SHSelfHostIndex

Canvas LMS vs INGInious

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted learning & courses options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
CA Canvas LMS Open-source learning management system by Instructure VS IN INGInious Intelligent grader that allows secured and automated testing of code
FeatureCanvas LMSINGInious
CategoryLearning & CoursesLearning & Courses
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageRubyPython
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM4,096 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 6,763★ 238
First released20112026
ReplacesBlackboard, Moodle—

Why pick each one

Choose Canvas LMS if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 6.8k GitHub stars
  • Written in Ruby
Canvas LMS details

Choose INGInious if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Python
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
INGInious details

Frequently asked questions

Is Canvas LMS or INGInious better?

Neither is universally better. Canvas LMS has the larger community, while INGInious is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Canvas LMS and INGInious free and open-source?

Yes. Canvas LMS is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and INGInious under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Canvas LMS and INGInious with Docker?

Canvas LMS: yes. INGInious: yes.

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