Not sure which Totara partner to choose? We run through what you can expect from a partner, and why BuildEmpire is the best.
When you’re looking for a new learning management system, you will likely stumble across Totara.
With Totara, one of the biggest questions you’ll face is who will implement it, and how.
What is Totara?
Totara is a powerful, open-source enterprise learning management system designed to help organisations manage, deliver and track employee training and development at scale.
It gives businesses the flexibility and control to support learning, engagement and performance in one platform.
Totara is made up of three core products: Learn, Engage and Perform.
Learn is where structured learning happens. Courses are created and managed, compliance is tracked, and personalised learning pathways are built to support individual and organisational goals.
Engage focuses on social learning and collaboration. It provides a space for learners to connect, share knowledge and deepen understanding through tools such as forums and playlists.
Perform is an optional add-on focused on performance management. It includes customisable appraisals, 360-degree feedback, goal tracking, competency management and detailed reporting to support continuous development.
What is a Totara partner?
Unlike some off-the-shelf systems, Totara is delivered through a network of certified partners around the world.
These partners – ranging from established consultancies to niche specialists – play a crucial role in helping organisations unlock the platform’s full potential.
But not all Totara partners are the same.
Some excel in rapid, “out-of-the-box” implementations.
Others focus on long-term strategy, integration, or sector-specific expertise.
Understanding these differences is essential if you want a platform that doesn’t just work on day one, but continues to evolve with your organisation.
The value of Totara Partners
Choosing a Totara Partner means more than getting technical support.
It’s about having an expert ally who knows how to turn a powerful platform into a tailored learning ecosystem that fits your goals.
Each partner brings specialist services, from custom development to ongoing support, ensuring Totara works the way your people need it to.
Let’s walk through the key areas of Totara’s suite and how partners help organisations maximize impact.
Beyond Totara
Most partners deliver what we might call a “configured implementation.”
You get Totara Learn and Engage, perhaps paired with Perform.
You use the standard theme and a support agreement.
And for many organisations, that’s enough.
But for those dealing with compliance requirements, global audiences, or the need to link learning directly to business systems, that approach leaves gaps.
Introducing the BuildEmpire Edition
First up, we’re BuildEmpire.
We’re a leading learning system that’s been delivering better learning platforms for over 20 years.
We’re also a platinum partner of Totara (top 3) and support a range of different customers across industries with their learning challenges.
And that’s where the Edition comes in.
It’s our version of Totara. We take all the core offerings of Totara and adds a range of extra features and add-ons.
Here’s just some ways that the Edition differs from core Totara:
New dashboard blocks
The BuildEmpire Edition offers a suite of custom dashboard blocks that are purpose-built to improve user experience and engagement.
Here are some of the exclusive blocks:
- Available Badges Block: This block is an upgrade of the core Totara badges block which just shows what bodges you’ve earned. Our version of this block shows the badges users have earned, plus ones they can still unlock.
- Dashboard Banner Block: For this block, you can create a customisable header with imagery, orientation options, and clickable call-to-action elements which is ideal for highlighting important content.
- Leaderboard Block: This block displays rankings based on points by team, course, or dashboard, which adds a competitive edge.
- My Courses Block: WIth this block, you can add a visual overview that shows progress, deadlines, and course details which is a little more dynamic that core Totara.
- Next Activity Block: This block is one you can add to your dashboard to remind users of the next step in their most recently accessed course, nudging learning forward.
Dashboard blocks comparison: Totara vs BuildEmpire Edition
| Dashboard feature | Core Totara | BuildEmpire Edition |
| Standard badges block (earned badges only) |  | |
| View available badges still to unlock | | |
| Custom dashboard banner with imagery | | |
| Clickable calls to action on dashboards | | |
| Leaderboards (points by team, course, or dashboard) | | |
| Visual “My Courses” overview | | |
| Enhanced course visuals (progress, deadlines, details) | | |
| Next Activity reminder for active courses | | |
| Engagement-focused dashboard design | | |
| Behaviour-driven learning nudges | |
Upgraded theme
Core Totara comes with its latest theme, Inspire.
But we’ve actually made our own.
The Blueprint theme is a custom skin developed by BuildEmpire to elevate the look and feel of your LMS.
It includes things like:
- Streamlined, user-centric interface
- Enhanced branding capabilities
- Better video integration
- Improved tile-based designs for intuitive navigation
Theme comparison: Totara Inspire vs BuildEmpire Blueprint
| Theme feature | Core Totara (Inspire theme) | BuildEmpire Blueprint theme |
| Modern, responsive base theme | | |
| Standard Totara branding options | | |
| Fully custom UI built beyond core Totara | | |
| Streamlined, user-centric interface design | | |
| Advanced branding and layout flexibility | | |
| Improved video presentation and playback | | |
| Tile-based layouts for intuitive navigation | | |
| Enhanced visual hierarchy for dashboards | | |
| Designed to support engagement-led dashboards | |
eCommerce gateway
If you’re a training provider or you just sell learning on the side, then you may find yourself struggling to connect your learning content to a payment gateway.
And you’re not alone.
We spotted a few people talking about this issue online.
Core Totara does not include built-in eCommerce functionality.
So we created our own solution.
Our eCommerce plugin allows you to add Stripe or other payment providers to your LMS for a seamless checkout experience.
You get access to a whole new eCommerce catalogue that you can keep separate or merge with the original catalogue.
You can apply filters, offer seats and set up automatic enrolments to let the LMS do all the work for you.
eCommerce capabilities: Core Totara vs BuildEmpire Edition
| Feature | Core Totara | BuildEmpire Edition |
| Built-in support for payment gateways | | |
| Stripe integration | | |
| Integration with other payment providers | | |
| Separate eCommerce catalogue management | | |
| Merge eCommerce catalogue with main LMS catalogue | | |
| Apply filters for courses in eCommerce | | |
| Offer multiple seats for courses | | |
| Automatic enrolments after purchase | | |
| Seamless checkout experience | | |
| Supports selling courses as a revenue stream | |
Gamfication
One thing new customers tell us is that they struggle heavily with learner engagement.
Core Totara includes some basic engagement tools, but they tend to be limited to standard point allocation and badges.
After hearing about it two or three times, we decided to take the matter into our own hands.
And so, we created a gamification plugin.
This started as basic point allocation for particular actions in the LMS, and quickly expanded to a leaderboard function and expanded badges options.
Gamification comparison table
| Feature | Core Totara | BuildEmpire Edition |
| Basic point allocation for actions | | |
| Leaderboard functionality | | |
| Standard badges | | |
| Enhanced badges (earned + available) | | |
| Integration with dashboards and course activities | | |
| Engagement-driven features to motivate learners | | |
| Customisable gamification rules | | |
| Designed to increase learner participation | |
Different course activities
With core Totara and other Totara partners, you’ll get access to a range of course activities.
These are standard, out-of-the-box course options that allow you to share learning content in a range of ways for better engagement.
With the Edition, you can add to those options.
We offer:
- Video activity (upgraded)
- Audio activity, where you can embed podcasts, MP3s etc
- Note taking on all activities for the learner to add thoughts and questions
- Content partnership withs iAMLearning and Assemble you for even more course options
- Plus, note download for them to share their notes as a pdf to read over later
Course activities: Core Totara vs BuildEmpire Edition
| Feature | Core Totara | BuildEmpire Edition |
| Standard video activity | | (upgraded with enhanced functionality) |
| Audio activity (podcasts, MP3s) | | |
| Note-taking on all activities | | |
| Downloadable notes as PDF | | |
| Supports content collaboration with iAMLearning | | |
| Supports content collaboration with AssembleYou | | |
| Enhanced engagement through interactive activities | | |
| Additional options beyond standard Totara activities | |
So why choose BuildEmpire?
Well, if the Edition wasn’t enough to sell you, then maybe these three core reasons will be.
1. Not just implementers
Many Totara partners focus on configuration and deployment: getting Totara installed, hosted, and handed over.
But we go further.
As software engineers and learning technology specialists, we don’t just “switch on” Totara, we extend and customise it to fit your business perfectly.
That means smarter workflows, integrations with your existing tools, and features tailored to your learners.
2. Partnership, not just support
For other Totara partners, support tends to be transactional: tickets in, fixes out.
For us, we work as a long-term partner.
That means proactive consultancy, performance reviews, UX audits, and continuous improvements.
We measure success not by “tickets closed,” but by the impact your learning solution has on performance and compliance.
Plus, our support is unlimited. That means we don’t charge you an arm and a leg for basic support for a platform you’ve paid for.
3. Ranked 3rd Totara partner
With more than 75 Totara partners worldwide, competition is strong. So when we say we’re ranked 3rd, it’s something we’re genuinely proud of.
That ranking isn’t about marketing or sales volume. It reflects the strength of our delivery, the complexity of the solutions we build, and most importantly, the results our customers achieve.
It’s a testament to our team: the engineers who push Totara further, the consultants who challenge thinking, and the support specialists who stay invested long after launch.
We don’t see it as a finish line. We see it as a standard to keep raising, continually improving, innovating and delivering more value to every organisation we work with.
Being ranked 3rd matters. What matters more is what that ranking means for you.
The bottom line
All Totara partners can give you the software.
Only a few can give you real innovation, deep technical expertise, and a long-term partnership that keeps evolving with your organisation.
That’s why organisations choose BuildEmpire.
From Montessori, to MBL and from Bugaboo to Astutis, we work with a wide range of customers to deliver more than other Totara partners can.