# Own your LMS: a perpetual license vs SaaS, and how to leave with your data

https://cubite.io/blogs/own-your-lms-perpetual-licence

**By:** Amir Tadrisi
**Updated:** 2026-10-27

What owning an LMS costs next to renting one or running open source yourself, what each leaves you with when you stop paying, and where Cubite's Perpetual license fits.

Cubite's Perpetual license costs $7,500 once, then $1,500 a year for maintenance and support, with unlimited learners, on Cubite's servers or on your own VM. It comes with a written continuity guarantee: if Cubite ever ceased operating, you would receive the full source code, a complete export of your data in open formats, and the documentation to keep it running yourself. And at any time, a site admin can download the learner records as CSV files, from the roster to the certificate register.

Short answer (October 27, 2026): own an LMS when you will run it for years and want it to keep working whatever happens to the vendor; rent one when you want to start this week and never think about servers; self-host open source when you have people who can run it. Cubite sells several of these options (a license you own, a plan you rent, and managed Moodle and Open edX) and publishes this guide, so every other price below comes from its vendor's own page, with the date we read it.

## Own it, rent it or self-host it: what you pay over three years

Each price is as its vendor states it on its own page, read on October 27, 2026. We do not add them up, because billing periods, seat counts and renewal prices differ: read each row as the payments you would make over three years, and ask every vendor, Cubite included, for the price in writing.

| Option | Example, with its published price | Over three years you pay | Who runs updates, security and backups | If you stop paying |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Own it | Cubite Perpetual: $7,500 once, then $1,500 a year for maintenance and support (cubite.io/pricing) | The license once, then maintenance and support each year | Cubite, on Cubite's servers or your own VM: updates, patches and backups are included | Your license is perpetual: you keep running your platform |
| Own a plugin license, host it yourself | Tutor LMS Pro, Individual Lifetime: $499.00 USD one time for 1 site, with updates for lifetime (tutorlms.com). Masteriyo Elite, Lifetime: $499 one-time payment for 1 site (masteriyo.com) | One payment, plus WordPress hosting every month | You: WordPress, the plugins, security and backups | Nothing ends: the site and its database stay yours |
| Rent it (SaaS) | Cubite LMS Growth: $290 a month, or $2,900 a year (cubite.io/pricing). TalentLMS Core, 1 to 40 users: $119 a month billed yearly, or $149 billed monthly (talentlms.com). Thinkific Start: $82 a month billed annually, or $109 billed monthly (thinkific.com). LearnWorlds Learning Center, 2,000 active learners a month: $249 a month billed annually, or $299 monthly (learnworlds.com) | A payment every month or every year, at the list price of the day | The vendor | Set by the vendor's terms: see how to leave, below |
| Self-host open source | Moodle: free, under version 3 of the GNU General Public License (Moodle's README). Open edX: no license fees (openedx.org), with the core platform under the AGPLv3 (its licensing page). A server for either, as an example size: a Hetzner CPX32 (4 vCPU, 8 GB) from €35.99 a month excluding VAT (hetzner.com), or a DigitalOcean 8 GiB Basic Droplet at $48.00 a month (digitalocean.com). | Server costs every month, plus your team's time | You | Nothing ends: you hold the code and the data |
| Have open source run for you | Cubite managed Moodle from $690 a month; managed Open edX from $1,260 a month | A payment every month | Cubite | Open edX: Cubite's dated exit terms below. Moodle is open source, so any host can run it |

Rental prices can also rise: unless agreed otherwise in writing, TalentLMS's terms (last updated June 3, 2026) make its subscription fees "subject to an automatic annual increase of five percent (5%)" on each anniversary of the billing date.

## Self-hosted LMS with a one-time, perpetual license in 2026: the options

Search for a self-hosted LMS with a one-time license and you will find two kinds of product: a complete platform sold once, such as Cubite's Perpetual license, and WordPress plugins sold with a lifetime license, which you run on your own WordPress site. Open source LMSs such as Moodle and Open edX cost nothing to license and everything to run: servers, upgrades and someone who knows them.

- Cubite Perpetual: $7,500 once, then $1,500 a year for maintenance and support. A complete LMS on Cubite's servers or your own VM, with updates, patches and backups included.
- Academy Smart Starter LMS: $17,000 as a one-time payment, or $500 a month. Academy Smart says you own the platform and host it on your own infrastructure ([its pricing article](https://academysmart.com/blog/lms-development-cost/), dated August 10, 2026).
- Paradiso LMS: its on-premise LMS is sold with "one perpetual license", and no price is published ([paradisosolutions.com](https://www.paradisosolutions.com/on-premise-lms)).
- Tutor LMS Pro, a WordPress plugin: Individual Lifetime, $499.00 USD one time for 1 site, with updates for lifetime ([tutorlms.com](https://tutorlms.com/pricing/)).
- Masteriyo, a WordPress plugin: Elite Lifetime, $499 one-time payment for 1 site; its pricing page says lifetime updates and support are included and the plan never renews ([masteriyo.com](https://masteriyo.com/pricing/)).
- LearnPress Pro Bundle, a WordPress plugin: $299, shown reduced from $710, for a lifetime license on 1 site, with 12 months of updates and renewals at $209.30 ([learnpresslms.com](https://learnpresslms.com/pricing-plan/)). Check what a lifetime license covers: here it is the license, not the updates.
- Moodle and Open edX: open source and free to license. You pay for the servers and the people who run them.

Of the paid licenses here, a lifetime plugin license costs the least up front, if you already run WordPress and are happy to maintain it. Cubite's Perpetual license costs more up front and includes the operations: updates, patches and backups, on Cubite's servers or your own VM.

## What Cubite's Perpetual license includes

- Everything in Growth: AI course generation and a 24/7 AI tutor; native SCORM, xAPI and a built-in LRS; a white-label site, blog and custom domain; 14-report analytics and psychometrics; the headless API, webhooks and MCP server; SSO with Google, GitHub and Facebook sign-in; a done-for-you LearnDash migration
- A perpetual license, yours forever, for unlimited learners
- Deployment on Cubite's servers or your own VM
- Updates, patches and backups included
- A written continuity guarantee

Renting the same platform is Cubite LMS Growth: $290 a month, or $2,900 a year. Both plans are on [cubite.io/pricing](https://cubite.io/pricing). If you need a workflow no LMS has, read [build a custom LMS or configure one](https://cubite.io/blogs/custom-lms-development-guide) first.

## How to leave with your data

Ask any vendor how you leave before you sign. Here is Cubite's answer, with what it does not cover yet.

- Learner records, any time. In Admin, your site's Members tab has an Export your data panel: download the learner roster, enrollments, course progress, gradebook and certificate register as CSV files, one at a time or all five in one zip, at any time, with no request and no waiting. Names and emails are replaced with stable pseudonyms by default; untick that to export real names and emails. Every export is logged with your account, the time and the row count.
- Course content. The CSV export does not include course content or uploaded files. Each course's Export content action downloads that course as a zip of its content, with its xAPI files and question banks, in Cubite's own format: it is made for moving a course between Cubite sites, and another LMS will not import it as it is.
- A full site export. Cubite's [terms](https://cubite.io/terms) say: "For a full site export including learner data, email hello@cubite.io and we will produce one."
- When a site closes. Cubite's [privacy policy](https://cubite.io/privacy) says site content and learner data "is retained while the site is active, and is deleted on request after it closes".
- If Cubite stopped operating. The written continuity guarantee is in every contract Cubite signs: if Cubite ever ceased operating, you would receive the full source code, a complete export of your data in open formats, and the documentation to keep it running yourself.
- Managed Open edX. Cubite states its exit terms (dated 2026-10-19): for a managed Open edX platform Cubite deploys, the Tutor configuration, plugins, themes and infrastructure code are kept in your own GitHub organization from the first deploy, and if you leave you take a working system and a full export of courses and learner data; custom deliverables built under a statement of work become yours on full payment, as the project agreement specifies.

### What three rental vendors' terms say

Renting is not a trap, but leaving is on the vendor's terms. Three examples, quoted from each vendor's own pages on October 27, 2026:

- TalentLMS: "If you cancel your subscription, your portal will remain active until the end of your billing cycle" ([pricing page](https://www.talentlms.com/prices)). If you do not renew, "your account will be downgraded to the free version of the Services", which "may result in Customer Content becoming inaccessible or permanently deleted" ([terms](https://www.talentlms.com/terms), last updated June 3, 2026).
- LearnWorlds: user data exports as CSV or XLS, but "Entire courses cannot be exported as a single file" ([help center](https://support.learnworlds.com/support/solutions/articles/12000077153-how-to-download-export-your-school-data)). Its terms say "We have no obligation to retain your Content upon termination", and that LearnWorlds may keep a copy for nine months after you close your account, "in case you wish to revive your Online school" ([terms](https://www.learnworlds.com/terms/)).
- Thinkific: on cancellation, "your access to paid features will be removed but you will retain access to your Account without incurring further fees", though Thinkific "makes no guarantee regarding data retention during plan changes". If you then ask support to close the account, "all of your Content may be permanently deleted from the Services", and "not all Content (including videos uploaded by your users) may be available for download or export" ([terms](https://www.thinkific.com/terms-of-service/), last modified June 30, 2026).

### Questions to ask any LMS vendor about leaving

- What can I export, in which formats, and can I do it myself without opening a ticket?
- Does the export include course content and uploaded files, or only learner records?
- What happens to my site and data on the day my subscription ends, and for how long can I still download?
- If you close down, what does the contract give me?
- Can I run the platform on my own server?

## When renting or open source is the better choice

- You sell courses to the public and are just starting: a course-selling platform such as Thinkific or LearnWorlds has entry plans built for that (LearnWorlds describes its Starter plan as "for launching your first paid course").
- You are testing an idea and might stop within a year: renting usually costs less up front than a license.
- You have an IT team that already runs Linux servers and wants the code: self-host Moodle or Open edX, or have it managed. [Moodle hosting costs](https://cubite.io/blogs/moodle-hosting) and [Open edX hosting](https://cubite.io/blogs/open-edx-hosting) compare the options and their prices.
- You need a workflow no LMS has: read [build a custom LMS or configure one](https://cubite.io/blogs/custom-lms-development-guide).

## Own your LMS: $7,500 once, then $1,500 a year

Unlimited learners, on Cubite's servers or your own VM, with updates, patches and backups included and a written continuity guarantee.

[Book a 30-minute call](https://cubite.io/go/book?src=licence)

### Is there a self-hosted LMS with a one-time license?

Yes. Cubite's Perpetual license is $7,500 once, then $1,500 a year for maintenance and support, and it can run on your own VM. WordPress LMS plugins such as Tutor LMS Pro and Masteriyo sell lifetime licenses at $499 for one site (prices read October 27, 2026), which you run on your own WordPress site. Moodle and Open edX are open source: free to license, and yours to run.

### Is Cubite's Perpetual license really perpetual?

Yes. Cubite's pricing says: "Your license is perpetual. If you ever stop paying us, you keep running your platform." The $1,500 a year is for maintenance and support.

### What happens to my LMS if Cubite goes out of business?

Cubite's contract includes a written continuity guarantee: if Cubite ever ceased operating, you would receive the full source code, a complete export of your data in open formats, and the documentation to keep it running yourself.

### Can I run Cubite on my own server?

Yes. The Perpetual license deploys on Cubite's servers or on your own VM, with updates, patches and backups included.

### How do I export my data from Cubite?

In Admin, your site's Members tab has an Export your data panel: download the learner roster, enrollments, course progress, gradebook and certificate register as CSV files, one at a time or all five in one zip, at any time, with no request and no waiting. Names and emails are replaced with stable pseudonyms by default; untick that to export real names and emails. Every export is logged with your account, the time and the row count. Course content leaves course by course, through each course's Export content action, in Cubite's own format.

### Is owning cheaper than renting?

It depends on how long you keep it. Cubite LMS Growth is $290 a month, or $2,900 a year; the Perpetual license is $7,500 once, then $1,500 a year for maintenance and support. Compare the payments over the years you expect to run it.