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Alfresco vs Box comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

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

Alfresco
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
9th
Ranking in Document Management Software
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Box
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
8th
Ranking in Document Management Software
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Storage (13th), Digital Asset Management (3rd), Content Collaboration Platforms (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 7.6%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Box is 4.3%, down from 5.0% 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…
Parthasarathy Chellapillai - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for data storage and data collaboration, but its data security could be improved
If I have restricted access within an organization by keeping the data in Box, there are other applications through which I can barge into the data. If anyone wants to keep a file restricted to four people, I can access it because it's available in the cloud. I can directly access the file and pull in the data by entering the file's name. Someone from outside the organization can't access it. However, someone from within the organization who is not supposed to access the data can access it, provided it is in Box. Box is almost like a folder structure outside your system. The solution uses the cloud, and you don't need any separate storage in your system. Even if your system crashes down, the data will be saved. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Document repository."
"I like the ease of use, sections, and calendar."
"The digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."
"You can meet your users' expected features without having Alfresco's involvement."
"The product allows engineering teams and developers to introduce new things in a seamless and easy way."
"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 most valuable feature is the flexibility of the searching elements of the metadata."
"Alfresco's technical support is very fast and professional."
"Office Integration. The full integration into the Microsoft Office products is just perfect."
"Sharing and collaborating across files and folders has been a massive game changer."
"Box is extremely stable, they have not been hacked or lost any data in the past seventeen years. I am very impressed with it."
"It is a very user-friendly product."
"Box is very simple and effective, so I prefer Box."
"Box had a very easy-to-use search feature and a good user interface on its website, which was faster and better than SharePoint."
"File sharing with collaborators not on the same domain with offline access from multiple devices: I work on many projects that are multi-organizational, such as with customers, suppliers, or acquisitions."
"I like that Box makes it easy to deploy virtual machines."
 

Cons

"I would like them to consider document capture functionality."
"Currently, documents in Alfresco are stored on a file server, which, while good for performance, is a security risk."
"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."
"The configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."
"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."
"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."
"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 has a very steep learning curve, and unfortunately, during the learning process, it's very easy to make errors, which often are unforgiving."
"The room for improvement is in the area of integrations. They need to establish more integrations, especially with Office 365 and Outlook."
"The search features and role permissions are not very user friendly. It only searches the first few pages of a document, which is quite a problem."
"I find their API to be quite complex and it could be more straightforward."
"The price must be lowered."
"The integration with other products should be improved."
"The UI should be faster. Sometimes it lags when switching between documents."
"Working on documents in real-time is sometimes faulty and could be improved."
"With OneDrive, you can continuously save your files over a Box folder. That is something I wish we could have."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"If you buy Alfresco through a partner, there is usually a OEM licensing option."
"There are costs for any upgrade or additional functions."
"It is cheaper compared to head-to-head competitors."
"The more you dig, the deeper the level of tools, and the more expensive it becomes."
"They are very price competitive when pushed. Initially, they come out with a standard list price, but they are willing to be very competitive. The Box price was pretty much equal to or lower than the Citrix price, and Box has more features."
"Our pricing and licensing is excellent. I'd tell all Higher Ed customers to talk with Internet2 for excellent pricing and support."
"I believe Box is cheaper than SharePoint."
"Box's pricing is excellent."
"It is expensive per head, as you need the enterprise license to get full security and tools. So negotiate a discount!"
"I'm in Higher Ed, so we purchase through Internet2-Net+. I absolutely recommend going that route for Higher Ed customers."
"Box needs to improve with their pricing in terms of licensing costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
29%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Healthcare Company
5%
 

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 from the community version to the licensed version, which incurs migration costs. ...
What needs improvement with Alfresco?
Currently, the challenge is the general availability to users. Initially, they had poor documentation, but over the years, their documentation has highly improved. Initially, we had challenges find...
What is your primary use case for Alfresco?
This is mainly for unstructured document management systems with workflow and data classification.
What do you like most about Box?
The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Box?
I was not involved in discussions about paying for Box, so I cannot provide specifics about pricing.
What needs improvement with Box?
Collaborative editing was challenging if multiple people were in a document at once. The installation procedure was tricky but manageable with provided guidance and steps.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.
GE, Toyota, P&G, Caterpillar, Flex, Schneider Electric, Sally Beauty, Eurostar, AstraZeneca, AirBnB, Whirlpool, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Nationwide, Aeropostale etc
Find out what your peers are saying about Alfresco vs. Box and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.