An Alexandria alternative, built for your school.
Alexandria is a long-established US system for districts, schools, and public and academic libraries. Here is what changes when you choose Lyra, built for independent schools, and what Lyra leaves out.
Alexandria serves every library. Lyra is built for yours.
Alexandria is a genuinely established system. COMPanion Corporation has built it in Salt Lake City since 1987, it runs in the browser on any device, and it serves K–12, public, and academic libraries, including large US districts. It brings a deep feature set: SmartMARC cataloging, Z39.50, a custom reporting module, third-party database and eBook integrations, and a self-service kiosk mode.
The difference is who it is built for, and how you buy it. Alexandria is general-purpose and scales from one school to a whole district, and its sales process matches that range: pricing comes through a demo or a quote rather than a number on the page, and setup is sales-led.
Lyra is the other shape, built for independent schools, not a platform that also happens to serve them. The price is published. Cover images are included. You import your catalog and roster yourself, with no sales call, and Vega, the assistant built into Lyra, answers questions about your collection without ever receiving patron data, which we publish field by field. Where Alexandria gives you breadth and a long track record, Lyra gives you fit.
A focused, two-column look.
The same questions a librarian actually asks when evaluating a system. Where Lyra does something differently, we say so plainly, and where Alexandria already covers the basics, we say that too.
Comparison reflects publicly available information about Alexandria as of July 2026, gathered for evaluation.
Alexandria is a trademark of COMPanion Corporation. Lyra is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by COMPanion.
Where Lyra does less than Alexandria.
Alexandria is a broad, long-established system, and it does a great deal that Lyra deliberately does not. Here is what Lyra leaves out that Alexandria covers, so you can weigh whether any of it matters to you.
Digital content and research databases
Alexandria lets you add your own eBook vendors and searches third-party databases like netTrekker alongside your catalog. Lyra does not lend digital materials or search outside databases. If you use Sora, Lyra can list your OverDrive titles in its catalog from OverDrive's MARC records, and students open them in Sora. Other ebook providers aren't supported. Lyra can't show whether a copy is free or let students borrow from its catalog. If your school uses Sora and that would matter to you, tell us.
Standards and deep configuration
Alexandria brings Z39.50 cataloging, a custom reporting module, and decades of configuration options. Lyra keeps a smaller, opinionated surface with sensible defaults.
Track record and scale
COMPanion has built Alexandria since 1987, and it runs in large US districts as well as single schools. Lyra is new, and sized for private schools.
Alexandria is long-established. Lyra is new.
That is the trade, and for the right school it is also the opportunity: help shape the product, pay half price for your first term, and work directly with the people building it. If a decades-long track record and the widest feature set are high on your list, those are fair things to weigh, and we'd rather you know where we are than oversell it.
Read about founding partners
Questions schools ask.
Is Lyra a good alternative to Alexandria?
For an independent or private K–12 school that wants a focused, modern system with published pricing and self-serve setup, yes. Alexandria is a capable, long-established system that also serves public and academic libraries and scales to whole districts; Lyra deliberately covers less and focuses on the daily work of a school library. If that full breadth (digital content, third-party database search, or deep configuration) is central to how you run, those are the areas to weigh.
Does Alexandria charge extra for cover images?
Alexandria displays cover art in its catalog, but we could not confirm from public sources whether it is included at every tier or comes through paid enrichment. Lyra includes cover images at no extra charge.
How much does Alexandria cost?
COMPanion does not publish Alexandria pricing on its site; you request a demo or a quote. Some third-party listings cite a starting price of around $499 per year, but the figure that applies to your school comes through their sales process. Lyra publishes its pricing on the site.
Can I move my catalog from Alexandria to Lyra?
Yes. Lyra imports a standard MARC file, and also the Excel workbook Alexandria exports. It will try to match that report’s column names to Lyra’s, though the import guide’s templates are the cleaner path. Rosters sync via OneRoster. To export your records from Alexandria, follow COMPanion’s own documentation.
See how Lyra fits your library.
Start a free 30-day trial with your own catalog. No demo call, no credit card. Prefer to talk it through first? Email the team and we'll answer plainly.
No sales call · Free for 30 days