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Box vs M-Files comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Box
Ranking in Document Management Software
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (8th), Cloud Storage (13th), Digital Asset Management (3rd), Content Collaboration Platforms (5th)
M-Files
Ranking in Document Management Software
7th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Document Management Software category, the mindshare of Box is 7.5%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of M-Files is 9.0%, up from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Document Management Software
 

Featured Reviews

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.
LN
Good workflows, and it is easy to use with a dashboard that improves contract visibility
My advice for anybody who is looking into implementing this product is to do a pilot first. After you do your research, do an actual pilot before you commit because everyone has nuances and you might find out that it is not what you want, or that it doesn't really do what you think it's going to do. It is not the simplest product to use but because of the robustness of its feature set in the ability with the workflows, and the APIs, to do just about anything you can imagine with it, that's very valuable. I wish it was a little easier to use because we have to spend more time than I'd like with new users, teaching them how it works. We try to hide all that from them but the setup time to get everything the way we wanted was probably two months. That is two months in one resource working on it half time a week, but it just took a lot of work to get the metadata set up, to get the workflows set up, and to get all the documents added to the repository. Now we've got versioning and we know where everything's at, the dashboard is great, but don't assume when they tell you that you'll be up and running in two weeks, that that is the truth. It takes much longer than you think. I would rate this solution an eight 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

"The application is very light in terms of uploading and downloading files."
"Office Integration. The full integration into the Microsoft Office products is just perfect."
"I like that Box makes it easy to deploy virtual machines."
"Box is very user-friendly; more so than SharePoint."
"Governance and ease of use are why I think a lot of people like Box, including ourselves. Basically, we're concerned about what information is being sent to Box, so we use a lot of the Box governance features to make sure that what is being sent to Box is appropriate. If it is not appropriate, it is not allowed to be sent. It is also pretty easy to use. It is the easiest to use for customers and for technologists."
"The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization."
"The most valuable feature of Box is security."
"File sharing, authorization on the back, its ease of use and reliable uptime performance are valuable features of this solution."
"Using M-Files means anybody on the executive team to go in and immediately look at a dashboard and know the status of a contract."
 

Cons

"Like all cloud platforms, there are always areas of improvement around sync to local devices."
"If you want to delete something in Box, you have to do it manually, one by one. That was my recent experience. They might have a bulk delete, but I could not find that option. If you want to delete something, you have to go to each and every file and delete it."
"The integration with other products should be improved."
"The price must be lowered."
"They could integrate better with other platforms."
"If there was a plugin that added some sort of toolbar in Office, that would be great."
"The solution's data security should be improved."
"The UI should be faster. Sometimes it lags when switching between documents."
"The integration with other products needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Box's pricing is excellent."
"My organization pays for the license."
"I believe Box is cheaper than SharePoint."
"A business account has a minimum of three users. If you are more than three people in-house, go for the Enterprise version. All the external users are free of charge."
"I'm in Higher Ed, so we purchase through Internet2-Net+. I absolutely recommend going that route for Higher Ed customers."
"It is expensive per head, as you need the enterprise license to get full security and tools. So negotiate a discount!"
"Box needs to improve with their pricing in terms of licensing costs."
"The pricing may seem steep at first, but delve into the features and you'll soon realize it is incredible value for what you get."
"They have an Optical Character Scanning module but we didn't buy it because it's ridiculously expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
26%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Healthcare Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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.
Ask a question
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Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GE, Toyota, P&G, Caterpillar, Flex, Schneider Electric, Sally Beauty, Eurostar, AstraZeneca, AirBnB, Whirlpool, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Nationwide, Aeropostale etc
Crowe UK, Stearns Bank, Head Energy, OMV, TK Elevator
Find out what your peers are saying about Box vs. M-Files and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.