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IBM FileNet vs Laserfiche 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

IBM FileNet
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Laserfiche
Ranking in Enterprise Content Management
22nd
Average Rating
10.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Document Management Software (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Enterprise Content Management category, the mindshare of IBM FileNet is 6.2%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Laserfiche is 2.0%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Content Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM FileNet6.2%
Laserfiche2.0%
Other91.8%
Enterprise Content Management
 

Featured Reviews

Shankar-Kambhampaty - PeerSpot reviewer
Consulting CTO at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees
Business workflows have been automated and document processes are streamlined at large scale
I believe IBM FileNet could be improved or enhanced in the future, specifically the user interface development support, which, despite all the improvements, still feels from the 2010s or 2000s. The current state of the user interface development support and the ability to customize it leaves much to be desired. The backend engine, process engine, and object engine are fantastic. However, the user interface, which is required to provide an impressive experience to the user, is difficult to build. IBM will need to do something about this area. Over time, IBM has made improvements with enhancements through CP4BA and other tools, with which user interfaces can be built. But there is much more is needed. The initial setup process for IBM FileNet requires specialists. IBM FileNet is not a click-click-click deploy kind of product. It has several components that need to be installed in different versions and in a particular order. Additionally, IBM Cloud does not provide a proper experience. The problem is I cannot use IBM Cloud easily. I cannot even get a membership easily. With AWS, I just use my credit card, sign up, and I am done. With IBM Cloud, that is not how it is. They go through all validation processes, and it is a nightmare at times. There are problems around IBM FileNet, not exactly with IBM FileNet itself, but the point is that it is not a click-click-click deploy either on the cloud or on-premise. It requires specialists, and there is a big learning curve toward deploying and managing the whole infrastructure as well as the software. I communicate with the technical support of IBM frequently. I have communicated several times, and frankly, there is much to be desired on that side. When you raise a ticket, it takes 24 to 48 hours for them to respond. We live in a time where business moves at the speed of light. Twenty-four hours is a very long time. You need to be able to get technical support instantaneously. It is not like the more contemporary support models where you get turnaround in minutes, not days.
CB
Consultant DMS/ECM at NSI IT Software & Services (Cegeka Group)
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…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most critical benefit has been ease of use. It speeds along our development helping us go to market a lot sooner."
"It has increased our productivity."
"FileNet provides a compact solution for midsized companies."
"IBM provides good support since it's a big company."
"FileNet can for sure cover the requirements of a medium and a big company, because of the scalability and the possibility to connect with many other IBM products."
"IBM FileNet enhanced the productivity of our work and increased overall productivity."
"The most valuable features of IBM File Manager are workflow, content, and process capabilities."
"Instead storing our documents offsite, we are storing all of our documents electronically."
"This is a very complete and powerful solution."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the file management. It's very complex."
"I would like to have an offline DR deployment. If that is doable, then it would be a big win."
"Simplifying both training and maintenance would be an improvement."
"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."
"It is stable as long as you create the right environment. We have had issues at times, but just because of configuration issues."
"The FileNet API seems like it is very difficult and not transparent."
"The installation and configuration to start up needs expert level knowledge."
"The new user interface is not easy to set up, so some improvements along these lines would be good."
"We would like to see more features for RPA and AI."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is about $40,000, plus yearly maintenance."
"FileNet is quite expensive, although Documentum is expensive too."
"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."
"FileNet is not cheap, but you absolutely get what you pay for. ​"
"The solution saves time and money. It helps us to be able to accomplish the goals of our business, as opposed to being tangled in the weeds of what we could do."
"Licensing costs depend on the size of the storage."
"My customers have seen ROI. There have been productivity gains, time savings gains, and things that they have been doing much more efficiently in a more modern way than they were before."
"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."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Government
20%
University
9%
Retailer
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise13
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FileNet?
The pricing and licensing of IBM FileNet is high. We are living in a world where the minimal license from IBM costs anywhere from seventy-five thousand to one hundred thousand US dollars, depending...
What needs improvement with IBM FileNet?
I believe IBM FileNet could be improved or enhanced in the future, specifically the user interface development support, which, despite all the improvements, still feels from the 2010s or 2000s. The...
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Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, IBM, OpenText and others in Enterprise Content Management. Updated: January 2026.
881,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.