Stone River eLearning

Stone River eLearning for Business sells a library of online training courses, mostly technology and IT certification content, to companies that want to train employees or that serve customers with learning needs. Its homepage headline is "Technology Learning Content for Your LMS", and the model is flexible about delivery: a company can buy the full catalog, individual libraries or specific courses, and take them either inside its own learning management system or on Stone River's own platform, Solara LMS. The business site counts "900+ Courses" in total and says it is "Trusted by 3,500 Companies", and the catalog page adds "2.1 million students". It is one of the few training libraries in this category that prints its per-user prices.

What the library covers

The homepage lists the certification and technology brands it carries: "CompTIA, Microsoft, Cyber Security, AWS, Cisco, Linux, Project Management, Agile, ITIL, EC-Council and much, much more." The catalog page organizes the content into libraries for IT Certifications, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Programming & Development, Project Management, Agile and Scrum, Business & Soft Skills, and Personal Development. The Solara page sums it up as "IT certifications, cyber security, programming, development, leadership, project management, personal development and more."

The homepage gives a rough size for each area: 500+ courses in IT, Programming & Development, 360+ in Business & Soft Skills, 180+ in Personal Development, 60+ in Cloud & DevOps, 50+ in Project Management and 20+ in Cyber Security. The full library pricing page describes the content as "Training across all major areas businesses need, with an unparalleled focus on your IT and development teams", and lists the libraries included with full catalog access: IT Pro TV, Cloud Computing, Programming and Development, Project Management, Agile and Scrum, Business and Soft Skills, and Personal Development. For IT Pro TV it notes: "Practice exams and live labs available at additional cost."

Three ways to deliver the courses

In your own LMS by API. For organizations that already have a platform, Stone River says it "can integrate our content library into almost any LMS on the planet using an API or SCORM dispatch files". The API page promises content in the LMS "in days, not months": "We have direct integrations to many LMS platforms. For those we don't, we can complete integrations in just a few days." Integration is "Free for 10+ users, or just a $199 one time fee".

In your own LMS by SCORM dispatch files. The menu lists dispatch files as a separate delivery option alongside the API.

On Solara LMS. For organizations without an LMS, or "thinking about switching to a less expensive option", Stone River offers Solara LMS, which it describes as "A powerful, yet inexpensive LMS with our content catalog included", free with 10+ users. Each pricing tier includes a "Free branded LMS (if needed)".

Solara LMS

Solara is a working LMS, not just a course player. The branded LMS page says it offers "an intuitive experience for uploading existing content with compatibility for various resource types, such as SCORM, xAPI, PDF, Audio, Video, MS Office files, and more." Content can come from any authoring tool, and "those without one can use the platform's easy-to-use course creation tool to compile custom content." It includes "comprehensive reporting, built-in assessment and quiz engines".

For administrators the page is direct: "Assign the training your team needs. Track learner progress, hold accountable with deadlines and pull reports on anything you need." Solara can also serve audiences beyond staff: "Need a place to deliver your own training to employees or customers? With Stone River LMS, you can build courses easily using any type of learning content." That makes it usable by a training partner or a software company that wants to run customer education alongside the bought-in library.

Pricing

The full library pricing page lists three tiers:

• 1-50 users: $399 per user per year.
• 51-100 users: $249 per user per year.
• 101+ users: contact sales.

Every tier lists the same contents: "Full Catalog Access", "300+ courses", "5,000+ hours of training", "Free API integration", "Free branded LMS (if needed)" and "Premium support". The "300+ courses" figure on this page sits beside the "900+ Courses" used elsewhere on the site, so buyers should ask which count applies to their tier.

Organizations that do not want everything can buy individual libraries instead. The content libraries page says, "Not interested in our entire library? Pick any of the course libraries below and get only what you need", and lists a Technology Library, Cyber Security, Project Management, Business & Soft Skills, Cloud & DevOps and Personal Development, as well as the Full Library. Prices for individual libraries are not printed; the route is a talk with sales.

Trying it first

Stone River offers a free demo. The pricing page invites buyers to "Take a look at our content and LMS before you book a time to meet with sales" through a Solara demo, and the catalog page says that after booking a meeting, "we'll get you access to our entire course library on Solara LMS." The course catalog can also be requested by email.

Accessibility, support and resellers

The menu links to a "VPAT and 508 Certification" page, which is relevant for public-sector and education buyers who need accessibility documentation. Support in every pricing tier is described as "Premium support", and sales can be reached by chat, a booked call or a meeting. Stone River also runs a reseller program, with a page to "Become a Reseller" and book a partnership meeting, for training partners that want to sell its content to their own clients.

Who Stone River eLearning suits

Stone River suits an IT or engineering department, or a company with a large technical team, that wants certification-oriented training (CompTIA, Microsoft, AWS, Cisco, Linux, ITIL, EC-Council) at a known per-user price, delivered either into its existing LMS or on a cheap bundled platform. A team of up to 50 people can budget from the published $399 per user per year, and the price per user drops for 51 to 100 users. A company that already runs an LMS can keep it and have the courses added through the API, which the integration page says takes days rather than months. A reseller or training company can also use it to fill its own catalog, and a business that delivers training to its customers can run both its own courses and Stone River's on Solara.

It suits less well an organization whose training is mostly industry-specific compliance or frontline work, since the catalog's center of gravity is technology. Practice exams and live labs for the IT Pro TV content cost extra, which matters for teams preparing for certification exams.