Frequently asked questions

Is it really free?

Yes, with no hidden trade-off: the software is under AGPL-3.0-only, there is no "pro" edition, no account limit, no reserved feature. Hosting costs what a server costs — a few euros a month for a small instance.

How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is a full learning platform: courses, assignments, grades, enrolment, calendar. OpenLearn does not do that. It does three things: write a wiki, have quizzes recite, and schedule revision. If you are looking for a full LMS, this is the wrong tool; if you are looking for "a wiki and quizzes that work, that I can host myself", it is one.

And compared with Kahoot or Quizlet?

The live mode resembles Kahoot, and the cards resemble Quizlet. The difference comes down to three points: your content stays with you, there is no advertising tracker, and the software is modifiable. The trade-off: no library of millions of community quizzes.

Do I need a powerful server?

No. A 1 GB server is enough for about a hundred occasional users; SQLite carries the load. Beyond that, PostgreSQL is supported. The installation guide details the variables and the backup.

Is my data being exploited?

There is no advertising network, no third-party analytics script, no sale of data. The software writes access logs to diagnose a failure and block a spammer, not to build a profile. On your own instance you are in sole control of the data; on the public demo, do not put anything confidential there.

Why does the email address have to be confirmed?

So that publication notices actually reach you. Confirmation is not blocking: you can work without it, a banner simply reminds you. It also prevents a mistyped address from being used to create accounts in bulk.

I am not receiving any email

Three ordinary causes: the message is in spam (SPF/DKIM/DMARC missing on the sending domain), the instance has no SMTP configured, or the request was made twice within five minutes and therefore produced a single message. See the Troubleshooting page.

How many languages are available?

Twelve: French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Hindi, Bengali and Arabic. The whole interface is translated, not only the landing page, and Arabic switches to right-to-left writing.

May I use the name "OpenLearn" for my instance?

For a private instance, yes. For a public one, present it as "an OpenLearn instance" rather than as the official instance: the name and the demo are not granted by the licence. See Contributing.

How is the project funded?

It is not. Development is carried by its author; there is no foundation, no investor, no roadmap conditioned by a client. That is an accepted fragility, and one more reason for the code to stay readable and takeable over by others.

What happens if the project stops?

The sources remain available, the database is a single SQLite file, and content exports to Markdown and JSON. An instance keeps running without updates. That is exactly why AGPL and self-hosting were chosen: the disappearance of a maintainer must not mean the disappearance of the data.