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IBM FileNet vs Laserfiche comparison

IBM and Laserfiche are both solutions in the Enterprise Content Management category. IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.9, while Laserfiche is ranked #21. IBM holds a 7.7% mindshare in ECM, compared to Laserfiche’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Laserfiche users who would recommend it.
IBM FileNet
Read 103 IBM FileNet reviews
  • 3,640 Views
  • 3,349 Comparison Views
91% willing to recommend
Laserfiche
Read 1 Laserfiche review
  • 674 Views
  • 452 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between IBM FileNet and Laserfiche based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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

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To learn more, read our detailed Enterprise Content Management Report (Updated: October 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Enterprise Content Management
October 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

IBM FileNet
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Laserfiche
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
21st
Average Rating
10.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Document Management Software (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM FileNet is 7.7%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Laserfiche is 1.7%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM FileNet7.7%
Laserfiche1.7%
Other90.6%
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

ARTHUR BRUNO - PeerSpot reviewer
Has provided robust content management but requires simplification in configuration and usability
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 primarily use it to store content. We are now trying to use all of the functionalities of IBM FileNet, but we have not yet utilized the full capacity of the system. We are trying to reduce redundancy with IBM FileNet by enhancing our business rules. However, we still have significant redundancy. IBM FileNet can help us reduce redundancy, but we need to understand the tool and use all the functionalities to accomplish this. Ease of use with IBM FileNet is a disadvantage of this tool. It is complex and hard to use. When we try to set up IBM FileNet, we have many questions. We do not understand what we need to do in IBM FileNet. There are many configurations we must make but do not know how to implement. While IBM FileNet is very reliable, it is very difficult to set up. When reading the documentation about IBM FileNet, it appears to be very reliable and secure, but setting up configurations, access rules, authorization, and authentication seems to be very challenging.
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CB
A powerful solution that offers BPM and automation to assist with our digital transformation
We use this solution for DMS, ECM, scan and imaging, plus workflows and forms solutions spread over the entire company This is a very complete and powerful solution. No code: We can address all of the features and functionalities with computer-minded people without having to call the IT Dept or…
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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 ability to manage the content well."
"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."
"The best part of FileNet includes its advantages and most valuable features, which are its scalability and stability."
"​I have found that it scales well."
"One of our clients, a customer of IBM, rolled out and replaced their existing ECM system with FileNet. Their productivity has increased pretty dramatically."
"The ability to tag data, as it seems to be indexed well. It is a good space to manage data, keep track of it, and organize it."
"Users are able to create their own content, and they can manage their own sets of tasks, to work at their own pace and get their jobs done."
"There is a high degree of usability with this solution. It is highly compatible with our clients' and customers' work environments, making it easy to deploy and implement."
More IBM FileNet pros
"This is a very complete and powerful solution."
 

Cons

"I would like to see it able to capture NLP in an advanced search. It would also be good if it could capture images and segregate them in categories within a span of seconds."
"I would like to see expanded search features, like content search."
"The product is expensive."
"The only downside is that it takes a dedicated staff to maintain it and the learning curve is pretty steep."
"It is ability to display legacy content needs improvement."
"I would love it if single sign-on was a lot easier to set up. That's the most difficult part of it."
"There is no room for improvement in the current version of FileNet, and I have not identified any potential new features or existing problems that require attention."
"I think it's to the point where there are probably too many features. Every software, as it matures and graduates, grows the list of features. What many of our customers express is that it's just too complicated. They're using maybe five or ten percent of the features but they're having to pay for 100 percent. There is room for improvement in terms of simplifying it."
More IBM FileNet cons
"We would like to see more features for RPA and AI."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"FileNet is quite expensive, although Documentum is expensive too."
"The cost is about $40,000, plus yearly maintenance."
"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."
"Yearly, we pay for the maintenance, which is $20,000."
"Talking about the cost is difficult because IBM has offers that combine different products, and each of these offers has different types of licensing. IBM also has a policy that the actual price for a given customer may be very different from the stated book price. It's hard to say whether it's expensive or not."
"Licensing costs depend on the size of the storage."
"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."
More IBM FileNet pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
9%
Insurance Company
9%
Government
22%
University
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise74
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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
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Comparisons

SharePoint vs IBM FileNet Logo
SharePoint vs IBM FileNet
Compared 16% of the time
OpenText Content Management vs IBM FileNet Logo
OpenText Content Management vs IBM FileNet
Compared 15% of the time
Alfresco vs IBM FileNet Logo
Alfresco vs IBM FileNet
Compared 10% of the time
OpenText Documentum Content Management vs IBM FileNet Logo
OpenText Documentum Content Management vs IBM FileNet
Compared 10% of the time
Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet Logo
Hyland OnBase vs IBM FileNet
Compared 9% of the time
More IBM FileNet Competitors
SharePoint vs Laserfiche Logo
SharePoint vs Laserfiche
Compared 21% of the time
OpenText Documentum Content Management vs Laserfiche Logo
OpenText Documentum Content Management vs Laserfiche
Compared 20% of the time
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management vs Laserfiche Logo
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management vs Laserfiche
Compared 14% of the time
DocuWare vs Laserfiche Logo
DocuWare vs Laserfiche
Compared 10% of the time
M-Files vs Laserfiche Logo
M-Files vs Laserfiche
Compared 6% of the time
More Laserfiche Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
IBM FileNet
October 2025
IBM FileNet reportDownload IBM FileNet product report
Buyer's Guide
Enterprise Content Management
October 2025
Laserfiche reportDownload Laserfiche product report
 

Overview

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

Powerful Document Management Software and Agile Enterprise Content Management Solutions

Laserfiche
 

Sample Customers

Suncorp Group Limited, St. Vincent Health, Citigroup, SRCSD, and UK Dept for Work and Pensions.
D.L. Evans, College of the Desert, Community Action, Tompkins County, Hanson McClain, Olmsted County, Old Line Bank, Steinhafels, CIRCOR Pibiviesse
Buyer's Guide
Enterprise Content Management
October 2025
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