Self-hosted / open sourceLow-code / No-codeHeadquarters: US

Claris FileMaker: sovereignty score and 8 European alternatives

FileMaker is a low-code platform for building custom database applications that connect to other systems. Organisations use it to create business apps for desktop, mobile and web, and the platform has added AI features and LLM integration. It is sold in several forms: FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server are installed on the organisation's own computers and servers, while FileMaker Cloud is a service managed by Claris.

Claris International Inc. is the legal entity behind the product. Its website describes Claris as an Apple company, and the headquarters are in Cupertino, California, so the provider is subject to US jurisdiction, including the CLOUD Act. Because FileMaker Server runs on infrastructure the customer controls, a European organisation can keep application data inside its own environment. For FileMaker Cloud, the website does not state where data is hosted, so the data location and terms must be checked before use. The website does not describe GDPR or data processing commitments.

See the 8 European alternatives ↓Assess your stack with Claris FileMaker pre-selected

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Sovereignty score

55 / 1000 = high exposure
100 = sovereign

Jurisdiction SOV-210
Headquartered in the US: CLOUD Act and FISA 702
Data residency SOV-3100
No hosting in Europe (US)
Cryptographic key sovereignty SOV-380
Closed source, but self-hostable: encryption keys and runtime under your own control
Freedom from lock-in SOV-640
Closed source: switching requires data migration
Source & runtime sovereignty SOV-4 · SOV-645
Closed source, but self-hostable on your own infrastructure

SOV codes: the matching objective in the European Commission's Cloud Sovereignty Framework. Official source

How the score is calculated

Facts and evidence

Last checked October 11, 2026

Headquarters	US (US)Verified by hand
EU adequacy decision	Only for companies individually certified under the EU-US Data Privacy FrameworkVerified by hand
Data hosting	Self-hosted, e.g. in US (your choice)Verified by hand
Open-source	NoVerified by hand
GDPR-compliant	NoVendor-stated
Category	Low-code / No-code
Type	Product
Website	claris.com ↗

How we verify · Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Top EU-based & GDPR-compliant alternatives to Claris FileMaker

The European alternatives to Claris FileMaker come from our knowledge base of over 6,800 vendors. We only list vendors headquartered in the EU or the EEA; fully European-owned vendors rank before vendors with a foreign owner. For each alternative you see the country, the open-source status and a short description.

Score per alternative: 0 = high exposure, 100 = sovereign

26 European Low-code / No-code vendors are in the catalogue. View the whole category · Submit an alternative · View category on the map

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Why digital sovereignty matters with Claris FileMaker

Claris FileMaker is headquartered in the United States. US vendors fall under the CLOUD Act and FISA 702: US authorities can compel access to data, even when that data sits in a European data centre. That is the core of the jurisdictional exposure in our model.

Claris FileMaker runs on infrastructure you choose and control yourself. You decide where the data lives, including fully within the EU if you want — this is not a fixed hosting choice made by the vendor.

Claris FileMaker is closed source, but you run the software yourself on your own infrastructure. The encryption keys and the runtime therefore stay under your own control, though you cannot audit or modify the source code. Ask about export options and open standards to limit software-level lock-in.

What this means for your organisation depends on your whole stack and context. The free assessment weighs Claris FileMaker together with your other vendors and gives a total score, a heatmap and the main risk drivers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best European alternative to Claris FileMaker?

It depends on your use case. Strong EU alternatives to Claris FileMaker include Appmixer, Baserow and Betty Blocks. On this page you can compare 8 EU alternatives by jurisdiction, data residency and open-source status.

Are there open-source alternatives to Claris FileMaker?

Yes. Open-source EU alternatives to Claris FileMaker include Baserow, Convertigo and Corteza. These keep your data fully under your own control and let you self-host if you want to.

Is Claris FileMaker GDPR-compliant and where is the data hosted?

Claris FileMaker is headquartered in US and hosts data in US. Its GDPR compliance is limited or unclear. For full EU data residency the EU alternatives on this page usually offer more certainty.

Details and sources

Verified by handHeadquarters, owner, hosting locations and licence have been checked by us against public sources. Free of charge and for every vendor, not a paid label. Nothing in this knowledge base is taken over automatically. Last checked on October 11, 2026.

Sources

Public sources used in the latest check of this record.

Compliance evidence

The links below point to the vendor's own public documents. We only record what we found: a missing link means "not found publicly", not "not compliant".

No public compliance evidence has been recorded for this vendor yet. Do you know its DPA or subprocessor list? Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Digital sovereignty in Low-code / No-code

Low-code / No-code: Low-code and no-code platforms for application development and automation. In this category the choice of vendor determines who has legal access to your data, where that data lives and how easily you can switch later.

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