The real cost of a self-hosted LMS: 6 items to price

You have found an LMS whose code can be downloaded freely. The finance director asks: "So it costs nothing?" You hesitate, because you know someone will have to install the server, monitor it, update it and answer learners on Monday morning. That someone has a salary, or an invoice.

This article gives you the method to answer your finance director with figures of your own. It is part of our series of comparisons between families of solutions.

A free licence gives you the right to use and modify the software. It says nothing about what it takes to run it. An online LMS bundles these tasks into a subscription. Self-hosted, they are spread between your team, your host and one or more contractors.

The cost has therefore not vanished, it has moved to different lines. Some are invoices, others are hours of work that nobody records. It is the latter that are most often forgotten.

The six items to price#

1. Server and backups. A host, disk space, a domain name, a certificate. Backups deserve a line of their own. ANSSI, the French cybersecurity agency, recommends in its guide on backup an offline copy or at least an off-site one, and a written restoration procedure. A backup never restored as a test remains a hypothesis.

2. Security and updates. The documentation of a major open-source LMS describes keeping the software up to date as a mandatory security measure. Each patched version is an intervention: backup, test, release, checking of add-on modules. Count days per year, not minutes.

3. Customisation. Your brand guidelines, your roles, your reports, a link with your management software. Every bespoke addition must be rechecked at each version upgrade. This is the line that grows most over time.

4. Administration. Creating accounts, importing groups, opening and closing sessions, correcting permissions. In a small provider, this person is called "the one who knows about it", and their other tasks wait.

5. Support. Who answers the learner who cannot log in? At what time? In the evening, at weekends? Without a support contract, the answer is "you".

6. Internal time. Steering, training the trainers, meetings with the contractor, monitoring of developments. This time appears on no quote, and it is often the largest item.

The three-year calculation method#

Three years, because an LMS is rarely chosen for less, and because version upgrades and staff departures show up over that period. The method takes four steps.

1. List the six items for each solution compared, in one column per solution.
2. Separate the set-up cost (once) from the recurring cost (each year).
3. Convert days into euros using a realistic internal daily cost, charges included, or the contractor's rate.
4. Add up over 36 months and include a margin for the unforeseen, for example an incident or an upgrade heavier than planned.

Keep the same learner assumptions for every column. Otherwise, you are comparing two different situations.

A worked example, entirely fictional#

In this invented example, the gap comes mainly from administration and security. Change two assumptions, for instance an administrator who is already on the payroll and 20% free, and the order can flip. That is exactly the point of running the calculation with your own values.

The item-by-item table#

The last line matters. If you must keep your data on your own infrastructure, or adapt the code, self-hosting remains the right choice, and no cost table should talk you out of it.

The questions to ask before choosing#

To your team, first:

• Who will administer the platform in two years, and what will we do if they leave the organisation?
• How many days a year are we prepared to devote to the technical side?
• Who answers a learner who is stuck on a Sunday evening?

To the contractor or publisher, next:

• What exactly does the hosting include: backups, restoration, monitoring?
• Are security updates included, and within what timescale?
• What is the format and the price of an export of your data if you leave?
• Are the standards and connections you need (SCORM, xAPI, SSO, API) supported? To be confirmed with each publisher or contractor.

For the comparison between families of solutions, our article on open-source LMS or SaaS sets out the selection criteria. For a first reading grid for quotes, see how much an LMS costs.

When self-hosting remains the right choice#

If you have a technical team in place, sovereignty requirements or very specific developments, self-hosting may be the best option. Kognisia is an online service: if your need involves controlling the server or the code, it is not the right family of solutions. We cover this case in when Kognisia is not the right choice.

Conversely, if you have neither an administrator nor any wish to recruit one, look at the platform and the pricing while counting the same six items.

Frequently asked questions#

In summary#

A free licence does not make an LMS free: it moves the cost to the server, security, customisation, administration, support and your time. Price these six items over three years for each solution, with the same assumptions. Your next step: fill in the table with your values, then open the calculator.

Sources#

• Developer documentation of an open-source LMS: upgrade notification, accessed 14 October 2026.
• ANSSI: Backup of information systems, the fundamentals (version 1.1), accessed 14 October 2026.

The Kognisia team
Kognisia designs a SaaS learning platform, with a training catalogue and white label as options.