Accrisoft Freedom vs. Cascade CMS

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Freedom CMS
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Freedom is a cloud-based content management system from Accrisoft Corporation.Accrisoft Freedom specializes in membership and events management, social media, online marketing and e-commerce. Freedom is notable for its highly customizable databases, providing full control over HTML layout and complex filter and search capabilities.
$100
per month
Cascade CMS
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Cascade CMS (formerly Cascade Server) by Hannon Hill is a content management system, with built-in tools to help users eliminate stale content, increase digital outreach, and promote end-user adoption and accountability. Cascade CMS is designed for decentralized web teams in most major industries, including higher education, government, healthcare, and technology. Included is Clive, an engagement and real-time personalization tool for collecting information and using it to craft personalized…N/A
Pricing
Accrisoft FreedomCascade CMS
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Freedom CMSCascade CMS
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Accrisoft FreedomCascade CMS
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Accrisoft FreedomCascade CMS
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Accrisoft Freedom
8.9
2 Ratings
10% above category average
Cascade CMS
8.0
19 Ratings
0% below category average
Role-based user permissions8.92 Ratings8.019 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
Accrisoft Freedom
7.6
3 Ratings
0% below category average
Cascade CMS
7.1
19 Ratings
7% below category average
WYSIWYG editor7.73 Ratings6.119 Ratings
Code quality / cleanliness8.63 Ratings6.018 Ratings
Admin section8.03 Ratings8.019 Ratings
Page templates8.33 Ratings9.017 Ratings
Library of website themes4.32 Ratings5.52 Ratings
Mobile optimization / responsive design7.22 Ratings7.015 Ratings
Publishing workflow8.82 Ratings9.019 Ratings
Form generator7.83 Ratings6.47 Ratings
Web Content Management
Comparison of Web Content Management features of Product A and Product B
Accrisoft Freedom
7.8
3 Ratings
6% above category average
Cascade CMS
6.9
18 Ratings
6% below category average
Content taxonomy8.33 Ratings8.013 Ratings
SEO support7.83 Ratings7.014 Ratings
Bulk management7.42 Ratings9.014 Ratings
Availability / breadth of extensions7.72 Ratings6.011 Ratings
Community / comment management8.02 Ratings4.85 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Accrisoft Freedom
-
Ratings
Cascade CMS
7.1
13 Ratings
8% below category average
API00 Ratings7.012 Ratings
Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings7.37 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Accrisoft FreedomCascade CMS
Small Businesses
Divi
Divi
Score 9.8 out of 10
Divi
Divi
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Image Relay
Image Relay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Image Relay
Image Relay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Tridion
Tridion
Score 9.0 out of 10
Tridion
Tridion
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Accrisoft FreedomCascade CMS
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(4 ratings)
9.9
(44 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(26 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
6.7
(4 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.1
(5 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Accrisoft FreedomCascade CMS
Likelihood to Recommend
Accrisoft
The only thing I believe Accrisoft Freedom is not as well suited is for large e-commerce sites. Accrisoft Freedom actually has an E-commerce module and can do products and online sales, however if this is the majority of what your business does (or your clients' businesses), I would recommend an E-commerce focused CMS.
For almost all other circumstances I can think of though, I would recommend Accrisoft Freedom - ma and pa shops on up to a corporation.
Read full review
Hannon Hill
Cascade Server is well suited with it's WYSIWYG editor being better than most editors that I have used in other systems. In context, editing makes adding content easy compared to the last CMS I used where you had to wing it and view the page outside of the CMS to see if it was correct. The ability mix HTML, CSS, and the Script of your choice anywhere and with ease.
The scenarios were Cascade Server is less appropriate would be in the use of compilers or programs like Visual studio. You need to go out of Cascade Server and go to other environments to perform tasks and then copy the result to Cascade Server. You can write directly in Cascade Server, but it's easier to do in and editor that is specific to a function.
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Pros
Accrisoft
  • Hosting and maintenance is taken care of. Due to it being proprietary software, everything is built to work together.
  • Simple to use. Basic functionality for websites is built in without having to dig through thousands of potential options.
  • Development is straightforward...no backend languages required. So if someone wants a unique layout for a portfolio, it's very simple to add a new content type and build the new layout using basic html and css.
Read full review
Hannon Hill
  • Cascade CMS makes no assumptions about your content. Templates control how the content gets displayed.
  • Workflows are intuitive and allow for one or more people to review content before it is published.
  • The published site is static (no database connection) which allows for faster page loads and reduced risk of attack.
Read full review
Cons
Accrisoft
  • Their preview setup for reviewing page changes prior to pushing them live is not good. You basically have to push things live to see how they will look, then go back and tweak it, while the changes in progress are live on the site. They need a sandbox, or a better preview feature within the backend so you dont have to keep pushing changes live to test out functionality.
  • Integration with outside tools is non existent. Instead of trying to force people to use their modules or features it would make much more sense to more easily integrate with leading tools in niche spaces.
  • The UI is pretty old. It could use a big refresh. Things like drag and drop builders and functionality should be standard these days. This is also a plus for non tech savvy users as it keeps their page structures to what works without letting people tinker. But if you want to tinker and be a higher end user Freedom isn't the best bet.
Read full review
Hannon Hill
  • Cascade CMS is not an out-of-the-box pre-built system that you can install, turn on and expect to be serving sites and pages on day one. It's not a blogging system like WordPress, or a drag-and-drop system like SquareSpace (both of which I've used for their own purposes). You need to have someone tasked with management and system administration – and if you implement the on-premise self-hosted version, you ought to have several people. We have the university's IT shop handling infrastructure (server hardware, containers, clustering, operating systems, load-balancing, DNS, database servers, NAS/SAN drives), our Web & Design team managing Cascade CMS (system settings, sites, templates, permissions) and managers coordinating each respective academic unit (A&S, business, education, law, marine science).
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Likelihood to Renew
Accrisoft
We switched to WordPress; it was out of my control.
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Hannon Hill
Changing systems would require too much effort. Our institution is using Cascade Server, WordPress and Drupal but we only serve 2200 students so we have 1 too many content management systems. Reflecting on current technical resources we would like to drop down to 2. This effort hasn't moved forward because of the extensive work required to migrate content and train users in a new system.
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Usability
Accrisoft
No answers on this topic
Hannon Hill
Cascade CMS is completely usable on mobile devices, we can train our content editors in a single 2-hour session, and we support 1,000 users with a very small team.
There is a level of complexity for the system administrators, site managers and web programmers who implement templates and content types. But the complexity is neither arbitrary nor inconsistent – and once learned provides a powerful environment within which we can develop robust sites that are beautiful and powerful, yet easy for our content editors to manage.
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Reliability and Availability
Accrisoft
No answers on this topic
Hannon Hill
Amazing customer service and VERY customizable.
Read full review
Performance
Accrisoft
No answers on this topic
Hannon Hill
Does a great job.
Read full review
Support Rating
Accrisoft
This rating is based on personal experience only. I believe majority of people would say their support is top notch & 10/10. The only reason I am personally am giving it lower is because I consider my self a much more advanced user of Freedom than their typical Solution Provider developers. Because I am advanced, I troubleshoot my own issues pretty in-depth before I even contact Accrisoft support. Therefore sometimes I feel it takes longer to get the researched & specific answer I need vs. a simple support question would.
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Hannon Hill
They have always regarded any question or problem we encountered as very important. We have never felt that they ignore or downplay any issue and not once has anything been left unresolved. They also hold an annual conference where users are invited to attend and share their experiences and wisdom with the entire Cascade community. And with the care and support the provide, we all feel a part of that community.
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In-Person Training
Accrisoft
No answers on this topic
Hannon Hill
Training was helpful.
Read full review
Online Training
Accrisoft
No answers on this topic
Hannon Hill
Still needed that physical help
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Implementation Rating
Accrisoft
No answers on this topic
Hannon Hill
The key to any CMS implementation is PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Proper planning with Cascade can increase your satisfaction exponentially once the site migration/creation is complete. When all is said and done, your implementation can make your site run like a Yugo or Maserati. Be smart and deliberate in your decisions. Drive the Maserati. It is already paid for.
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Alternatives Considered
Accrisoft
In all honesty, we have been moving away from Accrisoft Freedom due to its lack of customizability. We as an agency generally prefer open source solutions since our client base primarily consists of those looking for a more custom solution that can be built off of in the future. While yes, these tend to need more care and attention, they have benefited us more.
Read full review
Hannon Hill
We selected Cascade server seven years ago, and the CMS environment at the time was clearly different than it is today. We decided to go with a vendor solution rather than a free solution because the long term cost in hosting a free solution is not, in fact, free; we've found Cascade to have been an excellent choice for us.
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Scalability
Accrisoft
No answers on this topic
Hannon Hill
I used it only a few times.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Accrisoft
  • This was the first CMS we had at our company so hard to say positive or negative impact.
  • Prior to this CMS there was a static site that html files had to be ftp to a company to have the site updated. So from that standpoint it made updating the site much less expensive.
  • Compared to a tool like Wordpress this is much more secure and easier to manage, but since we outsource that portion of it to the company that built the site we dont realize those gains.
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Hannon Hill
  • Initially, ROI was positive - because we completely redesigned the website when we implemented Cascade.
  • Over time, the inability to keep up with the latest interactive tools has reduced visitors time on site.
  • Also over time, the difficulty of use has led to less buy-in by backend users, leading to outdated pages, little timely information, and lower visitors.
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