The short answer: all three let you download your files in bulk and export metadata as CSV. Bynder's CSV carries rights dates, but support has to switch it on. Frontify has the clearest exit terms, and exports guidelines as PDF only. Brandfolder has the most generous self-service download options during the term. None of them exports guidelines as data, and rights and expiry data is what migrations most often leave behind.
How we made this: we read each vendor's help center, developer docs and legal pages on 6 October 2026, and link every row. We did not sign up. bynder.com's own site blocked our reader, so Bynder's details come from its public help center and its standard terms (version 14, 2020). Standard terms are what we could read; a signed enterprise contract may say otherwise. "Not found" means we could not find it documented, not that it doesn't exist. We make Artbucket, a competitor; it has its own section at the end.
Three good products, three different shapes
- Frontify (Frontify AG, Switzerland) leads with brand guidelines, next to a DAM and templates. Pricing is quoted, on monthly active users.
- Bynder (Bynder BV, Netherlands) is a DAM first, with Studio, workflows and guideline "guides" as packages. Pricing goes through its customer success team.
- Brandfolder is part of Smartsheet since 2020, and positions itself as the most usable DAM. Pricing is quoted, on Premium and Enterprise tiers.
Each is a sound choice for the teams it targets. The question here is narrower: if you leave in three years, what comes with you?
Side by side
| Frontify | Bynder | Brandfolder | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulk download in the app | Yes, from the bulk toolbar; whole projects too (help) | Up to 10,000 assets per ZIP; originals need a permission (help) | ZIP of assets or whole sections, filtered by type, size or version (help) |
| Full export | A copy on written request at the end of the contract | SFTP or S3, a paid service through your CSM (help) | Self-service during the term |
| Metadata as CSV | Per library, emailed (help) | Yes, once support enables it; no file URLs in it (help) | A "metasheet"; up to 100,000 rows (news) |
| Rights and expiry dates in the export | Fields exist; in the CSV not found | Yes: archive, limited usage and watermark dates, copyright | Fields exist; in the CSV not found |
| Version history | Not found | Only if you ask for it in the SFTP/S3 export (help) | Selectable in downloads |
| Guidelines export | PDF or print, by project owners (help); content API in beta | Not found | Not found |
| Colors and fonts as data | Palettes as ASE, LESS, OCO, SCSS (help); colors and fonts API in beta | Not found | Not found |
| API | GraphQL and webhooks; some features by plan (docs) | REST; 4,500 requests per IP per 5 minutes | REST with an API key (docs) |
| MCP server for agents | Yes, beta, since April 2026 | Yes, since September 2026 | Not found |
| Hosting region | US or Frankfurt, for Enterprise (security) | Frankfurt, US, or global, chosen at setup (help) | US and Europe (security) |
| Self-hosting | No | No | No |
When the contract ends
This is the part nobody reads at signing. In each vendor's standard terms:
- Frontify gives you a copy on written request, in a format agreed with them, then deletes your data 90 days after the agreement ends; backups go after 365 days (terms, DPA). Customers in the EU also get an EU Data Act addendum: two months' notice, a 30-day transition, and retrieval until 90 days after (addendum).
- Bynder returns your data if you ask in writing within 90 days, within 90 days of the request, billed as time and materials; without a request it is destroyed after 180 days (standard terms v14, s.19.7 to 19.8). Its help center says a closed portal is purged after 90 days, and SFTP downloads stay open for 60 (help).
- Brandfolder follows Smartsheet's user agreement: back up yourself during the term, 30 days of read-only access after it if you ask in writing, and deletion within 180 days (agreement, s.10.4).
The practical advice is the same for all three: export before the last month, not after it.
What moving actually loses
Frontify runs automated migrations from both Bynder and Brandfolder, and its help center is candid about what doesn't come across. From Bynder: version history (latest only), collections, archived assets, expiry dates, copyright and watermark settings. From Brandfolder: version history, expiry dates, labels, copyright and watermark data, and anything Brandfolder's API doesn't expose (Bynder, Brandfolder).
That list is the lock-in, more than the files. Files download. What is hard to move is the knowledge around them: which photo may run where and until when, which logo replaced which, and the guidelines that say how to use them. Partner tools on Bynder's marketplace move metadata between systems as spreadsheets, but rights rarely survive a spreadsheet intact.
A checklist before you sign anything
- Can we export every asset's metadata, including rights and expiry dates, ourselves, without a support ticket?
- Does the export include version history and collections?
- Can we export the guidelines as something other than a PDF?
- Is the API on our plan, and what are its limits?
- How long do we have after the contract ends, and what does the export cost?
Where Artbucket fits (ours)
We built Artbucket around these questions, so judge this section as a vendor's. The core is open source and self-hostable, and the web app uses only the public API, so anything you see you can export: every rule of your guidelines as JSON, the whole brand as files in a folder (artbucket brand pull --assets), rights and expiry on every asset, and metadata written into JPEG and PNG files on download. What it doesn't have yet: importers from Frontify, Bynder or Brandfolder (you move files through their APIs and ours), video renditions, SAML, and a one-click export of a whole organization. See what self-hosting takes and pricing.
Questions
Which is easiest to leave?
On paper, Brandfolder for self-service downloads and Bynder for metadata with rights dates. Frontify has the clearest written exit terms, and the EU Data Act addendum. All three require some work, and a signed contract can change any of this.
Can I export Frontify guidelines to another tool?
As a PDF, or through its guideline content API, which is in beta. There is no HTML or JSON export of the guidelines in the help center.
Does Brandfolder have an MCP server?
We found none on 6 October 2026, and Smartsheet's MCP server covers Smartsheet only. See our MCP list.