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Comparison · EdTech

ILIAS vs openSIS

A side-by-side editorial comparison of ILIAS and openSIS — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:open-source

ILIAS vs openSIS: at a glance

FeatureILIASopenSIS
SectorEdTechEdTech
Velocity score5.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themeslms, security, multi-branch-maintenance, open-sourcestudent-information-system, k12, open-source, annual-releases
Last editorial update12d ago1mo ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is ILIAS?

ILIAS ships synchronized security patches across versions 9, 10, and 11 on a monthly maintenance cadence.

ILIAS is running a stable multi-branch maintenance cadence, releasing security and bug fix patches simultaneously across three major versions (9.x, 10.x, 11.x) on a regular schedule. The September 2026 releases (11.4, 10.11, 9.23) all contain security fixes. The August releases (11.3, 10.10, 9.22) followed the same pattern. This is characteristic of a mature open-source LMS with a long institutional tail — universities and enterprises that can't immediately update to the latest major version still receive security coverage.

Read the full ILIAS trajectory →

What is openSIS?

A student information system that ships once a year and barely says what changed.

openSIS Community Edition releases roughly annually, and the notes rarely say more than 'bug fixes and security fixes.' The substantive changes across the window are platform-level: PHP 8 and MySQL 8 compatibility in 9.0, right-to-left support in 8.0, and the multilingual merge that closed out the English-only line at 7.5. The last release was October 2025.

Read the full openSIS trajectory →

ILIAS vs openSIS: editorial side-by-side

I
ILIAS
EDTECH
5.0

ILIAS ships synchronized security patches across versions 9, 10, and 11 on a monthly maintenance cadence.

◆ Current state

ILIAS is running a stable multi-branch maintenance cadence, releasing security and bug fix patches simultaneously across three major versions (9.x, 10.x, 11.x) on a regular schedule. The September 2026 releases (11.4, 10.11, 9.23) all contain security fixes. The August releases (11.3, 10.10, 9.22) followed the same pattern. This is characteristic of a mature open-source LMS with a long institutional tail — universities and enterprises that can't immediately update to the latest major version still receive security coverage.

◆ Where it's heading

ILIAS is in maintenance-and-stability mode across its installed base. The multi-branch simultaneous release pattern is designed for institutional customers with slow update cycles. Feature development is happening, but it's not visible in these changelog entries — the product's institutional audience prioritizes stability and security over feature velocity.

◆ Prediction

The next releases will continue the monthly patch cycle. A major feature announcement would likely come separately through the ILIAS community process (docu.ilias.de), not through these version-bump releases.

O
openSIS
EDTECH
0.0

A student information system that ships once a year and barely says what changed.

◆ Current state

openSIS Community Edition releases roughly annually, and the notes rarely say more than 'bug fixes and security fixes.' The substantive changes across the window are platform-level: PHP 8 and MySQL 8 compatibility in 9.0, right-to-left support in 8.0, and the multilingual merge that closed out the English-only line at 7.5. The last release was October 2025.

◆ Where it's heading

The arc is internationalization followed by platform modernization, both of which now appear complete, followed by two releases reporting nothing but fixes. With no feature content in the most recent entries and nine months since the last tag, the community edition reads as maintained rather than developed — the usual shape when a commercial edition carries the roadmap.

◆ Prediction

These entries do not support a confident prediction. If the annual pattern holds, a 9.3 described the same way as 9.2 and 9.1 is the most likely next event, but the window for it has already passed once.

Alternatives to ILIAS and openSIS

Other EdTech products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either ILIAS or openSIS.

See all ILIAS alternatives → · See all openSIS alternatives →

Recent activity from ILIAS and openSIS

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 13d agoILIASILIAS 11.4: Security maintenance release
  2. 13d agoILIASILIAS 10.11: Security maintenance release
  3. 13d agoILIASILIAS 9.23: Security maintenance release
  4. 1mo agoILIASILIAS 11.3: August security maintenance release
  5. 1mo agoILIASILIAS 10.10: August security maintenance release
  6. 1mo agoILIASILIAS 9.22: August security maintenance release
  7. 10mo agoopenSISopenSIS Community Edition version 9.2
  8. 2y agoopenSISopenSIS Community Edition version 9.1
  9. 3y agoopenSISopenSIS Community Edition version 9.0
  10. 5y agoopenSISopenSIS Community Edition version 8.0
  11. 5y agoopenSISopenSIS Community Edition ver 7.6 - Multilingual
  12. 6y agoopenSISopenSIS Community Edition Ver 7.5 - Last English only release

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ILIAS and openSIS?

Both compete on the same themes — open-source — within EdTech. ILIAS is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is ILIAS better than openSIS?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ILIAS is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other EdTech products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to ILIAS?

Top ILIAS alternatives in EdTech are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ILIAS alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ilias for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to openSIS?

Top openSIS alternatives in EdTech are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "openSIS alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/opensis for the full list with editorial commentary on each.