in the past year. Latest release 0.6.1 (2026-10-13). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
14. edX
Online learning platform that powers the edX.org website.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
15. Moodle
Learning and courses platform with one of the largest communities worldwide.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Blackboard?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
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Blackboard is a trademark of its owner; this site is not affiliated with it. Listings come from the community-maintained awesome-selfhosted list.