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Canvas or Origin? It depends on the course.

Most Swedish universities run their degree courses in Canvas, bought through SUNET, and that works. Origin fits the courses around them: contract and continuing education under the programme’s own name, and training providers who sell courses to organisations.

Checked September 2026Sources below
A university building on a clear day
The short answer
Keep Canvas for degree courses. Use Origin for courses under your own name.
At a glance

Origin and Canvas, side by side

What each one is built for, taken from its own pages. Prices and features change, so check the sources.

Origin compared with Canvas
Built forAdult education, vocational education (YH), continuing and contract education, and training providers.Higher education and schools.
How it is bought in SwedenA quote per organisation after a 15-minute demo: your learners, the modules you need and your own brand. No public price list.Swedish universities buy it through SUNET’s agreement, renewed in 2025. Otherwise by quote; there is no public price list.
Reviews after the courseBuilt in. Munin sends two-minute reviews after each module until each skill graduates.Not built in. It would come from a third-party tool.
AI course buildingOrigin AI drafts the course, lessons and quizzes from your PDF or Word file. A teacher approves every lesson.IgniteAI generates quiz questions and assignments from course content, with other AI tools by tier. Institutions opt in.
Your brandYour name, logo, colours and web address on the portal, with one portal per programme if you like.The university’s own Canvas, set up for the whole institution.
StandardsSCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 and xAPI.LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage.
Single sign-onSingle sign-on with SAML 2.0, and two-factor sign-in.SAML, OpenID Connect and other sign-in providers.
LanguagesBuilt in Swedish and English. The interface is in 11 languages.Available in Swedish.

The comparison in full

Checked September 2026

The short version

Canvas is the learning platform most Swedish universities use for their degree programmes. SUNET chose it again in 2025 after a two-year procurement, and Stockholm University moves to Canvas from the autumn term of 2026. If your question is which platform should run your degree courses, the answer in Sweden is usually Canvas.

Origin is built for the courses that do not fit a degree platform: contract education for employers, continuing education for professionals, and courses sold by training providers.

Contract and continuing education

Continuing education often needs its own front door: participants who are not registered students, a programme with its own name, and a portal that looks like the programme rather than the university’s course list.

Origin gives each programme its own portal with its own name, logo, colours and web address, run from one admin workspace. Participants sign in with single sign-on or an account of their own.

Remembering after the course

Munin, Origin’s retention engine, sends a two-minute review after each module, timed to when knowledge starts to fade, and keeps going until each skill graduates. For professionals who need to keep a skill, not just pass a module, that is the point.

Canvas does not have spaced repetition built in. Institutions that want it add a third-party tool.

Building courses

Origin AI turns the PDF or Word file you teach from into modules, lessons and quizzes, and a teacher approves every lesson before a participant sees it.

Canvas’s IgniteAI can generate quiz questions and assignments from existing course content. Some of its tools depend on the Canvas tier the institution has.

When Canvas is the better choice

  • You are choosing the platform for degree programmes at a Swedish university.
  • You want to buy through SUNET’s agreement, with around 30 other Swedish institutions on the same platform.
  • You depend on many LTI tools inside one platform.

When Origin is the better choice

  • You run contract or continuing education that needs its own name and portal.
  • You are a training provider selling courses to organisations.
  • You want reviews after each module built in.
  • You want courses drafted from your own PDF and Word files.

Using both

Many universities will keep Canvas for degree courses and add a separate platform for commissioned and continuing education. Origin can be that platform. SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 and xAPI courses you already have run in Origin.

Sources and disclosure

This page is written by Origin, so we have an interest in the outcome. Every statement about Canvas comes from the pages below. If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it.

Good to know

Questions people ask

Something else? Call +46 76 426 26 60, Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00 CET.

Do we have to leave Canvas to use Origin?
No. Canvas can keep running your degree courses. Origin runs the courses that need their own portal, such as contract and continuing education.
Why do most Swedish universities use Canvas?
SUNET, the Swedish university network, has an agreement for Canvas that institutions can use without running their own procurement. SUNET renewed it in 2025.
Does Canvas have spaced repetition?
Not built in. Institutions add it with a third-party tool. In Origin it is part of the platform, through Munin.
Can participants use their university account?
Origin supports single sign-on with SAML 2.0. Bring your identity setup to the demo and we will go through it.

See a programme on its own portal

A 15-minute demo on your own material. If Origin is the wrong fit, we will say so.

Book a demoWhy Origin