What is the least worst LMS?

I admit it, I don’t like using the LMS. (The LMS is “learning management system” — the software that universities use for the online component of courses.) My campus is a Blackboard campus. I’m not a fan. Maybe that’s because I haven’t used it a lot.

In our LMS, simple tasks feel so cumbersome. Many features are downright counterintuitive. I feel like whatever I’m doing in the LMS, I have to be doing it wrong, because every little thing takes so long and involves so many menu clicks. My university has training sessions and staff to support us to learn how to be more efficient — and I haven’t made avail of these opportunities —  because my classes have been small enough that I haven’t needed to use the LMS deeply. And also I haven’t used clickers in a long while.

If you have a huge class, then I think the LMS might be unavoidable nowadays, and clearly can make things far more efficient, when it comes to written assignments, grades, quizzes, and such.

While I’m familiar with Blackboard,, the two other common options in the US seem to be Canvas and Moodle. While Blackboard and Canvas require the university to pay a subscription (and come with customer support), Moodle is free and open-source. So if your university has deep bench in the support educational technology department, this might be better and/or cheaper? But if your educational technology staff is stretched thin, then maybe paying for a service like Canvas or Blackboard is better?

What is your campus LMS? Have you used more than one system, and do you have a preference? What are things that the LMS does well, and what does it need to do better?