# Canvas by Instructure 16 Hacker News commenters recommended Canvas by Instructure and 66 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 9 years (4 owners). **Verdict:** People recommend Canvas as cleaner and easier than older or rival course platforms, and it stays out of the way for teachers and students. Critics point to recent security breaches and slow, buggy software. ## Why people recommend it - Better than older or rival LMSs (4 comments): "We moved from a circa 2011 BB instance to Canvas in 2022, and it was hands down superior." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48059147)) "Canvas generally is the 'easiest' to use, and the 'cleanest' looking one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48057425)) "it did it better than many of its predecessors" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48057477)) - Convenient and stays out of the way (2 comments): "It is really convenient and stays out of the way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48056850)) "It worked Ok. Work distributed, grades posted." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48058191)) - Open source and self-hostable (3 comments): "Canvas is not trivial software. You can see for yourself as it's AGPL" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48061074)) "You don't need to roll your own LMS—you can self-host Canvas" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48060402)) "Canvas is open-source and can be self-hosted." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48059204)) - Calendar feed and CLI access (2 comments): "Canvas (the LMS used at Georgia Tech) does expose an ICS you can subscribe to, but there's also a bunch of noise" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47754718)) "I vibecoded a pretty extensive CLI for Canvas and using it is very pleasant" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48056257)) ## What people warn about - Slow, buggy, dated, rigid interface (4 comments): "it's definitely gone downhill (compared to the days where I originally used it ~20 yrs ago in college; tracker-riddled, slow)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48056961)) "Canvas kind of sucks. And their development is slow. And they are poor at communicating during mundane events." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48057776)) "it tries to do too much, while not being particularly good at any one of those things, and is way too rigid" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48083229)) - Security breaches and weak response (3 comments): "Canvas had to have made themselves vulnerable to a ransom demand in the way that they designed their own product." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48112121)) "After the first issue a few weeks ago Canvas should have upped their security and prepared for another attack." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48058120)) "It has been over 5 hours now and there has not been any communication about this being an attack" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48057516)) - Locks course materials into platform (4 comments): "These services also do everything they can to encourage you to work within the online platform rather then working offline and then uploading." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48062190)) "They merely serve to entrench educators into using the canvas system but they offer no added functionality to education." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48087272)) "universities are demanding that all professors put all of their materials on Canvas, without exception" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48057818)) - Hostile to users, arrogant culture (2 comments): "Culture seems to be full of themselves due to market position." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48057433)) "The actual product is a radioactive dumpster fire that is simultaneously hostile to students, teachers, and parents." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48057376)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Moodle](https://hackerapproved.com/p/moodle.md): 10 recommend - [PrairieLearn](https://hackerapproved.com/p/prairielearn.md): 6 recommend - [Google Classroom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-classroom.md): 6 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.instructure.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Canvas by Instructure", https://hackerapproved.com/p/canvas-lms/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).