Question 1

What is Open edX?

Accepted Answer

Open edX is the open-source learning management system (LMS) that powers edX.org and over 10,000 online learning platforms worldwide. It is built and maintained by a global community and is considered the gold standard for enterprise-grade online education. Open edX supports video lectures, quizzes, discussion forums, graded assignments, certificates, and much more.

Question 2

What is Tutor and why does TundraLMS use it?

Accepted Answer

Tutor is the official community-supported Docker-based distribution of Open edX, endorsed by the Open edX project. TundraLMS uses Tutor because it dramatically simplifies deployment, upgrades, and maintenance of Open edX. Tutor ensures your LMS runs on a stable, well-tested configuration identical to what major institutions use in production.

Question 3

How long does it take to launch an Open edX instance?

Accepted Answer

TundraLMS provisions a fully-configured, production-ready Open edX instance in 10–20 minutes after payment. This includes DNS setup, SSL certificate issuance, database initialization, and all Open edX services. You receive an email with your admin credentials as soon as it is ready.

Question 4

Can I use my own domain name?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Professional and Enterprise plans include full custom domain support. You point your domain's CNAME record to our servers, and TundraLMS automatically provisions an SSL certificate via Let's Encrypt. Your learners access the LMS at your own branded URL with no TundraLMS branding visible.

Question 5

Is there a free trial?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Starter plan includes a 14-day free trial. No credit card is required to start the trial. You will not be charged until the 14 days are up, and you can cancel at any time before then.

Question 6

How is TundraLMS different from self-hosting Open edX on AWS or a VPS?

Accepted Answer

Self-hosting Open edX requires deep Linux, Docker, and Open edX expertise, plus ongoing maintenance for security patches, upgrades, and backups. A typical self-hosted setup on AWS costs $200–800/month in infrastructure alone, plus 10–40 hours of DevOps time to set up and maintain. TundraLMS handles all of that — provisioning, SSL, backups, upgrades, and monitoring — so you can focus on teaching rather than infrastructure.

Question 7

How is TundraLMS different from Canvas, Moodle, or Blackboard?

Accepted Answer

Canvas, Moodle, and Blackboard are different LMS platforms. TundraLMS specifically hosts Open edX, which was built for massive open online courses (MOOCs) and is used by MIT, Harvard, and Microsoft. Open edX has a modern Micro-Frontend (MFE) learner experience and is fully open-source, giving you complete ownership of your data and the ability to extend the platform. Canvas starts at $4,000+/year for on-premises; Blackboard at $50,000+/year for institutions. TundraLMS starts at $199/month.

Question 8

What is included in backups?

Accepted Answer

TundraLMS performs daily automated backups of your entire Open edX instance including the MySQL database (courses, enrollments, grades, certificates), MongoDB (course structure and content), and all uploaded media files. Backups are retained for 30 days. Contact support to initiate a restore.

Question 9

Can I create and sell paid courses?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on the Enterprise plan. Open edX includes an E-Commerce module that integrates with payment processors to sell courses and issue certificates. The Enterprise plan includes full e-commerce configuration as part of the setup.

Question 10

Is there a limit on the number of learners?

Accepted Answer

Starter supports up to 500 active learners. Professional supports up to 5,000. Enterprise is unlimited. These are soft limits based on typical resource usage — contact us if you need to discuss higher volumes on any plan.

Question 11

Can I white-label the platform with my own branding?

Accepted Answer

Full white-label branding — including your logo, colors, and platform name — is available on the Enterprise plan. All plans let you configure a platform name and upload a logo through your dashboard.

Question 12

What happens if I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

When you cancel, your subscription stops immediately but your Open edX instance and all data are retained for 30 days. You can export your courses from Studio at any time during this window. After 30 days, your instance and all data are permanently deleted. You will receive an email warning 2 days before deletion.

Question 13

What Open edX version does TundraLMS use?

Accepted Answer

TundraLMS uses Tutor v21, which ships Open edX Sumac — the latest stable release as of 2025. New instances are always provisioned on the latest stable Tutor version.

Question 14

Do you support SCORM or xAPI content?

Accepted Answer

Open edX supports SCORM content via the openedx-scorm-xblock plugin. SCORM support can be configured on Professional and Enterprise plans. xAPI (Tin Can) integration is available on Enterprise with a custom LRS configuration.

Question 15

Where are the servers located?

Accepted Answer

TundraLMS servers are hosted in Europe (Hetzner data centers). If you have specific data residency requirements for GDPR or other regulations, contact us to discuss options.