SimpliTrain vs. Absorb LMS
Everything you rely on Absorb for, done better, plus the ILT, vILT, and training operations it was never built to run
Absorb is a capable LMS for delivering courses to employees, partners, and customers. SimpliTrain is a training management system (TMS) with a built-in LMS. You get the same course delivery, plus the operations that training companies and enterprise L&D teams run every day: ILT and vILT scheduling, trainer and resource management, compliance tracking, billing, e-commerce, and real-time reporting. And your pricing is built around how you use the platform, not how many learners log in each month.
Pricing that fits how you train, not a count of who logged in
Absorb prices by active learners and only shares quotes through sales, so your bill moves with your busiest months. SimpliTrain prices around how you train: per admin or instructor for training companies, and a custom plan for enterprise L&D teams.
Absorb LMS
Custom Quote Only
Per Learner
Priced by active learners. No public pricing. Extra implementation fees and yearly increases are common.
Pay for how you train
Vs paying per login
SimpliTrain
Training Companies
Per Admin
Per admin or instructor, with unlimited learners. Enterprise teams get a custom plan built around their usage.
Absorb LMS
Trainer Pay And Client Billing
Not Built In
No trainer payment calculation and no native client invoicing. Handled outside the LMS.
Trainer pay and client billing
Vs spreadsheets
SimpliTrain
Built Into The TMS
Included
Trainer payments, client invoicing, and program profitability from the same training data.
Absorb LMS
Website And CRM Sync
Partial
The storefront lives inside the LMS. Syncing your own website and CRM needs custom API work.
Catalog synced to your website and CRM
Vs a storefront inside the LMS
SimpliTrain
Via APIs
Synced
Course outlines publish to your website, purchases flow into your CRM, and APIs keep it all in sync.
Absorb LMS
Group Seat Sales
Keys Only
Buyers get enrollment keys to hand out. No volume pricing tiers in Absorb’s documentation.
Group seats with volume discounts
Vs manual enrollment keys
SimpliTrain
Volume Discounts
Included
Corporate buyers book whole teams in one step, with volume discounts and no manual codes.
SimpliTrain vs. Absorb LMS
A complete feature-by-feature breakdown across e-commerce, trainer operations, ILT and vILT delivery, reporting, LMS, AI, and pricing.
| Features | Absorb LMS | SimpliTrain |
|---|---|---|
Selling Training and E-Commerce | ||
| Built-in shopping cart and payments | Yes Included, 70+ payment gateways | Yes |
| Course catalog synced to your own website | Partial Storefront lives inside the LMS. Website sync needs custom API work. | Yes, via APIs |
| Purchases sync to your CRM | Partial Needs integration work | Yes Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Zoho |
| Group seat purchases | Yes Via enrollment keys the buyer hands out | Yes |
| Volume discounts on group seats | Limited No volume pricing tiers mentioned in Absorb’s documentation | Yes |
| Subscriptions to a content library | Partial | Yes |
| B2B invoicing and client billing | Limited Not documented as a native feature | Yes |
| Coupons and promotional pricing | Yes | Yes |
Trainer and Client Operations | ||
| Trainer profiles with skills and availability | Partial Checks for instructor double booking | Yes |
| Assign trainers by skill, availability, and location | No | Yes |
| Trainer payment calculation | No | Yes |
| Room, equipment, and resource allocation | Partial Venues only | Yes |
| Multi-location and franchise operations | Partial | Yes |
| Program and business profitability tracking | No | Yes |
| Separate branded portals per client | Yes | Yes |
ILT and vILT Delivery | ||
| Session scheduling and waitlists | Yes | Yes |
| Recurring and multi-session classes | Yes | Yes |
| Zoom and Microsoft Teams integration | Yes | Yes |
| Google Meet, GoToMeeting, Adobe Connect | Not listed | Yes |
| Built-in virtual classroom | No Uses third-party tools | Yes |
| Attendance tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Blended ILT, vILT, and eLearning in one program | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar sync with Google and Outlook | Partial | Yes |
Automation and Reporting | ||
| Automated email notifications | Yes | Yes |
| SMS notifications | Not documented | Yes |
| Advanced analytics | Add-on Absorb Analyze | Included |
| Scheduled report delivery | Yes | Yes |
| Revenue, trainer, and utilization reports | No | Yes |
| Compliance and certification tracking | Yes | Yes |
LMS and Content | ||
| Self-paced eLearning | Yes Core strength | Yes |
| SCORM, xAPI, AICC, and LTI support | Yes | Yes |
| Learning paths and certifications | Yes | Yes |
| Assessments and knowledge checks | Yes | Yes |
| Third-party content libraries | Add-on Absorb Amplify | Yes Pluralsight, CBT Nuggets, Skillable, and more |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
AI and Integrations | ||
| AI course authoring | Add-on Absorb Create | Yes, SimpliAuthor |
| AI assistants for admins and learners | Yes Absorb Aura | Yes |
| MCP server for AI tools | Not listed | Yes |
| HRIS integrations | Yes | Yes Workday, BambooHR, ADP, SAP SuccessFactors |
| SSO | Yes | Yes SAML, OAuth 2.0, OIDC, Azure AD, Google, LDAP |
Pricing and Contract | ||
| Pricing model | Per active learner Costs rise as more learners log in | Per admin or instructor For training companies. Custom plans for enterprise. |
| Unlimited learners | No | Yes For training companies |
| Public pricing | No Custom quote only | Plans on website Quote based on usage |
| Implementation fees | Extra Third-party estimates: $5k to $40k+ depending on size | Included in onboarding |
| Yearly price increases | Common Third-party estimates: 3% to 7% a year | Discussed upfront |
| Time to go live | Longer for complex setups | 2 to 6 weeks 2 to 3 weeks on top of an existing setup, 4 to 6 weeks for a full rollout |
Instructor-led training that runs the business
Absorb schedules sessions. SimpliTrain runs your whole training operation.
Absorb started as an LMS, and its instructor-led courses cover the basics well: sessions, venues, waitlists, and attendance. But running instructor-led training takes much more than putting a session on a calendar, whether you sell it to clients or deliver it inside your organization. You match trainers to programs by skill and availability, book rooms and equipment, keep attendance and certifications audit-ready, pay trainers, bill clients, and track what each program costs and earns.
SimpliTrain is a training management system with a built-in LMS. ILT, vILT, and self-paced learning run in one place, and your scheduling, trainer payments, invoicing, and profitability reports are connected to the same data. Teams using SimpliTrain spend 40% less time on admin work.
- SimpliTrain advantage
Sell training where your buyers already are
Your website sells. SimpliTrain keeps everything in sync.
Absorb comes with a shopping cart and a storefront, but they sit inside the LMS. If your buyers find you on your own website, and your sales team works in a CRM, you end up connecting the pieces yourself.
SimpliTrain works with your existing sales setup. That’s how New Horizons does it: they set up course outlines in SimpliTrain, the courses appear on their website, purchases go into their CRM, and APIs keep all the systems in sync. Add group seat purchases with volume discounts, and corporate buyers can book a whole team in one step, without admins handing out codes. You can also sell subscriptions to your content library, so learners and clients get ongoing access without manual renewals.
Works with Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM, Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe, and PayPal.
- SimpliTrain advantage
Predictable pricing
Stop doing by hand what your platform should already do
When a platform doesn’t fit how a training business works, teams fill the gaps with spreadsheets, manual discount handling, and reminder emails sent one by one. It works, but it takes up your coordinators’ week.
SimpliTrain automates the routine work: email and SMS notifications for registrations, reminders, and updates, scheduled reports, and real-time dashboards across trainers, sessions, clients, and revenue. Your coordinators get their time back for the work that needs a person. With the SimpliTrain MCP server, your team can also query and manage training data from the AI tools they already use.
- SimpliTrain advantage
Discover with AI
10 reasons training teams choose SimpliTrain over Absorb
Everything you use Absorb for, plus the training operations, commerce, and automation that instructor-led teams need every day.
Pricing that fits how you train
Training companies pay per admin or instructor. Enterprise teams get a plan built around their usage.
A real training management system
Scheduling, trainers, rooms, and resources in one place.
Trainer payments and billing
Pay internal and contract trainers and invoice clients without spreadsheets.
Compliance-ready ILT records
Attendance, certifications, and audit reports for every classroom and virtual session.
Your website and CRM stay in sync
Course outlines, purchases, and learner records flow through APIs, just like at New Horizons.
Group seats and subscriptions
Sell group seats with volume discounts and subscriptions to your content library, with no manual workarounds.
Cost and profitability you can see
Track what every program costs and earns, by client, location, or business unit.
Automation built in
Email and SMS notifications and real-time reporting, with no manual follow-up.
More virtual training options
Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, GoToMeeting, and Adobe Connect.
Ready for AI
AI course authoring is included, and our MCP server connects your training data to your AI tools.
Which platform fits your training operation?
Absorb and SimpliTrain were built for different jobs. The right choice depends on how much of your training is instructor-led and how you run it.
SimpliTrain
The right fit if any of these describe your team
- You're a training company selling courses and programs to individuals and businesses
- You're an enterprise L&D team running classroom, virtual, or blended training for employees, partners, or customers
- You manage trainers, rooms, equipment, and schedules across one or many locations
- You need attendance, certification, and compliance records ready for audits
- Your costs go up in busy months because you pay for every active learner
- You want e-commerce, website and CRM sync, trainer payments, or billing in the same system as your LMS
Absorb LMS
A reasonable choice if all of these are true
- Your training is mostly self-paced eLearning, with few or no instructor-led sessions
- You don't sell training or manage trainers, rooms, and schedules at scale
- Your learner numbers are steady and predictable, so per-learner pricing works for you
- You don't need trainer management, billing, or ILT operations reporting in your LMS
Switch to an Absorb alternative built for instructor-led training.
Get ILT and vILT operations, a full LMS, and e-commerce that syncs with your website and CRM in one platform. Whether you sell training or run it for your organization, SimpliTrain gives you one place to manage it all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions training teams ask when comparing SimpliTrain and Absorb LMS
What is the main difference between SimpliTrain and Absorb?
Absorb is an LMS built to deliver learning to employees, partners, and customers. SimpliTrain is a training management system with a built-in LMS. Along with course delivery, it runs the operations behind training: ILT and vILT scheduling, trainer and resource management, compliance tracking, trainer payments, billing, e-commerce, and real-time reporting. That makes SimpliTrain a better fit for training companies and enterprise L&D teams that run instructor-led or blended programs.
How does Absorb LMS pricing work?
Absorb doesn’t publish its prices. It gives custom quotes, mostly based on the number of active learners, plus the add-on modules you choose. Third-party buyer data also points to separate implementation fees and yearly price increases. Because cost follows active learners, busy months can push costs up.
How is SimpliTrain priced differently?
Training companies pay per admin or instructor, not per learner, so you can grow your learner base without growing your bill. Enterprise teams get a custom plan based on how they use the platform, which can include per-learner or other pricing models where that works better.
Does Absorb support instructor-led training?
Yes. Absorb supports instructor-led courses with sessions, venues, waitlists, attendance, and Zoom and Teams integrations. What it doesn’t cover is the operations side of a training business: matching trainers by skill and availability, trainer payments, client billing, resource allocation, and profitability tracking. SimpliTrain handles all of these natively.
Can I sell courses on my own website with SimpliTrain?
Yes. You set up course outlines in SimpliTrain, and they appear on your website. When someone buys, the purchase goes to your CRM, and APIs keep everything in sync. New Horizons uses SimpliTrain this way. SimpliTrain works with Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM, Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe, and PayPal.
Can corporate clients buy seats in bulk or subscribe to our content?
Yes. SimpliTrain supports group seat purchases with volume discounts, so a corporate buyer can enroll a whole team in one step without manual codes or separate discount handling. You can also sell subscriptions to your content library.
How long does it take to move from Absorb to SimpliTrain?
Running SimpliTrain on top of an existing setup takes 2 to 3 weeks. A full rollout across scheduling, billing, and reporting takes 4 to 6 weeks. Our team helps migrate your courses, learner records, and completion history.
Disclaimer: This comparison is based on Absorb’s public product pages and help documentation, independent review sites, and third-party pricing research available as of September 2026. Third-party pricing estimates come from buyer data platforms such as Vendr, since Absorb does not publish official pricing; actual costs vary by learner volume, modules, and contract terms. Features and pricing can change. Please check current details with each vendor before you decide. Absorb and Absorb LMS are trademarks of their respective owner.
