---
title: D2L Brightspace Reviews
meta_title: 'D2L Brightspace Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2'
meta_description: Filter 707 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry
  to find out how D2L Brightspace works for a business like yours.
aggregate_rating:
  rating_value: 4.4
  review_count: 707
  scale: '5'
date_modified: '2026-08-12'
parent_category:
  name: Education
  url: https://www.g2.com/categories/education
---


# D2L Brightspace Reviews
**Vendor:** Desire2Learn  
**Category:** [Learning Management Systems](https://www.g2.com/categories/learning-management-system-lms)  
**Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0  
**Total Reviews:** 707
## About D2L Brightspace
Learning That Transforms Lives D2L Brightspace is a powerful, flexible learning platform designed to put learners first. Whether you’re supporting students, employees, or members, Brightspace helps you create personalized, engaging, and measurable learning experiences that drive success. Built for Your World Brightspace adapts to the needs of every learning environment: K–12: Empower teachers and inspire every learner Higher Education: Deliver personalized learning at scale Corporate: Drive business results through smarter learning Associations: Turn training into a competitive advantage Training Providers: Deliver scalable, high-impact learning programs Modernize with Confidence Easily digitize your courses and adopt intuitive tools designed to enhance engagement, accessibility, and outcomes—no technical background required. Scale Personalized Learning Automate routine tasks, unlock actionable insights, and build learning paths that adapt to each learner’s needs. Brightspace helps you save time while improving outcomes. Support Advanced Learning Models From mastery-based progressions to competency-based learning, Brightspace has the power and flexibility to support even the most advanced online and blended strategies. A True Partner in Your Success More than a platform, Brightspace comes with a team dedicated to helping you succeed. From onboarding to optimization, we align our support and services to your goals—every step of the way.



## D2L Brightspace Pros & Cons
**What users like:**

- Users appreciate the **user-friendly interface** of D2L Brightspace, making navigation and setup effortless for both teachers and students. (49 reviews)
- Users appreciate the **supportive customer service** from D2L Brightspace, ensuring a smooth and effective administrative experience. (32 reviews)
- Users appreciate the **excellent customer support** from D2L Brightspace, which significantly enhances their overall experience. (30 reviews)
- Users value the **responsive customer support** of D2L Brightspace, ensuring prompt assistance and effective solutions. (28 reviews)
- Users appreciate the **customizability** of D2L Brightspace, enjoying diverse templates and widgets for tailored learning experiences. (27 reviews)
- Course Variety (26 reviews)
- Users appreciate the **intuitive layout** of D2L Brightspace, ensuring easy navigation and quick access to essential tools. (25 reviews)
- Customization (24 reviews)
- Users appreciate the **ease of use** of D2L Brightspace, praising its intuitive interface and straightforward content creation. (20 reviews)
- Continuous Development (19 reviews)

**What users dislike:**

- Users desire more **customization options** in D2L Brightspace, feeling limited by the current tools and features available. (28 reviews)
- Users experience **navigation issues** due to complex structures and excessive clicks needed to access discussions efficiently. (23 reviews)
- Users express frustration over **feature inconsistencies** in D2L Brightspace, hindering seamless integration and usability across tools. (18 reviews)
- Users report **integration issues** with D2L Brightspace, complicating access to certain external content and requiring multiple logins. (17 reviews)
- Users experience **limited functionality** with outdated forums and few collaborative options, impacting engagement and learning quality. (12 reviews)
- Poor Support (12 reviews)
- User Interface (11 reviews)
- Course Issues (10 reviews)
- Grading Issues (10 reviews)
- Users experience **limited features** in D2L Brightspace, wishing for better consistency and improvements in various tools. (9 reviews)

## D2L Brightspace Reviews
  ### 1. Clean Layout, but Editing Content, Attendance, and Groups Is Frustrating

**Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Government Relations | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2026

**What do you like best about D2L Brightspace?**

Clean layout for users, ability to navigate to different courses easily

**What do you dislike about D2L Brightspace?**

Can be difficult to add and create new content. Attendance tool is not easy to edit at all. Not always intuitive where button options are (the downwards carrot is not intuitive), groups are hard to edit. Lots of weird things when it comes to trying to edit courses that are not intuitive or similar to other websites.

**What problems is D2L Brightspace solving and how is that benefiting you?**

One place to keep all course content that is easy for learners to access

  ### 2. Reasonably sound product.  Company’s contracting team is horrid to work with!

**Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** June 02, 2025

**What do you like best about D2L Brightspace?**

Easy to use, allows for integrations with external systems.  But all decent LMS worth buying can do that too.

**What do you dislike about D2L Brightspace?**

Expensive forever what it is. Finance team is very difficulty to work with.

**What problems is D2L Brightspace solving and how is that benefiting you?**

That didn’t resolve any problems.  We selected D2L as our LMS provider because our sister departments at the university used it.  Looking back on that decision, I question why we did it.

  ### 3. D2L - Refined LMS Platform designed for Schools, with many features behind paywalls.

**Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Drew H. | HSE Specialist, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** August 22, 2024

**What do you like best about D2L Brightspace?**

D2L Brightspace has a high level of customizability, and has been designed with inclusive learning strategies and capabilities. I enjoyed the learner moose mascot that accompanied D2L certificate training.

I also enjoyed select members of the D2L support team that were assigned to my account, who are professional, reliable, and helpful.

**What do you dislike about D2L Brightspace?**

Frequent staff turnover of D2L representatives assigned to our contract, meant a lot of wasted time bringing new D2L team members up to speed on our needs/status, only to have those people replaced again. I can't even remember half the names of the people that were a revolving door on our file.

Many of the features that D2L uses to sell itself to potential clients do not come standard. There are multiple paywalls, that can be a surprise to clients who believed they were getting all of the functionality that D2L uses in it's marketing and instructional training content.  Support for screen readers, Creator Plus, Performance Plus, Storefront...everything was at an additional fee.

The platform was designed for schools and academic institutions. As such there is a lot of support for synchronous courses, (semester based courses), and creating learner groups, assignments, and discussions. Even the training provided to companies for their super admins is focused on how D2L can be utilized for teachers/schools. It didn't adequately suit our purpose for utilizing the platform.

**What problems is D2L Brightspace solving and how is that benefiting you?**

A hosting platform for training we develop specific to our industry.

  ### 4. Cumbersome and outdated

**Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Enriquejfr f. | professor, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** January 25, 2022

**What do you like best about D2L Brightspace?**

It saved us during the pandemia, and I guess it was cheap for the University

**What do you dislike about D2L Brightspace?**

It takes a lot of time to do things that I can do much faster on my own. It is full of useless tabs and functions. Entering grades, for instance, is unnecessarily complex, compelling you to go back and forth all the time. A simple spreadsheet approach is missing

**Recommendations to others considering D2L Brightspace:**

Better than email, but if you can use your own homepage or Google sites, it is not needed

**What problems is D2L Brightspace solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Used during the pandemic to teach online, but I won´t use it after it.

**Official Response from Allison Sinclair:**

> Thank you for taking the time to share feedback in your review. We're sorry to hear that you're not finding certain features of D2L Brightspace helpful. The Brightspace Community has articles to help you make the most of the platform's tools and features. I've included a link to the topic on Grading. I've also sent you a direct message: if there's anything that we can help you address please let us know and we'd be happy to help.

  ### 5. So much potential but significant structural problems.

**Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 26, 2021

**What do you like best about D2L Brightspace?**

The feature set is rich and D2L seems to be adding more features on a regular basis. Primarily our teachers seem to like the Portfolio tool and there is some regard for QuickEval.

**What do you dislike about D2L Brightspace?**

All the features do not operate well together across the platforms. What should be simple instructor functions are cumbersome. For example, an instructor should be able to create an assignment once and post it to multiple courses. This is currently not possible. I am unsure how D2L got this point without considering these simple ways it can massively improve workflow efficiency.

**Recommendations to others considering D2L Brightspace:**

Do a longterm pilot before any significant implementation. It takes a long time to tailor the product to organizational needs and training will be a significant investment. Consider that you will likely not see the benefits you were hoping to achieve for at least a couple of years, if not more.

**What problems is D2L Brightspace solving and how is that benefiting you?**

We are seeing errors with our Google and Office 365 integrations. Users need to clear their cache regularly it seems. The LOR is also proving problematic. Teachers will not use it under the current circumstances because it does not allow them to upload the things they want to share and collaborate on (assignments, rubrics, quizzes with images).

The benefits lie in our ability to manage courses across the division and to align the LMS with our SIS.

  ### 6. There are better learning management systems out there

**Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** June 08, 2019

**What do you like best about D2L Brightspace?**

The copy course components feature is useful.

**What do you dislike about D2L Brightspace?**

It's not intuitive at all. I don't know whether there's no way to edit all grades for an individual student, or there is a way and I just can't find it.

**What problems is D2L Brightspace solving and how is that benefiting you?**

I use Brightspace's D2L learning management system. I currently am in charge of one course section through D2L. It's helpful to have a way to disseminate material and upload grades electronically.

  ### 7. In the Middle

**Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Joan Smith Y. | Instructional Design Specialist, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** January 05, 2018

**What do you like best about D2L Brightspace?**

It is a full learning management system with the usual interaction tools.  It has a fairly clean, modern look.  It is better than Blackboard.

**What do you dislike about D2L Brightspace?**

It is not intuitive and buggy.  It is much more difficult to learn and teach others to learn than Canvas.

**Recommendations to others considering D2L Brightspace:**

Get Canvas

**What problems is D2L Brightspace solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Delivering online, blended, and hybrid courses.

  ### 8. The good, the bad, the ugly. 

**Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 06, 2016

**What do you like best about D2L Brightspace?**

Good. It is self-contained and allows for privacy for small groups.  This is good. So it is improving with time.   This is probably one of the best out there. 

**What do you dislike about D2L Brightspace?**

Bad. It is not easy to use at times,  and you have to find an expert to help you.

Ugly. People can't find things. You have to tell them what to click. That is not good because things should just make sense. So some things are not intuitive. Thus,  the design is lacking.  You have too many menus.  There is a menu on the top and menus on the side. Folks get lost. 

**Recommendations to others considering D2L Brightspace:**

There is a learning curve. 

**What problems is D2L Brightspace solving and how is that benefiting you?**

The security of having a closed system has its benefits. 


## D2L Brightspace Discussions
  - [How do i schedule any document to be publish?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-do-i-schedule-any-document-to-be-publish) - 1 comment, 1 upvote
  - [Could we have bulk posting soon?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/could-we-have-bulk-posting-soon) - 1 comment, 1 upvote
  - [What is the plan for Brightspace&#39;s future and the direction it is hoping to take?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-the-plan-for-brightspace-s-future-and-the-direction-it-is-hoping-to-take) - 1 comment, 1 upvote
  - [Not so much of a question but I would like to see a feature added for scheduling in the calendar?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/not-so-much-of-a-question-but-i-would-like-to-see-a-feature-added-for-scheduling-in-the-calendar) - 1 comment, 1 upvote
  - [How do I link my Grades with Quick Eval?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/51911-how-do-i-link-my-grades-with-quick-eval) - 1 comment, 1 upvote

- [View D2L Brightspace pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/d2l-brightspace/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=2&section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-12+19%3A07%3A41+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=dacf7a99-e03d-45cb-952f-39fc6cb0b94f&secure%5Btoken%5D=a4f887ded87ea817b96ab059288fdf5968b14f4d19582adcd2754d307276f0b3&format=llm_user)
## D2L Brightspace Integrations
  - [Airtable](https://www.g2.com/products/airtable/reviews)
  - [AlayaCare](https://www.g2.com/products/alayacare-alayacare/reviews)
  - [Articulate 360](https://www.g2.com/products/articulate-360/reviews)
  - [Canva](https://www.g2.com/products/canva/reviews)
  - [CDX](https://www.g2.com/products/cdx/reviews)
  - [ClassLink](https://www.g2.com/products/classlink/reviews)
  - [ClinicalKey](https://www.g2.com/products/clinicalkey/reviews)
  - [Databricks](https://www.g2.com/products/databricks/reviews)
  - [Domo](https://www.g2.com/products/domo/reviews)
  - [EdPuzzle](https://www.g2.com/products/edpuzzle/reviews)
  - [ExamSoft](https://www.g2.com/products/examsoft/reviews)
  - [Feedback Studio](https://www.g2.com/products/feedback-studio/reviews)
  - [Google Workspace](https://www.g2.com/products/google-workspace/reviews)
  - [Gradescope](https://www.g2.com/products/gradescope/reviews)
  - [H5P](https://www.g2.com/products/h5p/reviews)
  - [HubSpot Data Hub](https://www.g2.com/products/hubspot-data-hub/reviews)
  - [Integrity Advocate](https://www.g2.com/products/integrity-advocate/reviews)
  - [Kaltura Video Cloud](https://www.g2.com/products/kaltura-video-cloud/reviews)
  - [LinkedIn Learning](https://www.g2.com/products/linkedin-linkedin-learning/reviews)
  - [Lockdown Browser](https://www.g2.com/products/lockdown-browser/reviews)
  - [McGraw-Hill Connect](https://www.g2.com/products/mcgraw-hill-connect/reviews)
  - [Microsoft 365](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft365/reviews)
  - [Microsoft Teams](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-teams/reviews)
  - [MindTap](https://www.g2.com/products/mindtap/reviews)
  - [MyLab](https://www.g2.com/products/mylab/reviews)
  - [Panopto](https://www.g2.com/products/panopto/reviews)
  - [Poll Everywhere](https://www.g2.com/products/poll-everywhere/reviews)
  - [Quizizz](https://www.g2.com/products/quizizz/reviews)
  - [Qwickly Attendance Pro](https://www.g2.com/products/qwickly-attendance-pro/reviews)
  - [Readspeaker](https://www.g2.com/products/readspeaker/reviews)
  - [Respondus Monitor](https://www.g2.com/products/respondus-monitor/reviews)
  - [Salesforce Agentforce](https://www.g2.com/products/salesforce-agentforce/reviews)
  - [Salesforce Headless 360 Platform (formerly Salesforce Platform)](https://www.g2.com/products/agentforce-360-platform-formerly-salesforce-platform/reviews)
  - [Simple Syllabus](https://www.g2.com/products/simple-syllabus/reviews)
  - [SportLoMo](https://www.g2.com/products/sportlomo/reviews)
  - [Top Hat](https://www.g2.com/products/top-hat/reviews)
  - [Turnitin](https://www.g2.com/products/turnitin-2026-03-30/reviews)
  - [Turnitin](https://www.g2.com/products/turnitin-turnitin/reviews)
  - [VoiceThread](https://www.g2.com/products/voicethread/reviews)
  - [Watermark Course Evaluations &amp; Surveys](https://www.g2.com/products/watermark-watermark-course-evaluations-surveys/reviews)
  - [YuJa](https://www.g2.com/products/yuja/reviews)
  - [Zoom Workplace](https://www.g2.com/products/zoom-workplace/reviews)

## D2L Brightspace Features
**Additional Functionality**
- Gamification
- Content Library
- Alerts/Notifications
- Learning Paths/Tracks
- Self Service Portal
- AI Copilot
- Tests/Assessments
- Single Sign On
- Attendance Tracking
- Customizable Reports
- Blended Learning
- User Management
- Microlearning
- API
- For Schools
- Assignment Management
- Reporting & Statistics
- Social Learning
- Communication Management
- Course Tracking
- Certification Tracking
- Course Management
- Curriculum Management
- Built-in Course Authoring
- Activity Dashboard
- Calendar Management
- Asynchronous Learning
- Role-Based Permissions
- Learner Portal
- Academic/Education
- Multi-Language
- Compliance Management
- Enrollments/Onboarding
- Customizable Branding
- Third-Party Integrations
- Parent Portal
- Surveys & Feedback
- K-12
- Workflow Management
- Generative AI
- Mobile Learning
- Virtual Classroom
- Data Import/Export
- Classroom Management
- Student Information/Records
- Synchronous Learning
- Gradebook

**Assessment delivery**
- Question variety
- Real-time assessment
- Pre-made content
- Customizable Questions
- Weighted Questions
- Skills Assessment

**Training & eLearning**
- Content Creation
- Content Libraries
- Interactive Content
- Question Library

**Reporting Analysis**
- Progress Reports
- Course Completion

**Generative AI**
- AI Text Generation
- AI Text Summarization
- Generative AI

**Additional Functionality**
- Onboarding
- Individual Development Plans
- Career Development
- Approval Process Control
- Customizable Branding
- AI Copilot
- Reminders
- Customizable Templates
- Employee Profiles
- Employee Engagement
- Learning & Development
- API

**Course Authoring**
- Course Builder
- Role-Based Templates
- Assessments & Quizzes
- Instructor-Led Training

**Grading and reporting**
- Automated grading
- Gamification
- Analytics dashboard
- Reporting
- Activity Dashboard
- Reporting/Analytics

**Course Management**
- Course Authoring
- Course Access

**Agentic AI - Course Authoring**
- Adaptive Learning
- Natural Language Interaction
- Assignment Management
- Asynchronous Learning
- Synchronous Learning
- Self-paced Learning
- Interactive Learning
- Blended Learning
- Role-Based Permissions
- Multi-Language

**Additional Functionality**
- Audio/Video Recording
- Collaboration Tools
- Video Management
- Video Support
- Assessment Management
- Course Authoring
- Course Publishing
- AI Copilot
- Customizable Reports
- Mobile Access
- Video Streaming
- Generative AI
- SCORM Compliance
- Access Controls/Permissions
- Data Import/Export
- Surveys & Feedback
- VR/AR Compatibility
- Customizable Templates
- Drag & Drop
- User Management
- Template Management
- Gamification
- Progress Reports
- Learning Management
- Customizable Questions
- Content Management
- Compliance Management
- Third-Party Integrations
- Activity Tracking
- Certification & Licensing
- Real-Time Data
- Reporting & Statistics
- Activity Dashboard
- Storyboarding
- Single Sign On
- Progress Tracking
- Tests/Assessments
- Customizable Branding
- API
- Training Management
- Media Import
- Quizzes
- Instructor-Led Courses
- Multimedia Support
- Commenting/Notes
- Alerts/Notifications
- PowerPoint Conversion

**Course Delivery**
- Learning Paths/Tracks
- Communication & Notifications
- Assignment Scheduling
- Self-paced Learning
- Mobile Learning
- Blended Learning
- Social Learning
- Synchronous Learning
- Extended Enterprise Learning
- Asynchronous Learning

**Administration**
- White-labeling
- Mobile compatibility

**Integration**
- Education ERP System
- Learning Management System

**Additional Functionality**
- Content Library
- Customizable Reports
- Drag & Drop
- Single Sign On
- Email Distribution
- Live Results Sharing
- Surveys & Feedback
- Feedback Management
- AI Copilot
- Test/Quiz Creation
- Progress Reports
- Content Sharing
- Multi-User Collaboration
- 360 Degree Feedback
- Performance Metrics
- Certification & Licensing
- Email Reminders
- Payment Processing
- Recruitment Management
- Skill Testing
- Activity Tracking
- Text to Speech
- Pre-Employment Testing
- Skills Tracking
- API
- Proctoring
- Customizable Branding
- Customizable Templates
- Secure Data Storage
- Assessment Management
- Progress Tracking
- Version Control
- Pulse Surveys
- Summary Reports
- Template Management
- Data Import/Export
- Randomization
- Question Library
- Automated Proctoring
- Student Portal
- Third-Party Integrations
- Alerts/Notifications
- Email Alerts
- Offline Tests
- Content Management
- Scheduling
- Quizzes
- Candidate Management
- Time Limits
- Question Branching
- Multi-Language
- Lock Down
- Registration Management
- Customizable Fields
- Learning Management
- Performance Management
- Course Authoring
- Mobile Access
- Online Tests
- Test Scheduling
- Access Controls/Permissions
- Reporting & Statistics
- Self-paced Learning
- Real-Time Monitoring
- Student Management
- Monitoring
- Generative AI

**Course Management**
- Gamification
- Varied User Types
- Certifications
- Industry Compliance 
- SCORM Compliance

**Customer Assistance**
- Help and Support

**Platform**
- Customization 
- Integration APIs
- Internationalization
- User, Role, and Access Management
- Activity Dashboard
- Activity Dashboard
- Mobile Access
- Activity Dashboard
- Training Management
- Goal Management
- Feedback Management
- Action Management
- Mobile Access
- Activity Dashboard
- Benefits Dashboard
- Activity Dashboard
- Feedback Management
- Performance Management
- Recruitment Management
- Compliance Management
- Training Management
- Calendar Management
- Employee Management
- Orientation Workflow Management
- Task Management
- HR Management
- Help Desk Management
- Mobile Access
- Payroll Management
- Document Management
- Job Description Management
- Social Media Integration
- Mobile Access
- Activity Dashboard
- Third-Party Integrations
- Assessment Management
- Social Media Integration
- Activity Dashboard
- Mobile Access
- Third-Party Integration
- Initiative Management
- Workflow Management
- Community Management
- Employee Referral Management
- Candidate Management
- Workflow Management
- Communication Management
- Advertising Management
- Application Management
- Email Management
- Job Management
- Discount Management
- Pipeline Management
- File Management
- Job Management
- Data Storage Management
- Compensation Management
- Employee Management
- Job Application Management
- HR Management
- Competency Management
- Performance Management
- Compliance Management
- Job Description Management
- Evaluation Management
- User Management
- Role-Based Permissions
- Third-Party Integrations

**LMS Marketplace**
- E-Commerce
- Course Marketplace
- Subscriptions

**Platform Customization**
- White Labeling

**Interface**
- White Labeling
- Multilingual

**Agentic AI - Online Learning Platform**
- Adaptive Learning

**Training & eLearning**
- Assessments and Practice
- Content Delivery and Tracking
- Content Creation
- Customer Training
- Manager Portals
- Content Storage and Management
- Content Libraries
- Compliance Tracking
- Course Tracking
- Progress Tracking
- eCommerce Management
- Knowledge Base Management
- Course Management
- Assessment Management
- Training Management
- Feedback Management
- User Management
- Learner Portal

**Generative AI**
- AI Text Generation
- AI Text Summarization
- Generative AI

**Agentic AI - Corporate Learning Management Systems **
- Adaptive Learning
- Natural Language Interaction
- Multi-Language

**Additional Functionality**
- AI Copilot
- Built-in Course Authoring
- Reminders
- Academic/Education
- eLearning Companies
- Virtual Classroom
- Offline Access
- Personalization and Recommendation
- Video Conferencing
- Certification & Licensing
- Single Sign On
- API
- Progress Reports
- Access Controls/Permissions
- Collaboration Tools
- Customizable Branding
- Discussions/Forums
- Enrollment Confirmation
- Customizable Reports
- Activity Dashboard
- Third-Party Integrations
- Gradebook
- Corporate/Business
- Workflow Automation

## Top D2L Brightspace Alternatives
  - [Canvas LMS](https://www.g2.com/products/canvas-lms/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (1,732 reviews)
  - [Blackboard](https://www.g2.com/products/blackboard/reviews) - 4.0/5.0 (1,016 reviews)
  - [TalentLMS](https://www.g2.com/products/talentlms/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (758 reviews)

