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 flat-fee-per-account DAM and MAM with a free 500GB/5-user tier and unlimited paid users, for teams willing to pilot without much recent independent review evidence.
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.
Flat price per account by volume; the vendor states there are no per-user fees
Deployment
On-premise, Cloud
Cloud
On-premise, Cloud
Cloud, On-premise
Free plan
Yes
No
No
Yes
Free trial
No
Yes
No
Yes
Transparency index
100%
70%
Not checked
90%
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
On-premise is available only in the enterprise tier, whose price is not published