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Alfresco vs OpenText Extended ECM 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
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Document Management Software (3rd)
OpenText Extended ECM
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Content Collaboration Platforms (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of Alfresco is 7.6%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Extended ECM is 11.4%, up from 10.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Karthi Keyan - PeerSpot reviewer
Flexible and customizable but lacking integration with Microsoft
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 also needs to be well-integrated with Microsoft, as it's currently a nuisance for customers who rely on Microsoft's Office 365 solutions. There's a pretty obvious gap in the overlap between SharePoint when customers go to O365 and are presented with the SharePoint license and storage to start with, which Alfresco isn't taking advantage of.
Nagaraj Appavoo - PeerSpot reviewer
Can be used to define the entire lifecycle of a document, but its performance and consistency could be improved
We have integrated the solution with SAP, and users can access the document from SAP and OpenText Extended ECM. It simplifies our business because users can get into the document from multiple channels, making life easy. They don't have to search from the different systems because it unifies the integrated system. Right now, OpenText Extended ECM provides integration with multiple systems, like Salesforce, Microsoft, and SAP. Earlier, users had to log on to multiple systems and look for something, but now they can access everything from one place. OpenText Extended ECM has helped connect our content to our business processes. That is the advantage of using OpenText Extended ECM for SAP. They can see the business process metadata as attributes at the document level. An OpenText user can see the same information on OpenText, and an SAP user can see the document on the SAP side. They can access the document from multiple channels. This simplifies the process and makes everybody's life easier. OpenText Extended ECM has definitely helped to increase productivity in our organization. The integration capability with OpenText Extended ECM has a big range. You can integrate the solution with different products, which makes it robust. Overall, I rate OpenText Extended ECM a seven 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

"I like the ease of use, sections, and calendar."
"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 digitalization of workflow, forms, operations, and business processes is also significant."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the searching elements of the metadata."
"Alfresco's technical support is very fast and professional."
"The product allows engineering teams and developers to introduce new things in a seamless and easy way."
"The most valuable features of Alfresco include its integration with the scanning solution, the ability to search, and the capability to store and index to capture metadata."
"Document repository."
"Most of our customers are very fond of the upgraded smart user interface."
"We use Core Share to share documents with external auditors or with vendors, and that prevents them from being able to get into the whole system. It is useful."
"An SAP user can store documents directly into OpenText without a connector."
"We can configure the solution with any industry's products per customer requirements."
"The tool's most valuable features are document storage, security, and compliance."
"Smart Viewing videos are most valuable for the end users. The end users like the look and feel of Smart View. It's similar to SharePoint, with the latest HTML5 features, filters, and everything. It's like online shopping."
"The seamless integration between SAP and OpenText offers a 360-degree view of documents, facilitating a full-text search capability."
"Being able to search is valuable. Its search is pretty powerful. We are able to search for specific text, and it points us to the document that has that text. That is pretty powerful."
 

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."
"Metadata, auto class, disposition log, and legal hold."
"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 configuration of Alfresco is a big challenge."
"Alfresco could improve workflow digitalization and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities."
"The setup process for Alfresco was complex."
"I think the presentation layer could be improved - currently, it's too complex, and there are too many features cluttered all over the screen."
"The solution needs to improve the user interface."
"We are looking for new, advanced UI features. Currently, the UI does not look great."
"Pricing could be improved and the stability or the performance needs improvement, which is very important."
"The response time is not effective, and the staff lacks adequate knowledge."
"Initially there can be stability issues due to unknown factors such as usage of the system, quantity of documents ingested, load during peak hours."
"When it comes to addressing complex use cases, three or four years ago, we ended up purchasing an additional OpenText product called AppWorks because we started to run into some limitations with the workflow that can be done in Extended ECM. It was a little limiting, so we ended up getting another product."
"The cost of the product could be improved."
"The annotation tool needs improvement. In other tools, such as Hyland OnBase, you can easily do annotation. You can easily merge documents. You can easily compare documents, whereas with OpenText, it seems to be a challenge."
 

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."
"There are costs for any upgrade or additional functions."
"It is cheaper compared to head-to-head competitors."
"If you buy Alfresco through a partner, there is usually a OEM licensing option."
"It is a little more expensive than our previous solution, but because of the fact that it has become a rallying point for different groups to come under, it might end up paying off better in the long run by not having seven siloed solutions. Even though this one solution is a little pricey, it might eliminate other ones."
"The total cost of the product will vary on the capabilities required"
"OpenText Extended ECM is an expensive solution."
"The licensing is not that complex for the core products, but it becomes more complicated for some additional modules."
"The pricing is costly. It's costly to integrate with Office 365 and to go back and forth with the sales team."
"The tool's pricing is confusing to the end customer."
"The product is pricey."
"The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
9%
Government
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

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, documents in Alfresco are stored on a file server, which, while good for performance, is a security risk. Clients, especially large enterprises such as banks, are concerned about documen...
What is your primary use case for Alfresco?
Mostly, the primary use case is to store documents related to transactions in our company. These documents could be signed documents, invoices, purchase orders, etc. While transaction records are s...
What do you like most about OpenText Content Suite Platform?
We also have a module on top of the Content Server called WebReports that has been one of the things that helped us facilitate the workflow and give managers good reporting and visibility into wher...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenText Content Suite Platform?
The cost is a significant factor that may deter medium-sized businesses from using OpenText extended ECM.
What needs improvement with OpenText Content Suite Platform?
The cost of the product could be improved. Currently, there are certain snags in document viewing, and communication from the pre-sales team is not clear. The expectation from the customer versus t...
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenText Content Suite Platform, OpenText Core Share
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Over 1,300 companies from 180 different countries. Including EuroStar, Saks Fifth Avenue, NASA Langley Research Center, and KLM.
ATCO Australia, MSIG Asia, Orica, Salt River Project
Find out what your peers are saying about Alfresco vs. OpenText Extended ECM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.