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Alfresco vs Box comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

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
Ranking in Document Management Software
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Box
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
6th
Ranking in Document Management Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Storage (12th), Digital Asset Management (3rd), Content Collaboration Platforms (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 7.6%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Box is 3.7%, down from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Karthi Keyan - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Shrikant Pillay - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows you to upload and download files quickly but lacks integration with Office 365
For enterprise users, the data is in a local repository. We use it for files for the end user process. This is a cloud solution. In my current organization, we have over 10,000 people using this solution. I use it very extensively. Users these days are working remotely You can upload your bin,…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Document repository."
"The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."
"I like the ease of use, sections, and calendar."
"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."
"Alfresco's technical support is very fast and professional."
"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."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the searching elements of the metadata."
"Box is very user-friendly; more so than SharePoint."
"The interface is very good."
"It is really easy to load files to and from this solution."
"The application is very light in terms of uploading and downloading files."
"I like the ease of use."
"The sharing feature, with its various permission settings, such as viewing or uploading, is convenient and helpful."
"File sharing with collaborators not on the same domain with offline access from multiple devices: I work on many projects that are multi-organizational, such as with customers, suppliers, or acquisitions."
"Using Box for cloud storage allows us to focus on the service and maintaining infrastructure."
 

Cons

"I would like them to consider document capture functionality."
"Currently, documents in Alfresco are stored on a file server, which, while good for performance, is a security risk."
"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."
"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."
"The configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."
"Alfresco has a very steep learning curve, and unfortunately, during the learning process, it's very easy to make errors, which often are unforgiving."
"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."
"The search features and role permissions are not very user friendly. It only searches the first few pages of a document, which is quite a problem."
"The integration with other products should be improved."
"The UI should be faster. Sometimes it lags when switching between documents."
"Data privacy, regarding where to store your data: Offering several transparent(!) options (where to store my data and whether to sync back or not and where to sync) regarding the local law situations (USA, EU, Switzerland!) would increase the credibility of a US based company (after NSA ‘snooping’)."
"I would love to see the ability to invite collaborators extended to a file level, not just the folder level."
"The room for improvement is in the area of integrations. They need to establish more integrations, especially with Office 365 and Outlook."
"Maturity of the enterprise security around user management."
"I don't like the low level of role-based security it provides – it's very cumbersome, and the support is ordinary at times."
 

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."
"It is expensive per head, as you need the enterprise license to get full security and tools. So negotiate a discount!"
"A business account has a minimum of three users. If you are more than three people in-house, go for the Enterprise version. All the external users are free of charge."
"Box needs to improve with their pricing in terms of licensing costs."
"The pricing may seem steep at first, but delve into the features and you'll soon realize it is incredible value for what you get."
"They are very price competitive when pushed. Initially, they come out with a standard list price, but they are willing to be very competitive. The Box price was pretty much equal to or lower than the Citrix price, and Box has more features."
"Better sign a full year's contract to get a discount."
"I have to pay for Box. It could be a little cheaper. On a scale from one to ten, I would give the pricing a five."
"There's a free version that allows you to use it with almost full-feature access. Even in the free version, it gives you all you need."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
9%
Educational Organization
54%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Computer Software Company
5%
Government
4%
 

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. ...
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...
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...
What do you like most about Box?
The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Box?
The solution is expensive when it comes to API calls.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.
GE, Toyota, P&G, Caterpillar, Flex, Schneider Electric, Sally Beauty, Eurostar, AstraZeneca, AirBnB, Whirlpool, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Nationwide, Aeropostale etc
Find out what your peers are saying about Alfresco vs. Box and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.