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Alfresco vs DocuWare vs OpenText Content Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 7.6%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DocuWare is 1.2%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Content Manager is 4.3%, up from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Alfresco7.6%
OpenText Content Manager4.3%
DocuWare1.2%
Other86.9%
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Maria Giulia - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at Wells Fargo
Streamlined document workflows have improved collaboration and supported compliant record management
Alfresco delivers an open, scalable, cloud-native content, process, and governance management suite. When it comes to document management, it is one of the best and top-notch solutions available. Alfresco helps us to quickly find and access information from anywhere on any device using web-based viewing tools. It is a very intelligent tool because it provides intelligent process management where integrated process and content service capabilities streamline content-centric processes and enable faster and more informed decision-making. I love the basic workflows that are easy enough for casual users to set up and utilize. Cloud synchronization capability provides a great way to share documents with third parties and to use as a backup system for critical documents. The best features Alfresco offers include the Alfresco mobile app, folder rules that are easy to set up, and the ability to make metadata assessment easier to automate. Easy customization and support from Alfresco are great advantages. We have been able to automate most of the repetitive tasks using folder rules and metadata automation, saving a lot of time and cost. Through the Alfresco mobile app, it makes it easy for those on the road to access, approve, and share documents, promoting collaboration. Deal flow processes run much more efficiently. Compliance needs are easily met in a cost-effective manner.
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.
Maurice Riverso - PeerSpot reviewer
Records Management Officer at ANZPAA
Our our official repository and it has disposal management and retention management
The security architecture is the only problem as it's a little bit complex and too torturous at times. So it could be improved a little bit, but it is regarded as a very good system in Australia. It's probably overly subscribed. Also, what's missing is what people would like, which is basically online collaboration. That's a problem. But it has so many other things to offer that SharePoint, I'm sure, will not have. So, that will be an interesting issue to come up. It's not very good at providing stable and robust add-ins to Microsoft. That's a bit of a problem with Content Manager. They're kind of very volatile. So, that's been definitely something that could be improved.

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 has positively impacted my organization by improving information flow to the shop floor, enabling electronic filing of our parts and drawings, and increasing employee efficiency."
"You can meet your users' expected features without having Alfresco's involvement."
"If you are looking for a product which has all the common functionalities such as document and media management, record management, workflows, document indexing and searching, then in that case, Alfresco is the platform that you need."
"The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."
"My advice for others looking into using Alfresco is that it is a great content management tool that is very cost-effective, easy to use, and has a very intuitive user-friendly interface."
"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."
"Alfresco allows broad searches with many index fields that you can search on, although the created fields and their values may not be intuitive."
"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."
"Customer Service: We appreciate HPE's team of resources, who assist us as issues arise."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to search, sort and retrieve using metadata; in particular, the ability to create custom reports using the print merge functionality as per the requests that are issued from clients."
"This is a wonderful product with many options."
"For a records management system, Content Manager is a really good system."
"My advice to others is that they cannot go wrong with the solution."
"The tool's implementation has made life easier for customers. It is sold by SAP. The integration between SAP and the solution is good, making it easy to access the documents. It is widely recognized as a market leader in enterprise document management."
"There many ways that this application has improved our organization. The most significant is the reduction in paper generation and the ability to electronically annotate and manage all our documents."
"The product allows us to run our Notice of Destructions seamlessly and produces our annual folders with ease."
 

Cons

"If you don't have proper governance, things can go wrong. You have to make rules, such as one folder should not have more than 5,000 subfolders or children."
"The configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."
"Some of the user interface could be more intuitive, such as the new record category, where the expression is a term and not really a dynamically evaluated expression as it might imply."
"One of the main areas that should be improved is when users are members of 1,000 sites or more, certain features such as site dashlets do not work properly."
"I think the presentation layer could be improved - currently, it's too complex, and there are too many features cluttered all over the screen."
"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."
"Alfresco has a very steep learning curve, and unfortunately, during the learning process, it's very easy to make errors, which often are unforgiving."
"Its graphical user interface could be more user-friendly."
"It should have collaboration features."
"The stability of the solution is an area of concern where improvements can be made."
"I would like to see an improvement in the licensing process. It is very complicated and it seems to involve many different people throughout the entire process."
"Functionality gets removed as new versions are released."
"This web client requires more refinement to be viable as a desktop client replacement."
"We have not yet utilized the web version, as we encountered a few issues during testing."
"The product could improve its scalability."
"Users are intimidated by the Content Manager client application, especially when it comes to searching and managing content at an individual’s level."
"Many projects I've worked on encounter issues in production relating to load balancing and throttling where systems cannot cope with the volumes and capacity of transactional processing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are costs for any upgrade or additional functions."
"It is cheaper compared to head-to-head competitors."
"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."
"The fees incurred are for the licensing and maintenance."
"I would suggest that you do a thorough evaluation of all competing products and look for support for these products in your local area."
"The solution's licensing cost depends on the customer domain. Though its costs are high, the product is worth the money. You have to pay a one-time cost and support costs."
"I rate the product price an eight or nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive. The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise10
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alfresco?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing is that Alfresco is very cheap and cost-effective.
What needs improvement with Alfresco?
One area where Alfresco can be improved is the ability to scan directly using Alfresco. Additionally, I would appreci...
What is your primary use case for Alfresco?
My main use case for Alfresco is that I implemented Alfresco Content Services to solve complex enterprise problems fo...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about Micro Focus Content Manager?
An advantage is integration with your IP directory.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Content Manager?
Pricing is a disadvantage as it is very expensive, especially in this market.
What needs improvement with Micro Focus Content Manager?
Pricing is an issue, as it is too expensive. Support and services need to be more user-friendly. The support has been...
 

Also Known As

No data available
No data available
Micro Focus Content Manager, HPE Records Manager, HPE Content Manager
 

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
Missouri State Courts
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, IBM, Adobe and others in Enterprise Content Management. Updated: March 2026.
885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.