Digital River vs. Kentico Xperience

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Digital River
Score 3.0 out of 10
N/A
Digital River Global Commerce offers cloud commerce tools and services for selling digital and physical products across global online markets, handling taxes, regulations, payments, e-marketing and more.N/A
Kentico Xperience
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Kentico is a web content management system for building websites, online stores, intranets, and Web 2.0 community sites. Kentico CMS uses ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL Server for development via its Portal Engine, using Visual Studio, or through Microsoft MVC.
$9,999
Subscription license
Pricing
Digital RiverKentico Xperience
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Kentico Xperience Business
$9,999 / year
Subscription license
Kentico Xperience Business
$14,999
Perpetual license
Kentico Xperience Enterprise
$17,999 / year
Subscription license
Kentico Xperience Enterprise
$29,999
Perpetual license
Kentico Xperience Corporate
Upon request
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Digital RiverKentico Xperience
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Digital RiverKentico Xperience
Considered Both Products
Digital River
Chose Digital River
Digital River Global Commerce is a powerful tool which hard to compare with others because of its uniqueness. However, because of its massiveness and sometimes сlumsiness, it's easier and more effective to use analogs. Strong sides of Digital River Global Commerce are …
Chose Digital River
Digital River versus ATG:
ATG requires significantly more personnel to manage / operate on a day to day basis
ATG platform is cumbersome comparatively
Chose Digital River
We evaluated our ability to expand internationally with our current e-commerce platform and decided we could get to market faster with Digital River.
Chose Digital River
This was in place when I migrated to the role. We were greatly satisfied with the server and products that we did not pursue other products.
Chose Digital River
N/A
Kentico Xperience
Chose Kentico Xperience
Kentico provided us with a far more robust and customizable platform than lower-cost alternatives such as Wix or Squarespace, and was available at a much lower cost of entry than Ektron. It required a lot fewer fiddly uses of extensions than Wordpress, though some custom …
Chose Kentico Xperience
We selected Kentico for our particular project to match up with another site we had and it was more financial wise for us than other solutions we looked into. A big thing for us was that we needed to have language management and Kentico being an international country was a good …
Chose Kentico Xperience
Sitefinity is behind Kentico in feature maturity. It lacks the level of tech support that Kentico has. Sitefinity can also be harder to upgrade.
Chose Kentico Xperience
Previously we used Microsoft SharePoint as a content management system and it was very limited, required a ton of support, and we encountered bugs on a weekly/monthly basis.

All of the negatives that we had associated with SharePoint went away when we switched to Kentico. It was …
Chose Kentico Xperience
I recently started learning Sitecore which resembles Kentico in some aspects, and I find Kentico to be more user-friendly and intuitive. Sitecore is a more robust system, but in my opinion it gives content administrators too many options, and has a way steeper learning curve. …
Chose Kentico Xperience
Kentico is a lot easier, more fluent and slicker than these products. It is easy to setup, use and teach others, so content can be managed by multiple users without any special training or skills i.e coding. It is definitely a lot more expensive so you are paying for a premium …
Chose Kentico Xperience
We researched .asp and .net platforms and for our company's needs (we do not do e-commerce) Kentico was the best overall fit and value.
Chose Kentico Xperience
Kentico 8 really is a drastic improvement over previous versions of Kentico - the whole system is light years faster, much more intuitive to use and nicer for all users involved.
Chose Kentico Xperience
When discussing Kentico with clients, I find myself uttering the same phrase repeatedly. "Kentico provides 95% of the functionality of high-dollar CMSs at a fifth of the price." This allows clients to use the dollars they would have previously put towards licencing into feature …
Chose Kentico Xperience
I've used SiteCore, Ektron, Joomla!, Wordpress, and SharePoint (if you want to count that as a competitor for CMS). Kentico 8 blows them all out of the water. Nothing is more intuitive in the way that content is created, the way the site is setup, and how efficient rollouts can …
Chose Kentico Xperience
When compared to the above solutions the value that Kentico offers is much higher when compared to the price of these other solutions. Kentico will do 90% of what Sitecore and Ektron and Adobe do, and those other solutions will do 90% of what Kentico does. In my opinion they …
Chose Kentico Xperience
Better than all of the above on almost every level. SiteFinity comes closest from a developer tool perspective and Umbraco from a flexibility perspective.
Chose Kentico Xperience
Out of these CMS systems I've worked in, Kentico is still hands down the easiest to build and manage.

Ingeniux was a failed project, it was too cumbersome to work in (MVC based), it was a nightmare to do any custom dev work in it, couldn't debug, and their own staff couldn't get …
Chose Kentico Xperience
Where all of these systems have their strengths and weaknesses, one of the reasons we tend to go to Kentico more than other systems is because of the:
  • The reasonable price point for clients
  • Constant innovation and partner communications with Kentico (letting the community really …
Chose Kentico Xperience
The competitive toolset and streamlined development process that Kentico provides allows for it to be a viable option at a fraction of the cost of other solutions.
Chose Kentico Xperience
It seems to have better organization and better extendability. In comparison to WordPress, the support that is offered by Kentico is incredible. When comparing to Sitecore, the price point makes it much more affordable for smaller to mid-size organizations that need a great CMS …
Chose Kentico Xperience
When deciding on Kentico we compared 2 other products, all vendors provided either provided 1 to 2 demos. Compared to the other vendors, the Kentico product worked as expected when demonstrating compared to the other two vendors that had a range of problems in their product …
Chose Kentico Xperience
WordPress - I do like WordPress, and we propose this CMS as an option to Kentico, but I firmly believe that unless everything happens to work perfectly, WordPress will cost more money to develop in the long run. Aside from that, WordPress has intrusive updates very regularly, …
Chose Kentico Xperience
Kentico is great when you need an MS / .NET based tool, but you don't want to pay so much for Sitecore.
Chose Kentico Xperience
The greatest thing about Kentico is its API-first development focus. What most people don't realize, but is the most telling item for developers, is that ALL of the Kentico UI is an API client using the publicly available API. If you can see it in Kentico, you can do it, or …
Chose Kentico Xperience
Kentico is to most full featured for large corporate sites needing multiple versions. WordPress may update more frequently, but Kentico has released 2 updates in the 2+ years I've been using it, which is fantastic.
Chose Kentico Xperience
At Bit-Wizards we have used many open source CMS tools like Word Press and Joomla as well as enterprise solutions like SiteCore and Ektron. The open source challenges are stability and security of the platform. Support for correcting those issues depends greatly on the …
Chose Kentico Xperience
Wordpress is much quicker and lighter, but not as robust and is suitable in different situations. Sitecore and Kentico offer similar functionality, but with a different approach to development. Sitecore has a much higher price point and similar functionality, so in my opinion …
Features
Digital RiverKentico Xperience
Online Storefront
Comparison of Online Storefront features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
5.6
Ratings
33% below category average
Kentico Xperience
-
Ratings
Product catalog & listings2.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Product management2.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Bulk product upload10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Branding5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile storefront5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Product variations7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Website integration5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Visual customization5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
CMS9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Shopping Cart
Comparison of Online Shopping Cart features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
7.4
Ratings
4% below category average
Kentico Xperience
-
Ratings
Abandoned cart recovery9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Checkout user experience5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Payment System
Comparison of Online Payment System features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
5.0
Ratings
50% below category average
Kentico Xperience
-
Ratings
eCommerce security5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Marketing
Comparison of eCommerce Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
6.9
Ratings
11% below category average
Kentico Xperience
-
Ratings
Promotions & discounts9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Personalized recommendations6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Business Management
Comparison of eCommerce Business Management features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
8.2
Ratings
2% above category average
Kentico Xperience
-
Ratings
Multi-site management2.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Order processing9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory management10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Shipping10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom functionality9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
-
Ratings
Kentico Xperience
7.1
Ratings
14% below category average
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
-
Ratings
Kentico Xperience
7.5
Ratings
10% below category average
API00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
-
Ratings
Kentico Xperience
7.0
Ratings
9% below category average
WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Code quality / cleanliness00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Admin section00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Page templates00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Library of website themes00 Ratings5.80 Ratings
Mobile optimization / responsive design00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Publishing workflow00 Ratings6.20 Ratings
Form generator00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Web Content Management
Comparison of Web Content Management features of Product A and Product B
Digital River
-
Ratings
Kentico Xperience
6.9
Ratings
4% below category average
Content taxonomy00 Ratings6.30 Ratings
SEO support00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Bulk management00 Ratings5.10 Ratings
Availability / breadth of extensions00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Community / comment management00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Digital RiverKentico Xperience
Small Businesses
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Score 10.0 out of 10
Bloomreach - The Agentic Platform for Personalization
Bloomreach - The Agentic Platform for Personalization
Score 8.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus
Score 9.0 out of 10
RWS Tridion Sites
RWS Tridion Sites
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
RWS Tridion Sites
RWS Tridion Sites
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Digital RiverKentico Xperience
Likelihood to Recommend
3.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.3
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Digital RiverKentico Xperience
Likelihood to Recommend
It is well suited for large organizations with many SKUs, promotions, and large teams, where flexibility and speed to market are not necessarily as important as repeatability and stability. It is also well suited for digital products, especially if they sell internationally. They have the ability to integrate with an existing system for user management and website in a rather straightforward way as well.
Read full review
Well suited for marketers that do not have in-house web programming or web designing resources available. Less appropriate for people that aren't computer savvy (i.e. don't know how to use basic programs like email, Excel, PowerPoint) or for those who are not detail-oriented because if you skip certain steps when adding/editing content, your webpage won't render correctly and/or create negative impact for search engine optimization without you knowing it.
Read full review
Pros
  • Regional settings like local payment methods, ability to apply or not apply local VAT etc.
  • Reporting and any kind of business analysis.
  • Easy usage of the platform.
  • Marketing is definitely strong side of Digital River Global Commerce. Apart from the features it has, there is a strong team behind it who can make all your fantasies come true using all their expertise and possibility of the platform.
Read full review
  • Ease of use for the developer, content authors, and internet marketers that use it. The user interface in Kentico 8 truly is amazing and easy to pick up with no training.
  • Strong customization and integration capabilities, including the built in REST service, Integration Bus, and elegant API. I love the fact that if there is anything not in the box we can use the system to extend it or connect it to any CRM, ERP, or other third party service very easily.
  • Large out of the box functionality. There is an extremely high level of value that the platform provides. Instead of having to build extra modules for things like Event Booking, Forums, Polls, or E-commerce, they are already there for us to use.
  • Ability to control the HTML output of the site at a very fine level. Creating HTML5 is very easy in Kentico and implementing any design, as responsive, is totally possible in the system.
  • The ability to get a very high level of insight into the visitors journey through the website and market back to them with the Contact management, Lead Scoring, and Marketing Automation modules is very impressive.
  • The scalablity of the system is impressive. Running a very highly trafficked web site is totally possible with Kentico and its strong caching and web farm capabilities.
  • The support that Kentico provides is top notch, 24/7 global support is included with any purchase, 7 day bug fix policy, and excellent documentation
  • The development community is engaged and ready to help if you are a developer learning Kentico, and the Kentico partner community is very strong as well.
Read full review
Cons
  • Integrating with any 3rd party is challenging. The more you can do to clearly define your requirements, the easier it will be to integrate.
  • It can be difficult to differentiate and customize your product with an outsourced solution.
  • Your internal timeline might not match with their timeline and delivery schedule.
Read full review
  • Their slogan - "Right First Time Technology" - I get what they mean, but some things may be lost in translation. This is a sentence fragment in English, and some clients may be turned off by it.
  • Easier to understand documentation - their official documentation could use an overhaul. All of the information is there, but most of their code examples need to be fleshed out a bit. This aspect of their product can be very hard to navigate for first-time Kentico developers.
  • Email Queue - this should be in the same section as Email Marketing; currently this is under Configuration
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Inertia and cost. To switch platforms would require a significant undertaking to migrate product catalogs, websites and retool marketing efforts. It would require a significant cost differential or game changing technology that would bring a decent ROI on the change
Read full review
We are locked into Kentico for the long haul. It provides us with an easy and flexible solution for a very non technical company to create a site and have the features they want, especially with the inclusion of EMS into our license. Now we have a true platform to build and grow our solutions.
Read full review
Usability
No answers on this topic
It seriously is one of the best interfaces I have ever used. I also love the fact that I can use UI personalization to secure any functionality by user or role that I don't want that role to have access to. The best part is the customization of the UI, I can add in any button, tab, or menu item I want through it, no code required.
Read full review
Support Rating
No answers on this topic
Their support staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and will work with you until your issue is fixed. This could take a few phone calls back and forth, but they are very diligent in helping you.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
The system provides many opportunities to integrate and enhance the platform and makes it easy to do so.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
This was in place when I migrated to the role. We were greatly satisfied with the server and products that we did not pursue other products.
Read full review
Previously we used Microsoft SharePoint as a content management system and it was very limited, required a ton of support, and we encountered bugs on a weekly/monthly basis. All of the negatives that we had associated with SharePoint went away when we switched to Kentico. It was really night and day and Kentico has really helped us move forward and become much more efficient.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • More sales and broader reach to consumers. With the web presence of the eCommerce site, Korn/Ferry products were accessible 24 hours/ 7 days a week. Prior to that change, consumers had to call to order products and had to wait on office hours of when a Customer Service Rep was available.
  • Access to data and analytical information for sales. This also allowed for making a more efficient inventory process.
  • Transformed the Customer Service role to Commercial Operations which was a major plus. The position became more a support position (which is what was needed) than what was previously a Data Entry position. This also allowed opportunities for marketing a lot of the eProducts to consumers that the organization had.
Read full review
  • Kentico has allowed us to deliver to clients more quickly, more cheaply, and with high quality to our clients. It's an inexpensive licensing model, an easy development platform, and powerful enough we can deliver amazing results to our clients.
  • Kentico's quick setup and deployment model has allowed me to very quickly ramp up new developers. This saves money and time.
  • We routinely see extraordinary returns in visits, time on page, and other critical metrics after rolling out Kentico-based systems/applications.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Kentico Xperience Screenshots

Screenshot of Application listScreenshot of Marketing AutomationScreenshot of Kentico DashboardScreenshot of Data ProtectionScreenshot of Persona InsightsScreenshot of Campaign Management