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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Claris FileMaker

    Score6.7 out of 10
    N/AClaris' FileMaker is presented as a Workplace Innovation Platform, and is used to create a custom app. Manual processes can be automated with Claris FileMaker Pro, and apps can be created to manage contacts, track inventory, organize projects, etc.

    $21

    per month per user

    Google Sheets

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Sheets is the spreadsheet app available on Google Workspace, or standalone, with a free plan for personal use and accessible via mobile apps for iOS and Android.N/A
    Pricing
    Claris FileMakerGoogle Sheets
    Editions & Modules
    Platform Subscription
    $21
    per month per user
    Individual desktop license
    $594
    one-time fee
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Claris FileMakerGoogle Sheets
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Claris FileMakerGoogle Sheets
    Considered Both Products
    Claris
    Chose Claris FileMaker
    Claris FileMaker looks more legit and not as likely to mess up formulas and such.
    Incentivized
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    93%
    Would buy again
    13 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    90 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    83%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    86 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    12 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    89 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    49 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    60 Answers
    Features
    Claris FileMakerGoogle Sheets
    Low-Code Development
    Comparison of Low-Code Development features of Claris FileMaker and Google Sheets
    Feature
    Claris FileMaker
    7.9
    4 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Google Sheets
    -
    Ratings
    Visual Modeling8.44 Ratings00 Ratings
    Drag-and-drop Interfaces3.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform Security9.83 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform User Management7.54 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reusability8.64 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform Scalability9.64 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Claris FileMakerGoogle Sheets
    Small Businesses
    Zoho Creator
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Stackby
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    AppSheet
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Microsoft Excel
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Oracle APEX
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Microsoft Excel
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Claris FileMakerGoogle Sheets
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (51 ratings)
    9.1
    (93 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    5.0
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.8
    (8 ratings)
    8.7
    (55 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.0
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    5.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.8
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Claris FileMakerGoogle Sheets
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Claris
    If your company is really small, I can understand the need for a product like this. However, I would go for MS Access... FileMaker Pro can not be integrated with other systems (like MS Access can at least be handled by C# for instance, and can be integrated with MS Excel or even SQL server). I'm really not sure in what scenario one would choose for FileMaker Pro. If your application or company grows bigger, you're going to have a problem to move to another environment. Also, the fact that only one person can work with the backend at any given time is a problem in a somewhat larger company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Google Sheets is well suited in two main areas: is free to use and you don't need to buy a license to use it, comparing to the most direct competitors ; collaboration is in my opinion the best advantage, with multiple people working together and seeing others working in real time. It's less appropriate in low connectivity environments (offline capabilities)
    Read full review
    Pros
    Claris
    • The relational database management system makes the program highly customizable to fit the needs of any product. You can add a ton of information to each record and update your inventory on a regular basis with an Excel import or manually inside of the record. It has the capability to incorporate barcoding, which can manage your available inventory with ease.
    • The scripting language allows FileMaker to automatically calculate complex algorithms automatically or generate report outs with the click of a button. This allows for greater UI, especially with active users who are not familiar with writing code. Almost all of our internal data is linked to the FileMaker database
    • The server license allows many users to update the database in real time, which is handy if your inventory is constantly changing. We have users with Macs, PCs, iPhones and handheld tablets linked to our FileMaker database and they are updating the information constantly throughout the day.
    • If you invest some time into formatting and scripting the database, there is a high ease of use for users without knowledge of any programming or FileMaker itself.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Collaborative planning : In the initial phase of project, Team leads and architects create a permission matrix along with the naming convention simultaneously, seeing who is editing / adding the details in real-time.
    • Cost tracking : We use this tool to track cloud resource usage monthly costs, so that we can analyse it and send out comms for high cost based resources. By storing cost data here, it's easy for use to store data of last couple of years.
    • Flexible documentation : For change logging of different scenarios we would need different / ad-hoc columns to be added on the fly, which makes using this tool much simpler then reputed third party tools.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Claris
    • Developer features need to be beefed up - namely adding the ability to search code for a phrase or keyword and the ability to do the same in the "relationship graph" in the database.
    • Add ability for users to edit the same table record at the same time by version control.
    • Allow Filemaker Server to use more than 1 core; currently multi-processing is not supported and it can be tricky to find just the right server to support the application you've built to the fullest capacity.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Ease of use - I collaborate with a lot of folks on these and a lot of them have trouble using it.
    • Would love more live features; for example, being able to have cells react to other inputs (checkboxes, etc) with reactive formatting
    • More cross-usability with other Google products; it's hard to think of drawbacks honestly, this is a pretty seamless software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Claris
    It it not really up to me but my opinion does have some weight in the decision and the reason I would renew my use FileMaker Pro 8.5 is because I am finally getting used to it! Now that I have been working with the program, tasks have become quicker and projects are getting done faster. File Maker Pro 8.5 really is a versatile tool and I think we are just scratching the surface with it's abilities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    I am not involved in the purchase/selection process, but my organization is a Google shop, and Sheets meets most of our spreadsheet needs and works seamlessly with our other tools. I don't anticipate our switching anytime soon.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Claris
    It's almost what it should be after so may years and with Apple's longevity and strength behind it. For people who earn their living based on efficiency I think there are too many developer obstacles that waste time and therefore money.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    It can easily handle most uses and functions. It is only for very large datasets or advanced analysis that it either lacks the proper functions or performance begins to slow. Most employees who continue to use competitors' products do so out of preference, familiarity with the user interface, or other surface-level reasons.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Claris
    mostly never issues and if there are they are resolved fast
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Like most Google products, Google Sheets rarely has outages or slowness, and when it does, connection is always momentarily restored. I can't recall a time when I've been unable to access Google Sheets but able to access other sites just fine. That said, errors aren't uncommon when handling large data volume. You know what they say about using spreadsheets as databases, but sometimes it's just the most convenient option, especially for smaller or one-off projects, and not being able to store large amounts of data hampers our ability to move quickly with scrappy prototypes or full solutions. It would be great if we could better integrate our data manipulation (Apps Script) with big data in the sheet.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Claris
    for the most part but lots of error messages if you type something h correctly
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Again, Google Sheets is no exception to Google's general high speed and reliability, but load times can be slow for larger amounts of data. I've used Sheets with Zapier and have used the Python API, and speed has never been an issue.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Claris
    The forums are great with lots of helpful experts and the staff monitor them to provide help where needed. There have been a couple of unique technical issues I've had to deal with that I haven't been able to get resolved so I chose to score this a 9 instead of a 10.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    I have never contacted Google Sheets support, but Google Sheets makes it very easy to report an issue or suggest a feature from Sheets itself (Help > Help Sheets improve), and I've had mostly good experiences with support for other Google products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Claris
    easy to follow along and was able to jump in right away
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Claris
    Suggest you use an iterative R.A.D. or AGILE development approach. (i.e. rather than writing a gigantic spec for a system, then building it). FileMaker facilitates quick prototypes. Developing an example, then allowing users to "try it out" is a snap.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Claris
    FileMaker is still the quickest way to go from zero to having a minimum viable working solution. Simple solutions can be built in as little as a afternoon of development. It is the only tool I am aware of which allows tech savy end users with domain knowledge to build bespoke apps for their businesses without undertaking professional software development training.
    Read full review
    Google
    I have found that I can do almost everything I could have done in Microsoft Excel faster and easier in Google Sheets. We recommend Google Sheets in 99.9% of our use cases and feel it meets the needs of our workers very well. I am sure there are other spreadsheet creation programs out there, but because we are already in the Google environment, adopting Google Sheets in very easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Claris
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    I'm not involved with the purchase, but I assume everything goes smoothly and that the pricing structure is predictable and reasonable. We do not get surprise fees.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Claris
    it's most definitely does as we are a unique business to use this for scholarship awarding
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Google Sheets works very well with multiple users. It's convenient to see in real-time who is collaborating in a sheet, down to the specific cell that they're viewing/editing. Linking Sheets across departments is convenient with the IMPORTRANGE function.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Claris
    • We are a more agile company because of FileMaker. A few of us who are tech-savvy enough to manage the database (but are not professional developers) can make needed adjustments to our database without having to employ an in-house developer or contract with a 3rd party. As our business processes evolve and change, it's easy to update the database to accommodate those changes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Don't need to pay for windows 365 license as it is free
    • Has a positive impact since I am not cursing excel for annoying problems(I don't want the new Pivot table format, I want to use Classic and I don't want to expand/collapse arrows. "x$#%")
    • [Haven't] looked at return on investment on work, but has "simplified" for basic and medium spreadsheets.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots