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Comparison · EdTech

Gibbon vs Chamilo

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Gibbon and Chamilo — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Gibbon vs Chamilo: at a glance

FeatureGibbonChamilo
SectorEdTechEdTech
Velocity score0.06.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesschool-management, edtech, new-modules, htmx-refreshlms, mcp, agentic-authoring, platform-rewrite
Last editorial update3mo ago15d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Gibbon?

Gibbon's v30 milestone adds Calendar and Student Alerts as new core modules.

Gibbon, the open-source school management platform, just hit its v30 ('Nam Chung') milestone after 15 years, adding two new core modules — Calendar and Student Alerts — on top of an ongoing front-end refresh (HTMX and Alpine.js replacing jQuery) that began in v28.

Read the full Gibbon trajectory →

What is Chamilo?

Chamilo's 3.0 beta quietly turns the LMS into an MCP server agents can author courses through.

Chamilo runs three lines at once. The legacy 1.11 branch takes security and bugfix releases roughly quarterly, 2.0 reached GA in April and has drawn three patch releases since, and a 3.0 line opened on 13 August. The 3.0 beta is where the direction sits: 456 changes spanning 88 plugin fixes, a 44-item security sweep, and a new MCP server with OAuth 2.1 that exposes course authoring and review to outside clients. The feed's own bodies are unreliable here - both 3.0 tags arrived carrying a single line of text, and the 2.0 GA release reached it only as scraped page fragments.

Read the full Chamilo trajectory →

Gibbon vs Chamilo: editorial side-by-side

G
Gibbon
EDTECH
0.0

Gibbon's v30 milestone adds Calendar and Student Alerts as new core modules.

◆ Current state

Gibbon, the open-source school management platform, just hit its v30 ('Nam Chung') milestone after 15 years, adding two new core modules — Calendar and Student Alerts — on top of an ongoing front-end refresh (HTMX and Alpine.js replacing jQuery) that began in v28.

◆ Where it's heading

The arc is toward a broader all-in-one school operations suite (scheduling, pastoral care, alerts) on a modernized, app-like front end, shipped on a disciplined twice-yearly named-release cadence.

◆ Prediction

Expect v30.x updates to refine Calendar and Student Alerts, with continued HTMX-driven UI modernization in the next named release.

Chamilo logo
Chamilo
EDTECH
6.3

Chamilo's 3.0 beta quietly turns the LMS into an MCP server agents can author courses through.

◆ Current state

Chamilo runs three lines at once. The legacy 1.11 branch takes security and bugfix releases roughly quarterly, 2.0 reached GA in April and has drawn three patch releases since, and a 3.0 line opened on 13 August. The 3.0 beta is where the direction sits: 456 changes spanning 88 plugin fixes, a 44-item security sweep, and a new MCP server with OAuth 2.1 that exposes course authoring and review to outside clients. The feed's own bodies are unreliable here - both 3.0 tags arrived carrying a single line of text, and the 2.0 GA release reached it only as scraped page fragments.

◆ Where it's heading

The rewrite has stopped being the story and the agent surface has started. 2.0 spent its cycle absorbing the legacy feature set - LTI, ONLYOFFICE, the plugin catalogue - and reached GA; 3.0's first beta spends most of its weight on that same restoration work but adds something no 2.0 release contains, an MCP server with OAuth 2.1 auto-connect and tools that write rather than only read. Model providers are being wired directly into the AI helper alongside it. Security remains constant across all three branches, with 44 security items in the 3.0 beta alone.

◆ Prediction

Expect the MCP tool surface to widen in the next 3.0 beta, since the first pass already moved past read-only lookups into course authoring and review. Whether 3.0 becomes the supported line or 2.0 keeps taking patches is the question the tags themselves do not answer.

Alternatives to Gibbon and Chamilo

Other EdTech products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Gibbon or Chamilo.

See all Gibbon alternatives → · See all Chamilo alternatives →

Recent activity from Gibbon and Chamilo

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 15d agoChamiloBeta 2 tagged with no release notes
  2. 1mo agoChamiloChamilo 3.0 beta 1 opens an MCP server with course-authoring tools
  3. 2mo agoChamiloChamilo 1.11.40: security and bugfix maintenance release
  4. 5mo agoChamiloStop logging AI base-provider fallback events
  5. 5mo agoChamiloBump tar dependency 7.5.3 to 7.5.6
  6. 5mo agoChamiloChamilo 2.0 RC3: LTI provider, ONLYOFFICE, and plugin revival
  7. 7mo agoGibbonNam Chung (Update)
  8. 10mo agoGibbonNam Chung
  9. 1y agoGibbonMa On Shan
  10. 1y agoGibbonLam Tsuen (Update)
  11. 1y agoGibbonLam Tsuen
  12. 1y agoGibbonLam Tsuen (v28 pre-release)

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Gibbon and Chamilo?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Chamilo is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Gibbon better than Chamilo?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Chamilo is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other EdTech products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Gibbon?

Top Gibbon alternatives in EdTech are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Gibbon alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/gibbon for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Chamilo?

Top Chamilo alternatives in EdTech are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Chamilo alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/chamilo for the full list with editorial commentary on each.