--- title: Claris FileMaker Reviews meta_title: 'Claris FileMaker Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 578 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Claris FileMaker works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.5 review_count: 578 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-07-31' parent_category: name: Rapid Application Development (RAD) url: https://www.g2.com/categories/rapid-application-development-rad --- # Claris FileMaker Reviews **Vendor:** Claris **Category:** [Workplace Innovation Platforms](https://www.g2.com/categories/workplace-innovation-platforms) **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 578 ## About Claris FileMaker Make tech work for you, not the other way around. The Claris platform is uniquely suited to help businesses like yours build, test, and rapidly iterate customized, integrated solutions faster and more efficiently than any other platform on the market. Unlike other software applications out there that are too lightweight and not customizable or too complex and rigid, Claris is flexible enough to meet your specific and evolving needs. Organizations just like yours — whether they’re SMBs, nonprofits, or educational institutions — use Claris apps to help them run their business the way they want and thereby significantly boost productivity and efficiencies across the board. Learn more — www.claris.com ## Claris FileMaker Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users find Claris FileMaker incredibly **easy to use** , simplifying form design and data collection for various tasks. (9 reviews) - Users value the **flexibility** of Claris FileMaker, enabling seamless cross-platform development and custom app deployment. (8 reviews) - Users love the **easy creation** capabilities of Claris FileMaker, enabling rapid development and deployment of ideas and features. (7 reviews) - Users value the **seamless integration capabilities** of Claris FileMaker, enhancing workflow across various applications and platforms. (7 reviews) - Users appreciate the **customizability** of Claris FileMaker, enabling seamless adaptations to meet evolving business needs efficiently. (6 reviews) - Users appreciate the **flexibility and ease of customization** in Claris FileMaker, enabling tailored solutions without extensive programming. (6 reviews) - Users value the **seamless integration** capabilities of Claris FileMaker, enhancing efficiency and workflow across various platforms. (6 reviews) - Automation (5 reviews) - Customization Options (5 reviews) - Ease of Learning (5 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find the **learning curve steep** , often requiring assistance to navigate complex features and layouts effectively. (4 reviews) - Users struggle with **navigation difficulties** , finding it hard to manage layouts and references in Claris FileMaker. (3 reviews) - Users find **cost issues** with Claris FileMaker, citing charges for API transactions and high costs for broader use. (2 reviews) - Users find **database limitations** challenging, especially with older templates and concerns over speed in complex applications. (2 reviews) - Users find **difficult customization** challenges in Claris FileMaker due to complex layout and field management issues. (2 reviews) - Users find the **pricing structure too high** for small businesses, particularly when scaling with more users. (2 reviews) - High Complexity (2 reviews) - Limited Customization (2 reviews) - Limited Features (2 reviews) - Users feel the **missing features** in Claris FileMaker limit their ability to fully utilize the product's potential. (2 reviews) ## Claris FileMaker Reviews ### 1. Perfect for integration and Rapid App development **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Matts A. | CEO, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 04, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Time to value is in many cases minutes, not days or weeks. Product stability and reliability is good. A great community helping each other. Great third party plugins extending Filemakers native functions. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Versions before 16 lacked native REST api functionality. I wish for even more sharing of community knowledge andsoftware assets. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** All sorts of SMB workflows and integration with cloud services and other systems where speedy development is a must. ### 2. Does everything and more than I need, at a speed that amazes my colleagues **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Martin R. | Managing Director, Management Consulting, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 26, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Filemaker has everything -- a robust database, a comprehensive scripting language, an easy user interface. I could go on and on. It is my absolute go-to tool for solutions design. I've done a lot of projects in which the output is a Filemaker system I've designed for my clients. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Filemaker is getting more expensive and its pricing model is complex and difficult to understand. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Filemaker is an amazing blend of real database and system design power, while keeping it simple enough for a savvy user. Spend time learning the relationship model and the scripting language -- they'll pay off in the long run. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Where to begin? I've done projects for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, colleges and universities, Canadian startups, Swedish automotive dealerships, and on and on. ### 3. FileMaker review **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rachel J. | Partnerships Manager - Publishers, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 29, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** The ability to schedule my calls within FileMaker **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Only being able to add one primary contact for any account, this is not ideal for a company who may have more than one person speaking to that account for different reasons and therefore different points of contact **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** If you have multiple sales teams using this, I would look at other options as you end up having multiple accounts and duplicates over time **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** CRM and invoicing is processed through FileMaker. ### 4. Functional, Leaves Much To Be Desired **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Staffing and Recruiting | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 17, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker offers our business an easy way to inventory content and jobs. Unfortunately, not much else can be done but that. With a relatively ugly user interface to boot, FileMaker is at best underwhelming. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker leaves much to be desired. Put simply, it works. In a pinch, it does what’s needed. We can create content management through it and keep track of paperwork. Visually it is unappetizing and the software has zero bells and whistles, no room for growth has been built in it. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** It gets the job done. But your eyeballs may be more stimulated by any other software. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** FileMaker is great for keeping track of detailed inventory systems and literally making files. It’s literally a digital file folder system. ### 5. FileMaker Review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 29, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker is one of the main software applications used in my job in higher education. It is very user-friendly, simple to learn and has several reporting mechanisms that streamline our catalog production process. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** There is nothing I dislike about FileMaker. Well, maybe one thing - if a file is deleted in error, there is no option to recover it. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** FileMaker makes designing the four course catalogs my department is responsible for every year so much easier. ### 6. Clunky and difficult to use **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 18, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** To be honest, not much, though it is nice to have things backed up from years before I started **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Takes a long time, so many unnecessary clicks to achieve things, super archaic **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Tagging and grouping of contact and personal info for events and programming ### 7. Extraordinary tool for database creation and management **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Performing Arts | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I love that the product is so customizable. It is easy to set up your database according to your organizations' needs and there is a lot of room for creativity. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It takes a little time to familiarize oneself with the more idiosyncratic behaviors of the product which is important so as not to unintentionally delete information, but this is not strong criticism since once one does become familiar, it is easy to see how the logic of the system is quite rational. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Our organization manages an extraordinary amount of information for many needs with information overlapping through various forms and layouts. ### 8. Just some amazing possibilities **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Pierre B. | Directeur, Computer Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 07, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** With FileMaker everybody can design a solution in a really short time. We have a lot of possibilities of development if we want to make it really complete too ! **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It's hard to manage the "data design". I hope that we will have a lot of new possibilities to manage that ! **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Absolutely all my process are archived in a simple database. ### 9. FileMaker is so easy to get started, yet has so much power **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrew C. | Director Of Technology, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 06, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** The ease with which you can get an interface out for data for Mac, Windows, browser, iPhone, iPad. The threshold to becoming a confident FileMaker user is quite low, as well, which makes it easy to get people on board. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Cost of connections. No Android app? I haven't found too many negatives with FileMaker so far, but even the lack of an Android app can be overcome with Webdirect. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Just jump, pick a small project you would like to simplify and teach yourself as much as you can. Also, search Google for anything you're having trouble with. There is a tremendous FileMaker community online who will help with any question you have, or even offer a free solution. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use FileMaker internally with our staff for just about everything. Data analysis, inventory, member management, files, etc. We initially purchased FileMaker to help us with our accreditation teams and member management but have greatly expanded what we use it for. The threshold for getting users on-boarded is so low which makes my job much easier. ### 10. Useful if you know how to program **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 31, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I like that I can share a database with any of my co-workers, especially with the sheer volume of clients we have listed in the database. We each need to use file-maker to edit, search, and add clients all the time and having a way to easily sort through them is great when we all work in different parts of the building. I like that you can edit the program so that you when you need to add a new information box, you can add it to your current database and it won't interfere with what you already have going on. For example, we have the receipt date, the sent date, the name, file description, and we recently added a block to indicate if the file was 'void, complete, or incomplete'. Adding the block didn't change any of the original features, it was great! **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** I liked that the training videos and descriptions were so helpful in learning how to edit the program. I don't like that anyone with access to the program can edit the layout and function of the boxes, we just have to make sure that when edits are made, only one person is doing it and we all agree on the changes. I also wish that it didn't require so many updates. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** If you are interested in a user friendly database to manage large amounts of information across multiple users, this is a great product. We enjoy working with it and I have personally enjoyed updating our search program after learning how to in the easy instructional guide. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** At the university we process a high volume of temporary lecturers. This system allows us to easily track how many times an individual has taught, when, where, what courses, and how many hours. This allows us to be more effective in the approval process. ### 11. Great for Custom App Development **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bob G. | President, Computer Software, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 07, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Cross Platform, creates Web and Mobile apps. 20+ years of feature development means a really full-featured and robust development environment. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Doesn't scale much beyond 500 users. The licensing choices are too complex and confusing. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Work with a qualified consultant. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Accounting apps. CRM. Inventory. Production Management. Initial development is fast and incremental changes faster. ### 12. Not hard to use **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Printing | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 14, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I find it easy to use as long as somebody in IT has set up all of the templates **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** As a non-tech professional myself, I would find it hard to program in the first place. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** You have to do the updates, which we have not always kept up with, otherwise it starts to move very slowly. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use it for estimating, for production, inventory, many business functions. Really helped us get everything computerized when we started with it, at least 12 years ago. ### 13. FileMaker Review **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lance M. | Graphic Designer, Hospital & Health Care, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 28, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I use Filemaker every single day at work. I do Graphic Design for an Advertising firm. We use this program everyday to make our workflow much much simpler. It is a convenient way for all of us on the Advertising team to stay connecting. We can view and submit jobs that are available to each of us. We wouldn't be able to work any other way. It helps to keep us efficient. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Can be a bit glitchy sometimes when loading. But once on, functions great. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** This is a great program for file consolidation and viewing purposes. Our Director, Operations Managers, Copyrighters, Sales, and Designers can all be connected throughout the process. We all can access any job and it just makes things go more smoothly. Once you learn the program, it is just perfect. Cant say enough good things about it. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It brings an efficiency and organization that couldnt be achieved without some type of software. It provides convenience. It provides consistency. It just plain makes things easier. All of our previous jobs are stored and can be searched and viewed through Filemaker. It just makes everyones' job that much easier. ### 14. Rapid Development and Extremely Flexible **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Aad V. | President, Computer Software, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 04, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** In FileMaker it is easy to be flexible. Roll out the basic solution and start adding refinements as you go along and get user feedback. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** The lack of separation between data and code makes it harder to do your coding in a dev environment to easily implement in live once you're ready. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have built both complete productions system for large organizations and simple solutions for small set up's. FileMaker scales really well and there are many ways to tie the solution to other database platforms. ### 15. Great for bespoke solutions **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Airlines/Aviation | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 09, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** The easy way to make tailor made solutions that suits our needs. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Sometimes a bit slow to support the latest OS upgrades. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Getting the right information to the right people at the right time ### 16. Flexible software **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Wholesale | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 16, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I like that FileMaker is able to be customized so thoroughly to fit my needs and can be programmed to be responsive to other software as well. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** The user interface can be clunky and it has a tendency to “break” often and cause issues. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Ease of project management, creation of customer database and easy quote calculation ### 17. Traffic /PM coordinator **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Broadcast Media | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 10, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker is customizable for all of your trafficking needs. It’s keeping my work organized in a dashboard. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Takes time to get use to but overall isn’t bad, wish it would provide highlighting option. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** FileMaker has made it easy to track work coming in and though the company . ### 18. FileMaker is a game changer for small business. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 06, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Easy to get started and automate business tasks. FileMaker changes to fit the needs of your business rather than having to change you business to fir the needs of the software. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Nothing. I have been using FileMaker for over 15 years and have solved countless problems with it. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Business process automation. Automate communication with customers (reminders, invoices, payment notifications, internal workflow). Saved countless hours and virtually eliminated user error. ### 19. Filemaker for Small Business **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Philip F. | President, Education Management, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 04, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker Pro (FMP) is my development tool of choice. Easy to learn, yet robust. Customizable to customers' needs. Inexpensive when considering the Total Cost of Ownership. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Would like a few more features. These have been enumerated on several FMP forums. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We develop software for a vertical market (non-profit Child Advocacy Centers). There is very little affordable software in the market that is contemporary and meets all of their needs. ### 20. FileMaker gives you so many options **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 29, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** the flexibility to customize to your organization/project **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** some tools seem like they could be more intuitive so that a new user is not intimidated **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** currently I use it to customize data exports so that we can have reporting and collateral that is easy to read and comprehend for our committees ### 21. Good database **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 28, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Powerful, easy to use. Integrates well with communication needs **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Some quirky bits like using value lists rather than relational tables. Small fonts when editing table contents is annoying. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Membership association data management. Facilitates successful communication ### 22. Worst Program EVER **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 20, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Built for the company. There are specifications that only a hand crafted program can offer like categories for business tasks. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Always crashing, edits to program dont work, buttons dont always work. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Don’t do it. Poorly constructed, for anotber era. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Organizing art and jobs, billing ### 23. Low code at it's best **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Christoph D. | Managing Director, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 07, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker (16) is very stable and offers now everything that is necessary to connect to any kind of service. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** The licensing model makes it in certain cases difficult to make an attractive offer. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Check your usage against the applicable licensing first. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I do most of my systems in FileMaker (financial accounting, CRM, Use Case modelling, process documentation). ### 24. FileMaker allows you to share notes and files easily. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 28, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Filmmaker was useful as a note taking system and helped my group to track daily statistic. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker was older in style and functionality. I would have loved a more user friendly interface. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** User interface could he more intuitive, but very useful for basic functionality. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Filmmaker made it easier to track statistics between all manager shifts and share that information across shifts. It was beneficial as a source of daily notes for when past high profile events needed to be reviewed. ### 25. Works great **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Public Policy | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 20, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Its UI is relatively appealing and it functions well. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It's feature heavy and they have no way to hide what isn't used. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Easy access to database info ### 26. Easy to use and flexible **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Professional Training & Coaching | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 03, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I can make and tweak my own templates, customized for my needs. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Here are 40 characters explaining there is nothing I don't like. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Keep track of all the moving parts of a touring entertainer's business ### 27. Great database for managing art works and contacts **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Arts and Crafts | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 18, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Very versatile, easy to customize. Interface is user friendly. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It has its quirks that we have to learn to work around. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Inventory and contacts management. Very easy to track client sales, profits, etc. ### 28. Filemaker makes our lives easier **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Public Relations and Communications | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 18, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** It makes our lives easier, and is so much better than just logging all of our stuff in excel. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Sometimes it lags, and it's annoying you have to go all the way to the bottom to input information. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It's super helpful with our clinet-- a client wants to know what we've been doing for them, we can print out every single action from filemaker in the past few months so they can see. ### 29. Started from the bottom, now we're here... **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Internet | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 14, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** The product seems really flexible from a business requirement standpoint. You can create whatever forms you need to show your end user, and it had different needed functionalities if you want to build a proprietary database. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Basically, this product is only as good as whoever is building the reporting shown on screen. If you don't have someone very familiar with the program, you'll be as limited as they are. So my advice would be make sure whoever is building the program from the start is knowledgeable about FileMaker. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Really keep in mind the purpose of what you're using it for, because otherwise the program will be pretty much useless. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** As I said above, this programs will have the same limitations as the person building it. Also, in my organization (from the user standpoint) there wasn't a lot of training on how to use it. So also be able to communicate the purpose of the database and/or forms. ### 30. Useful for Its Purpose **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Restaurants | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 30, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** It provided a useful way to track orders through the supply chain. No frills, but did the job. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Biggest complaint was that it was very, very slow. Reports could take 15, 20 minutes to process and you couldn't keep working while they ran. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Good product, no frills. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Able to track orders in real-time through production channels. ### 31. FileMaker Pro **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 25, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Great tool for tracking inventory levels and tasks, as well as managing content and contact information. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker Pro does not really have any major downfalls, other than it can be sluggish at times. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** FileMaker is used for tracking status on open tasks we have on the team. From using FileMaker Pro we have realized we also get great use from content management, especially version history tracking. ### 32. Great for organizing a large department **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 14, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I can load all the staff, equipment, and locations into the FileMaker shell and reuse them. The ability to send reminder emails is also very useful. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** The interface can be clunky and extremely finicky. Doing most tasks requires a very specific set of steps to acomplish with no tolerance for error. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** It will have a learning curve, but if you stick with it, Filemaker will revolutionize your scheduling. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Scheduling and deployment of staff and resources has been streamlined. ### 33. Absolutely Amzing tool! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 04, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** It makes it easy for me to keep track of the grades of my students. It gives me a quick snapshot of the progress throughout the year. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** At times the system can be slow to log into the program. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It gives me the opportunity to keep my grades in an area that is easily accessible once opened. I can also record the daily progress of my students. ### 34. Perfect workflow solution for small and medium businesses. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** David H. | President, Computer Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 05, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** You can build customized desktop, iPhone, web business solutions for a fraction of the cost of competing SQL options. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Web Direct technology still needs fine tuning. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Have created numerous solutions for our clients for a reasonable cost when 'off the shelf' solutions weren't available. ### 35. Great rapid-application development platform; limited scalability **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Cristos L. | Founder & Lead Developer, Computer Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 14, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** As a user, FileMaker is a great tool for exploring data that was stuck in spreadsheets. It's easy enough to learn that you can make small changes (renaming fields, adding/removing fields, editing forms) without any coding knowledge. As a developer, FileMaker makes it very easy to go from the "Excel spreadsheet" phase to a fully-interactive application -- as long as you're on one of their supported platforms (Win, Mac, iOS) or have the licenses to use their web publishing system (WebDirect). **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** FileMaker is not the best platform choice for every use-case. It is often better for small teams of a few dozen people than it is for 1,000's of users. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** - Simplified input of data by having easy-to-use forms, improving structured data capture. - Easily pull up "on-the-fly" reports of data, answering questions that were previously very tedious to resolve. ### 36. Easy to Use and Learn **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jack B. | CIO, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 28, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** The platform is laid out into understandable sections. The code is easy to learn and there is a lot of documentation on it, with examples. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** The licensing options are limited and kind of steep. Unlike the platform, the licensing does not have much freedom of customization. FileMaker for Android is limited to WebDirect, and it is not suited for fitting to a devices screen size. You just have to build for the smallest device and hope it looks good on bigger ones. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are looking to build an all-in-one solution for service industries to track contacts, quotes and expenses. FileMaker is allowing us to do so in a fast, responsive environment. It is beneficial having the ability to hit a button and the changes go live across all instances, with no reloading or refreshing required by the end-user. ### 37. Super Outdated **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Events Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 06, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** It functions, you can have an unlimited amount of users in the system. Changes to layout and fields are easily done. Don't have to be super techy to figure out how things work. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It's clunky, outdated, and ongoing support is dwindling. There is no live time analytic features and reports are hard to pull. Also, you do not have the ability to send out automated emails or set up any type of workflow. No tools for followups. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Filemaker will not be supported for much longer. I really don't recommend it unless its the only thing your company can afford. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It's currently hosting our student records. It works. We would like to get away from it in the near future and use Salesforce as our CRM the cap on free users is limiting us. ### 38. Useful but clunky, deeply expensive **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Hospitality | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 04, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Easily makes replicable forms for business purposes **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** clunky interface needs updating to be truly useful **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Make your forms airtight at first, as modifications can cause trouble down the line **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Filemaker makes it easy to fill out and store forms for business purposes ### 39. Filemaker keeps your documentation organized **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bonnie C. | Online Instructor, Education Management, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I like that you can create, share and easily access templates and files. Files and templates can be sorted under multiple categories. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It is not easy to transfer information or import/export information. It would be helpful if it was internet based. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** I think it definitely serves its purpose and would recommend it for keeping logs and entries that would normally be filed away for supportive documentation. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Use Filemaker Pro for lesson plans, team meeting documentation and mentor/mentee logs. Good for monitoring document/log creation by other users. ### 40. Useful but never perfect **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Designing a simple database using FileMaker is relatively intuitive with little training. The database created is very searchable and easy to add more data, export reports, and print out as needed. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It crashes often if used on a network, and is more difficult to manipulate into different looks and designs. I have found it nearly impossible to include image files successfully. I have also had little luck finding tech support at my place of work for using FileMaker Pro. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Useful and intuitive, but it's probably best to have the most recent copy of FileMaker Pro: The Missing Manual next to you as you start out. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use it to keep records of inventory in my workplace, as well as doing surveys of items where I have to keep track of a lot of details. It has been beneficial in keeping all my records in one place, and being able to search and find information I entered in the past. ### 41. FileMaker in Sales **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Retail | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 08, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I like how this program makes it easy for me to keep all of my contacts in one place. They can be easily adjusted and edited. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** I dislike how challenging it can be when starting out in this program. The ease of use is not there until you become pretty accustomed to the way the program is set up. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are able to quickly send out promotions and mailers to all of our customers. This is a huge time saver to our department. ### 42. Filemaker **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lauren M. | Language Arts Teacher, Religious Institutions, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 18, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** The program is very organized and straightforward. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** The program doesn't allow you to view multiple accounts at once. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Keeping our clients organized in one location. ### 43. Great easy database **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Philanthropy | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 30, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I love how easy it is to use and create databases. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** I really can't say anything bad about it. Other than I wish I had more time to play with it. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I can easily add new fields and change out fields in this database because it's so customizable. ### 44. Amazing product !! **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 07, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** We have scaled from a $4m a year company to a $26m a year company with this as our backbone. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It doesn't ask if you are sure you want to make changes. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** If you with to create a custom solution, hire an internal developer. Outsourcing has become challenging and expensive. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We manage our employee database, our incidents and our scheduling. ### 45. Easy to use to track information **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Leora W. | Project Manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 28, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** I love how easy it is to use. There are many way to set up the sheets and it's easy to fill out forms. It's also great that you can attach documents. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** I don't like that only one person can use it at a time. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** This has been very beneficial with tracking expenses and receipts/invoices. Many people can use the same sheet (at different times) and it saves automatically so you don't need to worry about that. We have also been using it to track project development. ### 46. Great Purchase Order Management System **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Michael H. | Post Production Supervisor, Broadcast Media, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 12, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Filemaker has many database functions. However, in my use it has been a solid purchase order database that functions well with a low learning curve. Best of all? Filemaker works almost 100% of the time without error messages. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** The find function can be occasionally slow, but this is usually due to older PC's or a slow internet connection to the server database. Disconnects can also occur, since Filemaker has to be connected to a database at all times. If the internet or server is down, I'm unable to create a PO. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Filemaker allowed us to stop using paper purchase orders and move to digital. PO's are now easier to create, modify and find. Due to a fast system, accounting also receives purchase orders in a more timely manner. No more waiting for interoffice mail to arrive when fighting traffic on a Friday night. ### 47. Life of a Apple Product! **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Human Resources | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 04, 2018 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** The overall ease of combining multiple databases for daily tasks. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Don't have any dislikes at this time just make sure you have the current version updated. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** Do your research! **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Sales, A/P, A/R CRM etc ### 48. Great product **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Biotechnology | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 08, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** 1.Built-in reporting tools 2.Easy and intuitive for users 3.Secure data and information **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Layout design is fairly static and dated (this has been improved with the Filemaker 12 and above) **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It a great business-focused cross-platform relational database application for business users, swathed with a series of improvements. ### 49. Filemaker Project Systems **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 08, 2017 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Speed and ease of development. Very quick to make minor changes. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** Not a lot to dislike. Email integration could be better perhaps allowing more attachments and HTML content, however both of these can be achieved with inexpensive plugin. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** visibility of project progress and costs ### 50. Not Stable - But Easy **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jesseca R. | Administrative Office Manager, Consumer Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 02, 2016 **What do you like best about Claris FileMaker?** Easy to understand and figure out how to program on your own. **What do you dislike about Claris FileMaker?** It crashes on a daily basis, which means having to restart it up and then also add back in the fields you are always starting with. It also doesn't save PDFs correctly, so you have to sometimes close out and go back in. **Recommendations to others considering Claris FileMaker:** If you have other options, I would take them. FileMaker is a good basic option, but it's no frills and really could use some work. We've been using it for at least 5 years (and definitely longer than that) and within that timeframe I have noticed all of the frustration everyone has faced with it crashing and having many bugs and just not meeting the standard we would like. **What problems is Claris FileMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use it to create documents and reports for customers, so this is the simplest way at the moment that everyone in the office already knows. We are also always adding on new styles of reports so the ease-factor of creating new formats is helpful. ## Claris FileMaker Discussions - [Can I create a correlation between inventory and customer database?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/can-i-create-a-correlation-between-inventory-and-customer-database) - 4 comments, 1 upvote - [What is the best way to integrate with Google Calendar?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/13940-what-is-the-best-way-to-integrate-with-google-calendar) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [Hello how easy is it to apply for help with framework coding in our files?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/12192-hello-how-easy-is-it-to-apply-for-help-with-framework-coding-in-our-files) - 2 comments, 1 upvote - [What is FileMaker Licensing for Teams?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/licensing-for-teams) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [Sending the same message to a found group.](https://www.g2.com/discussions/33205-sending-the-same-message-to-a-found-group) - 1 comment - [View Claris FileMaker pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/claris-filemaker/reviews?page=9§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-04+01%3A41%3A08+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=342c597a-0fd2-46bc-a979-ef6f66ef5a4a&secure%5Btoken%5D=6d8518319a72ffad804967b2dd92b6190e425bfca623607fffd521db6c621f3e&format=llm_user) ## Claris FileMaker Integrations - [Apple Mail](https://www.g2.com/products/apple-mail/reviews) ## Claris FileMaker Features **Administration** - Application Deployment - Native Deployment - Data Security - Access Control - Scalability - Lifecycle Management **Functionality** - Ease of Use - File Management - Multi-Language Support - Customization - Straight-Out-the-Box Functionality - Help Guides - Patching & Updates **Application Design** - UI Code Extending - Programming Code Extending - Customized Branding - Application Templates - Workflows **Automation** - Workflow Automation - Workflow Mapping - Real-Time Updates **Data Control** - Data Migration - Data Synchronization - Data Security **Development** - Application Templates - UI Code Extending - WYSIWYG Editor - Collaborative Development **Publishing** - Application Deployment - Platform Compatability - Lifecycle Management **Agentic AI - Low-Code Development Platforms** - Adaptive Learning - Natural Language Interaction - Proactive Assistance ## Top Claris FileMaker Alternatives - [Salesforce Headless 360 Platform (formerly Salesforce Platform)](https://www.g2.com/products/agentforce-360-platform-formerly-salesforce-platform/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (3,767 reviews) - [Quickbase](https://www.g2.com/products/quickbase/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (1,534 reviews) - [Zoho Creator](https://www.g2.com/products/zoho-creator/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (153 reviews)