Brandfolder is a digital asset management (DAM) solution owned by Smartsheet. It helps businesses manage and organize their files and digital content using a range of features, including:
- Digital asset management
- Digital brand guidelines
- Content and creative workflows
- Templates for digital and print assets
- Integrations with other tools
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Analytics data.
Brandfolder is used by companies of all sizes, from startups to global brands, when they need a better way to organize their brand content and digital files. As companies grow it becomes too difficult to maintain and organize files in a shared drive, so they need a centralized, dedicated solution with more sophisticated organization, access controls, and security functionality. That’s where digital asset management tools like Brandfolder come in.
But Brandfolder isn’t the only 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 Brandfolder falls short as a digital asset management solution
Many companies are happy with Brandfolder as their DAM, as you’ll see from their largely positive G2 reviews. However, from reading customer feedback, there are several issues that users frequently mention:
- Limited customization and flexibility: Some users feel they aren’t able to customize the platform to meet their needs. One customer said Brandfolder was missing “some obvious features and customization that most other providers seem to have.” Another said their “biggest issue… is the lack of customization options.”
- Limited reporting and analytics data: Some users struggle to get the data they need to understand their asset usage. One reviewer shared that “the built-in analytics are clunky and could use an overhaul.”
- Limited or missing integrations: Some users want better integrations between Brandfolder and other tools they frequently use. One reviewer said they “still [need] to use the other services for daily file saving and then transferring over [into Brandfolder],” while another felt that Brandfolder had “fewer integrations as opposed to their peers.”
- Steep learning curve for new users: Some customers find it difficult to start using Brandfolder due to its steep learning curve. One reviewer said their “adoption rate is low and slow… many team members still struggle.”
- Quality of customer service: Some customers felt they weren’t receiving top-quality service from the Brandfolder team. One reviewer said that “over the years their customer service went from outstanding to just average,” while another said “the customer service and response time for setting up Brandfolder and getting technical assistance is incredibly slow.”
Best Brandfolder alternatives for digital asset management
Whether you’re unhappy with Brandfolder as your DAM provider, or you’re looking for new digital asset management software and weighing up options, here are six alternative providers to consider.
1. Frontify
Frontify is a brand-building platform that combines a user-friendly DAM 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 Mercedes-Benz, Vodafone, and Telefónica.
Top features
Frontify offers many features to help companies manage and organize their media files and brand assets, including:
- Centralized digital asset management
- Digital brand guidelines
- Print and digital templates
- Advanced search functionality, tags, and filtering
- Robust, customizable access controls for easy file sharing
- Multi-brand setup
- Enterprise-grade security
- Native integrations with dozens of other brand-building tools
- Analytics around asset and guideline usage
Learn more about how Frontify measures up against Brandfolder.
Pros & cons
Like Brandfolder, Frontify has a large number of favourable reviews on G2. There are several common features that reviewers love:
- Ease of use
- Intuitive, user-friendly interface
- High quality customer service
- Time savings from managing multiple brands and assets
- Centralized storage for brand materials.
“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
However, there are also a few elements that users feel could be improved:
- Some users don’t need everything Frontify offers and would prefer a lighter-weight plan
Benefits for enterprise & global brands
Frontify helps companies create, maintain, and scale a consistent visual identity across all digital and physical touchpoints. It combines digital asset organization, creative collaboration, and brand management in one central platform, making it easier for enterprise teams to align on everything brand-related.
The main benefits Frontify brings to enterprise businesses include:
- Compliance & governance: Frontify helps global enterprises manage complex compliance and governance needs in one central platform
- Centralized brand management: Frontify becomes the source of truth for all brand elements, ensuring brand consistency across logos, visuals, fonts, brand voice, and messaging
- Robust and granular access controls: Frontify streamlines the process of managing user access to your DAM system so you can easily share brand assets internally and externally
- Interactive & dynamic 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
- Seamless asset management: Companies can organize and manage large volumes of assets and different file types in a structured, searchable cloud-based library
- AI-powered auto-tagging and metadata creation: Innovative AI and machine learning technology makes uploading assets quick and easy, helping enterprise teams work more efficiently
- Enterprise-grade security: Frontify offers features like SAML-based Single Sign-On, granular access controls via user management dashboards, and compliance with data security standards like GDPR and HIPAA
Learn more about Frontify's transformative impact on enterprise and global companies. Download the report.
2. Bynder
Bynder is a DAM provider that helps companies manage their brand files. It’s used by enterprise and mid-market businesses worldwide. It was started in 2013, making it an established vendor in the asset management space.
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
- Pre-built templates for digital and print assets
- Analytics around asset usage and guideline access.
Pros & cons
Bynder has lots of positive reviews on G2, and there are several common themes that reviewers love about the platform:
- Its ease of use
- The quality of customer service received
- The flexibility when organizing assets and 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 hinder user adoption
- Some users felt it took too long to set-up the platform — one customer shared their onboarding experience took five months.
- Some users find the integrations aren’t as robust as other providers
- Some users frequently experienced performance and speed issues in the platform.
Benefits for enterprise & global brands
Bynder is a popular DAM used by mid-market and enterprise companies alike. For enterprise businesses specifically, it offers several core benefits:
- Cloud-based security: Bynder complies with essential security standards, and provides digital rights management to help companies control asset access and usage across the business
- In-house support: Bynder offers “industry-leading” customer support throughout the onboarding process
- Integrations with other tools: Bynder integrates with products ranging from CMS and PIM systems to creative tools and social media plug-ins
3. Acquia DAM (Widen)
Acquia DAM was previously known as Widen until Acquia acquired it in 2021 and rebranded. Acquia DAM is an enterprise solution that helps companies manage their digital assets and distribute files across teams, tools, and locations. It’s available as a standalone product or as part of the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP)
Top features
Acquia DAM offers many features to help companies improve their asset management, including:
- Digital asset management
- Search functionality
- Integrations with communication, creative, and project management tools
- File sharing functionality
- Enterprise-level security
Pros & cons
Acquia DAM has many positive reviews on G2. There are several common themes mentioned in these reviews that users love about the product:
- Makes it easy to organize brand assets
- It’s simple to set up different user groups and permission levels
- Ease of sharing files internally and externally
However, there are also some areas that customers feel are downsides to the platform:
- Some reviewers mention that the interface looks dated compared to other products
- Some users feel the platform lacks certain features and integrations that are available in other solutions
- Some users feel its 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
- Security: Provides enterprise-level security built on Amazon infrastructure
- Artificial Intelligence: AI capabilities automate some of the repetitive tasks associated with adding new assets to your DAM, improving efficiency.
4. Canto
Canto is an established DAM vendor with more than 30 years’ experience. It provides a platform for companies to organize, store, and distribute digital files. It’s used by companies of all sizes, from small businesses to global enterprises.
Top features
Canto has many features that help companies manage their brand files, including:
- Digital asset management
- Search and filtering functionality
- Integrations with creative and collaboration software
- Enterprise-level security
- Analytics to track asset usage
Pros & cons
Canto has a good reputation and lots of reviews on G2. Customers frequently mention these as positive aspects of the product:
- It’s easy to use
- It’s easy to find specific assets thanks to the search functionality
- Canto makes it easy for teams to organize large quantities of images and other files
But there are also some disadvantages that reviewers often mention:
- Some customers find the user permissions limiting and hard to manage
- Some users feel the user interface is quite dated compared to other tools
- Some users find the search functionality doesn’t work as expected
Benefits for enterprise & global brands
Canto is a popular digital asset management system for businesses of all sizes. For enterprise companies specifically, it offers several benefits:
- Established, trusted vendor: With over 30 years’ experience, Canto is an established product in the DAM space
- Security & compliance: Canto complies with HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 and other security standards
- Connected integrations: Canto integrates with many other tools and systems
5. MediaValet
MediaValet is an enterprise DAM that’s built on Microsoft Azure and has a strong global customer base.
Top features
MediaValet has lots of features to help companies manage their brand files:
- Digital asset management
- Search functionality
- Integrations with other apps
- Enterprise-level security
- Analytics functionality
Pros & cons
MediaValet has lots of positive reviews on G2. There are several things customers mention that they love about MediaValet:
- The user-friendly interface
- How easy it is to search for brand assets
- Quality of customer service
However, there are also some things reviewers feel are downsides to the product:
- Some people often experience bugs and other issues in the platform
- Some users feel MediaValet has a somewhat dated user interface
- Some users find MediaValet has a steep learning curve which affects team adoption of the tool
Benefits for enterprise & global brands
MediaValet is a popular DAM that gives enterprise businesses several benefits:
- Scalability: Companies can have unlimited users on MediaValet, so companies can roll-out the platform across the business
- Security & compliance: MediaValet is built exclusively on Microsoft Azure and complies with many leading security standards
- Support & training: MediaValet provides 24/7 customer support and offers dedicated enterprise deployment programs.
Choose the best DAM for your business
Brandfolder is a popular DAM platform, but it may not be the best option for your organization. The Frontify DAM connects to our brand-building platform, and your other creative and collaborative tools, helping you build a strong, integrated brand ecosystem. See how well it can work for your organization — start your free trial today.