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Alfresco vs OpenText Extended ECM vs SharePoint 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 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 OpenText Extended ECM is 11.5%, up from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SharePoint is 16.4%, down from 20.3% 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…
Jaideep MS - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Sanil Paul - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined collaboration through seamless integration and customization
I have been an administrator for SharePoint and have used it as an end-user for document storage. Predominantly, I've been involved in administration SharePoint helps a lot since we've moved from using it directly to using it as a backend for Teams, which makes collaboration easier. It supports…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You can meet your users' expected features without having Alfresco's involvement."
"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 digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."
"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."
"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."
"Being able to search is valuable. Its search is pretty powerful. We are able to search for specific text, and it points us to the document that has that text. That is pretty powerful."
"The solution's automatic document numbering, state management, and process flow are very useful features to go through the full cycle of the document."
"It's a very good solution."
"We can configure the solution with any industry's products per customer requirements."
"WebReports has a lot of capabilities that offer good opportunities to customize the applications the way we want to."
"Smart Viewing videos are most valuable for the end users. The end users like the look and feel of Smart View. It's similar to SharePoint, with the latest HTML5 features, filters, and everything. It's like online shopping."
"The engineering document management system is one of the most valuable features."
"An SAP user can store documents directly into OpenText without a connector."
"It improved transparency around work products."
"OneDrive and SharePoint provide a secure, fully auditable way of storing information."
"I do like the collaboration around documents. The versioning history has proven useful in some instances as well."
"SharePoint's collaborative features are valuable as they enable productivity by allowing multiple users to edit documents simultaneously."
"The most valuable feature of SharePoint is its user interface, which is very easy to use."
"It is very stable."
"Our staff found it simpler, as they did not have to work within a classification system."
"Removed the need of paper storage and people flow into the office."
 

Cons

"Alfresco has a very steep learning curve, and unfortunately, during the learning process, it's very easy to make errors, which often are unforgiving."
"I think the presentation layer could be improved - currently, it's too complex, and there are too many features cluttered all over the screen."
"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."
"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."
"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."
"I would like them to consider document capture functionality."
"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."
"OpenText Extended ECM's user interface could be improved."
"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."
"I have not used it enough to start running into issues. Some of my technical guys could name a couple of things, but in terms of support, we did have challenges getting good responses from them."
"User interface needs improvement (at least in the version we are using, desktop client)."
"The annotation tool needs improvement. In other tools, such as Hyland OnBase, you can easily do annotation. You can easily merge documents. You can easily compare documents, whereas with OpenText, it seems to be a challenge."
"The solution should work better with partners and be more developer-friendly."
"The product does not perform 100% when used outside of a Microsoft based browser, Chrome, Firefox, etc."
"Workflow is something that can become more intelligent."
"More hints and make it more user-customizable."
"​The support is the worst. It is bad when Microsoft support does not even know what to do and you have to tell them. Also, they take too long to solve a problem.​"
"We'd like to be able to upload from MS Excel to deploy tasks and use drop-down lists to collect further information."
"SharePoint is not always intuitive to use and can be overwhelming for non-tech-savvy users."
"We would like more security features, like automating."
"It should have more user-friendly customization, as it still requires developers to get engaged and build sites."
 

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."
"The licensing is not that complex for the core products, but it becomes more complicated for some additional modules."
"The total cost of the product will vary on the capabilities required"
"The product is pricey."
"The pricing is costly. It's costly to integrate with Office 365 and to go back and forth with the sales team."
"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."
"OpenText Extended ECM's pricing and licensing are aggressive and confusing for the end customer."
"The solution is expensive."
"OpenText Extended ECM is an expensive solution."
"The pricing works for us."
"It is pretty reasonable. It is $5 per month per user. We have 12 users now, so it is about $60 per month."
"The pricing is competitive."
"Licensing can be by server or by seat."
"SharePoint is included with our Microsoft license."
"The replacement costs for it are cheaper if you use only SharePoint."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"The solution's pricing is relatively expensive because it's bundled with other products."
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Comparison Review

it_user8925 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 23, 2013
Jive vs Sharepoint vs Drupal Commons
At Mediacurrent we often get requests to compare Drupal to other platforms used for intranet sites and social business platforms (like https://dev.twitter.com/ for example). This is often referred to as “Social Business Software”, which has grown in popularity in recent years. I decided to do a…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

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...
What needs improvement with Alfresco?
Currently, documents in Alfresco are stored on a file server, which, while good for performance, is a security risk. ...
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 s...
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...
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.
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SharePoint?
As SharePoint is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, the pricing is acceptable.
What needs improvement with SharePoint?
The web parts in SharePoint could be more intuitive for end users. Many do not fully understand these features, and i...
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenText Content Suite Platform, OpenText Core Share
SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2010
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.
ATCO Australia, MSIG Asia, Orica, Salt River Project
Toyota, Aeroports de Paris, ASBBank Ltd., Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, CambridgeshireConstabulary, D&M Group, NPL Construction Company, and The Regional Municipality of Niagara.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, OpenText, IBM and others in Enterprise Content Management. Updated: June 2025.
857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.