Best / Online courses
Best open-source Online courses
The best self-hosted course split in the c17.io catalog is Moodle for a GPL-3.0 classroom (the published Teachable/Thinkific/Kajabi stack), Open edX for an AGPL-3.0 LMS and Studio, Canvas LMS when you want that Instructure classroom (not Canva), and Ghost when the job is a paid publication rather than a gradebook. This is not Kajabi's funnel OS or Teachable's native app store. A forum stays on /replace/skool (Discourse).
Open the stackStart on Railway
Ranked picks
1
MoodleGPL-3.0 learning platform — the c17 Teachable/Thinkific/Kajabi path.
When to pick it: Courses, quizzes, and a gradebook you host.
7,517 stars in the catalog
2
Open edXAGPL-3.0 LMS and Studio — /compare/moodle-vs-openedx.
When to pick it: A large-course stack if Moodle is not the shape.
8,205 stars in the catalog
3
Canvas LMSAGPL-3.0 Instructure LMS. Not Canva — /compare/moodle-vs-canvas.
When to pick it: The Canvas classroom if that is the product you already know.
6,882 stars in the catalog
4
GhostMIT publishing and memberships — a paid publication, not a classroom. /replace/medium.
When to pick it: Memberships and a newsletter, not a gradebook.
55,549 stars in the catalog
How they compare
| Tool | License | Self-host | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moodle | GNU General Public License v3.0 | Medium | Courses, quizzes, and a gradebook you host. |
| Open edX | GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 | Harder | A large-course stack if Moodle is not the shape. |
| Canvas LMS | GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 | Harder | The Canvas classroom if that is the product you already know. |
| Ghost | MIT License | Easy | Memberships and a newsletter, not a gradebook. |
Related pages
- Moodle / Open edX stack
- Ghost / WordPress stack
- Discourse / Flarum stack
- Replace Teachable
- Replace Thinkific
- Replace Kajabi
- Replace WordPress.com
- Replace Squarespace
- Replace Wix
- Replace Medium
- Replace Ghost(Pro)
- Replace Memberstack
- Replace Outseta
- Replace Memberful
- Replace Patreon
- Replace Circle
- Replace Skool
- Replace Facebook Groups
- Replace Stack Overflow Teams
- Replace GitHub Discussions
- Replace Discourse Cloud
- Replace Mighty Networks
- Moodle vs Open edX
- Moodle vs Canvas LMS
- Open edX vs Canvas LMS
- All best open-source pages
- All compare pages
- All replace pages
- All stacks
- Tools catalog
FAQ
- Moodle or Open edX?
- Moodle if you want the common GPL classroom (the published stack). Open edX if you want Studio — /compare/moodle-vs-openedx.
- Is this Kajabi?
- The classroom slice, yes. Funnels, drip checkout, and a landing-page builder stay behind.
- Why is Ghost last?
- Ghost is a publication. Put it here so memberships are not confused with a gradebook.
- Are these free?
- Moodle is GPL-3.0. Open edX and Canvas LMS are AGPL-3.0. Ghost is MIT. You pay hosting. Template users never pay c17.
- How do I deploy it?
- Open /stacks/moodle-lms. Persist the database. Create one course and one quiz.
Stack of the Week
Get one stack a week that replaces a SaaS bill.