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LTI vs SCORM: choosing how to connect content to your LMS

LTI vs SCORM: one connects your LMS to a tool hosted elsewhere, the other drops a file into it. What each one reports, and the questions to ask.

Elio Bernardinello
Elio Bernardinello
Marketing & CSM
October 20, 2026 · 6 min
LTI versus SCORM: two standards for connecting training content to an LMS

SCORM packages the module into a file that your LMS hosts. LTI leaves it with its vendor, opens it from the LMS, and can send a grade back. Your LMS settles the LTI vs SCORM question first: if it only supports SCORM, an LTI-only tool won't work with it. The rest comes down to where the content needs to live.

LTI vs SCORM: what's the difference in practice?

With SCORM, the authoring tool produces a ZIP file that you import into the course: the LMS then launches the module and receives the tracking data. With LTI, you don't import any content. The course holds a link to the tool, which opens without the learner having to log in again.

So the two standards do different jobs, and LTI doesn't replace SCORM: an LMS can accept one, the other, or both. According to a January 2019 article by software vendor Rustici Software, LTI is mostly used in higher education, and SCORM in companies and government.

What does your LMS receive with SCORM, and with LTI?

SCORM in six points.

  • What it is: a set of specifications maintained by ADL, the organization that created SCORM for the US Department of Defense. The module runs in the browser and communicates with the LMS.
  • Where the content lives: in the LMS, which holds a copy. To change the module, you generally have to re-import a file.
  • What reaches the LMS: most often, according to Rustici Software, completion status, pass/fail status, score, and total time.
  • Setup: importing the ZIP file into the LMS.
  • Versions to know: according to ADL, SCORM 1.2 (2001) was the first widely adopted version, and the most recent is SCORM 2004 4th Edition (2009). Check which version your LMS supports.
  • Caveat: ADL recommends xAPI and cmi5 for new projects, while acknowledging that SCORM is still widely used.

LTI 1.3 in six points.

  • What it is: a 1EdTech standard for connecting tools and content hosted elsewhere to the LMS.
  • Where the content lives: with the vendor. Every learner sees the current version, but the module only opens if the vendor's service responds.
  • What reaches the LMS: a grade, in a gradebook column, if the LTI Advantage grade service (AGS) is enabled. According to the service's specification, the message carries a score and its maximum, an optional comment, and a progress status that goes up to "Completed". It has no duration field, but it can carry two optional dates (start and submission): time spent, if it is measured, can be viewed in the tool.
  • Setup: in Moodle, according to its documentation, the administrator can configure the tool for the whole site. A teacher can only add one to their course with the administrator's approval; a tool setting then decides whether its grades are accepted.
  • Versions to know: LTI 1.3, the current version, strengthens the security model of earlier versions (OAuth 2.0, signed JWTs). The three LTI Advantage services build on it: grades (AGS), users and roles (NRPS), and content selection (Deep Linking).
  • Caveat: the LMS can send learners' names and email addresses to the tool; in Moodle, a tool setting controls each one. An "LTI compatible" label doesn't tell you which version is supported or which services are enabled.

Features checked on October 3, 2026, in the Moodle documentation (version 5.2) and on Rustici Software's website. Confirm what your LMS version does before you decide.

When won't an LTI-only or SCORM-only tool fit your LMS?

  • Your LMS only supports SCORM: an LTI-only tool is ruled out; you need a tool that exports to SCORM, in a version your LMS supports. Complement's e-learning authoring tools comparison is a starting point for choosing one.
  • Your LMS accepts LTI 1.3: an LTI-only tool can connect to it. You still need to check grade passback and what data the LMS sends to the tool.
  • Your LMS only accepts LTI: a SCORM file can't be imported into it. However, Rustici Software says in its 2019 article that it has a few products that deliver SCORM content to these LMSs.
  • Your LMS accepts both: SCORM suits stable content that you want to keep in the LMS, along with its tracking. LTI suits content that changes often or needs a server to run, such as a conversation with an AI.

Complement is an LTI-only tool: its modules plug into the LMS via LTI 1.3, and it says progress, scores, and completion status flow back to your LMS automatically. Its modules can't be exported, to SCORM or any other format: they stay hosted by Complement. If your LMS only supports SCORM, Complement therefore can't connect to it, and says so itself, flagging this as a blocker to check for up front. That leaves its public link, which learners open outside the LMS; LTI integration is priced on request, according to Complement's pricing page (prices as of October 2026).

Questions to ask your LMS administrator

Copy the list that matches the tool you're evaluating: you can paste it into an email as is.

If the tool only offers LTI:

  • LTI version: does our LMS accept external tools using LTI 1.3, or only LTI 1.1?
  • Enabled services: which of these LTI Advantage services are enabled: grades (AGS), users and roles (NRPS), and content selection (Deep Linking)?
  • Installation rights: who can register a new external tool, and what is the approval process (IT security, data protection)?
  • Data shared: does our LMS send learners' names, email addresses, or roles to the tool? Can we limit this?
  • Grades and completion: will the grade sent by the tool reach the gradebook, and can it mark the activity as complete?
  • Test course: do we have a test course or environment where we can connect the tool before buying?

If the tool only offers SCORM:

  • Versions supported: which SCORM versions does our LMS support (1.2, 2004) and, for SCORM 2004, which edition?
  • Tracking data: what data does our LMS store and show in its reports (status, score, time)?
  • Updates: what happens to learners' progress when we replace the file with a new version?
  • Test course: do we have a test course or environment where we can import the file before buying?

Before you sign: a trial in a test course

Once you have the answers, have the tool connected, or the file imported, in a test course. Go through a real module with a learner account: the gradebook and reports will show what your LMS receives, and what it doesn't. If Complement is one of the tools you're evaluating, a demo is the right time to discuss these answers: book a demo.