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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

    Microsoft Excel

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Excel is a spreadsheet application available as part of Microsoft 365 (Office 365), or standalone, in cloud-based and on-premise editions.

    $6.99

    per month

    Pricing
    Claris FileMakerMicrosoft Excel
    Editions & Modules
    Platform Subscription
    $21
    per month per user
    Individual desktop license
    $594
    one-time fee
    Excel with Microsoft 365
    $6.99
    per month
    Excel for 1 PC or Mac
    $139.99
    perpetual license
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Claris FileMakerMicrosoft Excel
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Claris FileMakerMicrosoft Excel
    Considered Both Products
    Claris
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    93%
    Would buy again
    13 Answers
    99%
    Would buy again
    78 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    83%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    70 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    12 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    76 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    46 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    54 Answers
    Features
    Claris FileMakerMicrosoft Excel
    Low-Code Development
    Comparison of Low-Code Development features of Claris FileMaker and Microsoft Excel
    Feature
    Claris FileMaker
    7.9
    4 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Microsoft Excel
    -
    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
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    Claris FileMakerMicrosoft Excel
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    Score8.2 out of 10
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    Score9.1 out of 10
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    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Claris FileMakerMicrosoft Excel
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (51 ratings)
    9.0
    (78 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    5.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.9
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    8.8
    (8 ratings)
    8.5
    (23 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.0
    (6 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    5.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Claris FileMakerMicrosoft Excel
    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
    Microsoft
    I don't really know another program as powerful as Excel. I've used Google Doc programs but do not feel they come close. So far, anytime I've needed a table of some sort for data, whether it's budget oriented or information off a survey, the best system has been Excel. We do web audits on occasion and we create an Excel worksheet featuring every URL of the pages we're auditing, notes, data about the content, information about files attached to the page and other information to help us determine what pages need updating, deleting or otherwise. We also use Excel primarily to export our Google Analytics to in order for us to create reports for clients that need to see specific information about their traffic.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Microsoft
    • It is very good at embedded formulas and tying cells to one another
    • It allows me to compare deals terms on a side-by-side basis and talk my clients through it easily.
    • It is very helpful as well in terms of allowing me to filter/sort results in many different ways depending on what specific information I am most interested in prioritizing.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Microsoft
    • Excel offers collaboration features that allow multiple users to work on the same spreadsheet, but managing changes made by different users can be challenging. Excel could improve its features by offering more granular control, better tracking of changes, and more robust conflict resolution tools.
    • Itcan be a barrier to productivity when importing and exporting data from other applications or file formats. To improve its features, it should offer better support for standard file formats and more robust error handling and reporting tools.
    • Excel can be challenging for finance students and working professionals, but it can be improved by offering more robust tutorials, better documentation, and more user communities and support forums.
    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
    Microsoft
    Excel remains the industry standard for spreadsheets and has maintained simple and straight-forward formula writing methods. Although there is a learning curve to do more complex calculations, there are countless help sites and videos on the Internet for almost any need.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Microsoft
    I'm giving it a 7 because it is my go to. But the fact other prefer Google Sheets when working with a team does get irritating. I've used the online version of Microsoft Excel that other teams can get into and it still seems behind Google Sheets. It's a little clanky and slow? If that's even a term.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Claris
    mostly never issues and if there are they are resolved fast
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    I have rarely, if ever, had issues with its availability.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Claris
    for the most part but lots of error messages if you type something h correctly
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Excel load and performs calculations immediately. It integrate well with all Microsoft Office applications and does not slow them down.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Microsoft
    I have not had to use it often, but it is good.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Claris
    easy to follow along and was able to jump in right away
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    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
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    Microsoft
    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
    Microsoft
    Out of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI, IBM SPSS, and Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel is by far the most common tool used for anything data-related across organizations. Accordingly, our organization has also implemented Microsoft Excel as a first-step tool. We recently adopted Microsoft Power BI (the free version), and use it occasionally (mostly for creating dashboards), but it is less commonly understood by stakeholders across our organization and by our clients. Accordingly, Microsoft Excel is more user-friendly and because of its popularity, we can easily look up how to do things in the program online. Google Sheets is a comparable alternative to Microsoft Excel, but because it's cloud-based and we have sensitive data that needs to be protected, we chose against using this software. Finally, a few users (including myself) have access to and utilize IBM's SPSS. For my role, it's a helpful tool to do more rigorous analyses. However, because of its cost and limited functionality as a simple spreadsheet, we only use it for more complex analyses.
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Claris
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    N/A I was not involved in this process.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Claris
    it's most definitely does as we are a unique business to use this for scholarship awarding
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Each user can use it to whatever level of expertise they have. It remains the same so users can contribute to another's work regardless of whether they have more or less expertise
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Microsoft
    • Excel has positively impacted the business as it has increased our efficiency.
    • It also saves us the time that we would have spent on making the calculations that it does for us.
    • Since it works on all devices and is compatible with both Windows and Mac, we do not have to invest in any other alternative.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots