Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet comparison

Hyland and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. Hyland is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.6, while IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0. Hyland holds a 6.5% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM’s 8.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hyland users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Hyland OnBase

Read 13 Hyland OnBase reviews

3,580 Views
2,184 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 102 IBM FileNet reviews

3,699 Views
3,366 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Hyland OnBase

IBM FileNet

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

IBM FileNet and Hyland OnBase both compete in the enterprise content management market, with FileNet taking the upper hand for organizations focused on compliance due to its stability and governance features.

Features: IBM FileNet offers robust scalability, integration with various business units, and comprehensive document management. Its automation capabilities improve business process efficiencies and enterprise search functionality. Hyland OnBase is known for its flexible modular approach, integration abilities, and excellent customization across different business functions.

Room for Improvement: IBM FileNet could improve its integration with other systems and enhance the user-friendly aspects of its Content Navigator. Hyland OnBase may benefit from a more intuitive user interface and improved integration with external applications to enhance overall usability and flexibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM FileNet is mostly on-premises, suitable for organizations with stringent security needs, with mixed reviews on technical support responsiveness. Hyland OnBase offers both cloud and on-premises deployment, providing versatility and generally favorable support, though some users find it complex without training.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FileNet is seen as costly but justified by its powerful capabilities for large enterprises, with ROI realized over an extended period. Hyland OnBase also has a high initial setup cost but offers modular pricing for cost control and significant productivity gains contributing to a good ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet

September 2025

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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

Hyland OnBase

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

5th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (16th), Low-Code Development Platforms (13th)

IBM FileNet

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Hyland OnBase is 6.5%, up from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 8.4%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM FileNet	8.4%
Hyland OnBase	6.5%
Other	85.1%

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

Srinivas Rao Kagitha

Senior Onbase Developer & Administrator at HTC Global Services (INDIA) Private

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.

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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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"The solution's most valuable features are integration and flexibility."

"It provided data security features, allowing restrictions on sensitive documents, such as who could view or modify them."

"I like the cloud and its integrability."

"Hyland OnBase is valued for its security, especially for those in the finance domain who require data confidentiality."

"Its most valuable aspect is its flexibility"

"The solution is very developed and we are not taking full advantage of its functionalities."

"Integrating Hyland OnBase with our systems enabled us to automate document designs and templates, which was extremely helpful in the finance and banking industry."

More Hyland OnBase pros

"It is very stable and reliable."

"The beauty is the response time. It is very good nowadays within the platform."

"We have probably cut out at least 40 percent of what the work process was by easing out that whole distribution of paper."

"The standout feature for us is undoubtedly the Google-like search functionality, which allows us to search for documents within the system effortlessly. Instead of just querying the document database, this feature retrieves all relevant documents, akin to searching on the internet. It is very easy to use."

"It has a robust API. We are able to have systems communicate with each other, and do business process automation."

"It is really usable. There is a lot of support for it. You have the online components to trawl through the storage. I have a lot of fun with it."

"The most valuable features of IBM File Manager are workflow, content, and process capabilities."

"The ability to manage the content well."

More IBM FileNet pros

Cons

"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."

"Software malfunctioning usually occurs when we receive documents from external sources."

"The solution’s initial setup is a little difficult."

"The look and feel could be better. The integration with the user could be better. It could also be more user-friendly."

"The migration is a bit difficult in the tool."

"The application could potentially be more open-source, allowing integration with more solutions."

"I find OnBase's monolithic architecture to be expensive, and adopting microservices could be beneficial."

More Hyland OnBase cons

"FileNet needs improvement in pricing as it has become very expensive."

"The initial setup is complex. It is complex because there are several pieces of software that have to be installed in the right order to make it work alright."

"We do have some individuals that do need to come up to speed on it technically, and the only onsite training for Case Manager is in Europe, there is not a lot of US-based training. So they have to do all their training online rather than being able to go and have a good bootcamp-style training somewhere nearby."

"One of the things I know is a bit of a challenge for them - because I know that it lives on top of FileNet, so it's not necessarily living on top of a relational database, per se - is that we also are using it as our system of record for our language management and our language definitions. I know that that was a little bit of a challenge, just because of the underlying architecture."

"It could be simpler to use, considering multiple use cases."

"The FileNet API seems like it is very difficult and not transparent."

"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."

"The most valuable features of IBM File Manager are workflow, content, and process capabilities."

More IBM FileNet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution costs around $6,000 per month."

"There are a number of different types of licenses. There are concurrent licenses, individual licenses and imaging licenses."

"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."

"The tool's price is high."

"OnBase is reasonably priced."

"When it comes to pricing, IBM needs to make an effort to improve the cost. That's the main issue regarding use of FinalNet in Columbia."

"It is still a leading ECM solution provider, however the cost to implement and maintain are higher than other solutions."

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

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

"The physical space that we have gained back pays for the service. Therefore, it has reduced our operating costs overall. We have definitely seen ROI. I would estimate $30,000 a year."

"The cost is about $40,000, plus yearly maintenance."

"The tool is expensive, and I rate its pricing a ten out of ten."

"For small scale industries, they allow different options. They can do open source. It is the complexity of the data security that they should think about before they choose."

More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

10%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	73

Questions from the Community

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...

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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...

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What is your primary use case for Hyland OnBase?

I was a vendor managing Hyland OnBase ( /products/hyland-onbase-reviews ) for Hyland, not as a direct user but as a business partner. We managed the solution and were a partner with Hyland.

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 somewhat expensive, it remains manageable. The company rates it between 3 and 5 be...

See all answers

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; we have to use the IBM FileNet native API, which is quite outdated.

See all answers

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Compared 17% of the time

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Compared 15% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase

September 2025

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Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

September 2025

Download IBM FileNet product report

Also Known As

OnBase

No data available

Overview

Hyland OnBase is acclaimed for its robust document management, automating workflows, and improving organizational efficiency across various industries. Praised for its ability to manage records compliantly, especially in regulated sectors like healthcare and finance, the tool also integrates smoothly with other enterprise systems. Users benefit significantly from streamlined processes, reduced manual tasks, and enhanced data accuracy, boosting productivity and customer satisfaction.

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

Sample Customers

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

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet

September 2025

Free Report: Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet

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