Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet comparison

Hyland and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. Hyland is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.6, while IBM is ranked #2 with an average rating of 7.9. Hyland holds a 6.0% mindshare in ECM, compared to IBM’s 6.5% 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

4,371 Views
2,404 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM FileNet

Read 103 IBM FileNet reviews

4,015 Views
3,694 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Hyland OnBase

IBM FileNet

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

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: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 879,455 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

Hyland OnBase

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

6th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (15th), Low-Code Development Platforms (12th)

IBM FileNet

Ranking in Enterprise Content Management

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

103

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Hyland OnBase is 6.0%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FileNet is 6.5%, down from 10.0% 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	6.5%
Hyland OnBase	6.0%
Other	87.5%

Enterprise Content Management

Featured Reviews

reviewer1981395

Product owner at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

Seamless data management enhances security while monolithic architecture and reporting need improvements

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, addressing some concerns. Additionally, there could be more integration points with products Hyland has acquired, such as Alfresco and Nuxeo. Offering a trial version with basic features would allow users to experience the product before purchasing. I find OnBase's monolithic architecture to be expensive, and adopting microservices could be beneficial.

Read full review

Shoichiro Takeshita

Chief Architect at NEUSOFT JAPAN

Business process handling improves while adaptation shows potential for updates

The business process manipulation in IBM FileNet is very effective for implementing business processes. IBM FileNet has content management, and these two features are very good. Compared with Kamunda business process management, Kamunda is easier for implementation than IBM FileNet. There is a significant ROI from IBM FileNet because before its introduction, the company needed to do all the work manually. This significant ROI has been evident since IBM FileNet was first introduced ten years ago. While there might be documentation prepared by the company, it is not currently available.

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

"The most valuable features are that it's very secure and provides audit trails for our documents."

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

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

"We found the setup process to be okay since they do offer a troubleshooting guide."

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

"The product's initial setup phase is not difficult."

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

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

More Hyland OnBase pros

"I would highly recommend it to those seeking a robust enterprise content management solution."

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

"Provides records management functions."

"It puts governance in place around the content and processes. Access levels can be set to certain parts of the document based on role level."

"It provides good stability and scalability for huge enterprises as well."

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

"The most useful feature is its persistent storage. Also, the full-text search and attribute searching are valuable."

"We have made our service routes more efficient, as far as moving work through the system and being able to react to customer situations and needs better by improving things, such as, address and beneficiary changes. I know that we have definitely made improvements in the process."

More IBM FileNet pros

Cons

"The dashboards do have some room for improvement as compared to the other vendors which are there in the market."

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

"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."

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

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

"We are struggling with duplicates and would like to have OCR functionality when using this solution."

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

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

More Hyland OnBase cons

"It would be nice if they could make it like containers are working in Kubernetes to auto-scale based on demand."

"A little better control into the ACLs of FileNet and databases."

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."

"The response time and resolution of issues by technical support need improvement."

"We brought DocuSign into our company's solution three years before. At that time there was no direct integration. We would like to pull documents out from FileNet, push them to DocuSign and, when done, retrieve them and store them back in FileNet. We wrote our own custom solution for that. It would be nice if there was some tool we could have used to do that."

"I would love it if single sign-on was a lot easier to set up. That's the most difficult part of it."

"Needs a better administration tool."

"The installation and configuration to start up needs expert level knowledge."

More IBM FileNet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"OnBase is reasonably priced."

"The tool's price is high."

"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."

"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 licensing cost of FileNet is comparable."

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

"The biggest issue is the cost of the FileNet, because the license cost is very high. If a customer doesn't have good technical guides that are aware of the license calculation, they will pay too much. FileNet's license calculation depends on the processor and number of users. So my advice to a new customer is to be very careful with your calculations before purchasing FileNet."

"IBM FileNet is an expensive solution."

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

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

"For the medium scale or large scale, I would recommend FileNet. FileNet is free of licensing expenses, thus good for the money. It is not expensive, but worth for the money, especially for medium scale and large scale industries."

"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."

More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Content Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

879,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

Government

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	74

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Hyland OnBase?

See all answers

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?

We almost do not utilize the automation capabilities of IBM FileNet to streamline our business processes. The process automation and business automation features are barely used. Currently, we prim...

See all answers

Comparisons

OpenText Content Management vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 10% of the time

Alfresco vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 9% of the time

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 8% of the time

SharePoint vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 6% of the time

Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Hyland OnBase

Compared 5% of the time

More Hyland OnBase Competitors

OpenText Content Management vs IBM FileNet

Compared 14% of the time

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet

Compared 14% of the time

Alfresco vs IBM FileNet

Compared 10% of the time

OpenText Documentum Content Management vs IBM FileNet

Compared 9% of the time

OpenText Content Manager vs IBM FileNet

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM FileNet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Hyland OnBase

December 2025

Download Hyland OnBase product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FileNet

December 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

December 2025

Free Report: Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet

Find out what your peers are saying about Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

879,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Hyland OnBase vs. IBM FileNet report.

See our list of best Enterprise Content Management vendors.

We monitor all Enterprise Content Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.