It is a burning question that is causing some anxiety in both the developer community and the client base. Clients want to know whether they should abandon the platform before the decision is made for them and are wary of the unexpected expense that may force on them. Similarly, developers who have spent years investing time in becoming proficient in the FileMaker platform now worry that, in hindsight, it may have been the wrong platform to invest in.
Claris has weighed in on the topic. Here’s our perspective on the question and our thoughts about the future of FileMaker.
No. It’s Not Being Discontinued.
The FileMaker platform is a mature platform. It has been around for 30+ years, which is quite unique in the software world. To remain relevant, it must continue to change, which it has done incrementally with every new release.
The latest release is FileMaker 2023, and you can find an overview of what is new here. This blog post also has links to all the versions we have seen in recent years. Progress has been constant. And that will continue.
Relevancy comes from the ability to deliver value in the form that clients and developers expect. This is why we have seen the introduction of Claris Connect (of which there is now a free tier) and, more recently, Claris Studio to supplement the features we have on the FileMaker side. Through these new products, new features and supplemental features can be delivered quicker and more radically.
If you bundle everything there is on the FileMaker side (FileMaker Pro/Go, Server, WebDirect, Data API and OData API, xDBC connectivity) with those new offerings (Connect/Studio), you get the Claris Platform. The main difference is that the FileMaker Pro equivalent product named Claris Pro has a direct tie-in to Claris Studio that FileMaker Pro does not have.
The new Claris platform is meant to replace the FileMaker platform in the long run. But that process is not going to be brusque or disruptive.
Yes. Will It Fade Away?
Eventually, all the relevant features from the current FileMaker platform will be available in the newer Claris Platform. There will come a natural cross-over point where you will find yourself using the Claris Platform instead of the FileMaker platform.
Why? Because it will have all the features (and thus value) that you are looking for. More than what is in the FileMaker platform.
When will that be? That depends a lot on your needs and on the evolution of the Claris Platform. Contact our team for a detailed discussion at any time. 
For an in-depth positioning of the two platforms, see our A Tale of Two Platforms.
Changing the logo does not help to dispel those rumors.
The main concern of our customers is that FM have been giving support to relatively OLD macOS systems, but now based on the new speeds of the OSs (every year) FM decided to go in Sync with that policy and is actually supporting only a year old macOS ( maximun 2 years) and that leaves a lot of computers that are still working perfectly out, and the customers will have to renew almost all of their devices specially if they are older than 2018-2017 ( 2016 macs are no longer supported)
“Because it will have all the features (and thus value) that you are looking for. More than what is in the FileMaker platform.”
Yes, but at what cost? More crucially, at what continuous subscription-based price must we face in the future, which has been the aim of Claris in recent times through Claris Pro. Worried about software piracy and how to maximise profit, it is inevitable that we all have to pay through our nose just for the privilege of running our own databases. The kind of databases that we thought were hours to develop and use on a FileMaker system that has always been a pay a perpetual license via a key and use forever model. Otherwise, Claris needs to see each time you are using the product and check to see what you do constantly (hence the security concerns).
People are tired of this “we watch you and get you to pay every month” concept. It is everywhere, and not everyone can afford to pay continuously for every product they may wish to use.
You can still buy a perpetual license for the FileMaker platform if you prefer that over the subscription-based license.
As to the cost: that is always a consideration, what value do you get for what price? And that is highly subjective. For some projects the FileMaker platform or the Claris platform will not be good fits and they will be perfect fits for others.
As always Wim – great job. Right on and to the point. You’re such a major asset to the FileMaker community. Kudos.
Hi there,
There are many words but no clear explanation of what the “Filemaker platform” vs. the “Claris platform” is. I have used Filemaker for seven years and love it. I noticed that “Claris” seems to become the brand name sooner or later – or understood it like that. Also that it might move a bit more to a Cloud service. But as we save a huge amount of images (open space) with the database we maintain, any cloud option is out of scope as the TB of HDD we would need cost much more than doing this internally.
Again I was curious about the future development, read this article – and still have the feeling that I miss what “Claris” is or intends to become.
Would appreciate it much!
Maritn
Maybe you can elaborate on this at least once in-depth?
To understand the difference between the FileMaker Platform and the Claris Platform, check this blog post: https://www.soliantconsulting.com/blog/claris-platform-filemaker-platform/
While parts of the Claris Platform (Connect and Studio) are cloud-based, the FileMaker-equivalent parts of the Claris Platform (Claris Pro/Go and Claris Server) remain like they are now: you choose where to deploy – on-prem, self-cloud-hosted or cloud hosting with a 3rd party.