Claris FileMaker
Build custom business apps that automate work and connect the systems your business already runs on.
By Claris International Inc. · 4.0/5 Value-Position score (estimate)
Positioning guardrails
Best for
- Teams that need a custom app for a workflow no off-the-shelf product covers: scheduling, work orders, inventory, patient intake or field data collection.
- Organizations with Apple-centric IT, or an existing FileMaker estate, that want a choice of cloud or self-hosted deployment.
- Mid-market and departmental teams with a citizen developer, an internal developer or one of Claris's 1,400+ partners to build and maintain the app.
- Security-sensitive buyers that need SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001 and 27018, field-level privilege sets and AES-256 encryption at rest.
Ideal size: 10–250 people · Mid-market or departmental team with a citizen developer or a Claris partner
Not for
- Buyers who want an off-the-shelf vertical SaaS product with no build effort.
- Teams with no developer, no partner budget and no appetite to own an application lifecycle.
- Companies that need native, pre-built connectors to every enterprise system out of the box.
- Real-time, high-volume consumer-scale web applications.
Value metrics scorecard
Time-to-Value
2–6 weeks for a first app
~30 days to first production value
Total Cost of Ownership
On request
Per user, per month, billed annually. Starter tier for 5–10 users and Max tier for 5–99 users; single-license and 100+ license options available. Actual prices are not published on the pricing page.
Implementation Friction
4/5
Engineering + admin effort required
Value-Position score
out of 5 · model estimate
Full cost breakdown
Mandatory implementation fee
None
Seat tiers
Starter 5–10 users; Max 5–99 users; 100+ users via sales; single (unshared) license available
Add-on costs
- Additional FileMaker Data Storage above the included per-user allowance (contact sales)
- Additional compute above the tier default, available on Max (contact sales)
Company & support
Who is behind Claris FileMaker, and how your team gets help once it is live.
Company
- Founded
- 1987 · 39 yrs in business
- Headquarters
- Not recorded
How you get support
- PhoneNot listed
- EmailNot listed
- Live chatNot listed
- Support portal / ticketsPlan not stated
- Community forumAll plans
- Help centre / docsAll plans
- Dedicated account managerNot listed
- In person / on-siteNot listed
- Hours
- Not recorded
- Response time
- Not stated
The resources page points to the Developer Help Center, Knowledge Base, Claris Community and a 'Contact support' / tech support route staffed by a Claris rep. Support hours, SLAs and any support phone line are not stated.
“Not listed” means the vendor’s public pages don’t mention that channel, not that it is unavailable. Ask about it during evaluation.
Market position
Where Claris FileMaker sits against its closest alternatives. Pick any two of cost, speed, friction and buyer score, and up to 9 companies to compare.
Quadrant view
Typical annual cost × Time-to-value
The lines cross at the median of the solutions shown, so about half sit on each side of each line.
Companies on the chart 6 / 10
- Claris FileMaker
- Y Soft
- Qlik Sense
- Kahua
- Asset Panda
- ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Add or change companies
Up to 10 companies including Claris FileMaker. Listed closest first.
Stack fit signal
Compatibility with standard B2B ecosystems.
No supported MCP path today, so it cannot be driven from an AI client.
AI & MCP readiness
What Claris FileMaker ships in AI, and what it asks of your ecosystem.
AI features shipped
Claris publishes AI script steps and AI functions for working with LLMs from a FileMaker app, semantic image search, and agentic development tooling. No supported model provider, key model or AI audit trail is described on the pages reviewed.
Your data & models
- Trains on your data
- Not recorded — ask the vendor
- Runs on
- Not recorded
- AI pricing
- Not recorded
In your ecosystem
- AI connection
- Not supported
- Model key
- Not recorded
- AI usage audit
- Not recorded
Compliance attestations
* IAPP AIGP certifies individuals, not products. It means named staff hold the credential — not that the platform does.
Bottom line
Claris FileMaker is a low-code platform from Claris, an Apple company, for building custom business apps on desktop, web, iPad and iPhone. Teams use it for workflows off-the-shelf software misses: inventory, work orders, scheduling, patient intake, research tracking. FileMaker Cloud runs on AWS, while FileMaker Server allows self-hosting. Claris Connect adds workflow integration. Pricing is per user, per month billed annually across Starter and Max cloud tiers, with a 45-day trial. SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 and 27018 are reported.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get a FileMaker app into production?
Claris positions simple apps as buildable in hours or days with drag-and-drop add-ons and templates, and provides a 45-day trial. Realistically, a first production app for a shared team workflow usually takes a few weeks to a couple of months, depending on scope and whether you use an internal developer, a citizen developer or a Claris partner. Budget additional time for data migration, integrations and rollout.
What does Claris FileMaker cost and is there a minimum seat count?
Licensing bundles FileMaker and Claris Connect, priced per user per month and billed annually. FileMaker Cloud has a Starter tier limited to 5–10 users and a Max tier for 5–99 users, with 100+ licenses handled by sales; a single unshared FileMaker Pro license is also offered. Claris does not publish the actual dollar amounts on its pricing page, so you must request a quote. Storage and compute upgrades on Max are quoted separately.
Can we self-host FileMaker, or must we use FileMaker Cloud?
Both are supported. FileMaker Cloud removes server management and keeps you current with platform and security updates, and runs on AWS infrastructure. FileMaker Server lets you host on your own infrastructure, which suits organisations with data-residency or existing data-centre requirements. Claris also lists Server, Cloud and additional hosting options side by side so you can choose per workload.
Which security and compliance certifications does Claris hold?
Claris states that FileMaker Cloud maintains a SOC 2 Type 2 report covering security, availability and confidentiality, and that both FileMaker Cloud and Claris Connect hold ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27018 certifications under Apple's certification process. The platform offers AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2 in transit, multi-factor authentication and field-level privilege sets. HIPAA, FedRAMP and GDPR claims are not published on the pages reviewed.
Do we need a developer or partner to build an app?
Not necessarily. FileMaker is designed for citizen developers, with drag-and-drop layout tools, templates, scripts and pre-built add-ons, so an operations or IT generalist can build a working app. Complex, integrated or high-scale solutions are usually delivered with an internal developer or one of Claris's 1,400+ partners, who also provide training and consulting through the Claris Academy and partner network.
Does FileMaker include AI features?
Claris publishes AI script steps and AI functions for connecting apps to LLMs, semantic image search, and agentic development tooling. What is not stated on the vendor pages reviewed is which model providers are used, whether you bring your own model key, how AI usage is logged, or whether AI is included in the plan price, so those points need to be confirmed with Claris or a partner before you commit.