You might have heard of Totara, but what is Totara Learn and how can you use that to create better learning experiences? We share all you need to know.

If you working in learning and development, you’ve probably heard of Totara.

And you may know a little about Totara learn.

This is no surprise. Totara is a major leader in the Fosway group for learning management systems.

And when you compare Totara vs Moodle for example, the former often comes out on top for organisations.

But what is Totara Learn and how can you use it?

We break down:

• What Totara Learn is
• Why it’s useful
• Plus what Totara Engage and Perform are
• As well as our version of Totara

Let’s get started.

What is Totara?

Totara is a robust, open-source learning management system (LMS) designed for businesses serious about employee development.

Related: What’s new in Totara 19.1, the latest release

It’s not your average LMS; it’s a powerhouse of features tailored for corporate training needs.

With Totara, you get customisable learning paths, comprehensive reporting tools, and seamless integration options.

It’s the go-to solution for organisations wanting to take control of their training programs and drive performance.

What is Totara Learn?

The core part of Totara’s offering, Totara Learn is the ultimate LMS which provides an agile solution to meet the unique needs of each business.

By replacing traditional LMS’s with Totara’s transformational, open learning platform, L&D teams are then able to remove the historical barriers which come with workplace learning.

Things like:

• Poor compliance
• Low engagement
• Expensive training

This will help you to propel your learning culture into a future thinking state where all employees can add strategic value to an organisation.

It’s a completely new, forward-thinking approach to learning, and empowers every member of an organisation to achieve their true potential.

What about Totara Engage and Perform?

Previously, the Totara Talent Experience Platform as it was known was made up of 3 powerful solutions, all designed to help build a stronger workplace, increase resilience, and prosper in today’s fast-changing world.

Now, Totara Learn and Engage are actually combined. Which means you get even more features right at your fingertips from forums and discussions, to workplaces and personalised learning.

Totara Engage and Totara Perform are two core facets of an LMS that you don’t want to miss. Engage helps you, well, engage your learners.

Perform meanwhile focuses on feedback, competencies and linking learning to performance.

What does Totara Learn do?

There’s no doubting that the LMS world is crowded. But Totara Leanr stands out as a uniquely flexible, open-source solution tailored for organisational learning.

But what exactly does Totara Learn do that makes it a go-to platform for enterprise-level training, compliance, and capability development?

At its core, Totara Learn is an enterprise-grade LMS designed to enable organisations to deliver, manage, and track all forms of learning—formal, informal, online, blended, and offline.

It supports everything from mandatory compliance courses to complex competency-based learning pathways.

1. Centralises learning delivery

Totara Learn acts as a centralised hub where employees, contractors, and even customers can access relevant training.

Whether it’s onboarding materials, safety certifications, soft skills training, or leadership development, Totara ensures everything is housed in one structured system.

Learners can view their assigned courses, track their progress, complete assessments, and earn certifications, all from a personalised dashboard.

2. Supports diverse learning formats

Totara is not just about eLearning modules.

It accommodates:

• SCORM and xAPI packages
• Instructor-led training (ILT) with venue booking
• Virtual classrooms via integrations with Zoom, Teams, or WebEx
• Blended learning pathways that combine online and offline content
• Social and informal learning, like discussion forums and user-generated content

This flexibility means you can design learning experiences that suit how your teams actually learn.

3. Tracks progress and compliance

For highly regulated industries (think healthcare, finance, manufacturing) compliance tracking is not optional.

Totara Learn automates certification paths, re-certification alerts, audit trails, and compliance reporting.

It supports recurring certifications (e.g., every 12 months), manager approvals, and escalation workflows if training is overdue.

You’ll know who’s on track, who’s falling behind, and where the risk lies all in real-time.

4. Custom learning pathways and competency management

Totara Learn enables organisations to map competency frameworks to learning paths.

For example, if a role requires a certain skill set, you can assign training aligned to each competency. As learners progress, they can earn badges or evidence demonstrating mastery of each skill.

Managers can track skill gaps across teams and plan targeted development.

Think of it as turning an LMS into a career development engine.

5. Audience management and personalisation

Totara’s dynamic audience management system allows you to tailor learning experiences based on roles, departments, regions, or any custom field.

This means different learners see content that’s directly relevant to their needs—no clutter, no confusion.

You can also automate enrollment rules (e.g., “Enroll all Sales Managers in the Q3 Compliance Refresher”) without manual intervention.

6. Open source with enterprise support

Unlike many SaaS LMS platforms, Totara Learn is open-source.

This means you’re not locked into a vendor’s roadmap.

Organizations can self-host or work with Totara Partners to customise everything from the user interface to backend workflows.

You get the best of both worlds: enterprise-grade security and support plus the freedom to innovate.

7. Integration-ready and extensible

Totara Learn plays well with others.

It integrates with:

• HR systems (like Workday, SAP, BambooHR)
• Single Sign-On (SSO) systems via SAML or LDAP
• Reporting tools and BI platforms
• Content libraries like LinkedIn Learning or Go1

APIs and plugins make it easy to embed Totara within your broader digital ecosystem, ensuring learning is never siloed.

What are the benefits of Totara Learn?

Ok so you know what it does?

But what are the benefits of Totara Learn?

Well, they can be summed up neatly into this handy little list:

• Flexible & customisable – Tailor everything to fit your organization’s needs
• Enterprise-ready – Scales effortlessly across teams, departments, and regions
• Compliance management – Automate tracking, certifications, and audit trails
• Blended learning – Supports online, offline, virtual, and informal learning
• Competency frameworks – Build skill-based learning paths and close gaps
• Personalised learning – Dynamic audience rules deliver targeted content
• Open source freedom – No vendor lock-in; full control over your LMS
• Seamless integrations – Connect to HR, CRM, and content platforms easily

What makes Totara Learn different?

In a sea of cookie-cutter LMS platforms, Totara Learn breaks the mold.

Here’s what sets it apart:

Global Partner Network
You’re never alone. Totara offers implementation and support through a trusted ecosystem of expert partners who tailor the platform to your needs.

Open Source Core
Unlike most proprietary LMSs, Totara gives you full access to its code. That means total freedom to customize, extend, and innovate—on your terms.

Three-in-One Talent Suite
Totara isn’t just a learning platform. It’s part of a broader talent experience platform that includes:

• Totara Learn (LMS)
• Totara Perform (Performance Management)
• Totara Engage (Learning Experience Platform/LXP)

Ultra-Flexible Architecture
Totara adapts to you not the other way around. You can tailor learning journeys, workflows, branding, and access rules without hitting rigid platform limits.

Powerful Compliance Tools
Many LMSs track learning. Totara helps you prove it which is ideal for regulated industries needing robust compliance, re-certification, and audit capabilities.

Enterprise Features Without Enterprise Bloat
Totara delivers the depth large organisations need, without being bloated, clunky, or overpriced. You get advanced features without sacrificing usability or agility.

BuildEmpire’s version of Totara

We’re a platinum partner of Totara and work with many customers to deliver a learning platform using its open-source code.

But we don’t just set you up with the basic platform and leave you to it.

We’ve created the BuildEmpire Edition.

That includes the core platform, as well as features like:

• Points and leaderboards
• Passkeys
• Tweaks to video settings so you can set watch time parameters
• Deeper brand alterations

And much more.

Alongside Totara, this makes us the perfect platform provider to offer consistent training and ongoing support, to ensure you and your learners always get the most out of your solution.

Book a demo to see the platform in action, or check out our roadmap to see what we’re currently working on.