Control-M vs Kiteworks comparison

Read 13 Kiteworks reviews

2,789 Views
1,952 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Control-M

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Kiteworks and Control-M are competing in the secure file sharing and workload automation categories. While Kiteworks is favored for its lower pricing and customer support, Control-M takes the lead with its extensive features despite a higher cost.

Features: Kiteworks provides secure file sharing with governance, two-factor authentication, and large file transfer capabilities, supporting up to 100 GB files. It also has built-in antivirus scanning for security. Control-M offers comprehensive workload automation with advanced scheduling and batch processing, cross-platform job dependencies, and integration modules for various applications like SAP and Informatica.

Room for Improvement: Kiteworks could enhance its mobile app functionalities, improve document sharing features, and expand integration with third-party applications. Control-M may benefit from simplifying its interface, reducing deployment complexity, and enhancing user training materials for easier new user onboarding.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Kiteworks is easy to deploy without requiring deep IT resources, and it comes with responsive customer support facilitating a smooth setup. Control-M, while requiring a complex setup, provides extensive documentation and technical support that cater to managing intricate configurations.

Pricing and ROI: Kiteworks presents a lower initial cost, offering a quick return on investment by improving secure communications. Control-M, although pricier, offers a substantial ROI through its automation features, which improve productivity and lower operational costs over time.

To learn more, read our detailed Control-M vs. Kiteworks Report (Updated: July 2025).

Download the complete report

Control-M vs. Kiteworks

July 2025

Helped 865,384 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:

Categories and Ranking

Control-M

Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

126

Ranking in other categories

Process Automation (2nd), Workload Automation (1st)

Kiteworks

Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)

6th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Content Management (15th), Email Security (33rd), Content Collaboration Platforms (14th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of Control-M is 4.8%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kiteworks is 9.6%, up from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Managed File Transfer (MFT)

Featured Reviews

Ujjwal Sachdeva

Data scientist at Advarisk

Efficient automation and boosted workflow but needs better integration methods

Control-M is a bit faster compared to other solutions. The job and coding are easier. Also, my DevOps and Ops teams work collaboratively with it, enhancing its efficiency. The workflow is much easier compared to the ACS services we were using. Automation is more advanced, deployment is fast, and version control has been simplified.

Read full review

Sukkanta Banerjee

Senior Software Engineer at Wipro Limited

Two-factor authentication and .ZIP format make large file transfers very secure

The most valuable feature is the ability to send a large file of 30 GB in size and more. In Outlook and other email applications, you cannot send files that are larger than 20 MB. But with Kiteworks, 30 GB is transferable by default and, with the proper approval, a file of up to 100 GB can be sent. It makes file transfer very easy and smooth. Also, only the .ZIP format is supported because it is a very secure mode of file transfer, and that is why it is recommended. It also has built-in antivirus, so if it detects any malware it will quarantine the file and it won't be delivered. This is really important to keep the service up and running in a proper and secure manner. With people working from home, the data needs to be checked to see what kind of data is being sent. It has a two-factor authentication mechanism. For example, if a person with a particular domain is using Kiteworks and sends a file to a party outside of his domain, that external party has to go through two-factor authentication. The receiver gets a link that takes them to the setup of a temporary account, which will be valid for three days. The recipient will also receive a customized password separately. Only after all these steps will they be able to access the file. That access is only available to a person with the mail ID to which the file was sent. In addition, admins can see who is sending sensitive content, what that content is, and to whom it is being sent, and can track emails. One week of good training will give a user complete knowledge for using the solution. The system is very easy to use. You just click on "Compose," attach a file, and send it. It's very easy compared to Outlook or Teams. It's quite simple, even for someone logging in for the first time. It is very smooth and easy to send files.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"BIM is helpful because we do not miss any SLAs, as we get to know the issue well in advance. It is the topmost service that has helped us provide better solutions for the business."

"As soon as you have an issue, a ticket is created and the tech support is quite responsive."

"Promotions between environments, as well as local, mass update, versioning, and self-service."

"The best feature of Control-M is its orchestration capabilities for any orchestration that's required. Control-M has positively impacted my organization by helping with orchestrating complex tasks."

"We use Control-M for maintenance on our Oracle and SQL Server databases. It automates maintenance on packages, including standard procedures on the databases themselves, snapshots, checking integrity, verifying the RDBMS of the databases, etc. It ensures they aren't clogged and that they are running smoothly and that there aren't any jobs stuck, eating up the performance of the server or any of the CPU cores."

"It is very stable. We hardly get calls in respect to issues on Control-M, particularly on version 9.0.19."

"Monitoring is a valuable aspect of it. The monitoring tool is very good, and it is easy for expert and entry level users to use on a short notice."

"The best feature is that we can automate everything. Moreover, we can access all the features through one dashboard, which is beneficial."

More Control-M pros

"The most valuable feature is the ability to send a large file of 30 GB in size and more. In Outlook and other email applications, you cannot send files that are larger than 20 MB. But with Kiteworks, 30 GB is transferable by default and, with the proper approval, a file of up to 100 GB can be sent. It makes file transfer very easy and smooth."

"Scalability is impressive."

"I can identify from which region our users are uploading or downloading files."

"The most valuable aspect of Kiteworks is undoubtedly the private content network. This feature is particularly beneficial for us. Furthermore, it serves as a centralized platform that enables us to track and manage our information exchange."

"We could see whether the customer with whom we shared a file had downloaded it, which was not available with GitHub."

"The top two features are the two-factor authentication, which is pretty good. It's easily understood by the users. And their API is rather robust. We have numerous integrations that work off the API."

"The solution can be used remotely; it's easy to upload and share files."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to allow end-users to manage their own information and data with minimal administration. That's the best feature from my perspective."

More Kiteworks pros

Cons

"I would like to see automatic license management. And probably more importantly, some kind of machine learning to help identify the optimum automation path."

"They can give more predefined plug-ins so that we don't have to create them."

"The licensing cost can be improved."

"It has a slight issue with daylight savings time while advancing the clock in the Spring."

"In general, it is a very good product, and we are very happy with it. It meets all of our expectations."

"The performance could be better. Control-M Enterprise Manager tends to slow the system down even on a server with a six-core processor and 32 gigabytes RAM. The console is Java-based, so maybe OpenJDK 16 or 17 would be a performance improvement."

"A smartphone interface would be welcome."

"The stability could be improved. I ran into an issue with a recent Control-M patch. The environment would become unstable if security ports were scanned. This is an area they need to improve on, but ultimately it's a relatively small improvement."

More Control-M cons

"File location could be improved."

"The one feature, which I have also requested directly to Kiteworks, is to have a scheduled upgrade function. Currently, one of my engineers logs in after hours for the upgrade. We're a hospital, and we're 24/7, but the primary users are seven to five. So, we log in the early evening just to push a button to tell it to do the update. It would be nice if that could be very easily scheduled."

"I would like to see immediate releases of fixes because now it takes at least a week. If that time span can be reduced to one day or two days, that would be very helpful for users so that things are sorted and transactions work smoothly."

"I noticed the Kiteworks login UI is very basic, lacking customization. Allowing more HTML tags to add hyperlinks or user-friendly information on the home page would be very useful."

"It would be nice if Kiteworks could provide a free version of the platform so that it could be used for a certain number of file transfers. We could be charged a fee if we exceeded the number of allotted file transfers."

"There is no offboarding process for end-users in Kiteworks. It's a manual process. There is no automated syncing with LDAP and checking to see if the account is still active. It's a manual process to get people out of here, which isn't the best way."

"In my experience, their technical support can be a little slow."

"Kiteworks could benefit from enhancing the proposal knowledge base section, specifically regarding the type of work involved. Currently, the knowledge base seems insufficiently dedicated to this topic, making it challenging for new users to access the relevant administrative law. Improving the visual aids and providing clearer explanations could alleviate this issue."

More Kiteworks cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They are expensive. If we were a small company, it would be complicated because we have to have strong sales and operations to be able to afford a tool of this level. Being a large company, the cost-benefit is covered, but it is not within the level of cheap solutions."

"The pricing is reasonable. It's not an exorbitant amount. The licensing is pretty reasonable for the number of jobs that we run."

"This is an area where it is a little difficult to work with BMC. They want to do licenses by job, which is what we have. For example, the simplest is to license by job, but they can also license by nodes. While the licensing is simple to use, it might not be the correct licensing model for the customer. It is okay because we want to license by job, which is something measurable. At the end of the day, licensing by job is the most important."

"We have account based licensing. There are two or three types of licensing. One of them is based on the number of jobs, so we a license close to 4,000 jobs per day. The cost is based on the different modules, which we buy from them. If we a buy a hardware module, which we are presently using and integrating, that is an additional cost, but I'm not sure of the amount. Each module comes with a different cost."

"The cost of the hardware is high. Because you need to license each job, it is costly."

"The license model is based on the number of jobs we run on the SaaS application or the number of executions, unlike the on-premise model options. If we have a handful of jobs, it's always good to consider Control-M, but if it's a large number of jobs, Control-M might not be a great option."

"BMC's price is based on the number of jobs."

"It is a little bit expensive."

More Control-M pricing and cost advice

"The price of Kiteworks is reasonable."

"It is not really expensive. I mean, to me it's obviously expensive, but it's worth it."

"The license management is changing and confusing. If I could make one change to it, it would be better license management through the API."

"I believe it's a little costly, but given the faith that we put into it from a security perspective to maintain the integrity of our patient information that is being transferred through this system, that's a small price to pay. So, on the surface, it might look like a lot of money, but depending on the need for security, which is where we feel it shines, it's okay price-wise."

"The solution is very expensive because we are buying with Malaysian Ringgit and it's sold in US dollars."

"They changed it midstream. We were being charged a certain flat rate for SFTP traffic. For whatever reason, at the beginning of the year, our pricing changed, and we are now being charged more for using a feature of the product than we were when we first bought it. That has been our experience with billing. It turned out to be more expensive than when we started with it."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Government

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

How does Control-M compare with AutoSys Workload Automation?

Control-M acts as a single, centralized interface for monitoring and managing all batch processes, which is helpful because nothing gets left unattended since it is all visible in one place, and th...

What do you like most about Control-M?

First of all, the shift from manual to automation has been valuable. We have a tool that can automate.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Control-M?

Its cost can be more competitive. One of the main things customers look at is the cost. It's not affordable. The cost is very high, according to my customers. The licensing cost is very high, and t...

What is Kiteworks?

Kiteworks is a secured file sharing platform that enables users to collaborate with different parties across a robust offering of secured protected channels. Users have the option of virtual privat...

What do you like most about Kiteworks?

The benefits that Kiteworks has provided to its customers in terms of data sovereignty.

What needs improvement with Kiteworks?

I'm not a network expert, however, there must be some room for improvement. Perhaps there could be a notification to users about their bandwidth or network packet loss. If users receive such notifi...

AutoSys Workload Automation vs Control-M

Comparisons

Compared 13% of the time

Redwood RunMyJobs vs Control-M

Compared 8% of the time

Automic Automation vs Control-M

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Workload Automation vs Control-M

Compared 6% of the time

Stonebranch vs Control-M

Compared 5% of the time

More Control-M Competitors

Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct vs Kiteworks

Compared 34% of the time

SharePoint vs Kiteworks

Compared 10% of the time

GoAnywhere MFT vs Kiteworks

Compared 8% of the time

FileCloud vs Kiteworks

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Kiteworks

Compared 6% of the time

More Kiteworks Competitors

Product Reports

Download Control-M product report

Control-M

August 2025

Download Kiteworks product report

August 2025

Also Known As

Control M

Accellion

Interactive Demo

BMC

Demo not available

Overview

Control-M by BMC offers orchestration for hybrid cloud workflows, starting at $29,000 annually. It's designed for teams managing dependencies efficiently with automation and scheduling capabilities.

Control-M is known for its automation, integration, and scheduling capabilities. It provides a user-friendly GUI for seamless third-party application integration and robust file transfer capabilities. Role-based administration features, self-service portals, and the ability to handle complex workflows enhance operational efficiency. Its control modules enable diverse integrations, while forecasting, monitoring, and alerting functionalities improve reliability and adaptability across platforms, making it essential for orchestrating tasks efficiently.

What are Control-M's key features?

User-Friendly GUI: Offers intuitive interface for easy navigation.
Seamless Third-Party Integration: Facilitates smooth interaction with other tools.
Robust File Transfer: Ensures reliable and secure data movement.
Role-Based Administration: Enhances security and access control.
Self-Service Portal: Enables users to manage tasks independently.
Forecasting and Monitoring: Provides predictive insights for better planning.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Operational Efficiency: Streamlines processes and reduces manual tasks.
Improved Reliability: Minimizes errors with automated workflows.
Real-Time Insights: Offers visibility into job performance and system status.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs.
Integration Flexibility: Supports diverse applications and environments.

Control-M is vital in industries like financial services, data management, and IT operations. It automates batch processing, job automation, and file transfers, supporting applications such as SAP, Oracle, and Informatica. This enhances transparency, reduces errors, and provides insights into job performance and system status.

BMC

Kiteworks empowers organizations to effectively manage risk in every send, share, receive, and save of sensitive content over numerous communications channels: email, file sharing, managed file transfer, APIs, and web forms. The Kiteworks platform unifies, tracks, controls, and secures sensitive content moving within, into, and out of an organization, significantly improving risk management and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Sample Customers

CARFAX, Tampa General Hospital, Navistar, Amadeus, Raymond James, Railinc

United States Securities and Exchange Commission, National Health Service, Husch Blackwell LLP, NYC Health + Hospitals, Viatris, MITRE Corporation, Chubb, Kraft Heinz, KPMG, Kohler, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Purdue Pharma, AVL