Alfresco vs IBM FileNet vs OpenText Content Management comparison

Hyland and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. Hyland is ranked #9 with an average rating of 6.8, while IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0. Hyland holds a 7.6% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM’s 9.4% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of Hyland users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Alfresco

Read 14 Alfresco reviews

2,397 Views
1,990 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 102 IBM FileNet reviews

3,570 Views
3,284 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

OpenText Content Management

Read 21 OpenText Content Management reviews

3,298 Views
2,902 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Alfresco

IBM FileNet

OpenText Content Management

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Alfresco, IBM FileNet, and OpenText Content Management based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, OpenText, IBM and others in Enterprise Content Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Enterprise Content Management Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Content Management

July 2025

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Helped 862,077 peers since 2012

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 July 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 7.6%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 9.4%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Content Management is 11.1%, up from 10.3% 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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Jaideep MS

Practice Director at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees

Enables effective document control yet requires better affordability and clarity

I use extended ECM for procurement, sales, engineering documents, and sometimes invoices and accounts payable or receivable The version controls and the business workspace part integrate well with SAP and OpenText, providing granular level control over who accesses the workspace. The seamless…

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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

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

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

"Document repository."

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

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

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

"You can meet your users' expected features without having Alfresco's involvement."

"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."

More Alfresco pros

"We shred all our paper and no longer need the cabinet space. We used to have about six to 12 inches of cabinet space per customer, which is now gone."

"It is used by large enterprises. It has to be scalable and robust for them to use. We have seen that on multiple projects over the years."

"The best part of FileNet includes its advantages and most valuable features, which are its scalability and stability."

"IBM FileNet was more scalable."

"The features that I have found most valuable include the Data Capture and Case Manager features."

"It is a faster, robust solution. The platform compatibility is very good."

"FileNet is highly scalable and suited for implementation in large multinational organizations."

"It is a user-friendly system and easy to manage for anyone with basic knowledge."

More IBM FileNet pros

"The solution's automatic document numbering, state management, and process flow are very useful features to go through the full cycle of the document."

"The ability to add metadata and use that to categorize information is a valuable feature of OpenText Extended ECM."

"We use Core Share to share documents with external auditors or with vendors, and that prevents them from being able to get into the whole system. It is useful."

"An SAP user can store documents directly into OpenText without a connector."

"OpenText Extended ECM's most valuable features include permissions and security models. I also like the tool's ability to add metadata and use it to categorize information."

"It's a very good solution."

"The version controls and the business workspace part integrate well with SAP and OpenText, providing granular level control over who accesses the workspace."

"Retention is useful. I have been pleased with the search functionality and the extensibility for tying it into integrations with other systems and building workflows on top of it."

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."

"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 configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."

"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."

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

"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."

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

More Alfresco cons

"The API provided by IBM FileNet is a very out-of-date implementation. From the beginning, we cannot use a REST API; we have to use the IBM FileNet native API, which is quite outdated."

"We know that they're looking at documents, but we don't know what documents they're actually going and finding the most, or where the bottlenecks might be. It would be nice if there was some interconnectivity back into Bluemix to say, "Ok, you've got a workflow problem here." That would be a neat feature moving forward because we've got a lot of users that would just say, "The system is not working." We had a few threads would get hung up because they were just constantly banging on these few documents. If that were the case, if we knew that ahead of time, then we could fix that, change the search sequences to make it more efficient. But we were blind to that until the users said it's not working."

"The product is expensive."

"The application's processing engineer needs to be more advanced."

"It needs better collaboration between the IBM teams on the FileNet and CCM sides."

"There is room for improvement in the scanning solution, Datacap. It's improving all the time. But since it's more an end-user software, the end-users are constantly improving their processes, and I believe that sometimes we're not catching up with their requirements."

"If there was more AI capability, into Watson, that would be a benefit."

"What I would like to see is more integration."

More IBM FileNet cons

"The solution needs to improve the user interface."

"When it comes to addressing complex use cases, three or four years ago, we ended up purchasing an additional OpenText product called AppWorks because we started to run into some limitations with the workflow that can be done in Extended ECM. It was a little limiting, so we ended up getting another product."

"The solution's performance, stability, and consistency could be improved."

"We had some issues with scalability in the production. So, I would rate it a five out of ten."

"The cost of the product could be improved."

"The response time is not effective, and the staff lacks adequate knowledge."

"The solution should work better with partners and be more developer-friendly."

"More out-of-the-box automation features should be added to OpenText Extended ECM."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

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

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

"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."

"1. It will be more expensive than estimated to setup. 2. You will need to double the staff while you are running the old system and installing the new system. 3. Depending on the number of documents to be migrated, make sure you understand the potentially massive amount of time and effort required to migrate the existing content to the new platform."

"IBM FileNet is an expensive solution."

"My customers have seen ROI. There have been productivity gains, time savings gains, and things that they have been doing much more efficiently in a more modern way than they were before."

"The solution saves time and money. It helps us to be able to accomplish the goals of our business, as opposed to being tangled in the weeds of what we could do."

"Yearly, we pay for the maintenance, which is $20,000."

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

"It has reduced operating costs by reducing the amount of manual work needed."

More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice

"The tool's pricing is confusing to the end customer."

"OpenText Extended ECM is an expensive solution."

"It is a little more expensive than our previous solution, but because of the fact that it has become a rallying point for different groups to come under, it might end up paying off better in the long run by not having seven siloed solutions. Even though this one solution is a little pricey, it might eliminate other ones."

"The total cost of the product will vary on the capabilities required"

"The licensing is not that complex for the core products, but it becomes more complicated for some additional modules."

"The solution is expensive."

"Both Open Text ECM and IBM File share are expensive."

"OpenText Extended ECM's pricing and licensing are aggressive and confusing for the end customer."

More OpenText Content Management pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Government

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Insurance Company

Government

14%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing 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 fr...

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What needs improvement with Alfresco?

Currently, the challenge is the general availability to users. Initially, they had poor documentation, but over the y...

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What is your primary use case for Alfresco?

This is mainly for unstructured document management systems with workflow and data classification.

See all answers

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?

From the company's perspective, the licensing cost for IBM FileNet is still affordable. Though the license cost is so...

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What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?

The API provided by IBM FileNet is a very out-of-date implementation. From the beginning, we cannot use a REST API; w...

See all answers

What do you like most about OpenText Content Suite Platform?

We also have a module on top of the Content Server called WebReports that has been one of the things that helped us f...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenText Content Suite Platform?

The cost is a significant factor that may deter medium-sized businesses from using OpenText extended ECM.

See all answers

What needs improvement with OpenText Content Suite Platform?

The cost of the product could be improved. Currently, there are certain snags in document viewing, and communication ...

See all answers

Comparisons

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs Alfresco

Compared 20% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs Alfresco

Compared 16% of the time

SharePoint vs Alfresco

Compared 11% of the time

Nuxeo vs Alfresco

Compared 8% of the time

DocuWare vs Alfresco

Compared 6% of the time

More Alfresco Competitors

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet

Compared 16% of the time

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs IBM FileNet

Compared 14% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet

Compared 8% of the time

OpenText Content Manager vs IBM FileNet

Compared 6% of the time

IBM ECM vs IBM FileNet

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM FileNet Competitors

SharePoint vs OpenText Content Management

Compared 18% of the time

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs OpenText Content Management

Compared 18% of the time

OpenText Content Manager vs OpenText Content Management

Compared 7% of the time

Hyland OnBase vs OpenText Content Management

Compared 6% of the time

Adobe Experience Manager vs OpenText Content Management

Compared 6% of the time

More OpenText Content Management Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Alfresco

July 2025

Download Alfresco product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

July 2025

Download IBM FileNet product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Content Management

May 2025

Download OpenText Content Management product report

Also Known As

No data available

OpenText Content Suite Platform, OpenText Core Share

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

OpenText Content Management offers seamless document storage and advanced search features. Ideal for organizations needing integration with SAP and other applications, it enhances workflows while ensuring security and compliance across multiple platforms.

OpenText Content Management stands out with its advanced integration capabilities, allowing seamless connectivity with SAP and other applications. Its enhanced security and permission systems safeguard information, vital for industries like banking, utilities, and oil & gas. Metadata categorization and customizable workflows aid in managing complex document lifecycles. Although improvements in visibility and integration with external tools are needed, the platform provides powerful collaboration tools, enhancing productivity. Users leverage document retention and WebReports features to ensure compliance. Challenges with support, performance during peak times, and architecture complexity are noted. Automation features and analytics require enhancement, alongside more user-friendly SmartUI and record management functionalities.

What key features define OpenText Content Management?

Powerful Search Functionality: Delivers rapid, accurate search results across content repositories.
Extensive Integration: Seamlessly integrates with SAP and other applications for enhanced workflow management.
Enhanced Security Systems: Advanced security measures and permission systems protect sensitive data.
Metadata for Document Categorization: Organizes documents efficiently with metadata tagging.
Customizable Workflows: Adaptable workflow options cater to diverse organizational needs.
Collaboration Tools: Boosts team productivity through efficient document management and tagging capabilities.
WebReports and Retention: Offers robust reporting and records retention to maintain compliance.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Improved Productivity: Streamlined collaboration tools enhance team efficiency.
Regulatory Compliance: Comprehensive retention management ensures adherence to policies.
Enhanced Security: Advanced protective measures secure critical information.
Seamless Integration: Consolidates data flow and operational processes.
Efficient Document Management: Lifecycle management improves organization and retrieval time.

OpenText Content Management is widely utilized in sectors such as banking, utilities, and oil & gas. It is implemented to manage software development projects, engineering documents, and workflow automation. Organizations leverage OpenText Extended ECM for document lifecycle management, post-project archiving, and records retention. Integration with platforms like ServiceNow allows efficient handling of document management across global operations, supporting information governance, tax return compilation, and capital projects.

OpenText

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.

ATCO Australia, MSIG Asia, Orica, Salt River Project

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Content Management

July 2025

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