The best MSP training program for a managed service provider's own team holds the courses your techs need, assigns them with a due date, and shows you who finished. Empath Learn, the LMS an MSP buys for its owners and staff, does all three and is built for MSPs. Below it sits next to sixteen other programs in five short tables, every mark backed by the vendor's own material as of October 8, 2026, or by the one exception described below.
The Bottom Line
- For an MSP's own team: Empath Learn. MSP-built courses, certification prep, labs, AI roleplays and the LMS in one $30 seat, with training work posted to your ConnectWise PSA.
- Deepest certification labs: ACI Learning, at $700 per learner per year (about $58 a month), almost twice an Empath seat, with outside catalogs as separate Marketplace packages and nothing on running an MSP.
- Only need an LMS and buying courses elsewhere: TalentLMS, from $119 a month for up to 40 users on yearly billing, platform only.
- Training your clients' staff too: Empath Grow, where each client is its own organization and you set the price.
- Already on Microsoft 365: Viva Learning is included, as a hub, not a program.
We read the vendors' public pages on October 8, 2026; we did not test the products. Credit goes only to what a vendor publishes on its own site. ●Included the page says it is included. ◐Partly partly: a higher tier, a paid add-on, or part of the feature. ○Not credited not credited: not included, or not stated on the vendor's public pages; the vendor may still offer it, and its paragraph says where the gap is. Empath's marks come from its help center and catalog pages, linked below. One row carries its own rule: in the YouTube row, full means a public playlist becomes a course with one lesson per video, half means a single YouTube video or video link can be added to a course, lesson or path.
One exception: the ConnectWise University note comes from our own use as a partner. Empath makes two of these products, and this post says where a rival is stronger.
These vendors sell a general catalog with management tools attached. None is built for MSPs, and none of their pages describes a way to post training into a PSA.
Read the full comparison: Empath vs Udemy Business Empath vs LinkedIn Learning Empath vs Pluralsight Empath vs CBT Nuggets
| Feature | Empath Learn | Udemy Business | Pluralsight Skills | ACI Learning ITPro | Cybrary for Teams | LinkedIn Learning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courses built for MSPs (running one, service desk, MSP sales) | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business○Not credited | Pluralsight Skills○Not credited | ACI Learning ITPro○Not credited | Cybrary for Teams○Not credited | LinkedIn Learning○Not credited |
| IT certification prep | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business●Included | Pluralsight Skills●Included | ACI Learning ITPro●Included | Cybrary for Teams●Included | LinkedIn Learning●Included |
| Hands-on labs | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business◐Partly | Pluralsight Skills●Included | ACI Learning ITPro●Included | Cybrary for Teams●Included | LinkedIn Learning●Included |
| AI roleplays with feedback | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business●Included | Pluralsight Skills○Not credited | ACI Learning ITPro○Not credited | Cybrary for Teams○Not credited | LinkedIn Learning●Included |
| Compliance and soft-skills library | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business●Included | Pluralsight Skills◐Partly | ACI Learning ITPro◐Partly | Cybrary for Teams◐Partly | LinkedIn Learning●Included |
| Assign with due dates and track completion | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business●Included | Pluralsight Skills◐Partly | ACI Learning ITPro◐Partly | Cybrary for Teams●Included | LinkedIn Learning●Included |
| Course authoring built in: lessons, quizzes and pathways | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business◐Partly | Pluralsight Skills◐Partly | ACI Learning ITPro◐Partly | Cybrary for Teams◐Partly | LinkedIn Learning◐Partly |
| YouTube: a playlist becomes a course (full); single videos or links added (half) | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business◐Partly | Pluralsight Skills◐Partly | ACI Learning ITPro◐Partly | Cybrary for Teams○Not credited | LinkedIn Learning◐Partly |
| Ready-made pathway templates for MSP roles | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business○Not credited | Pluralsight Skills○Not credited | ACI Learning ITPro○Not credited | Cybrary for Teams○Not credited | LinkedIn Learning○Not credited |
| Microsoft Learn courses and progress in one place | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business○Not credited | Pluralsight Skills○Not credited | ACI Learning ITPro○Not credited | Cybrary for Teams○Not credited | LinkedIn Learning○Not credited |
| PSA integration (ConnectWise) | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business○Not credited | Pluralsight Skills○Not credited | ACI Learning ITPro○Not credited | Cybrary for Teams○Not credited | LinkedIn Learning○Not credited |
A general course marketplace for companies: 28,000+ courses on the Team Plan, due-date assignment, progress reports and AI Role Plays. The labs add-on is Enterprise only, by its plans page. On custom courses, Udemy's own pages disagree: its help center says Enterprise accounts only, its enterprise-training page lists them under Team too, so confirm the plan you would buy. $360 per user per year on the Team Plan (2 to 50). Missing for an MSP: a curriculum built for MSPs, and your own SOPs unless your plan includes custom courses. See Empath vs Udemy.
A technology library for developer, cloud, security and IT teams: 170+ certification paths and 2,500+ hands-on labs. Managers assign through channels, and a priority can carry a calendar deadline; your own content means external links. $399 per user on Teams (2 to 20); the page prints that as both monthly and yearly, so we do not rank it on price. Missing on its pages: MSP business courses and HR compliance training; its compliance courses cover security and privacy rules. See Empath vs Pluralsight.
Formerly ITProTV, and the pick for an MSP whose main need is deep certification labs: practice exams, Skill Labs and 300+ certification courses. The free admin seat assigns courses and pathways and monitors completion, and custom course upload and creation is a myACI platform feature, not listed in the $700 seat; Coach Maci is in-course AI help, not roleplay. $700 per learner per year ($625 at 8 or more), about $58 a month, almost twice an Empath Learn seat, for the myACI platform and the ITPro library. Sold separately: LMS integrations are an enterprise Growth Plan feature, and outside catalogs (Bigger Brains, ClipTraining and others) are content packages from its own Marketplace, not listed in the $700 seat. Nothing on its pages covers running an MSP.
A cybersecurity and IT skills platform: paths mapped to CompTIA, ISACA and AWS, with labs and practice exams. Team goals carry a deadline and goal owners get a weekly progress report; custom paths are built from its own catalog, not your content. Teams pricing is not published; the individual plan is $24.58 a month billed yearly. Missing: anything on running an MSP.
A broad business, creative and technology library (18,000+ courses on the Teams plan): due dates, completion reports, AI coaching and role plays, hands-on practice. Custom upload is documented for the enterprise plan; the Teams pages do not say. $379.88 per license per year on Teams (20 or fewer). Missing: MSP business courses. See Empath vs LinkedIn Learning.
Also in this group, not in the table: CBT Nuggets, an IT certification video library with virtual labs at $59 per learner per month or $599 a year. Groups assign training and run reports; due dates are not documented, and creating your own training takes a separately purchased site license. The same shape as ACI at a lower price.
These platforms manage training more than they supply it. You bring the courses or buy them as an add-on; hands-on labs are a paid add-on at Docebo and an integration at Skilljar and TalentLMS, and none of their pages list MSP courses or a PSA integration.
Read the full comparison: Empath vs TalentLMS Empath vs Absorb LMS Empath vs Trainual
| Feature | Empath Learn | TalentLMS | Absorb LMS | Docebo | Disco | Skilljar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courses built for MSPs (running one, service desk, MSP sales) | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS○Not credited | Absorb LMS○Not credited | Docebo○Not credited | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
| IT certification prep | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS◐Partly | Absorb LMS◐Partly | Docebo◐Partly | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
| Hands-on labs | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS◐Partly | Absorb LMS○Not credited | Docebo◐Partly | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar◐Partly |
| AI roleplays with feedback | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS●Included | Absorb LMS○Not credited | Docebo◐Partly | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
| Compliance and soft-skills library | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS◐Partly | Absorb LMS◐Partly | Docebo◐Partly | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
| Assign with due dates and track completion | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS●Included | Absorb LMS●Included | Docebo●Included | Disco●Included | Skilljar●Included |
| Course authoring built in: lessons, quizzes and pathways | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS◐Partly | Absorb LMS●Included | Docebo●Included | Disco●Included | Skilljar●Included |
| YouTube: a playlist becomes a course (full); single videos or links added (half) | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS◐Partly | Absorb LMS◐Partly | Docebo◐Partly | Disco◐Partly | Skilljar◐Partly |
| Ready-made pathway templates for MSP roles | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS○Not credited | Absorb LMS○Not credited | Docebo○Not credited | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
| Microsoft Learn courses and progress in one place | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS○Not credited | Absorb LMS○Not credited | Docebo○Not credited | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
| PSA integration (ConnectWise) | Empath Learn●Included | TalentLMS○Not credited | Absorb LMS○Not credited | Docebo○Not credited | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
A cloud LMS for small and mid-size businesses: completion tracking, SCORM and xAPI, an AI course builder and Role Play, currently included from Core up; Learning Paths start on the Grow plan and Automations on Pro.
Ready-made courses cost extra, each from its own source: TalentLibrary (1,000+ short soft-skills, leadership and compliance courses, unlocked as one library at a price set by the plan's user bracket), OpenSesame (50,000+ courses, with a certification prep category, through your own OpenSesame account) or other providers' courses bought à la carte by the learner license or as a full library. From $119 a month for up to 40 users, billed yearly; TalentLibrary raises Core to $151 a month on yearly billing. Missing on its pages: MSP courses and labs of its own; outside virtual labs can connect through LTI 1.3 on Grow and higher plans. See Empath vs TalentLMS.
A mid-market and enterprise LMS: due-date reminders, real-time completion status, separately branded portals. Course authoring is built in through Absorb Create, with AI-generated quizzes and no separate authoring license, by Absorb's own account; the Amplify library is a paid extra; its roleplay is marked Coming Soon. Price not published. Certification prep, including CompTIA and Microsoft, sits in the paid Amplify Max library. Missing on its pages: labs and MSP courses. See Empath vs Absorb LMS.
An enterprise learning platform: due dates on learning plans, dashboards, AI course creation, AI Roleplay as a paid add-on and a white-labeled design on every plan, with up to 10 extended-enterprise domains on Enterprise. Courses come through its paid Content Marketplace (30,000+), which is where its certification prep sits, and hands-on labs through the paid Docebo Labs by Skillable add-on (1,200+ labs). Price not published. Missing on its pages: MSP courses.
An AI-first platform for training companies and employee training: assignments with due dates, progress reports, a curriculum builder and branded client academies. No course library, and its roleplay is marked Coming Soon. $399 a month billed yearly for up to 500 members.
A customer and partner education platform for teaching your own product: automated enrollment, learning paths, analytics, SCORM and video upload, one to three academy sites by plan. No bundled courses; virtual labs come through integrations such as Instruqt and Skillable. Price not published.
Also in this group, not in the table: Trainual, small-business SOP and onboarding software with deadlines, completion scores and a paid add-on library of 400+ compliance, safety and soft-skill courses. Its public share link for people outside the account does not track completions or views. Price not published. The closest thing here to Empath's own-courses column, with no technical IT training on its pages. See Empath vs Trainual.
Two programs teach the MSP business itself, and two kinds of free come with licenses you already pay for. Most MSPs start with a third kind of free: no program at all.
| Feature | Empath Learn | Pax8 Academy | MSSP University | Microsoft Viva Learning | Vendor universities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courses built for MSPs (running one, service desk, MSP sales) | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy●Included | MSSP University●Included | Microsoft Viva Learning○Not credited | Vendor universities◐Partly |
| IT certification prep | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy○Not credited | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning◐Partly | Vendor universities◐Partly |
| Hands-on labs | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy◐Partly | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning○Not credited | Vendor universities◐Partly |
| AI roleplays with feedback | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy○Not credited | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning○Not credited | Vendor universities○Not credited |
| Compliance and soft-skills library | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy●Included | MSSP University◐Partly | Microsoft Viva Learning◐Partly | Vendor universities○Not credited |
| Assign with due dates and track completion | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy◐Partly | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning◐Partly | Vendor universities◐Partly |
| Course authoring built in: lessons, quizzes and pathways | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy○Not credited | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning◐Partly | Vendor universities○Not credited |
| YouTube: a playlist becomes a course (full); single videos or links added (half) | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy○Not credited | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning◐Partly | Vendor universities○Not credited |
| Ready-made pathway templates for MSP roles | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy◐Partly | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning○Not credited | Vendor universities○Not credited |
| Microsoft Learn courses and progress in one place | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy○Not credited | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning◐Partly | Vendor universities◐Partly |
| PSA integration (ConnectWise) | Empath Learn●Included | Pax8 Academy○Not credited | MSSP University○Not credited | Microsoft Viva Learning○Not credited | Vendor universities○Not credited |
Pax8's enablement program for MSPs that buy through its marketplace: free on-demand courses in leadership, finance, sales and professional skills, 50+ paid instructor-led classes, peer groups and 1:1 coaching. Partners only; its technical training centers on products Pax8 sells, such as Microsoft and AWS, and its Azure and security pages offer hands-on labs inside Academy; its On-Demand page mentions progress tracking. Prices sit inside the Pax8 app. A program you attend, not a platform you run. See Empath vs Pax8 Academy.
A training company for MSP and MSSP owners and sales teams: CEO and sales bootcamps, CMMC readiness, service desk and leadership classes, with instructor-led role play (live, not AI, so the roleplay row stays empty). It runs on its own TalentLMS portal. Price not published.
A learning hub inside Teams, included with Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium, E3 and E5. You get Microsoft Learn, a 300-course LinkedIn Learning sampler and your SharePoint files. The Viva Learning license, $4 per user per month paid yearly, adds recommending content with a due date, completion tracking, learning paths, academies and other providers; each provider also needs its own subscription. You get what you pay for, and here the price is zero.
Free training each vendor runs on its own product. ConnectWise University: 40+ courses, free for partners; a Home Admin assigns and runs progress reports (from our own use). Kaseya University: introductory technician courses free, higher certifications paid; a Master role sees progress, nothing is assigned. Nerdio University: for Nerdio Manager customers; entry and sales certifications free. Microsoft Learn: free to anyone; Plans assign and show progress; Microsoft certifications only. See Microsoft Learn on its own or with Empath. They teach the tool, not the trade.
Most MSPs start here. A senior tech sits beside the new hire, the SOPs live in SharePoint and vendor portals teach the products. It adds no subscription, and it teaches real tickets with real judgment, which no course can.
What it lacks is a plan. Each hire learns what the senior tech had time to show that week, nobody owns the follow-up and the record of who learned what lives in someone's head. When that tech leaves, the know-how that was never written down leaves too. Keep the shoulder-to-shoulder time and put the rest in a path: Empath Learn's New Hire Onboarding or Tier 1 template, your SOPs as lessons and due dates your service manager can check. See Empath vs Shadow Training.
Empath Grow is the separate product for training your clients' staff. Each client is its own organization under your account, its owner becomes that client's Manager, and its members see only what you give them. You pick the courses your team built and, from Empath's catalog marketplace, the premium catalogs each client gets (the Curated Collection or Bigger Brains, plus Clip Training for Microsoft 365 and Inspired eLearning for security awareness and compliance), set the price per client, and the Grow dashboard shows your revenue, your Empath cost and your margin. Grow Lite is the watch-only plan. Each client's own managers get their own reports, and you see every client's progress on its Progress tab. The LMS platforms' branches, portals or domains (TalentLMS Branches with their own admins and catalog, Docebo's extended enterprise, Absorb and Disco client portals, Skilljar's customer catalog pages) are spaces inside one company's account; none of their pages describes an MSP creating, billing and earning margin on each client as its own tenant, which is what Empath Grow is built for.
| Client training | Empath Grow | TalentLMS | Absorb LMS | Docebo | Disco | Skilljar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Each client its own tenant that your MSP creates, manages and bills | Empath Grow●Included | TalentLMS○Not credited | Absorb LMS○Not credited | Docebo○Not credited | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
| Your price, revenue and margin per client in one view | Empath Grow●Included | TalentLMS○Not credited | Absorb LMS○Not credited | Docebo○Not credited | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
| Catalogs chosen per client | Empath Grow●Included | TalentLMS●Included | Absorb LMS◐Partly | Docebo●Included | Disco●Included | Skilljar●Included |
| Third-party premium catalogs per client | Empath Grow●Included | TalentLMS◐Partly | Absorb LMS◐Partly | Docebo◐Partly | Disco○Not credited | Skilljar○Not credited |
Seat prices only compare when you know what is in the seat. Only prices shown on a vendor's public page appear here.
| Cost and what it buys | Empath Learn | Udemy Business | Pluralsight Skills | ACI Learning ITPro | LinkedIn Learning | TalentLMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published price | Empath Learn$30 per user per month, 10 seats billed yearly | Udemy Business$360 per user per year (Team Plan, 2 to 50) | Pluralsight Skills$399 per user (Teams, 2 to 20); its page prints both monthly and yearly | ACI Learning ITPro$700 per learner per year ($625 at 8 or more) | LinkedIn Learning$379.88 per license per year (Teams, 20 or fewer) | TalentLMS$119 per month for up to 40 users, billed yearly; courses extra |
| About per user per month | Empath Learn$30 | Udemy Business$30 | Pluralsight Skillsnot computed | ACI Learning ITProabout $58 | LinkedIn Learningabout $32 | TalentLMSabout $3 at 40 users, platform only |
| Course library included | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business●Included | Pluralsight Skills●Included | ACI Learning ITPro●Included | LinkedIn Learning●Included | TalentLMS◐Partly |
| Courses built for MSPs | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business○Not credited | Pluralsight Skills○Not credited | ACI Learning ITPro○Not credited | LinkedIn Learning○Not credited | TalentLMS○Not credited |
| LMS tools: assign, track, your own courses | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business◐Partly | Pluralsight Skills◐Partly | ACI Learning ITPro◐Partly | LinkedIn Learning◐Partly | TalentLMS●Included |
| Hands-on labs | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business◐Partly | Pluralsight Skills●Included | ACI Learning ITPro●Included | LinkedIn Learning●Included | TalentLMS○Not credited |
| AI roleplays | Empath Learn●Included | Udemy Business●Included | Pluralsight Skills○Not credited | ACI Learning ITPro○Not credited | LinkedIn Learning●Included | TalentLMS●Included |
| Free trial | Empath Learn14 days | Udemy Business14 days | Pluralsight Skills14 days | ACI Learning ITPro10 days | LinkedIn Learning1 month | TalentLMSfree plan, 5 users |
Empath's $30 buys the LMS, the MSP courses, the Curated Collection, the labs and the roleplays in one seat. Udemy Business and LinkedIn Learning cost about the same for a general library with lighter LMS tools. ACI costs almost twice as much for the deepest labs. TalentLMS is the cheapest paid seat in this table because it is the platform alone; adding TalentLibrary courses raises Core to $151 a month on yearly billing. Not in the table: CBT Nuggets at $59 a learner a month or $599 a year.
Empath Learn is the one column with a filled mark in every row: an MSP-focused course library and an LMS in one, down to putting the training work in your PSA. Row by row, with the source for each:
Where a rival is stronger, and what it costs you. ACI Learning and Pluralsight list far more labs than our 40-plus: ACI at $700 a learner a year, Pluralsight at $399 a user on Teams. TalentLMS costs less per seat if you only need an LMS and will buy or bring every course yourself, and Viva Learning costs nothing extra on Microsoft 365 if a learning hub is enough.
Empath Learn covers most of the skills an MSP needs. If your team still wants another provider's content, Empath can embed it in a lesson where the provider allows framing, or you can request an integration through Empath's feature requests. A second subscription is rarely cost-effective for an MSP; if you feel otherwise, partner success will work through it with you.
To see how Empath Learn assigns and tracks training, book a demo.
In MSP search results, platform usually means PSA and RMM tools (ticketing and remote management), not training. For training an MSP's own team, the choices above are general course libraries, general LMS platforms, MSP-specific programs and free options. Empath Learn is the one built for MSPs that is both a course library and an LMS, with a ConnectWise PSA integration.
No for the job, yes for the tool. ConnectWise, Kaseya, Nerdio and Microsoft Learn teach their own products, plus some vendor-specific MSP sales courses, and Microsoft Learn covers Microsoft certifications. Their university pages list no CompTIA courses or soft-skills library, and none is a broad MSP operations curriculum.
Only if you need what the library's tools do not do: your own SOPs as courses, one place that tracks training from more than one source, pathway templates for MSP roles, or training work that lands in your PSA. The libraries in the first table assign and track; the rest is where Empath Learn and the LMS platforms differ. See what effective MSP training looks like.
It is a hub, not a program. Included with Microsoft 365, it brings Microsoft Learn, a 300-course LinkedIn Learning sampler and your SharePoint files; recommending with due dates and tracking completion need the Viva Learning license, $4 per user per month paid yearly. Labs, MSP business courses, a compliance library and a course builder are not in it; you pay for those elsewhere.
Courses only, buy a library. Run your own training only, buy an LMS. Both, for an MSP, buy the one built for MSPs that does both: Empath Learn, the column with a filled mark in every row. Start the 14-day free trial; everything in Learn is in it, the Curated Collection included.