Moodle is a good LMS with which has grown over the years and offers a host of functionality and features that are very useful to have in an LMS. Add to it the fact that its open source which makes it free to use, has made it very popular.

Moodle has been able to sustain itself and keep evolving through its community, resulting in its emergence as a good option for anyone wanting to use an LMS. But is Moodle or any other open source LMS (there are a few good ones like the ones mentioned here) really free? Though they may be free at a tangible expense level, they do carry a cost which the organization implementing the LMS should be aware and careful of.

As responses to a recent post where I listed five things not to do while selecting an LMS I received a couple of queries about using an Open Source LMS, customizing it to suit the requirements and if it is advisable to do so. There were also questions around the best approach to use an open source LMS and on how to estimate the amount of maintenance such might require on an ongoing basis. This post is for people exploring an open source LMS as an option either for a new LMS setup or for a switch-over.