Chamilo

Chamilo LMS is a free and open source e-learning platform for schools, universities and training teams that want to run their own learning system rather than rent one. The home page describes it as "a free and Open Source e-learning platform used by 41M+ learners worldwide," and adds that it is easy to use, GDPR compliant and a certified Digital Public Good by the DPGA. It also says the project has been "Governed by BeezNest Belgium since January 2026." The FAQ explains that the name covers two things: the Chamilo software, a free software LMS that is also an LCMS, and the Chamilo project, a group of people and organizations that develop or use it.

A free software license with no time limit

Chamilo is distributed under the GNU/GPLv3+ free software license. The FAQ spells out what that means in practice, using the four freedoms of free software: users can run the software, study and modify it, share it, and distribute modified versions. Its answer to the question of who owns Chamilo is unusual for a software vendor. Anyone who holds a copy of Chamilo has unlimited rights in time to use, modify and copy it, the FAQ says, and an institution that receives a copy can use it without limit for as long as the organization exists and change it freely without asking permission. In principle, the FAQ adds, Chamilo belongs to everyone who contributed to making it what it is.

For an institution choosing a platform, this is the main difference from a hosted course product. There is no license fee to pay for the software itself, no vendor that can withdraw it, and no restriction on adapting it. The software is offered as a download, and the site also runs a public demo, so a school can try it before installing anything.

LMS, LCMS and simplicity

The FAQ takes a clear position on the long-running argument between learning management systems and learning content management systems. In its view, an LCMS is simply an LMS with more focus on tools for creating and reusing educational content, and those tools are also included in Chamilo. The association calls Chamilo an LMS anyway because it is the simpler term, and it ties that choice to the product's reputation: "Es por ello que Chamilo es reconocida como la plataforma de e-learning más sencilla de usar" (that is why Chamilo is recognized as the simplest e-learning platform to use).

Asked what Chamilo's advantages are, the FAQ is careful. It says comparisons date quickly and are usually subjective, and that around 90% of the features of LMS projects overlap: Chamilo has features others lack, and others have features Chamilo lacks. Based on the association's meetings with large numbers of teachers and tutors, it names three main characteristics: ease of use, visual appeal, and efficiency on the server side. For an IT team, that last point is a practical one, since the institution runs the server.

History and release pace

The FAQ says the Chamilo project was born in 2010 as what it calls a second-generation fork: it grew out of another free software project, which itself grew from an earlier one. Counting those predecessors, its history goes back to 2001. The two ancestor projects have not published new versions since 2014, while Chamilo has released a new version roughly every 6 months on average since 2010. The Chamilo name has been a registered trademark, protected by the non-profit Chamilo Association, since 2010.

The FAQ also records how outside review sites saw it in 2018. Capterra placed Chamilo in 2 of its 3 "Top 20" lists out of more than 100 platforms, BSoco ranked it first in the open source category, eLearning Industry ranked it the second best open source platform, and G2Crowd placed it in the top 3 open source platforms. With more than 19M registered users at that time, the association concluded that Chamilo was the second or third most popular open source platform in the world. It notes that such review sites tend to favor proprietary software, whose vendors have more money for promotion.

Official providers and the trademark

Because the code is free, anyone can offer services around Chamilo, but the trademark has rules. The FAQ says the name may be used to describe the software and to promote it as free software. It may not be used to sell professional services in a way that suggests they are official unless the provider is registered with the Chamilo Association. Any company or person, from any country, can register as an official Chamilo service provider through an evaluation process meant to guarantee the quality of its services. The logo is available to the community for use and modification on the same condition. For a school looking for help with installation or hosting, the official provider route is the way to find a vetted partner.

Training and certification

The training page offers two public certifications. The Certified Chamilo LMS Portal Assistant (CCHAPA) is for administrators, and the Certified Chamilo LMS Course Builder (CHACOBU) is for people who build and tutor courses on a Chamilo platform. Both are earned by passing what the page calls a complex exam. The association publishes a directory for each, listing every certified professional's name, score, date of certification and a unique ID officially recognized by the Chamilo Association, ranked from highest to lowest score, with 74% as the lowest passing score. The page says further certification levels will open to the public soon.

That gives an institution two uses for the same program: hiring an administrator or course builder from the directory, or getting its own staff certified. The home page points to a training catalog for certifications, regular online events under the ChamiloTalks name, and an events calendar.

Community and support

Support comes from the community rather than a help desk. The site links to a forum for questions, video tutorials, ChamiloTalks, a blog and a contact page, and the home page invites users who find Chamilo useful to contribute to the project in one of several ways.

Who it suits

Chamilo suits schools, universities, public bodies and training teams that want an open source learning platform they control, with no license fee and no risk of a vendor shutting the product down. Institutions that care about public-interest credentials will note the Digital Public Good certification and the GDPR statement on the home page. Its emphasis on simplicity makes it a reasonable candidate where teachers are not technical. The trade-off is the usual one for self-run software: the institution runs the server itself or brings in an official provider, and the public demo is the place to judge the feature set.