Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is a combined content management system (CMS) and digital asset management solution (DAM). It helps companies manage and deliver digital files and experiences across various channels, using a range of features including:
- Digital asset management
- Website content management
- Form builder
- Learning management system
- Integrations with Adobe Creative Cloud
- Some analytics data.
Adobe AEM is used by enterprise businesses and global brands, to help organize their brand content and digital files. As companies grow they need a centralized, dedicated tool with sophisticated organization, access controls, and security functionality. That’s where digital asset management tools like Adobe AEM come in.
But Adobe AEM isn’t the only — or best — digital asset management platform available. Let’s take a closer look at the platform, and some of the top-rated DAM products you should consider as an alternative.
How Adobe AEM Falls Short as a DAM Solution
Many companies are happy with Adobe AEM as their DAM and CMS, as you’ll see from their largely positive G2 reviews. However, users frequently mention several disadvantages or shortcomings in their reviews:
- Steep learning curve for new users: Some customers find it difficult to start using Adobe AEM due to its steep learning curve, which can then limit adoption within the business. One reviewer said they “really faced challenges while getting acquainted with several areas of AEM as it is hard to use at first.”
- Highly complex tool: Some customers feel Adobe AEM isn’t as intuitive and easy to use as other tools they use. One reviewer said “The interface isn’t the most intuitive, and even simple tasks can feel overly complicated” while another shared that they “have to contact IT every time because I still forget the steps even after learning.”
- Expensive product: Many customers feel that Adobe AEM is expensive compared to other options on the market. One reviewer said “the licensing fees, along with development and maintenance costs, can be prohibitive for smaller organizations.”
- Limited or complicated integrations: Some users want better, simpler integrations between Adobe AEM and other tools they frequently use. One reviewer felt that “integrating AEM with external systems, including design tools and other marketing platforms, has proven to be complex, often requiring specialized connectors or extensive custom development.”
- Adobe ecosystem is a strength and a weakness: Adobe AEM is a popular choice with companies that already use a number of other tools in the Adobe ecosystem, but one reviewer said “I wouldn't recommend it unless you already have a number of other Adobe products you're working with.”
Best Adobe Experience Manager Alternatives for Digital Asset Management
1. Frontify
Frontify is an all-in-one brand platform that combines a user-friendly DAM, centralized brand guidelines, creative templates, and customizable brand portals. Frontify gives enterprise and mid-market companies a holistic brand-building environment built on a foundation of robust asset management. It’s used by thousands of leading brands globally, such as Uber, Vodafone, and Lufthansa.
“Frontify is a proven ROI solution. Every end user can find key assets quickly and self-serve more autonomously.”
Head of Corporate Identity & Design, Nestlé
Top Features
Frontify offers many features to help companies manage and organize their media files and brand assets, including:
- Unified brand management hub
- Centralized digital asset management
- Live and interactive cloud-based brand guidelines
- Editable and scalable print and digital templates with locked formatting
- AI-driven insights for efficient asset retrieval and usage analytics
- Advanced search functionality, tags, and filters
- Customizable access controls
- Multiple brand portals
- Enterprise-grade security
- Native integrations with dozens of other apps and tools, including Adobe Creative Suite and CMS solutions
Pros & Cons
Like Adobe AEM, Frontify has lots of favourable reviews on G2. There are several common features that reviewers love:
- Its user-friendly interface
- Fully customizable brand hubs
- AI-powered search and asset management
- High quality customer service, support, and training
- Time savings from managing multiple brands and assets
- Centralized storage and organization for brand materials.
However, there are also a few elements that users feel could be improved:
- Potentially steep learning curve, but the tool is intuitive once users are familiar with it
- Some users would prefer a lighter-weight solution
Benefits for Enterprise & Global Brands
Frontify helps companies maintain, manage, and scale a consistent brand identity across all digital and physical touchpoints. It combines digital asset organization, creative collaboration, and brand management in one platform, making it easier for teams to align on everything brand-related.
Frontify’s main benefits for enterprise businesses include:
- Centralized asset access: All brand assets and elements are stored in one dynamic platform, eliminating the need for multiple tools and scattered files.
- Interactive brand guidelines: Unlike static PDFs, Frontify offers interactive, real-time brand guidelines that are easy for enterprise companies to update, share, and enforce across teams, for improved consistency across touchpoints.
- Scalable templates: Create locked, customizable templates for both print and digital media to accelerate content production while ensuring efficiency and adherence to brand guidelines.
- AI-driven tools: Advanced search functions powered by AI enable quicker access to specific assets, saving time and effort. AI-powered auto-tagging and metadata creation makes uploading assets quick and easy, helping teams work more efficiently.
- Robust and granular access controls: Manage user access to your DAM system so you can easily share brand assets internally and externally. Assign tailored access levels for internal users and external partners.
- Compliance, governance & security: Frontify helps global enterprises manage complex compliance and governance needs in one central platform. Frontify offers enterprise-grade security features like single sign-on and compliance with leading data security standards like GDPR and HIPAA.
Transparent pricing: No hidden fees or unexpected costs, making scaling up cost-effective.
Learn more about Frontify's transformative impact on enterprise businesses. Download the report.
2. Bynder
Bynder is an enterprise-grade DAM provider used by global and mid-market businesses worldwide. It’s an established vendor in the DAM space and is a popular option for companies looking to improve their asset management.
Top Features
Bynder offers a number of features to help companies manage their digital files:
- Digital asset management
- Digital brand guidelines
- Content and creative workflows
- AI capabilities to streamline content discoverability and management
- Pre-built templates for digital and print assets
- Analytics around asset usage and guideline access
- Integrations with creative, collaborative, and other brand-building tools.
Pros & Cons
Bynder is a popular DAM solution with lots of positive reviews on G2. There are several things users often praise about the platform:
- Its ease of use
- The quality of customer service and onboarding support
- How easy and intuitive it is when organizing files
However, there are some common elements that users mention as downsides of the tool:
- Some users find the platform has a steep learning curve, which can slow down adoption across the business
- Some users find the integrations don’t work as well as they’d like
- Some users feel Bynder is missing key features and functionality compared with other DAM tools
- Some users frequently experienced performance and speed issues in the platform.
Benefits for Enterprise & Global Brands
Bynder is a popular choice for mid-market and enterprise brands. It offers several benefits, including:
- Enterprise-grade security: Bynder complies with global security standards, and provides digital rights management to control asset access across the business
- AI-powered asset management: Bynder’s AI functionality helps companies increase search accuracy and speed up campaign execution
- In-house support: Bynder offers “industry-leading” customer support for new and existing customers
- Integrations: Bynder integrates with products ranging from CMS and ecommerce systems to creative tools (including Adobe Creative Cloud).
3. Canto
Canto is an established DAM vendor that provides a platform for companies of all sizes to organize, store, and distribute their digital files.
Top Features
Canto has many features that help companies manage and organize their digital files, including:
- Digital asset management
- AI-powered search functionality
- User controls and access permissions
- Integrations with creative and collaboration software, including Adobe products
- Enterprise-level security.
Pros & Cons
Canto has a good reputation and lots of favourable reviews on G2. Customers frequently mention several positive aspects of the product:
- Ease of use
- It’s easy to find specific assets thanks to its search functionality (including AI-powered visual search)
- The quality of support from the Canto team
But there are also some disadvantages that reviewers often mention:
- Some customers find the different user permission levels limiting and hard to manage
- Some users feel the user interface is outdated compared to other DAM solutions
- Some users don’t like having to pay extra for cutting-edge features like AI or single sign-on
Benefits for Enterprise & Global Brands
Canto is a popular digital asset management system for businesses of all sizes. For enterprise businesses specifically, it offers several benefits:
- Established, trusted vendor: With over 30 years’ experience, Canto is a trusted provider in the DAM space
- Security & compliance: Canto complies with leading global data security standards including HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2
- AI-powered search functionality: Canto’s AI-powered visual search makes it easier for teams to use natural language to find video or image assets in their DAM library
- Connected integrations: Canto integrates with many other tools, including products from the Adobe suite.
4. Acquia DAM
Acquia DAM is a digital asset management solution that is available as a standalone product or as part of the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP). It’s an enterprise solution that helps companies manage their brand assets and distribute digital files across the business.
Top Features
Acquia DAM has many features that help companies improve their asset management, including:
- Digital asset management
- Search functionality
- AI-powered workflows
- Integrations with communication, creative, and project management tools, including Adobe products
- File sharing functionality
- Enterprise-level security
Pros & Cons
Acquia DAM is a popular product and it has many positive reviews on G2. There are several common topics mentioned in these reviews that users like about the product:
- It’s simple to organize brand assets
- It’s easy to manage user groups and permission levels
- Makes it easy to share files internally and externally
- The quality of support from the Acquia team
However, there are also some areas where customers feel the platform doesn’t meet their expectations:
- Some reviewers think the interface looks dated compared to other DAM products
- Some users feel the platform lacks features and integrations that other DAM products offer
- Some customers feel the product’s quality has been steadily declining in recent years
Benefits for Enterprise & Global Brands
Acquia DAM offers several benefits to large global businesses, including:
- Connectivity: The DAM works alongside other products in the Acquia DXP, such as the Drupal CMS, making it a popular choice for companies using products in the Acquia ecosystem
- Security: Provides enterprise-level security built on Amazon infrastructure
- Artificial Intelligence: AI functionality automates some repetitive tasks associated with adding assets to your DAM.
5. Brandfolder
Brandfolder is a DAM solution that was acquired by Smartsheet, an enterprise work management platform, in 2020. Since the acquisition it has expanded its collaboration and DAM functionality.
Top Features
Brandfolder has a range of features that help companies manage and organize their creative files:
- Digital asset management
- Digital and interactive brand guidelines
- Creative templates to accelerate and automate production of digital and print assets
- Native integrations with Smartsheet and other tools, including many Adobe creative products
- AI and machine learning technologies to help users understand asset usage
Pros & Cons
Brandfolder has lots of positive reviews on G2, and there are several common themes that reviewers love about the platform:
- How easy it is to share brand assets with team members
- How easy it is to search and find brand assets
- Having the flexibility to customize the way assets are organized
However, there are also several areas that users mention as the downsides of the platform:
- Some users feel the platform has a steep learning curve
- Some users feel the product is missing core features or functionality they need from a DAM platform
- Some users feel the platform is expensive, especially as it often charges extra for new features or dedicated onboarding support
- Some users find the integrations don’t work as expected, or that Brandfolder doesn’t integrate with key tools in their tech stack.
Benefits for Enterprise & Global Brands
Brandfolder offers several benefits to large global brands, including:
- Cloud-based security: Offers enterprise-level security and has implemented multiple levels of security to protect and backup customers’ files
- Scalability: Automates time-consuming and repetitive tasks associated with content creation, allowing brand and marketing teams to scale up production
- Connectivity and extensibility: Integrates with many other tools to extend the reach of the DAM platform.
6. Aprimo
Aprimo is a DAM and content operations platform. It’s used by companies of all sizes — including international enterprises — to organize and manage their brand files and increase content discoverability across the business.
Top Features
Aprimo offers a range of features to help companies manage and use their creative files:
- Digital asset management
- AI capabilities to personalize brand content for different audiences and channels
- Marketing calendars and project overviews
- Integrations with other tools including many in the Adobe suite
- AI-powered workflows and search functionality
Pros & Cons
Aprimo has lots of positive reviews on G2, and there are several common themes that reviewers love about the platform:
- The platform is easy to use, making it easy to find brand assets
- How easy it is to share brand assets with team members and external parties
- The ability to integrate the platform to other tools they use
- Having the flexibility to customize the platform to meet their needs
However, there are also several areas that users mention as the downsides of the platform:
- Some users feel the platform has a steep learning curve — especially for platform admins
- Some users feel the product is missing core features or functionality they had in other DAM tools
- Some users feel the implementation and set-up can be time-consuming, especially for more complex business needs
- Some users find the automatic or AI-assisted functionality inconsistent and often needs manual overview.
Benefits for Enterprise & Global Brands
Aprimo offers several benefits to large global businesses, including:
- Accelerate content velocity: Aprimo’s workflows help companies automate manual processes to speed up content production and publication
- Composable architecture: Integrates with other apps, tools, and partners to meet business needs
- Security and governance: Aprimo secures brands’ assets with enterprise-grade data encryption and supports content governance with granular permissions and user controls.
7. Scaleflex
The Scaleflex DAM is one part of the Scaleflex Visual Experience Platform. The platform also includes AI-powered automation, brand portals, and media optimization. Scaleflex helps enterprise and SMBs strengthen the organization, management, and deployment of their digital content.
Top Features
- Compatible with all applications and operating systems
- AI functionality to automate repetitive media processing tasks
- Customizable access controls
- Headless APIs and widgets that allow for custom connections and integrations
Pros & Cons
Scaleflex DAM has a small number of reviews on G2, which are largely positive. There are several things that reviewers like about the platform:
- Its ease of use
- The ability to automate some of the manual tasks normally required to add items to a DAM
- The quality of customer support from the Scaleflex team
However, there are also several areas that users mention as the downsides of the platform:
- Some users feel the platform has a steep learning curve and they would benefit from additional training to help them get started
- Some users feel the user group permissions can be restrictive
- Some customers find the user experience can be buggy.
Benefits for Enterprise & Global Brands
Scaleflex is a popular choice for SMBs and enterprise brands. For enterprise businesses specifically, it offers several benefits, including:
- Security and compliance: Provides enterprise-level security and compliance with local and global data regulations including GDPR and CCPA
- Tailored enterprise support: Personalized support to meet the needs of large global organizations
- Scalability: Scaleflex integrates with a range of tools such as CMS, ERP, or PIM using its APIs, plugins, libraries and widgets.
Choose the Best DAM for Your Business
Adobe AEM is a popular DAM provider, but it may not be the best choice for your organization — especially if you’re not using many other tools in the Adobe suite.
The Frontify DAM is part of our comprehensive brand-building platform. It connects to your brand guidelines, creative templates, and your other creative and collaborative tools, helping you build a strong, cohesive brand ecosystem. Find out how it can work for your organization — start your free trial today.
