Alfresco vs IBM FileNet comparison

Hyland and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. Hyland is ranked #9 with an average rating of 5.5, while IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0. Hyland holds a 7.7% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM’s 10.5% mindshare. Additionally, 77% of Hyland users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Alfresco

Read 13 Alfresco reviews

2,235 Views
1,806 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 101 IBM FileNet reviews

3,501 Views
2,225 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Alfresco

IBM FileNet

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Alfresco and IBM FileNet are in the enterprise content management system category. IBM FileNet often has the upper hand due to its advanced features and comprehensive solutions, justifying a higher price tag.

Features: Alfresco supports open-source capabilities, flexibility, and modern content services for customizations. IBM FileNet offers robust security features, scalability, and sophisticated document management.

Room for Improvement: Alfresco could enhance its security and scalability to better compete with large enterprises. IBM FileNet might improve its user interface for easier setup and customization. Alfresco needs to develop a more comprehensive set of enterprise-level functionalities, while IBM FileNet should focus on simplifying the deployment process for quicker implementation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Alfresco's cloud-native design allows easy deployment and minimal setup challenges with responsive customer service. IBM FileNet is more complex to implement due to its extensive features but includes thorough documentation and professional support.

Pricing and ROI: Alfresco offers a lower setup cost favorable for smaller enterprises seeking specific customizations, yielding quicker ROI. IBM FileNet requires higher initial investment with longer ROI, matched by extensive capabilities and scalability benefits, preferred by large organizations seeking robust infrastructure.

To learn more, read our detailed Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Alfresco

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

9th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Document Management Software (4th)

IBM FileNet

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

101

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 7.7%, down from 8.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 10.5%, up from 9.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

Karthi Keyan

Head Of Information Technology at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Streamlining document management with enhanced digitalization features needed

We used Alfresco as a document management system for automating and digitizing manual forms. Those were the main use cases The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes has improved our organization. The most valuable features of Alfresco include its integration with…

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Emad Rizki

System integrator at Indépendant

Facilitates seamless integration for large enterprises with strong deployment capabilities

FileNet was scalable and could be implemented into big multinational organizations. However, it has become very expensive recently. Compared to low-code solutions such as Appian and outsystems, FileNet has gaps, mainly because it requires coding, which is not preferred by clients due to pricing concerns in Pakistan. We transitioned clients to cloud solutions, although FileNet has been strongly integrated with on-prem deployments.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Document repository."

"Alfresco allows broad searches with many index fields that you can search on, although the created fields and their values may not be intuitive."

"The product allows engineering teams and developers to introduce new things in a seamless and easy way."

"The most valuable features of Alfresco include its integration with the scanning solution, the ability to search, and the capability to store and index to capture metadata."

"I like the ease of use, sections, and calendar."

"Alfresco's technical support is very fast and professional."

"The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."

"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the searching elements of the metadata."

"It has a very broad market share and a lot of people know about it."

"The key feature for us is that it keeps our content store small. That helps our DBAs when they have to do the backups of our audit system, or of the content store."

"The most valuable feature is access control."

"It puts governance in place around the content and processes. Access levels can be set to certain parts of the document based on role level."

"The product has helped with compliance and governance issues. There are some archiving policies which a financial organization has to keep. Our organization can keep up with them because of the IBM product."

"The key way that this product has improved the way that that our business functions is by its stability. Its ability to remain up despite other pressures, its consistency, and lack of downtime are really the greatest things that it brings."

"For a large company, for the robustness, stability, performance, and the growth — that you can grow it within seconds — I would advise using FileNet, without any doubt."

"There aren't very many ECM solutions that scale properly, both up and out. We have customers who hold billions of documents. There aren't very many that can scale that far, and that can also scale out so that they can handle lots of users, lots of documents, and that understand how to handle external users. FileNet is one that can."

More IBM FileNet pros

Cons

"Currently, documents in Alfresco are stored on a file server, which, while good for performance, is a security risk."

"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."

"I would like them to consider document capture functionality."

"The configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."

"Metadata, auto class, disposition log, and legal hold."

"I think the presentation layer could be improved - currently, it's too complex, and there are too many features cluttered all over the screen."

"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."

"Alfresco has a very steep learning curve, and unfortunately, during the learning process, it's very easy to make errors, which often are unforgiving."

"IBM has a lot of documentation but the kind of information in a lot of the documents can be confusing to our clients. It would be easier if they used video tutorials. Right now, the information is too hard to understand, and there is a lot of it. If they used videos I think FinalNet would be easy to use for an end-user."

"There are only a few products large enterprises can choose from, and it doesn't really matter which one as it often depends on the consultants and the team implementing the solution."

"In Content Navigator we want to see the ability to view different types of video... We are using HTML 5 but it's very limited... We definitely want to see support for most types of video formats in the market."

"In terms of functionality, what customers might be looking for is a little more in terms of native-records retention. Records Management is an add-on product. If there were just a little more of that built into the core functionality, that would be helpful."

"It is ability to display legacy content needs improvement."

"One of the things I know is a bit of a challenge for them - because I know that it lives on top of FileNet, so it's not necessarily living on top of a relational database, per se - is that we also are using it as our system of record for our language management and our language definitions. I know that that was a little bit of a challenge, just because of the underlying architecture."

"To start with there are too many add-ons, which makes it hard for us. If they simplified the add-ons and plugins to be added to our existing systems, it would definitely help us in the future."

"Sometimes, there can be issues with the database connections. FileNet has too many outages because things are broken in the database."

More IBM FileNet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is cheaper compared to head-to-head competitors."

"There are costs for any upgrade or additional functions."

"If you buy Alfresco through a partner, there is usually a OEM licensing option."

"The license for Alfresco is expensive - not the maximum, but close. There are also extra costs once you start building integrations, as implementation seems to be very costly."

"The physical space that we have gained back pays for the service. Therefore, it has reduced our operating costs overall. We have definitely seen ROI. I would estimate $30,000 a year."

"It is still a leading ECM solution provider, however the cost to implement and maintain are higher than other solutions."

"IBM FileNet is an expensive solution."

"When it comes to pricing, IBM needs to make an effort to improve the cost. That's the main issue regarding use of FinalNet in Columbia."

"The tool is expensive, and I rate its pricing a ten out of ten."

"There are lots of components to the product. Make sure before you invest that you know which components you need."

"FileNet is quite expensive, although Documentum is expensive too."

"We use extraction. Therefore, we can see 80 to 85 percent accuracy on data extraction. This reduces the manual indexing part, which is definitely a gain on performance efficiency."

More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Insurance Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alfresco?

The pricing of Alfresco starts at $100,000, which can be expensive for small projects. There is often a transition from the community version to the licensed version, which incurs migration costs. ...

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What needs improvement with Alfresco?

Currently, documents in Alfresco are stored on a file server, which, while good for performance, is a security risk. Clients, especially large enterprises such as banks, are concerned about documen...

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What is your primary use case for Alfresco?

Mostly, the primary use case is to store documents related to transactions in our company. These documents could be signed documents, invoices, purchase orders, etc. While transaction records are s...

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What do you like most about IBM FileNet?

The product is robust and can process a lot of documents for enterprise content management.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?

The product has become more expensive and requires significant investment for enterprise solutions.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?

FileNet needs improvement in pricing as it has become very expensive. Also, in comparison to local solutions, the need for coding is a disadvantage.

See all answers

Comparisons

Hyland OnBase vs Alfresco

Compared 19% of the time

OpenText Documentum vs Alfresco

Compared 18% of the time

SharePoint vs Alfresco

Compared 11% of the time

OpenText Extended ECM vs Alfresco

Compared 10% of the time

Nuxeo vs Alfresco

Compared 7% of the time

More Alfresco Competitors

OpenText Extended ECM vs IBM FileNet

Compared 17% of the time

OpenText Documentum vs IBM FileNet

Compared 16% of the time

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet

Compared 15% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet

Compared 8% of the time

IBM ECM vs IBM FileNet

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM FileNet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Alfresco

April 2025

Download Alfresco product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

April 2025

Download IBM FileNet product report

Overview

The Alfresco Digital Business Platform offers open, secure content services to let you unlock the value from your most important business information. Give users access to their content wherever and however they work with Alfresco’s open, flexible, and highly scalable cloud-native content services platform. Easily integrate and connect with everyday business applications. Find, view, collaborate on, govern, and securely share digital content—and get information to the right person at the right time.

Hyland

IBM FileNet is a leading IBM enterprise content management product family. IBM FileNet is one of the ECM solutions that can change the way a company does business by enabling users to capture, activate, socialize, analyze, and govern content throughout its lifecycle.

There are many IBM FileNet products available, all of which are integrated and based on the FileNet P8 Platform.

IBM

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.

Buyer's Guide

Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet

April 2025

Free Report: Alfresco vs. IBM FileNet

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