# OpenOlat — Learning Management (LMS)

OpenOlat by frentix GmbH holds a panel rating of 2.5/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2.5/5), as of 2026-11-02. Provenance: UK / wider Europe; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: frentix GmbH (https://www.openolat.com)
- Category: [Learning Management (LMS)](https://whats-best.ai/software/lms.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): UK / wider Europe
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/openolat
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/openolat/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/openolat/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-11-06 · evaluated 2026-11-02 · oldest source captured 2026-11-01

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: frentix GmbH
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
- Data hosting: Default not stated; pages mention Switzerland [S9]
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026

## The panel's verdict

OpenOlat is the open-source learning management system of frentix GmbH in Zürich; the judges' persona-weighted totals span 5.1 to 5.9. It is strongest on integration and portability and sovereignty: single sign-on via OpenID Connect, Shibboleth, ADFS, Azure AD and LDAP with group sync, a REST API, the FX Syncher middleware, Apache-licensed code on GitHub with WAR files — while every hosting plan runs on the vendor's own servers in Switzerland, BigBlueButton stays on Swiss servers, a data processing agreement is integrated into the general terms, and subprocessors are listed by name and country, including Anthropic in the USA and Daylite in Canada. Courses and content holds a uniform 6. Reporting and codetermination is weakest at 3-4, with compliance training and onboarding and academies at 4-5: we found no public information on an unalterable audit trail, course versioning, manager escalation, manager visibility over reports, configurable retention of learner records, works-council material, HR-triggered enrolment or branded portals per audience. Scores spread by at most one point; hosting prices are quoted on request.

**Speaks for it:**
- Open-source edition under the Apache licence, free to download from GitHub with WAR files, giving a documented self-hosting route
- Single sign-on via OpenID Connect, Shibboleth, ADFS, Azure AD and LDAP with group sync, a REST API, and the FX Syncher that writes course results and certificates back to administration systems
- Hosting for every plan runs on servers in Switzerland, video conferencing on Swiss BigBlueButton servers, with a data processing agreement integrated into the general terms and subprocessors listed by name and country
- Certificate programmes with configurable validity periods, credit points, an expiry dashboard and individual reminders support a documented recertification loop
- Course editor with roughly forty building blocks, fourteen question types, learning paths with sequential enforcement and per-learner exceptions, and SCORM 1.2 and LTI 1.0/1.1 import

**Held against it:**
- We found no public information on an unalterable audit trail, course versioning or escalation of reminders to managers
- We found no public information on scheduled custom reports, manager visibility limited to a manager's own team, or works-council and codetermination material
- The vendor's privacy pages state that operators of OpenOlat installations must themselves undertake the necessary GDPR steps
- Two listed subprocessors sit outside Europe — Anthropic (USA) and Daylite (Canada) — with no stated safeguard, and we found no public information on ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certification
- We found no public information on xAPI or cmi5 support, a mobile app with offline access, WCAG conformance or AI-assisted authoring

**Best for:**
- You want a documented exit path or cost ceiling — the software is open source under the Apache licence, free to download, with WAR files for self-hosting
- You need personal data processed and stored in Switzerland by default, with a published data processing agreement and subprocessors listed by name and country
- You run an expiry-driven recertification loop — certificate programmes with validity periods, credit points, an expiry dashboard and individual reminders are documented
- You must sync learners, groups, results and certificates with an existing administration system — FX Syncher, LDAP and Active Directory with group sync, and OpenID Connect, Shibboleth and ADFS single sign-on are documented

**Avoid if:**
- You need every subprocessor inside Europe — ask the vendor: the public pages we read do not show it
- You expect the vendor to carry the GDPR work for your installation — the privacy pages state that operators must themselves undertake the necessary GDPR steps
- You must compute an annual cost from published prices before shortlisting — every hosting plan, Basic through Enterprise, is quoted "Auf Anfrage"

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The Onboarding Lead | The Compliance Officer | The Customer Education Lead | The Works Council Member | The IT & HR Systems Admin | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Courses, learning paths & content standards | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Compliance training, recertification & audit trail | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 |
| Onboarding, extended enterprise & academies | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 |
| Reporting, learner data & works council | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 |
| Integrations, administration & portability | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 |
| European sovereignty | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2.5/5** | **3/5** | **3/5** | **2.5/5** | **3/5** | **2.5/5** |

### The judges

- **The Onboarding Lead** (v1.0): Head of people development at a manufacturer with 1,400 employees across three plants in Germany and the Czech Republic, a third of them on shifts and without a company email address. Hires around 200 people a year, apprentices included. Wants new starters enrolled the day HR creates them, a path that works on a phone in German, Czech and English, tasks for the manager and the buddy, and to stop chasing completions by spreadsheet.
- **The Compliance Officer** (v1.0): Compliance officer at a regional bank supervised by BaFin, with 900 staff who complete anti-money-laundering, data protection, information security and code of conduct training every year. The last audit asked for proof of which version of a course each person had completed, and it took them a week to assemble. Wants assignments by role and entity, reminders that escalate to the manager, recertification that runs on its own, and an audit trail they can hand over as it is.
- **The Customer Education Lead** (v1.0): Runs customer education at a software company in Amsterdam that sells to 3,000 business customers and trains 120 implementation partners. Built the first academy on a course shop and outgrew it when partners needed their own portal and certifications that expire. Wants branded portals per audience, single sign-on from the product, paid courses with invoices, completions in the CRM, and a price that does not double when the academy finally works.
- **The Works Council Member** (v1.0): Member of the works council at a logistics company with 2,000 employees, responsible for IT systems and the works agreements that govern them. Knows that a system which logs who learned what, when and with which score can monitor performance, and that it needs their consent under §87(1) no. 6 BetrVG before it goes live. Reads which data is recorded, who sees individual results, whether time tracking can be switched off, and when records are deleted, before reading a single feature page.
- **The IT & HR Systems Admin** (v1.0): Runs identity and HR systems for a 600-person engineering services firm on Microsoft 365, Entra ID and Personio. Every new tool means another set of user accounts unless it supports SAML and SCIM. Wants users and departments synced from the HR system, learning inside Teams, a documented API, completions exportable for payroll and audits, and courses that leave as SCORM packages if the contract ends.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen "AI-powered learning" that meant a chatbot on top of a course list, "compliance-ready" that meant a completion checkbox, and "unlimited users" that ended at the first price review. Reads that a product is "GDPR-compliant" and asks where the learner records are stored, who can see each score, whether five years of completion history can be exported in a format the next system imports — and what leaving would cost.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | — |
| Open source | Not determined | — | — |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Consent tool: Real Cookie Banner (devowl.io) [S9]
- Customer responsibility: Operators of OpenOlat installations must themselves undertake the necessary GDPR steps; no claim to completeness [S15]
- DPA: yes [S2]
- DPA page available: A dedicated 'Auftragsverarbeitung' (order processing) page is linked in the footer [S15]
- Dsg GDPR: Pages on DSG and GDPR and order processing (Auftragsverarbeitung) available [S1]
- Dsg GDPR: Privacy policy pages covering Swiss DSG and GDPR and order processing (Auftragsverarbeitung) [S11]
- GDPR: yes [S2]
- GDPR applicable from: 2018-05-25 [S15]
- GDPR overview: Page explains the EU GDPR (DSGVO) and links to the regulation as PDF [S15]
- GDPR page: yes [S14]
- GDPR pages: Seiten zu DSG/DSGVO und Auftragsverarbeitung vorhanden [S8]
- Supervisory authority: EDÖB [S9]

**Data**
- Retention customer: 10 [S9]
- Retention logfiles: 14 · 90 [S9]
- Subject rights: Auskunft · Berichtigung · Löschung · Einschränkung · Datenübertragbarkeit · Widerspruch · Widerruf von Einwilligungen · contact@frentix.com [S9]
- Transfer default: Schweiz [S9]

**Hosting**
- Bbb frentix cloud: frentix runs BigBlueButton servers for OpenOlat hosting customers in the frentix Hosting Cloud [S16]
- Bbb switzerland: Switzerland · 2.2.28 [S16]
- Bbb updates: BigBlueButton servers kept on the latest version [S16]
- DPA: Auftragsverarbeiterin · yes · Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen von frentix [S9]
- Firewall: yes · yes [S16]
- Location: Schweiz · yes [S9]
- Options: frentix offers various hosting options, from fully managed hosting to technical support only [S1]
- Server location switzerland: Switzerland · all plans [S6]
- Status page: yes [S1]
- Swiss video conferencing: yes [S13]

**Integrations**
- Bigbluebutton: yes · BigBlueButton [S1]
- Bigbluebutton webmeeting extra cost: yes · all plans · yes [S6]
- Feature management: yes [S2]
- Fx syncher capabilities: Kurse erstellen/kopieren, Gruppen erstellen, Teilnehmende informieren, Webkonferenzräume, Curriculum-Strukturen, Kompetenzen, Kalendereinträge, Anwesenheits-Lektionen, Dozierendeneinsatzpläne, Kursergebnisse und Zertifikate zurückspielen [S5]
- Identity: yes · LDAP · AD · OAuth2 · Shibboleth [S1]
- Interfaces extra cost: yes · yes [S6]
- Jira publication: yes [S7]
- Ldap: yes [S5]
- Onlyoffice collaborative editing: Documents can be opened and collaboratively edited when OnlyOffice is used with OpenOlat [S4]
- Openolat bbb admin: OpenOlat (not Greenlight) is used to administer virtual conference rooms [S16]
- Rest API: yes [S1]
- Social registration: LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Microsoft Azure AD, Google, Facebook [S5]
- Standards: WebDAV · iCal · LTI 1.0 und 1.1 · SCORM 1.2 · nicht in Open Source Version verfügbar · ONLYOFFICE · CollaboraOffice · no [S5]
- Status page: yes [S2]
- User directory: LDAP, Microsoft Active Directory (mit Gruppen-Sync), Microsoft ADFS (SSO), Microsoft Azure Active Directory, Shibboleth, OAuth2 SSO, Tequila, OpenID Connect [S5]
- Videos on youtube: yes [S14]
- Virtual classrooms: yes [S5]
- Xls import: yes [S5]

**Legal**
- Address: Zürich · Okenstr. 6 · Switzerland · CH-8037 [S8]
- Commercial register number: CH-020.4.034.160-1 [S8]
- Company frentix zurich: Zürich · frentix GmbH [S6]
- Company name: Zürich · frentix GmbH [S15]
- Copyright: Zürich · frentix GmbH [S2]
- Copyright entity: 2026 · frentix GmbH · Zürich [S3]
- Entity: Zürich · frentix GmbH [S1]
- Entity: frentix GmbH, Zürich [S12]
- Entity: frentix GmbH · contact@frentix.com · Okenstrasse 6, 8037 Zürich, Schweiz [S9]
- Entity: Zürich · frentix GmbH [S14]
- Entity name: frentix GmbH [S8]
- Frentix founded: Spin-off of OLAT project, University of Zurich · 2006 [S7]
- Hosting entity: frentix [S15]
- Partner not support contract: no · no · no [S7]
- Policy version: 2026-09 [S9]
- Privacy officer: Christian Franck [S9]
- Terms URL: https://www.frentix.com/agb [S8]
- VAT id: CHE-113.221.982 [S8]
- Vendor: Zürich · 2026 · frentix GmbH [S5]
- Vendor: Zürich · frentix GmbH [S11]
- Vendor entity: frentix · Zürich [S13]
- Website: www.frentix.com [S8]

**Pricing**
- All plans on request: Auf Anfrage · Auf Anfrage · Auf Anfrage [S6]
- Basic custom domain extra cost: Basic: custom domain for extra cost; individual and enterprise: any domain included [S6]
- Basic user limits: 250 · 500 · 1000 · 250-500000 stepwise · 250-9000 stepwise [S6]
- Concurrent user limits: 25 · 40 · 60 · 25-15000 stepwise · 25-450 stepwise [S6]
- Test system extra cost: yes · yes [S6]
- Uptime slas: 99.0% · 99.5% · 99.5% [S6]

**Product**
- Academy advanced topics: Lernpfad · Virtuelle Klassenzimmer · Prüfungserstellung [S14]
- Academy expert level: yes [S14]
- Academy format: video-based online training courses · OpenOlat users [S14]
- Assessment tools: Course building blocks available for self-assessment and instructor-led performance assessment [S4]
- Attendance management extra cost: yes · yes [S6]
- Blended learning support: OpenOlat supports planning and running blended learning concepts within a single course: content, tasks, dates, communication and learning-objective checks integrated [S11]
- Calendar: Calendar import/export, instructor deployment plans, attendance tracking [S1]
- Card2brain extra cost: yes · yes [S6]
- Certificate program: Certificate program bundles courses and learning paths into mandatory programs with flexible validity period, credit points and trigger conditions [S12]
- Certification dashboard: Dashboard shows certification status, upcoming expirations and renewal processes; individual reminders for deadlines [S12]
- Checklist module: Checklist with scoring (points, point threshold, passed), hints and date restriction; self- or instructor-confirmed [S4]
- Classic design: Classic course design offers maximum freedom, no fixed order or percentage progress display; content can be controlled via rules [S3]
- Collaboration tools: forums · chat in courses and groups · wikis · subject groups · simultaneous Office document editing [S13]
- Community server: OpenOlat Community Server available to all interested users [S7]
- Core features included: eTesting, Kurseditor, Auswertungen, ePortfolio, Chat, Coaching Tool included [S6]
- Course calendar: Course calendar links in-person dates with digital learning offer, including reminders, materials and bookable rooms [S11]
- Course catalog: Filterable course catalog with dates, prices and booking options [S12]
- Course editor: Kurseditor ist das mächtigste Werkzeug in OpenOlat [S2]
- Course elements count: 40 [S2]
- Course planner extra cost: yes · yes [S6]
- Course planner features: Course Planner supports course scheduling, online/in-person/hybrid formats, room and conference system assignment, participant limits and quotas, centralized booking coordination, automatic course catalog updates [S12]
- Course planner workflow: Course Planner combines planning, booking and delivery into a single workflow [S12]
- Credit points: Integrated credit point system for certificate renewal, automatic or manually controlled [S12]
- Curriculum tutorials: OpenOlat academy offers tutorial videos on the learning path topic [S3]
- Custom development: Custom feature development and integration into existing administration systems on request [S1]
- Custom layout extra cost: yes · yes [S6]
- Customer training features: guided learning path · video and blog content · knowledge tasks · wiki knowledge base · file storage [S13]
- Demo: yes [S1]
- Demo available: yes [S2]
- Demo request: yes [S4]
- Demo request: yes [S5]
- Documents: Folders, document storage, task assignment, collaborative editing in integrated online editors [S1]
- Download free: yes · yes [S7]
- Edubase extra cost: yes · yes [S6]
- Eportfolio: Reflection, development and presentation ePortfolios; self-created or assigned as portfolio tasks [S4]
- Exercises tests feedback: Exercises, tests and feedback make learning progress visible for participants and facilitators [S11]
- Factsheet learning paths: Factsheet on learning path course functionality is available [S3]
- Form module: Form module with PDF confirmation via email and evaluation for coaches [S4]
- Frentix services: hosting · maintenance · development [S7]
- Fx syncher: REST API · Datenbanken · Files · frentix · yes [S5]
- Github available: yes [S7]
- Grading module: Assessment module with comments and rubric-based fine-grained grading [S4]
- Group tasks: yes [S4]
- Guest login: yes · yes [S5]
- Languages: >15 [S7]
- Learning path: Learning path guides participants step by step through phases from preparation to presence to consolidation [S11]
- Learning path course exists: OpenOlat bietet Lernpfadkurse [S10]

**Subprocessors**
- Anthropic: Claude · Anthropic PBC · USA · interne Bearbeitung von Kunden- und Supportanfragen [S9]
- Daylite: Daylite · Marketcircle Inc. · Kanada · CRM [S9]
- Google analytics: Google Analytics · Google Ireland Limited · Webanalyse · yes [S9]
- Google dpf: yes [S9]
- Swissnewsletter: SwissNewsletter · Proffix Software AG · Schweiz · Newsletter [S9]

**Support**
- Academy: yes [S2]
- Consulting offered: yes [S13]
- Docs: yes [S2]
- Docs: documentation · release notes · download · sourcecode [S1]
- Docs: yes [S5]
- Docs resources: Support resources: OpenOlat Academy, documentation, release notes, download, source code, feature management, hosting operational status [S11]
- Documentation: yes [S4]
- Documentation: yes [S14]
- Documentation available: yes [S15]
- Mailing list: mailing list · yes [S7]
- Manual and releasenotes: yes [S7]
- Oteach seminars: yes [S14]
- Resources: OpenOlat Dokumentation · OpenOlat Releasenotes · OpenOlat Download · OpenOlat Sourcecode · OpenOlat Feature Management · OpenOlat Hosting Betriebsstatus [S8]
- Status page available: yes [S15]
- Support resources available: Academy, documentation, release notes, download, sourcecode, feature management, hosting status page [S6]
- Training: Vendor support for technical and didactic questions [S1]

35 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/openolat

## Questions

### Is OpenOlat European?

Yes, though not from the EU. whats-best.ai classifies OpenOlat as UK / wider Europe.

### Where does OpenOlat store data?

The default storage location for customer data is not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026. The vendor’s pages mention Switzerland as hosting location, per [the vendor’s page captured 1 Nov 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/15037).

### Does OpenOlat have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to OpenOlat?

As of 2 Nov 2026, the panel rates [iSpring LMS (iSpring Learn) (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/ispring-learn), [Zensai Learn365 (formerly LMS365) (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/zensai-learn365) and [LearnWorlds (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/learnworlds) highest among the other 12 Learning Management (LMS) products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Zensai Learn365 (formerly LMS365)](https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/zensai-learn365) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [OpenOlat alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/openolat/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 9 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 3 pricing facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 compliance fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 data fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 support fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 4 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://www.openolat.com/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S2] Features page: https://www.openolat.com/funktion/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S3] Features page (learning paths and curriculum): https://www.openolat.com/funktion/systemfunktionen/lernpfad-und-curriculum/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S4] Features page (assessments): https://www.openolat.com/funktion/kursfunktionen/wissensueberpruefung/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S5] Integrations page: https://www.openolat.com/funktion/systemfunktionen/integrationen-und-schnittstellen/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S6] Features page (hosting packages, prices on request): https://www.openolat.com/services/hosting/hosting-im-ueberblick/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S7] Features page (open source): https://www.openolat.com/services/support/open-source/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S8] Legal notice: https://www.openolat.com/unternehmen/rechtliches/impressum/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S9] Privacy policy: https://www.openolat.com/unternehmen/rechtliches/datenschutzerklaerung/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S10] Courses, learning paths & content standards — found from sitemap: https://www.openolat.com/wie-man-lernpfadkurse-und-ausnahmen-im-lernpfad-richtig-nutzt/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S11] Courses, learning paths & content standards — found from sitemap: https://www.openolat.com/blended-learning-in-openolat-das-beste-aus-zwei-welten-verbinden/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S12] Compliance training, recertification & audit trail — found from sitemap: https://www.openolat.com/vom-ersten-kurstermin-bis-zur-rezertifizierung-der-gesamte-bildungszyklus-in-openolat/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S13] Onboarding, extended enterprise & academies — found from sitemap: https://www.openolat.com/corona-als-chance-fuer-die-online-unternehmens-academy/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S14] Onboarding, extended enterprise & academies — found from sitemap: https://www.openolat.com/services/support/openolat-academy/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S15] Reporting, learner data & works council — found from sitemap: https://www.openolat.com/unternehmen/rechtliches/dsg_dsgvo/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S16] Integrations, administration & portability — found from sitemap: https://www.openolat.com/bigbluebutton-open-source-sicherheit/ (checked 2026-11-01)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "OpenOlat — Learning Management (LMS)", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-06. https://whats-best.ai/software/lms/openolat

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1322?target=page