Canvas LMS
Canvas LMS is an open-source, self-hosted app in the Learning Management (LMS) category, licensed AGPL-3.0 and written mainly in Ruby. It is a self-hosted alternative to Blackboard Learn. It has 6,888 GitHub stars and its last commit was on Apr 30, 2026 (data as of Oct 26, 2026).
GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 6,888
- Forks
- 3,045
- Open issues
- 424
- Commits, last 12 months
- 4,557
- Last commit
- Apr 30, 2026
- Latest release
- No releases
- Created
- Feb 1, 2011
- License
- AGPL-3.0Open source
Data as of from the GitHub API. Report an error
Project health
MaintainedMaintained: last commit Apr 30, 2026.
- Security policyPublishes a security policy on GitHub
| Last commit | Apr 30, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Commits, last 12 months | 4,557 |
| Latest release | No GitHub releases |
| Releases, last 12 months | 0 |
| Releases, all time | 0 |
| Open issues | 424 |
| Open pull requests | 48 |
| Good first issues | 0 |
| Contributing guide | Yes |
| Security policy | Yes |
| Created | Feb 1, 2011 |
Health as of , from the GitHub API. A label describes activity, not quality or security. How we label project health · Report a data error
About Canvas LMS
Learning management system (LMS) that is revolutionizing the way we educate.
Description adapted from awesome-selfhosted (CC BY-SA 3.0). Source code: github.com/instructure/canvas-lms.
Topics
- instructure
- canvas-lms
- gerrit-mirror
Open-source alternative to
Canvas LMS can replace these commercial products. Compare every option on each page.
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Is Canvas LMS free and open source?
Yes. Canvas LMS is open-source software released under the AGPL-3.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.
Can I run Canvas LMS with Docker?
Canvas LMS does not list an official Docker image. It installs natively (Ruby), so follow the install steps in its README or look for a community-maintained container.
What are the best alternatives to Canvas LMS?
Popular self-hosted alternatives to Canvas LMS include Open edX, Moodle and Frappe LMS. Canvas LMS itself is a self-hosted alternative to Blackboard Learn.
Is Canvas LMS actively maintained?
The most recent commit to Canvas LMS was on Apr 30, 2026 with 4,557 commits in the past twelve months. It had 424 open issues on GitHub. appsgit's project-health label for it is "Maintained" as of Oct 26, 2026.