Frontify, Brandfolder, Air
Side by side on what we have verified on each vendor’s own pages. Where a fact was not checked, the table says so rather than leaving a blank that reads as “no”.
Everything else
Verdict
A brand-management platform built around a single, always-current source of truth for guidelines, logos and templates, aimed at brand teams working with internal staff and external agencies.
A polished, search-first brand asset DAM sold standalone under Smartsheet ownership, priced for mid-market and enterprise budgets around a $24,700/year median contract.
A visually organized, board-based DAM for photo/image-heavy creative and marketing teams, with a genuinely usable free tier and a history of shifting, steep paid-tier pricing.
Price published
No
No
No
Billed on
Monthly active users
Quoted per customer
Credits; users are not billed
Deployment
Cloud
Cloud
Cloud
Free plan
No
No
Yes
Free trial
No
No
Yes
Transparency index
30%
0%
60%
Most common complaint
The MAU model favours occasional users, but there is no figure to verify that with
Two tiers with no figure and no trial offered on the page
The free tier is described in detail while the paid tiers are named only
“Not checked” means exactly that: we have not verified it, not that the platform lacks it. Every other value was read off the vendor’s own pages on the date shown on each platform page.
What to ask on the demo
One question per platform, drawn from what actually goes wrong with it — not a generic checklist. Vendors run the demo; this hands the agenda back to you.
Frontify
The MAU model favours occasional users, but there is no figure to verify that with — ask them to answer this in writing before the trial.
Brandfolder
Two tiers with no figure and no trial offered on the page — ask them to answer this in writing before the trial.
Air
The free tier is described in detail while the paid tiers are named only — ask them to answer this in writing before the trial.
No email required — the page prints as it stands.