Docebo
Docebo's tracked feed is its L&D blog, not a product changelog
Comparison · EdTech
Perusall vs Chamilo
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Perusall and Chamilo — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:edtechlms
Perusall vs Chamilo: at a glance
| Feature | Perusall | Chamilo |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | EdTech | EdTech |
| Velocity score | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Top themes | edtech, social learning, peer review, lms | lms, edtech, open-source, platform-rewrite |
| Last editorial update | 1mo ago | 3d ago |
| Website | — | Visit → |
What is Perusall?
Perusall refreshes its UI to absorb a year of expanded assignment types and instructor controls.
Perusall is a social-learning platform centered on collaborative annotation of course materials. The January 2026 release is a UI refresh — a single simplified sidebar, reorganized Settings, more flexible grouping — that consolidates the navigation around the broader feature set built up over 2024 and 2025. That earlier work pushed Perusall well beyond annotation: peer review went from new in mid-2024 to substantially refined a year later, with new assignment types (Fishbowl, instructor review), differentiated assignments, granular TA permissions, and reusable scoring templates.
What is Chamilo?
Chamilo is racing a Symfony/Vue 2.0 rewrite to GA while hardening the legacy 1.11 line.
Chamilo is running two tracks at once. The legacy 1.11.x line keeps shipping security and bugfix maintenance releases (1.11.38, 1.11.40), several addressing critical vulnerabilities. Meanwhile the 2.0 rewrite, a Symfony backend with a Vue frontend, is grinding through release candidates packed with plugin-system revival, LTI interoperability, ONLYOFFICE and H5P integrations, and a sweep of security fixes including removal of an eval()-based RCE.
Perusall vs Chamilo: editorial side-by-side
Perusall
0.0EDTECH
Perusall refreshes its UI to absorb a year of expanded assignment types and instructor controls.
◆ Current state
Perusall is a social-learning platform centered on collaborative annotation of course materials. The January 2026 release is a UI refresh — a single simplified sidebar, reorganized Settings, more flexible grouping — that consolidates the navigation around the broader feature set built up over 2024 and 2025. That earlier work pushed Perusall well beyond annotation: peer review went from new in mid-2024 to substantially refined a year later, with new assignment types (Fishbowl, instructor review), differentiated assignments, granular TA permissions, and reusable scoring templates.
◆ Where it's heading
The product is evolving from an annotation tool into a course-assignment platform with instructor operations baked in. Peer review was the wedge in 2024; 2025 widened the assignment catalogue and added the kinds of controls (TA permissions, reusable rubrics, late-submission handling) instructors need to actually run those assignments at scale. The 2026 UI refresh signals consolidation — the team is making the broader catalogue discoverable rather than adding new features for now.
◆ Prediction
Based on the visible cadence — annual major batches around the start of the academic year — the next observable move is likely further refinement of peer review workflow flexibility, since that's been the most consistently iterated surface across the input entries.
Chamilo
2.5EDTECH
Chamilo is racing a Symfony/Vue 2.0 rewrite to GA while hardening the legacy 1.11 line.
◆ Current state
Chamilo is running two tracks at once. The legacy 1.11.x line keeps shipping security and bugfix maintenance releases (1.11.38, 1.11.40), several addressing critical vulnerabilities. Meanwhile the 2.0 rewrite, a Symfony backend with a Vue frontend, is grinding through release candidates packed with plugin-system revival, LTI interoperability, ONLYOFFICE and H5P integrations, and a sweep of security fixes including removal of an eval()-based RCE.
◆ Where it's heading
The center of gravity is the 2.0 RC series marching toward a GA that has already slipped past its milestone date. Each RC both ports legacy tools to Vue and re-enables the plugin ecosystem (CardGame, BBB, BuyCourses, XApi, Tour) on the new architecture, suggesting GA-readiness is gated on plugin parity and migration fidelity rather than new features. The parallel 1.11 security cadence signals Chamilo intends to support the old line through the transition.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued 2.0 RCs focused on migration and plugin parity before a GA cut, with the 1.11 line receiving security-only releases in the interim. The volume of security fixes inside the RCs points to a hardening push as a GA gate.
Alternatives to Perusall and Chamilo
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 Perusall or Chamilo.
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is becoming a Gemini delivery surface as much as an LMS
LifterLMS
After the 10.0 feature push, LifterLMS settles into a steady security-hardening cadence.
Whatfix
Whatfix's tracked feed is its digital-adoption blog, not a product changelog.
Graphy
Graphy's feed is an SEO content mill, not a product changelog
Preply
Preply's feed is language-blog SEO, not product — no release signal to interpret.
See all Perusall alternatives → · See all Chamilo alternatives →
Recent activity from Perusall and Chamilo
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3d agoChamiloChamilo 1.11.40: security and bugfix maintenance release
- 2mo agoChamiloStop logging AI base-provider fallback events
- 2mo agoChamiloBump tar dependency 7.5.3 to 7.5.6
- 2mo agoChamiloChamilo 2.0 RC3: LTI provider, ONLYOFFICE, and plugin revival ⚡
- 3mo agoChamilov1.11.38
- 3mo agoChamilov2.0.0 RC 2
- 5mo agoPerusallSimplified UI, more flexible grouping, and more ⚡
- 1y agoPerusallFishbowl assignments and instructor review assignments ⚡
- 1y agoPerusallPeer review workflow improvements
- 1y agoPerusallReusable scoring templates and rubrics
- 1y agoPerusallFlexible permissions for TAs
- 1y agoPerusallPeer review assignments
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Perusall and Chamilo?
Both compete on the same themes — edtech, lms — within EdTech. Chamilo is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 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 Perusall better than Chamilo?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Chamilo is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 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 Perusall?
Top Perusall alternatives in EdTech are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Perusall alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/perusall for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Chamilo?
Top Chamilo alternatives in EdTech are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Chamilo alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/chamilo for the full list with editorial commentary on each.