If you’re reading this, you’re either evaluating Skilljar for your customer training program, or you’re stuck wrangling a platform that doesn’t do what you need. Either way, you want the real scoop: What should you actually look for in a platform like Skilljar? What features matter, what’s just marketing fluff, and how can you avoid years of regret and slow, painful migrations?
Let’s cut through the noise and get you set up for success.
Who Should Care About These Features (and Who Shouldn’t)
This guide is for anyone responsible for rolling out customer education—think Customer Success, Training, Enablement, or Product teams. If you’re looking for a “Netflix for Employees,” Skilljar isn’t really built for internal training. And if you’re after a free or open-source LMS, this isn’t it. Skilljar is best for companies serious about onboarding, educating, and supporting their customers at scale (but not “at scale” in the buzzword sense—just lots of customers).
The Core Features That Actually Matter
Not every shiny button on a feature list is worth your time. Here’s what to focus on if you want to avoid headaches six months down the line.
1. Course Authoring That Won’t Drive You Nuts
What to Look For: - Can you build and edit courses without a PhD in e-learning? - Does it support videos, quizzes, SCORM, PDFs, live sessions, and links? - Drag-and-drop is nice, but is it actually usable—or does it feel like a 2008 website?
Skilljar Reality Check:
Skilljar’s authoring tools are solid for most customer training needs. You won’t get Articulate-level design power, but you also won’t need a week of training to add a new lesson. If your courses are mostly videos, docs, and simple quizzes, you’ll be happy. If you need branching scenarios or fancy gamification—look elsewhere.
Pro Tip:
Test-drive the course builder with a real piece of your content, not just dummy text. Some “easy” builders get cumbersome fast when you try to do anything more than a video and a quiz.
2. Integration With the Tools You Actually Use
What to Look For: - Single Sign-On (SSO) for your customers (not just your own team) - CRM integrations (Salesforce is the big one) - Webhooks and APIs for custom workflows - Zapier or similar for basic automation
Skilljar Reality Check:
Skilljar’s Salesforce integration is one of its calling cards, but it’s not magic. It takes real work to set up, and you’ll need buy-in from your Salesforce admin. SSO is supported, but you’ll want IT involved to avoid security hiccups. The API is legit if you have dev resources, but don’t expect a “no code” experience for deep integrations.
What to Ignore:
Don’t get wowed by a long list of niche app integrations you’ll never use.
3. Tracking, Reporting, and Analytics
What to Look For: - Can you see who completed what, and when? - Can you export data easily (CSV, API access)? - Are reports understandable without a data science degree? - Do you get insights that actually help improve your training?
Skilljar Reality Check:
Skilljar gives you the basics: course completions, quiz scores, time spent. You can slice by organization or user, and exports are simple. The built-in dashboards are clear, but don’t expect advanced analytics or data visualization. For more complex reporting, you’ll need to pull data out and work your Excel magic or plug into your BI tool.
Pro Tip:
Decide what training metrics actually matter before you shop. Fancy dashboards mean nothing if you don’t know what you need to measure.
4. User Management and Access Controls
What to Look For: - Can you create groups or organizations (e.g., customers A, B, and C)? - Can you assign content to those groups? - Self-registration, invitations, and bulk user uploads?
Skilljar Reality Check:
Skilljar does a good job with B2B setups—think training hundreds of users from a single client. You can group users, enroll them in specific courses, and automate invites. It’s not perfect: the admin UI is utilitarian, and you won’t get ultra-fine-grained permissions like some corporate LMSs. But for most customer training, it gets the job done.
Watch Out For:
If you have complex needs (e.g., customers with multiple brands, resellers, or layered access), map out your user structure before you commit. Skilljar can handle a lot, but it’s not infinitely flexible.
5. Branding and Customization
What to Look For: - Can you make the portal look like your brand, not Skilljar’s? - Custom domains—does your training live at training.yourcompany.com? - Control over emails and notifications (branding, language, etc.)
Skilljar Reality Check:
You can set up a branded portal, use your own domain, and tweak basic colors and logos. The look is modern but not wildly customizable—don’t expect a pixel-perfect match to your marketing site. Email templates are editable, but you’re working within some guardrails.
Pro Tip:
If you’re selling training, or your brand matters a lot, ask for customer examples, not just demos. Some platforms look great in sales meetings but fall apart in real-world branding.
6. E-Commerce and Monetization (If You Sell Training)
What to Look For: - Can you sell courses to individuals or organizations? - Support for coupons, discounts, bundles? - Payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, etc.) - Tax handling, receipts, invoicing?
Skilljar Reality Check:
Skilljar has e-commerce features, but they’re pretty basic. You can sell courses, set up bundles, and take payments via Stripe. If you’re running a serious training business (with complex discounting, subscriptions, or global tax needs), you may find it limiting. For simple sales, it’s fine.
What to Ignore:
“Marketplace” features. Skilljar isn’t Udemy; it’s built for your audience, not a public course catalog.
7. Learner Experience
What to Look For: - Is the portal easy for non-technical users? - Mobile-friendly (not just “works on a phone,” but actually usable)? - Progress tracking, “resume where you left off,” and clear navigation?
Skilljar Reality Check:
Learners get a clean, simple interface. No one will think it’s Instagram, but it’s not 1999 SharePoint either. Mobile works, but the experience is better on desktop for anything more than a quick lesson. No mobile app—just responsive web.
Pro Tip:
Run a pilot with a handful of real customers. Watch them use it. You’ll learn more in 10 minutes than from any vendor demo.
8. Support and Community
What to Look For: - Real human support (not just forums or bots) - Onboarding help and documentation - A community or knowledge base with real answers
Skilljar Reality Check:
Skilljar’s support is generally responsive, but you’re not getting 24/7 white-glove service unless you’re a big, high-paying customer. The help docs are decent. Community is there, but don’t expect the energy of a Slack group for your favorite dev tool.
Features That Sound Good, But Rarely Matter
- Badges and Gamification: If your customers are motivated by getting work done—not by collecting digital stickers—you can skip this.
- AI Content Creation: As of now, most “AI” features are more hype than help for actual customer training.
- Built-in Video Hosting: Don’t pay extra for this unless you have real security or bandwidth needs. Vimeo, Wistia, or YouTube usually do the trick.
The Stuff That’ll Bite You Later (If You Ignore It)
- Data Portability: Can you get your data out easily if you switch tools later? Don’t trust any vendor that dances around this.
- Uptime and SLAs: If your customers are global or need training for compliance, ask hard questions about downtime and support.
- Pricing Complexity: Watch out for “per active user” or “per course” pricing. It adds up fast and can be a budget nightmare.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Overthink It
Skilljar is a solid choice for customer training—if you focus on what actually matters for your users and your team. Don’t get lost in the weeds trying to check every box or chase every trend. Pick the features that solve real problems for your customers, run a pilot, and be ready to adjust. A fancy feature set won’t matter if your learners can’t find or finish a course.
Start simple, collect feedback, and don’t be afraid to change course if something’s not working. Most of all: remember that no tool will fix a bad training program. But the right features can make your job a whole lot easier.