Brightspace VS Canvas LMS
As of 4 November 2026, Canvas LMS is named by 1,064 companies and Brightspace by 105; Brightspace skews to companies under 200 people (18% vs 41%), Canvas LMS to companies over 1,000 (29% vs 37%).
As of 4 November 2026 · refreshed daily · counts move as websites, DNS and career sites are re-read.
The website-and-DNS footprint is not comparable between a marketing suite and a CRM: Brightspace's script and mail records show on hundreds of thousands of small sites, Canvas LMS rarely leaves a trace outside its own apps. Compare on the job-posting numbers; use the footprint for reach.
- Brightspace: 2–200 employees
- 18%
- Canvas LMS: 2–200 employees
- 41%
- Brightspace: 1,000+ employees
- 37%
- Canvas LMS: 1,000+ employees
- 29%
- Postings per company, 90 days
- 2.8 · 3.2
- Website or DNS footprint
- 0 · 0
Who chooses which
Share of each tool's companies in every segment. "Leans" marks a gap of more than two points.
| Segment | Brightspace | share | Canvas LMS | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employed | 3 | 3% | 36 | 3% | even |
| 2-10 employees | 3 | 3% | 74 | 7% | Canvas LMS |
| 11-50 employees | 5 | 5% | 148 | 14% | Canvas LMS |
| 51-200 employees | 11 | 10% | 211 | 20% | Canvas LMS |
| 201-500 employees | 25 | 24% | 156 | 15% | Brightspace |
| 501-1000 employees | 19 | 18% | 129 | 12% | Brightspace |
| 1001-5000 employees | 25 | 24% | 177 | 17% | Brightspace |
| 5001-10000 employees | 8 | 8% | 49 | 5% | Brightspace |
| 10,001+ employees | 6 | 6% | 84 | 8% | Canvas LMS |
| Segment | Brightspace | share | Canvas LMS | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer services & leisure | 81 | 77% | 430 | 40% | Brightspace |
| Public, community & associations | 7 | 7% | 85 | 8% | even |
| Health care | 6 | 6% | 22 | 2% | Brightspace |
| Technology & software | 5 | 5% | 251 | 24% | Canvas LMS |
| Media & content | 3 | 3% | 50 | 5% | even |
| Business & finance services | 1 | 1% | 110 | 10% | Canvas LMS |
| Commerce & trade | 1 | 1% | 19 | 2% | even |
| Utilities & infrastructure | 1 | 1% | 14 | 1% | even |
| Manufacturing & industry | – | – | 42 | 4% | outside top 12 |
| Property & construction | – | – | 22 | 2% | outside top 12 |
| Hospitality & travel | – | – | 10 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Automotive | – | – | 4 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Segment | Brightspace | share | Canvas LMS | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 75 | 71% | 724 | 68% | Brightspace |
| Canada | 14 | 13% | 30 | 3% | Brightspace |
| Netherlands | 3 | 3% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Australia | 2 | 2% | 29 | 3% | even |
| France | 2 | 2% | 13 | 1% | even |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 2% | 46 | 4% | Canvas LMS |
| Hungary | 1 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| India | 1 | 1% | 28 | 3% | even |
| Singapore | 1 | 1% | 10 | 1% | even |
| Germany | – | – | 29 | 3% | outside top 12 |
| Brazil | – | – | 10 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Sweden | – | – | 9 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Switzerland | – | – | 8 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| United Arab Emirates | – | – | 7 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Segment | Brightspace | share | Canvas LMS | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education & training | 228 | 66% | 2,006 | 40% | Brightspace |
| Social care and community | 8 | 2% | 17 | 0% | even |
| Healthcare support and caregiving | 6 | 2% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Arts media and entertainment | 5 | 1% | 51 | 1% | even |
| IT operations & business systems | 4 | 1% | 209 | 4% | Canvas LMS |
| Sales | 4 | 1% | 29 | 1% | even |
| Unclassified | 4 | 1% | 15 | 0% | even |
| Software engineering | 3 | 1% | 794 | 16% | Canvas LMS |
| Agriculture and environment | 2 | 1% | 1 | 0% | even |
| Construction and civil | 2 | 1% | 15 | 0% | even |
| General management & consulting | 2 | 1% | 8 | 0% | even |
| Legal, compliance & risk | 2 | 1% | 3 | 0% | even |
| Product, program & project management | 2 | 1% | 68 | 1% | even |
| Administration & office | 1 | 0% | 53 | 1% | even |
| Customer service & success | 1 | 0% | 34 | 1% | even |
| Data & AI | 1 | 0% | 58 | 1% | even |
| Finance & accounting | 1 | 0% | 12 | 0% | even |
| Human resources | 1 | 0% | 23 | 0% | even |
| Marketing & communications | 1 | 0% | 855 | 17% | Canvas LMS |
| Research and science | 1 | 0% | 15 | 0% | even |
| Design & UX | – | – | 67 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Travel, leisure & events | – | – | 25 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Logistics warehouse and transport | – | – | 20 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Quality, safety & environment | – | – | 15 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Healthcare clinical | – | – | 13 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Engineering (non-software) | – | – | 12 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Business development & strategy | – | – | 7 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Personal care and wellness | – | – | 7 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Procurement and purchasing | – | – | 6 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Skilled trades and field service | – | – | 4 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Manufacturing and production | – | – | 1 | 0% | outside top 12 |
The companies behind each column
Companies using Brightspace →
Companies using Canvas LMS →
academic lms ranked →
Quote the sentence with the date and the link. The numbers change daily; the link always shows the current ones.
Canvas LMS is named by 1,064 companies in job postings and Brightspace by 105; 25 name both. (Breaknorm, 4 November 2026, https://breaknorm.co/compare/brightspace-vs-instructure-canvas)
Read from the source, not self-reported
Every number on this page can be traced to a page we crawled or a posting we read. Full methodology →
- Job postingsRead hourly from career sites. A tool counts when the employer's own text names it as the team's system; both tools can count for one company.
- Website and DNSScripts and embeds on the company's pages, plus SPF, DKIM, MX and CNAME records of its domain that point at the vendor.
- SegmentsCountry, size and industry from the company profile built from its website.
- Not a reviewNo ratings, prices or feature claims. For those, read the vendors.
Brightspace vs Canvas LMS: questions
Which is more used, Brightspace or Canvas LMS?
By companies naming it in their own job postings, Canvas LMS (1,064) over Brightspace (105). By website-and-DNS footprint, Canvas LMS (0 vs 0), because its scripts and mail records sit on many small company sites.
Who chooses Brightspace?
18% of Brightspace companies have 2 to 200 employees, against 41% for Canvas LMS. 37% of Brightspace companies have over 1,000 employees, against 29% for Canvas LMS.
Do companies run both?
25 companies name both in their postings, usually Brightspace in marketing and Canvas LMS in sales, or during a migration.
Where do these numbers come from?
From the employer's own text in job postings read hourly from career sites, and from scripts found on company websites in our crawl. No vendor data, no surveys.
Get either list your way
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with the person who owns it
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