23 April 2025
This year, we’re proud to have contributed to the international benchmark report "Intranet and Employee Experience Platforms 2025", published by London-based Clearbox. Widely regarded as the industry bible, this comprehensive report offers over 850 pages of in-depth, comparative analysis of more than 30 digital workplace, intranet, and employee experience (EXP) solutions.
Published annually for several years, the Clearbox report is the most comprehensive and accessible resource on the market to help organisations choose the right digital solution.. It helps readers understand evolving user needs, objectively compare vendor offerings, and identify the platform that best fits the unique requirements of each organisation.
This year, Sébastien Chatel, Consulting Director at Arctus, had the opportunity to audit several through in-depth demonstrations and hands-on access to test environments. This collaboration reinforces Arctus' commitment to spreading a culture of internal digital transformation among French-speaking professionals.
Here is the list of Intranet, Digital Workplace and Employee Experience solutions audited in the 2025 Clearbox report:
Each solution is assessed using a framework of eight business scenarios that reflect the most common use cases. The evaluations cover functional aspects, user experience, technical performance and costs. Findings are enriched with screenshots, technical comparisons, accessibility criteria and summary tables.
A Each solution receives a rating out of five for every scenario, enabling highly detailed and meaningful comparisons.
A standout feature of this edition is cross-referencing of the overall evaluation score with the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)..
This analysis is presented in a graph that classifies platforms into four categories:
The accompanying graph offers a unique perspective for decision-makers seeking to strike the right balance between budget and performance.
Most solutions follow web design standards. The best tools offer modern, flexible interface (often supporting multi-branding), with smooth navigation and user-friendly features, such as guided tours and thoughtfully designed notifications. While WCAG accessibility is improving, it remains inconsistent across vendors.
Platforms are increasingly enhancing their toolsets for internal communicators , with features such as editorial calendars, multi-channel content distribution (web, mobile, Teams), generative AI, advanced targeting and support for multiple delivery channels including email, Teams, and digital signage. The "create once, distribute everywhere" approach is becoming a key priority. Some platforms clearly stand out thanks to their native multi-channel capabilities.
Interaction is at the heart of modern intranets — with features like comments, feedback, polls, stories, peer-to-peer recognition, and guided onboarding. Thepost-Meta Workplace era is pushing vendors to strengthen their community-building capabilities. Theintegration of content focused on well-being and corporate culture is also emerging as a key differentiator.Onboarding journeys are increasingly supported through automated templates and smart reminders, ensuring a smoother experience for newcomers.
While integration with Microsoft 365 has become a standard, integrations with business-specific tools (such as Salesforce or Workday...), other cloud suites and internal services remains heterogeneous. The average score for this scenario is fairly low, as such integrations are often "pay-as-you-go" or underusedIn today’s fragmented digital ecosystem,interoperability is a key factor — and one that should motivate vendors to raise the bar.
Searchremains a weak point , despite being a key criterion for end users. Common shortcomings include limited filters, inconsistent indexing, and a lack of robust admin tools. The best platforms stand out with powerful search engines offering intelligent suggestions, profile-based results and multi-source content aggregation.
The experience of intranet administrators is still too often overlooked. This scenario evaluates the management of permissions, content and pages, publication workflows and multilingual versions. A few solutions stand out by offering well-structured interfacesalong with helpful content management features and guided support..
Analytics modules connected to intranet tools remain inconsistent . While most offer standard metrics such as page views and time spent, fewgo further by turning data into actionable insights. Some solutions stand out with comprehensive, eaisy-to-read dashboards. Others still have room for improvement — particularly by providing deeper analytics on search behavior, content performance, and user engagement.
All solutions offer a responsive version, but only a few provide native mobile apps truly tailored to frontline workers. Key differentiators include seamless mobile onboarding, simplified access without complex logins, mobile-friendly interfaces, and integration with essential tools like payroll and scheduling systems.
Our participation in this report highlights the diversity and complexity of the internal digital platform market. There is no one-size-fits-all solution — instead, a broad spectrum of platforms exists, each suited to different contexts, business priorities, and levels of digital maturity.
Key trends for 2025 include :
This report is an must-have decision-making tool for internal communications leaders, IT and HR directors, and anyone looking to make informed technology choices.
👉 Want to explore your intranet or digital workplace project? Get in touch with our experts for an initial conversation.
Managing Director
A specialist in internal communication topics, Sébastien has developed experience in managing international projects at Arctus. He is passionate about managing intranets and always on the lookout for trends and best practices to share!
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