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Alfresco vs Hyland OnBase 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
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Document Management Software (3rd)
Hyland OnBase
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (17th), Low-Code Development Platforms (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 7.7%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hyland OnBase is 6.6%, up from 5.8% 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…
Srinivas Rao Kagitha - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good dashboards and reports but fails to offer better migration features
The migration is a bit difficult in the tool. Whenever we make certain changes to workflow or other stuff, migrating the code from one environment to another is a bit tedious. The tool has an option for export and import, which is not robust. Most of the time, we need to do things stuff manually. For example, if we make any changes in the existing life cycle or any queues, we have to move those changes manually. There is no robust way to migrate code from one environment to a lower environment, like prod. When it comes to the product's technical support, the turnaround time is a bit longer than expected. The issue may be because there are a number of issues or a large number of customers who are reaching out to the support team for help. I believe that the solution's technical team can provide a solution more quickly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the ease of use, sections, and calendar."
"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 digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."
"You can meet your users' expected features without having Alfresco's involvement."
"Alfresco's technical support is very fast and professional."
"The product allows engineering teams and developers to introduce new things in a seamless and easy way."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the searching elements of the metadata."
"Document repository."
"Its most valuable aspect is its flexibility"
"The solution is very developed and we are not taking full advantage of its functionalities."
"We found the setup process to be okay since they do offer a troubleshooting guide."
"I like the cloud and its integrability."
"The solution's most valuable features are integration and flexibility."
"The most valuable features are that it's very secure and provides audit trails for our documents."
"It provided data security features, allowing restrictions on sensitive documents, such as who could view or modify them."
"OnBase is a remarkable tool. It is a well-done product. Hyland has a lot of experience in building it and looking for new things for clients in terms of functionalities. It has amazing stability, and it can grow horizontally and vertically. It is built for growth. Their technical support is also quite good and available throughout the year."
 

Cons

"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."
"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."
"Metadata, auto class, disposition log, and legal hold."
"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."
"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."
"I would like them to consider document capture functionality."
"I think the presentation layer could be improved - currently, it's too complex, and there are too many features cluttered all over the screen."
"Software malfunctioning usually occurs when we receive documents from external sources."
"I find OnBase's monolithic architecture to be expensive, and adopting microservices could be beneficial."
"The application could potentially be more open-source, allowing integration with more solutions."
"The migration is a bit difficult in the tool."
"The solution’s initial setup is a little difficult."
"We found the size of images to be a restriction, though this may have been due to the API used rather than the Hyland application."
"An area for improvement would be the training - getting our people up to speed on how to use it required more training than we expected due to the complexity of the solution."
"We need to troubleshoot why our reports didn't get downloaded in a day. There is a workflow feature which powerful but also complicated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 cheaper compared to head-to-head competitors."
"There are costs for any upgrade or additional functions."
"There are a number of different types of licenses. There are concurrent licenses, individual licenses and imaging licenses."
"The solution costs around $6,000 per month."
"The tool's price is high."
"They can do better in terms of the pricing model. It is a really expensive tool in Latin America. They should have different prices for different regions."
"OnBase is reasonably priced."
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Answers from the Community

zuka19 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 9, 2022
Aug 9, 2022
last I knew they were two separate products/platforms. Before I left in February of this year there was talk of potentially combining platforms for a more cloud native somewhat combined platform. I no longer have access or knowledge of the current product/solution roadmap.
See 2 answers
EB
Jul 25, 2022
Hi @Andrea González, @reviewer1210746 and @reviewer1279998, Can you possibly assist @zuka19 ​with their question? Thanks for your help.​ ​ ​
MB
Aug 9, 2022
last I knew they were two separate products/platforms.   Before I left in February of this year there was talk of potentially combining platforms for a more cloud native somewhat combined platform.   I no longer have access or knowledge of the current product/solution roadmap.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
8%
Government
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
 

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 Hyland OnBase?
The solution is very developed and we are not taking full advantage of its functionalities.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hyland OnBase?
I find pricing to be on the higher side due to its monolithic architecture. I would rate it six out of ten. Transitioning to microservices, allowing users to pay for only what they use, could reduc...
What needs improvement with Hyland OnBase?
I believe the reporting features need improvement, as other competitors in the market provide better analytics. Hyland is working on a new platform (HXP) to integrate features from all products, ad...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
OnBase
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.
Honda France Industries, Hill County Texas, Hylant Group, ING Lease France, State of South Carolina, Syracuse University, Swindon College, Rhode Island Department of Human Services, Rochester Institute of Technology, Moen, Odense University Hospital
Find out what your peers are saying about Alfresco vs. Hyland OnBase and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.