REF / ALTERNATIVE

The M-Files alternative for metadata-driven document management

M-Files built its reputation on a good idea: organise documents by what they are, not by where somebody filed them. EDMS by Sibasi works the same way, with one difference that matters in practice. The AI reads each document as it arrives and populates the metadata itself, so classification does not depend on a user picking correctly.

See it against your documents Full capability matrix

M-Files is established for

Metadata-first architecture rather than folder hierarchies
Quality management and controlled-document credentials
Connectors that index existing repositories in place
A following in regulated manufacturing and life sciences

What it costs you every year

Reported in third-party comparisons at roughly USD 39 to 59 per user per month, putting a ten-user deployment near USD 600 to 1,000 monthly before implementation, on top of existing Microsoft 365 licences.

Indicative published ranges, not a vendor quotation.

REF / HEAD TO HEAD

Where M-Files is strongest, and what we deliver there

Taken on their own ground rather than ours. Every row below is a capability the category is known for, with what EDMS by Sibasi does about it.

Capability	What the category is known for	EDMS by Sibasi
Classification by what a document is	Metadata and content type replacing folder structure.	Managed metadata, a corporate term store and content types per record class, applied across every library in the tenant so departments cannot invent competing vocabularies.
Who fills in the metadata	Metadata quality depends on it being captured correctly.	The AI does. Classification and field extraction run on arrival, reading counterparty, dates, amounts and reference numbers off the page. Values below a confidence threshold queue for review rather than being written silently.
Permissions driven by metadata	Access derived from what the document is rather than where it sits.	Sensitivity labels applied automatically by content type and detected content, carrying encryption that travels with the file, plus role-based permissions to item level through Entra ID.
Controlled documents and QMS	Approved before issue, reviewed on schedule, obsolete versions withdrawn.	Content approval with publishing control, scheduled review routed to the document owner before expiry, read-and-understood acknowledgement, and watermarking that marks printed copies as uncontrolled.
Reaching content already held elsewhere	Indexing existing repositories without a migration project.	Microsoft Graph connectors federate network shares, legacy systems and line-of-business repositories into one security-trimmed search index.
Records management and disposal	Retention against a schedule, with defensible disposal.	Retention labels applied automatically by record class, record declaration that blocks edits by anyone including global administrators, legal hold, disposition review by a named officer, and destruction certificates.

REF / WHERE WE WIN

Four differences that do not change between releases

Features move. Licensing models, where your documents live, how many security surfaces you carry and who is on site when something breaks do not.

WIN-01

Metadata that fills itself

A metadata-driven model is only as good as the metadata. Ours is populated by AI at the point of capture rather than by a user choosing from a list at the moment they are trying to finish something else.

WIN-02

Per-seat cost disappears at institutional scale

At fifty users a subscription is manageable. At a bank, a ministry or a county government with two thousand staff it becomes the largest line in the total cost, every year, forever.

WIN-03

One platform to upgrade, secure and renew

The repository, the identity layer, the compliance tooling and the productivity suite are one platform. Two platforms means two upgrade cycles, two security reviews and two renewals.

WIN-04

Reference deployments in your country

Ask any vendor how many comparable deployments they have delivered where you operate, and who specifically would be on site. Sibasi has 350+ deployments and engineers in Nairobi.

You get the metadata-driven model that makes M-Files attractive, with AI doing the classification work, records management built in, and no per-user subscription on top of the Microsoft 365 you already own.

Get the side-by-side costing See our pricing

REF / REFERENCES

Organisations that already trust Sibasi with their systems

Regulators, development finance institutions, public utilities, government agencies, humanitarian operations and telecoms across Africa, and further afield where the work has taken us.

Development finance
Regulator
Public utility
Development finance
Government agency
International development
Humanitarian & health
Telecommunications
Digital infrastructure
Financial sector development
Investment & energy
Government & geoscience
Trade & development
Research & science
Airline & transport
Retail & automotive
Agriculture & health
Investment & development

REF / ALSO EVALUATING

Other products on your shortlist

IMANAGE

Put us next to M-Files against your own numbers

Tell us your user count and the shape of your requirement. We will model five years both ways and show you the same capability running on the platform you already own.

Request the comparison Book a demo