Verdict
An open-source PHP/Symfony platform unifying PIM, DAM, CMS and MDM on one codebase, for teams with in-house developers or an integrator partner rather than a marketing team wanting to self-serve.
A team file library billed as a flat monthly fee with unlimited users, aimed at organisations where most people only need to download an approved file a few times a month.
An open-source, community-governed digital repository platform on Drupal, for libraries, archives, and museums to manage digital collections.
A self-hosted file-sync and collaboration platform some organisations stretch into asset-library duty; tagging, batch metadata editing and dynamic tag-based collections are still limited or missing.
Price published
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Billed on
Annual licence per edition, not per user
Flat price per account — users are not a billing unit
No published price on islandora.ca — the core software is free open source ("free to use and always will be"). Paid options are hosting/installation/migration/support/training contracts sold by independent third-party service providers listed on islandora.ca/service-providers (e.g. Born-Digital, discoverygarden); islandora.ca itself does not publish their rates or billing units.
Subscription per user per year, cheaper at volume
Deployment
On-premise, Cloud
Cloud
On-premise, Cloud
On-premise, Cloud
Free plan
Yes
No
No
Yes
Free trial
No
Yes
No
No
Transparency index
100%
70%
Not checked
80%
Most common complaint
It is a broader platform than a DAM — some capability has to be built rather than switched on
Storage ceilings are modest next to enterprise platforms, so large video libraries outgrow the tiers quickly
Not checked
It is a file platform with DAM features rather than a DAM: asset-level metadata and rights are thinner