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CANVAS vs Populi Comparison

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Overview

Category Leaders

The Canvas Learning Management Platform, built by Instructure, is the open, extensible learning management system that educators...

Web-based management for higher education. It's secure and easy-to-use, with simple pricing, great customer support, and no upfront costs.

  • Platforms supported
  • Web-based
  • iPhone app
  • Android app
  • Windows Phone app
  • Typical customers
  • Freelancers
  • Small businesses
  • Mid size businesses
  • Large enterprises
  • Customer support
  • Phone
  • Online
  • Knowledge base
  • Video tutorials
  • Platforms supported
  • Web-based
  • iPhone app
  • Android app
  • Windows Phone app
  • Typical customers
  • Freelancers
  • Small businesses
  • Mid size businesses
  • Large enterprises
  • Customer support
  • Phone
  • Online
  • Knowledge base
  • Video tutorials

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

Starting from

Free

  • Free trial available
  • Credit cardless trial
  • Free account
  • Subscription based

Starting from

199

Per month

  • Free trial available
  • Credit cardless trial
  • Free account
  • Subscription based

User reviews

4.5

3.7K

5

4

3

2

1

2.3K

1.1K

196

32

16

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
97%
would recommend this app

4.5

59

5

4

3

2

1

35

19

4

1

0

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
100%
would recommend this app

Pros

It has been good, and I would highly recommend it over the previous system we used. I like most of the newer features and believe it will continue to get better over time.
Canvas has a great overview page and is nice that all of your materials are in one place. I appreciated that it was the main form of communication, document location & even some quizzes and tests.
The overall experience during my last two years of undergraduate school was very pleasant and I sincerely hope that I encountered this software again in graduate school.

Pros

I believe it's a good product and it has good potential, given the team's impressive efforts toward meet the rapid changing needs of their current and future customers.
Very satisfied and have experienced a great deal of positive and helpful customer support. Really, no walks through a string of phones tree choices to get to someone who can help.
While it may take a moment to input your needed data, the interface is user friendly and the customer service is top flight. Students and faculty celebrate.

Cons

Nothing is intuitive, it's extremely hard to change or fix a mistake on an assignment if you make a mistake, grade syncing with our electronic gradebook is very glitchy.
The parent canvas app is confusing and difficult to navigate. It is hard to discern what assignments are due to strange naming structures.
As a parent, it was difficult to understand where some items were but I feel that was user error and not the platform.

Cons

Even sending emails to selected students is a hassle. Adding meeting times to courses is awfully difficult and annoying.
We've struggled with finding some features at times, and in the case of marketing automation, we've discovered that Populi's system isn't quite fully-featured enough for our needs.
Compared to some competitors however, Populi is limited.
  • Vendor responds to reviews
  • Last review8 days ago
  • Vendor responds to reviews
  • Last reviewa year ago

Key features

  • Total features107
  • API
  • Academic/Education
  • Access Controls/Permissions
  • Activity Dashboard
  • Activity Management
  • Activity Tracking
  • Admissions Management
  • Alerts/Notifications
  • Alumni Management
  • Assessment Management
  • Assignment Management
  • Asynchronous Learning
  • Attendance Management
  • Attendance Tracking
  • Audio/Video Recording
  • Blended Learning
  • Block Websites/Applications
  • Bookstore Management
  • Built-in Course Authoring
  • Built-in LMS
  • Calendar Management
  • Certification & Licensing
  • Certification Management
  • Chat/Messaging
  • Class Registration
  • Class Scheduling
  • Class Summary
  • Classroom Management
  • Client Portal
  • Collaboration Tools
  • Commenting/Notes
  • Communication Management
  • Compliance Tracking
  • Content Library
  • Content Management
  • Corporate/Business
  • Course Authoring
  • Course Library
  • Course Management
  • Course Publishing
  • Course Tracking
  • Curriculum Management
  • Curve Scores
  • Customizable Branding
  • Customizable Questions
  • Customizable Reports
  • Customizable Templates
  • Data Import/Export
  • Document Management
  • Document Storage
  • Drag & Drop
  • Electronic Payments
  • Email Management
  • Employee Portal
  • Employee Training
  • Engagement Tracking
  • Enrollments/Onboarding
  • Event Calendar
  • Facility Management
  • Faculty/Staff Management
  • Financial Aid Management
  • Financial Management
  • For Schools
  • Fundraising Management
  • Gamification
  • Grade Calculations
  • Gradebook
  • Higher Education
  • Housing Management
  • Independent/Private
  • Individualized Assessments
  • Instructor-Led Courses
  • Interactive Content
  • Interactive Learning
  • Learner Portal
  • Learning Management
  • Learning Paths/Tracks
  • Lesson Planning
  • Library Management
  • Media Import
  • Media Management
  • Mobile Access
  • Mobile Learning
  • Multi-Language
  • Multimedia Support
  • Online Calendar
  • Online Payments
  • Parent Portal
  • Progress Reports
  • Progress Tracking
  • Quizzes
  • Real Time Data
  • Real Time Notifications
  • Real Time Reporting
  • Real-time Broadcasting
  • Records Management
  • Registration Management
  • Remote Access/Control
  • Report Cards
  • Reporting & Statistics
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Role-Based Permissions
  • SCORM Compliance
  • Screen Sharing
  • Self Service Portal
  • Self-Learning
  • Single Sign On
  • Skills Assessment
  • Skills Tracking
  • Social Learning
  • Storyboarding
  • Student Information/Records
  • Student Management
  • Student Portal
  • Support Audio/Images/Video
  • Surveys & Feedback
  • Synchronous Learning
  • Talent Management
  • Teacher Dashboard
  • Template Management
  • Tests/Assessments
  • Third Party Integrations
  • Training Companies
  • Video Conferencing
  • Video Management
  • Video Streaming
  • Virtual Classroom
  • Weighted Assignments
  • eLearning Companies
  • Total features63
  • API
  • Academic/Education
  • Access Controls/Permissions
  • Activity Dashboard
  • Activity Management
  • Activity Tracking
  • Admissions Management
  • Alerts/Notifications
  • Alumni Management
  • Assessment Management
  • Assignment Management
  • Asynchronous Learning
  • Attendance Management
  • Attendance Tracking
  • Audio/Video Recording
  • Blended Learning
  • Block Websites/Applications
  • Bookstore Management
  • Built-in Course Authoring
  • Built-in LMS
  • Calendar Management
  • Certification & Licensing
  • Certification Management
  • Chat/Messaging
  • Class Registration
  • Class Scheduling
  • Class Summary
  • Classroom Management
  • Client Portal
  • Collaboration Tools
  • Commenting/Notes
  • Communication Management
  • Compliance Tracking
  • Content Library
  • Content Management
  • Corporate/Business
  • Course Authoring
  • Course Library
  • Course Management
  • Course Publishing
  • Course Tracking
  • Curriculum Management
  • Curve Scores
  • Customizable Branding
  • Customizable Questions
  • Customizable Reports
  • Customizable Templates
  • Data Import/Export
  • Document Management
  • Document Storage
  • Drag & Drop
  • Electronic Payments
  • Email Management
  • Employee Portal
  • Employee Training
  • Engagement Tracking
  • Enrollments/Onboarding
  • Event Calendar
  • Facility Management
  • Faculty/Staff Management
  • Financial Aid Management
  • Financial Management
  • For Schools
  • Fundraising Management
  • Gamification
  • Grade Calculations
  • Gradebook
  • Higher Education
  • Housing Management
  • Independent/Private
  • Individualized Assessments
  • Instructor-Led Courses
  • Interactive Content
  • Interactive Learning
  • Learner Portal
  • Learning Management
  • Learning Paths/Tracks
  • Lesson Planning
  • Library Management
  • Media Import
  • Media Management
  • Mobile Access
  • Mobile Learning
  • Multi-Language
  • Multimedia Support
  • Online Calendar
  • Online Payments
  • Parent Portal
  • Progress Reports
  • Progress Tracking
  • Quizzes
  • Real Time Data
  • Real Time Notifications
  • Real Time Reporting
  • Real-time Broadcasting
  • Records Management
  • Registration Management
  • Remote Access/Control
  • Report Cards
  • Reporting & Statistics
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Role-Based Permissions
  • SCORM Compliance
  • Screen Sharing
  • Self Service Portal
  • Self-Learning
  • Single Sign On
  • Skills Assessment
  • Skills Tracking
  • Social Learning
  • Storyboarding
  • Student Information/Records
  • Student Management
  • Student Portal
  • Support Audio/Images/Video
  • Surveys & Feedback
  • Synchronous Learning
  • Talent Management
  • Teacher Dashboard
  • Template Management
  • Tests/Assessments
  • Third Party Integrations
  • Training Companies
  • Video Conferencing
  • Video Management
  • Video Streaming
  • Virtual Classroom
  • Weighted Assignments
  • eLearning Companies

Integrations

  • Total integrations97
  • Authorize.Net
  • CANVAS
  • Google Analytics 360
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Classroom
  • Google Drive
  • Google Workspace
  • HubSpot CRM
  • Mailchimp
  • Meta for Business
  • Microsoft 365
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Moodle
  • PayPal
  • Slack
  • Stripe
  • WordPress
  • Zapier
  • Zoom Meetings
  • Total integrations6
  • Authorize.Net
  • CANVAS
  • Google Analytics 360
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Classroom
  • Google Drive
  • Google Workspace
  • HubSpot CRM
  • Mailchimp
  • Meta for Business
  • Microsoft 365
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Moodle
  • PayPal
  • Slack
  • Stripe
  • WordPress
  • Zapier
  • Zoom Meetings

User reviews that mention these apps

JG
AvatarImg

Jeremy G.

Religious Institutions, 1-10 employees

Used other for 1-2 years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend6/10

Share this review:

Populi logo

Populi

Easy to use but watch out for formatting

Reviewed 4 years ago

Populi seems to be an overall better experience than Canvas both from the user standpoint and the administrator standpoint. It is nice having all of the information I need for my classes right at my fingertips.

Pros

Populi has an app which ensures that I do not miss any comments or messages from my professors. It makes it easy to review my grades and keep track of my progress. I also can download the current syllabus on to my phone to access whenever needed.

Cons

The only drawback to Populi is the process of reviewing papers after the professors have commented on them. It isn't that big of a deal, but one has to login to the website in order to see the comments and recommendations. It would make it a little bit more convenient to be able to access this feature in the app. There has also been times when the footnote formatting somehow was changed changed during the upload process. I let my professors know about the issue just in case it happens again.

CD
AvatarImg

Chris D.

Education Management, 11-50 employees

Used daily for less than 6 months

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

Share this review:

Populi logo

Populi

Populi Support is top-notch

Reviewed 4 years ago
Pros

Populi is straight-forward in it's functionality and use. It is intuitive, which is a great help to new users. The integration between G-Suite, Populi, and Canvas with Single Sign-On works great. The customer support before and after implementation has been truly exceptional.

Cons

There are some limitations with email templates and financial/billing functions, but these have been minor limitations.

AH
AvatarImg

Amanda H.

Higher Education, 1-10 employees

Used daily for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

Share this review:

Populi logo

Populi

Great Customer Service and Product for Small Businesses

Reviewed 2 years ago

I have enjoyed Populi. Great team, great price, and a product that works great for our very small online higher education institution.

Pros

Populi's customer support is first class. They are always so friendly and willing to talk through any of my issues or road blocks. They teach me how to do it and why things are done that way so I can make the best decision for our school. The cost of Populi is also a great asset because we are a small online non profit institution and having a reasonably priced product really helps us with our small budget. Finally, we love the integration with Canvas. It helps our Registrar and Librarian with term set up and course enrollments.

Cons

At this time, I don't have too many cons. Most of the time when something isn't working, I just call into Customer Support and one of their representatives is able to work with me to find a solution to our problem.