How do you select a good e-learning company?
You want to have an e-learning created. After a short search, it turns out that there are dozens of providers. One party builds complete online academies, another specializes in custom modules, and yet another mainly provides an LMS or a library with existing training.
So how do you select a good e-learning company?
The best choice does not start with the most beautiful website or the lowest quote. A good e-learning partner must understand what employees need to learn, be able to translate this into an effective learning experience, and ensure that the technology works within your organisation.
In this article, we discuss the key points on which you can compare e-learning companies.
1. First, determine exactly what you need
Before you start comparing suppliers, you need to know what problem you want to solve.
For example, do you want to:
onboard new employees;
train employees on laws and regulations;
teach software usage;
develop commercial skills;
offer safety instructions;
improve product knowledge;
build a complete online academy;
digitise existing classroom training?
That distinction is important.
An organisation that needs one high-quality compliance module is likely looking for a different supplier than an organisation that wants to implement a complete learning platform for 5,000 employees.
Therefore, start with three questions:
What should participants know or be able to do afterwards?
Who is the target audience?
How and where should the training be offered?
Only then does it make sense to compare suppliers.
2. Are you looking for custom e-learning or a learning platform?
This is one of the most important choices.
Custom e-learning
With customisation, a training course is developed specifically for your organisation. The content, examples, design, and interactions can align with your processes and corporate identity.
This is particularly interesting for topics such as:
onboarding;
compliance;
safety;
internal processes;
software training;
product training;
behaviour change.
A provider like Maxcademy focuses strongly on this type of customisation. The company can guide the process from analysis and learning strategy to scripts, production, voice-over, translation, QA, and LMS testing. Additionally, Maxcademy develops, among other things, interactive scenarios, software simulations, onboarding and compliance programmes, and SCORM and xAPI compatible learning solutions.
LMS or learning platform
Do you not only need content, but do you want to organise learning for the entire organisation? Then an LMS or LXP may be more important.
A provider like Studytube places a lot of emphasis on a complete learning platform with LMS and LXP functionalities, skill mapping, an AI authoring tool, training content, and management of learning activities.
The first selection question is actually:
Are we looking for someone to create our e-learning, someone to provide the platform, or a party that can do both?
3. Look beyond just technology
A common mistake is to focus mainly on functions and technical possibilities.
SCORM? Check.
Video? Check.
Quizzes? Check.
Mobile? Check.
But that doesn't tell you whether people will actually learn anything.
A good supplier starts with the learning objectives and target audience. What knowledge should someone retain? What behaviour needs to change? What decisions should someone be able to make better after the training?
Maxcademy describes its approach, for example, in three parts: Learning Design, Learning Development, and Learning Experience. It first looks at learning objectives, target audience, didactics, interaction, and technology before the final content is produced.
That is a useful criterion for any supplier.
Therefore, during an introduction, do not just ask:
“What tools do you use?”
Instead, ask:
“How do you determine which learning format fits our problem?”
The answer often reveals much more.
4. Look at real projects
Any supplier can claim to create beautiful and effective e-learning.
A portfolio is therefore important.
Do not just look at screenshots, but try to find out what the client's problem was and what solution was developed for it.
For example, pay attention to:
quality of the design;
use of practical examples;
amount of interaction;
clarity of the texts;
quality of animation and video;
alignment with the corporate identity;
usability;
level of customisation.
Also ask for examples that resemble your situation.
Do you need to develop software training? Then ask for a software simulation.
Do you want to build onboarding? Look at an onboarding case.
Do you want to teach employees to deal with difficult practical situations? Ask about scenario-based learning.
The fact that an agency can produce beautiful animations says little about its experience with your specific learning question.
5. Check how much customisation you actually get
The word customisation is used broadly.
For one provider, customisation means that an existing template gets your logo and colours. For another supplier, the concept is developed completely from scratch.
Both can be fine solutions, but you need to know what you are paying for.
So ask, for example:
Is a new didactic concept being developed?
Is the script being written for us?
Can we have our own illustrations and animations made?
Are interactive scenarios possible?
Can you simulate software?
Is human voice-over possible?
Is the training being developed entirely in our corporate identity?
Can different language versions be created?
Maxcademy explicitly mentions customisation in animation, microlearning, and blended learning, and indicates that solutions can be tailored to the organisation, house style, and target audience.
In a tender or request for proposal, it is wise to clearly specify what level of customisation you expect.
6. Pay attention to the technology used
E-learning must ultimately run somewhere.
Therefore, ask which technical standards the supplier supports.
Commonly used terms are:
SCORM: a widely used standard that allows an e-learning module to be placed in various LMSs.
xAPI: a more modern standard that allows for more extensive learning activities to be recorded.
LMS: the system in which training, participants, and results are managed.
The development tool can also be important. Many suppliers work with Articulate Rise or Storyline, for example.
Maxcademy provides SCORM and xAPI compatible solutions and supports LMS setup, upload, testing, and reporting.
inBrain indicates that it works with commercial tools such as Articulate Storyline, Rise, Lectora, EasyGenerator, and CenarioVR. The company emphasises that clients can receive source files to avoid vendor lock-in.
This brings us to an important selection criterion.
7. Ask who will own the source files
Suppose you want to change one sentence in the training in two years.
Can you do that yourself?
Can another supplier do that?
Or are you permanently dependent on the company that originally created the training?
Question in advance:
Do we get the source files?
Who owns the intellectual property?
Can we make changes ourselves?
Can another developer take over the project later?
Are there annual licensing fees required to make the module work?
Vendor lock-in does not have to be automatically bad. If a supplier remains continuously responsible for management and maintenance, that can actually be pleasant.
It just has to be a conscious choice.
8. Assess the breadth of the offering
Some agencies are specialists. Other parties have almost all disciplines in-house.
Neither is automatically better.
For a relatively traditional e-learning module, a specialised producer can fit excellently. If you also want video, animation, serious games, VR and a learning platform, then a broader supplier may be more attractive.
inBrain develops, for example, not only custom e-learning but also blended learning, microlearning, serious games, learning campaigns, virtual reality, augmented reality, animation and video.
TinQwise combines a learning platform with, among other things, gamification, learning flows, templates, automation and reporting.
So it's not about who has the longest list of possibilities.
It's about which possibilities you actually need.
9. Look at the process
Good e-learning usually arises from collaboration between subject matter experts from the client and learning experts from the supplier.
So ask how a project is progressing.
A logical process includes, for example:
intake and analysis;
determining target audience and learning objectives;
concept and didactic approach;
script or storyboard;
first production;
feedback;
further development;
quality control;
LMS test;
delivery.
Especially ask how often you can check in during the process.
You want to avoid a situation where an agency presents a nearly finished product after six weeks, only to find that the chosen direction does not align at all.
Maxcademy, for example, describes a process where first the challenge, target audience, and goals are discussed, then the concept and strategy are determined, and subsequently, module by module is developed with regular communication about progress.
Such an iterative process reduces the chance of costly surprises at the end.
10. Ask how feedback and revisions are calculated.
This is a practical point that is easily forgotten in quotes.
A first version is almost never immediately final.
Subject matter experts want adjustments, legal checks texts, and communication may want to change something about the tone of voice.
So ask:
How many rounds of feedback are included?
What does an extra revision round cost?
How is feedback provided?
When is something considered additional work?
What happens when the scope changes during the project?
The clearer these agreements are in advance, the smaller the chance of discussions afterwards.
11. Do not compare quotes solely on total price
The cheapest quote may ultimately turn out to be more expensive.
A quote of €3,000 that only includes technical production is not directly comparable to a quote of €7,000 that includes strategy, instructional design, scriptwriting, animation, voice-over, project management, and implementation.
Therefore, create a comparison table.
For example, list the following per supplier:
| Component | Supplier A | Supplier B | Supplier C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Didactic design | Yes/no | Yes/no | Yes/no |
| Script development | |||
| Design | |||
| Animation | |||
| Voice-over | |||
| Interaction | |||
| SCORM/xAPI | |||
| LMS test | |||
| Source files | |||
| Revision rounds | |||
| Maintenance | |||
| Total price |
Only then are you truly comparing the same services.
12. Check if the company fits your organisation
A supplier can be technically excellent and still not be a good fit for you.
You will be working quite intensively together during a custom project.
Therefore, pay attention during the initial conversations to:
are good questions being asked?
do they understand your organisation?
is complex material quickly understood?
are problems honestly identified?
does the team think along or do they only carry out tasks?
are expectations made clear?
do you get direct contact with the people who actually carry out the project?
The latter is often underestimated.
A good rapport is not a luxury. In projects where many substantive choices and feedback moments occur, collaboration can have a significant impact on both lead time and final result.
13. Request a small pilot for a large project
Do you want to have dozens of modules created or develop a complete academy?
Then start small if possible.
First, have one module or pilot created.
This allows you to assess collaboration, quality, and technology in practice before entering into a much larger contract.
A pilot also makes visible how much time your own organisation spends on reviews, providing content, and decision-making.
This often yields valuable information for the rest of the project.
14. Don't forget maintenance
E-learning is rarely finished forever.
Legislation changes. Software gets a new interface. Procedures are adjusted. The house style changes.
Therefore, ask how updates are managed before selecting a supplier.
For example:
Can we change texts ourselves?
What does a small adjustment cost?
How quickly can updates be implemented?
Can modules be built modularly?
Are the source files available?
How are translations updated?
A module that is cheap to build but extremely expensive to maintain can still be a bad investment in the long run.
Which e-learning provider should you choose?
That completely depends on your situation.
Are you mainly looking for a custom partner who can guide the entire production process, then a company like Maxcademy is interesting to consider in your selection. The company combines learning design and production with multimedia, interactive scenarios, software simulations, and technical LMS delivery.
Do you mainly need an organisation-wide LMS/LXP and skill management, then a platform provider like Studytube may fit better.
Are you looking for a combination of a learning platform and strongly gamified learning in the workplace, then TinQwise is a relevant party to consider.
And for organisations that are exploring solutions such as serious games, VR, and extensive creative learning concepts, inBrain has a broad portfolio.
The most important thing is not to find the company with the most possibilities.
You are looking for the company that best fits your learning problem, target audience, organisation, and technical environment.
Checklist: 12 questions for an e-learning company
Take these questions to a first meeting:
How do you determine the right didactic approach?
What similar projects have you carried out before?
Who develops the script and the learning objectives?
Which components are actually customised?
What tools and technical standards do you use?
Does the solution work with our current LMS?
Do we receive the source files?
Who owns the intellectual property?
How many rounds of feedback are included?
What is included and excluded in the quote?
How are future changes and maintenance arranged?
Who do we work with daily during the project?
If a supplier answers these questions clearly and concretely