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6 jobs · 15 apps

Best open source software for schools and education

For a school or university, a self-hosted stack starts with Moodle for courses, Gibbon for school administration and BigBlueButton for online classes. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

Schools and universities have used open-source learning platforms for decades. This stack covers the LMS, school management, video classes, surveys, collaboration and accounts.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    Moodle

    moodle/moodle

    The world's most widely used open-source learning platform for schools, universities and companies.

    Learning Management (LMS)PHP

    Moodle has 7,468 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 3,502 commits in the last year; it replaces Teachable and Thinkific.

  2. Rank 2:

    Canvas LMS

    instructure/canvas-lms

    Learning management system (LMS) that is revolutionizing the way we educate.

    Learning Management (LMS)Ruby

    Canvas LMS has 6,862 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 4,416 commits in the last year; it replaces Blackboard Learn.

  3. Rank 3:

    Open edX

    openedx/openedx-platform

    The LMS and Studio authoring platform behind edX, deployed with the Docker-based Tutor distribution.

    Learning Management (LMS)PythonDocker

    Open edX has 8,198 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,319 commits in the last year; it replaces Blackboard Learn and TalentLMS.

1 of 6 · 4 picks

Learning management (LMS)

  1. 1

    Moodle

    The world's most widely used open-source learning platform for schools, universities and companies.

    Moodle has 7,468 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 3,502 commits in the last year; it replaces Teachable and Thinkific.

  2. 2

    Canvas LMS

    Learning management system (LMS) that is revolutionizing the way we educate.

    Canvas LMS has 6,862 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 4,416 commits in the last year; it replaces Blackboard Learn.

  3. 3

    Open edX

    The LMS and Studio authoring platform behind edX, deployed with the Docker-based Tutor distribution.

    Open edX has 8,198 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,319 commits in the last year; it replaces Blackboard Learn and TalentLMS.

  4. 4

    Chamilo LMS

    Create a virtual campus for the provision of online or semi-online training.

    Chamilo LMS has 1,009 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 5,508 commits in the last year; it replaces Blackboard Learn and TalentLMS.

2 of 6 · 2 picks

School management

  1. 1

    Gibbon

    Flexible school management platform designed to make life better for teachers, students, parents and leaders.

    Gibbon has 634 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 286 commits in the last year.

  2. 2

    Open eClass

    Open eClass is an advanced e-learning solution that can enhance the teaching and learning process.

    Open eClass has 167 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 1,297 commits in the last year.

3 of 6 · 2 picks

Video classes

  1. 1

    BigBlueButton

    Supports real-time sharing of audio, video, slides (with whiteboard controls), chat, and the screen. Instructors can engage remote students with polling, emojis, and breakout rooms.

    BigBlueButton has 9,236 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license and had 1,497 commits in the last year; it replaces Zoom and Google Meet.

  2. 2

    Jitsi Meet

    WebRTC application that uses Jitsi Videobridge to provide high quality, scalable video conferences.

    Jitsi Meet has 30,044 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 797 commits in the last year; it replaces Zoom and Google Meet.

4 of 6 · 2 picks

Forms and surveys

  1. 1

    LimeSurvey

    Feature-rich web-based polling software. Supports extensive survey logic.

    LimeSurvey has 3,744 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 1,385 commits in the last year; it replaces Typeform and Google Forms.

  2. 2

    Formbricks

    Experience Management Suite built on the largest open source survey stack worldwide. Gracefully gather feedback at every step of the customer journey to know what your customers need.

    Formbricks has 13,065 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,403 commits in the last year; it replaces Typeform and Google Forms.

5 of 6 · 3 picks

Collaboration

  1. 1

    Nextcloud

    Access and share your files, calendars, contacts, mail and more from any device, on your terms.

    Nextcloud has 37,003 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 7,289 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Drive and Dropbox.

  2. 2

    CryptPad

    Collaboration suite built to enable collaboration, synchronizing changes to documents in real time.

    CryptPad has 7,989 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 477 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Docs and Google Workspace.

  3. 3

    Etherpad

    Highly customizable online editor providing collaborative editing in real-time.

    Etherpad has 18,563 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 922 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Docs and Dropbox Paper.

6 of 6 · 2 picks

Accounts

  1. 1

    Keycloak

    Open-source identity and access management with SSO, OIDC, SAML and user federation.

    Keycloak has 37,156 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 3,157 commits in the last year; it replaces Auth0 and Okta.

  2. 2

    LLDAP

    Light LDAP server for authentication, aimed at homelabs that need user management.

    LLDAP has 6,546 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 87 commits in the last year.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source software for schools?

For a school or university, a self-hosted stack starts with Moodle for courses, Gibbon for school administration and BigBlueButton for online classes. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

What is the most popular open source LMS?

By GitHub stars in this catalog, Open edX, Moodle and Canvas LMS lead. Moodle is a long-standing choice for schools and universities, and Open edX powers large online course platforms.

Is student data safe when self-hosted?

Self-hosting keeps student records on servers the school controls, which helps with GDPR, FERPA and similar rules. You still need access control, backups, updates and a data-protection process.

Is Moodle free?

Yes. Moodle is open-source software released under the GPL-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 this stack with Docker?

7 of the 15 apps here publish Docker images, including Open edX, Jitsi Meet and Formbricks, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups.

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