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Alfresco vs DocuWare comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 1, 2026

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
4th
Ranking in Document Management Software
1st
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
DocuWare
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
24th
Ranking in Document Management Software
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Storage (50th), Content Collaboration Platforms (33rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Document Management Software category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 9.5%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DocuWare is 5.8%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Document Management Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Alfresco9.5%
DocuWare5.8%
Other84.7%
Document Management Software
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2845779 - PeerSpot reviewer
Gerente De Proyectos at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Centralized document control has improved audits and daily workflows with accurate versions
I consider the best features that Alfresco offers to be its handling of document versioning, legal retention, traceability, and granular permissions, which helps considerably for audits. Traceability and granular permissions have greatly impacted my daily management. These aspects have improved efficiency and security in my organization. Security has been improved since with granular permissions we can give the proper access to collaborators. Those who need to read a document only have that permission, and we can also see who has permission to view a document and control who can edit and who can upload a document. Alfresco has positively impacted my organization since everything is centralized, so you do not have to waste time wondering whether the information you need is on this server or that server. Everything is in one place and everyone has their own access. I have noticed a change in team efficiency, response times, and error reduction thanks to the centralization of information. Time has improved, meaning time is not lost searching for documents. In addition, errors have been reduced, as you always have the correct version of the file. There is not one version here and another over there. You always have the updated version.
RC
Enterprise Architect at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Great document storing and easy to set up but needs to offer more collaboration capabilities
It should have collaboration features. For example, if I upload a document and I want the document which I upload to be discussed among my colleagues and peers, I should be able to share. I'd like for us to be collaborating, discussing the document, adding to the document, et cetera. I'd like it to be possible for teams to collaboratively create the document. Compliance or records management could be improved. For example, if I upload a document, a legal document such as a contract, when you onboard a new customer, you would like to have that contract document stored. At the same time, it should be logged. Once a document is approved and taken by printout and sent to the customer, it should be logged. It should not be allowed to be editable; you shouldn't be able to make changes to it. For records management, it should only be accessible to some people, not everyone. I would like to have records management features and compliance features where data could be hidden. Items such as personal data should be hidden or masked. I would like to have GDPR features added. We had some slight hiccups during the setup process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup was straightforward, because Alfresco also provides a stack installer that includes the required supporting software."
"Alfresco has impacted my organization and my customers' organizations positively by enabling them to have a very flexible solution that could meet their requirements."
"We are happy with Alfresco, believing it to be a very good and competitive solution in price as a great content management solution."
"Alfresco is the only enterprise CMS that has features like contribution, sharing, workflows, automation and robust content and record management, that are also Open Source."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the searching elements of the metadata."
"Document repository."
"The ROI from Alfresco is highly profitable for the company, helping us accelerate operational excellence and decrease compliance risk while increasing compliance mitigation, saving at least seventy to eighty percent in time and forty to forty-five percent in manual labor, cutting processing time by ninety percent, reducing physical storage costs by eighty percent, and protecting us from massive financial penalties associated with compliance failures totaling approximately two million dollars."
"Alfresco has positively impacted my organization by improving the accessibility of documents across the enterprise, serving as a centralized location for all documents from every business unit."
"DocuWare allows for easy document management and workflow automation, eliminating the need for physical paperwork and streamlining the approval process."
"For the most part, the initial setup is easy. There's good documentation."
 

Cons

"Metadata, auto class, disposition log, and legal hold."
"The configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."
"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."
"Alfresco could be improved in terms of maintenance and could have a simpler architecture regarding search functionality."
"I have not seen a return on investment, as at the time it was not saving them money at Evernorth and Cigna, which is why they moved out of it."
"There is need to improve features such as the record management and case management in the product."
"Currently, documents in Alfresco are stored on a file server, which, while good for performance, is a security risk."
"I choose eight out of ten because I have dealt with the system being down at times and not having access, which keeps it from being a perfect score."
"It should have collaboration features."
"Its graphical user interface could be more user-friendly."
 

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."
"While the price may be considered slightly high, it is still reasonable within the context of other options available on the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise14
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alfresco?
My experience with the price, implementation cost, and licenses for the platform is that the price has been fair, the implementation cost stayed within budget, and we consider the platform licenses...
What needs improvement with Alfresco?
Alfresco could be improved in terms of maintenance and could have a simpler architecture regarding search functionality. If I change the metadata, I have to perform re-indexing of all the content f...
What is your primary use case for Alfresco?
My main use case for Alfresco is as a content management system at an enterprise level. A specific example of how I use Alfresco as an enterprise level content management system is for sharing docu...
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Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.
King Hussein Cancer Center, Smart Choice, Tippecanoe County
Find out what your peers are saying about Alfresco vs. DocuWare and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,344 professionals have used our research since 2012.