Ex Libris
Ex Libris, a Clarivate company, provides cloud-based library automation and discovery software, anchored by the Alma library services platform and Primo discovery service, serving academic institutions, national libraries, and consortia across 90 countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1986
- HeadquartersBallerup, Denmark
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Ex Libris does
Ex Libris, a Clarivate company headquartered in Jerusalem, Israel, is a provider of cloud-based library automation and discovery software serving academic institutions, national libraries, and library consortia in 90 countries. The company's portfolio is anchored by two core platforms: Alma, a unified library services platform combining cataloging, acquisitions, analytics, and collaborative network functionality; and Primo, a discovery service with a Central Discovery Index, relevance ranking, and link resolution. Supporting modules include Leganto (course reading lists), Rapido and RapidILL (resource sharing and interlibrary loan), campusM (student engagement and mobile campus), Alma Specto (digital collections), Rialto (collection development marketplace), Esploro (research information management), and Rosetta (digital preservation), alongside legacy systems Aleph and Voyager. The company claims 7,500+ customers, including 97 of the world's top 100 universities, and serves 550+ libraries via Rialto and a 2,000+ institution shared directory for resource sharing.
Ex Libris generates revenue primarily through subscription-based SaaS licensing for its cloud platforms, supplemented by professional services for implementation and training, cloud hosting services, and content services for discovery and knowledge base content. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with custom enterprise agreements structured around institution size, scope of deployment, and selected modules on annual or multi-year terms. Go-to-market is conducted through direct enterprise field sales augmented by Clarivate's global sales infrastructure, with self-service evaluation via Demo Center, whitepapers, and webinars, and a community-led layer through international user groups (ELUNA, IGeLU, IUG) and the Idea Exchange platform that contribute to product roadmap.
Technology is delivered entirely as cloud-based SaaS with no on-premise option, integrating open standards including Linked Open Data and BIBFRAME, and exposing APIs via the Developer Network. The company has embedded AI capabilities across the portfolio, including generative AI for the Primo Research Assistant, Alma AI Metadata Assistant (Lili) for cataloging, Leganto AI Syllabus Assistant for reading list automation, natural language search in the Primo NDE UI, and AI-driven digital collections in Alma Specto, with Library Open Workflows providing no-code automation. Ex Libris was the first in the library industry to achieve ISO/IEC 27032 cybersecurity certification and holds GDPR compliance documentation, supporting institutional data privacy requirements.
Ex Libris firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ex Libris
- Legal name
- Ex Libris Ltd.
- Website
- http://www.exlibrisgroup.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1986
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- Ex Libris, a Clarivate company, provides cloud-based library automation and discovery software, anchored by the Alma library services platform and Primo discovery service, serving academic institutions, national libraries, and consortia across 90 countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ex Libris industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Library Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation) (EDAEAGAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing) (EDAEAGAF), Interlibrary Loan (ILL) & Resource Sharing Operations (EDAEAGAK)
Keywords
Where Ex Libris is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ballerup
- HQ country
- Denmark
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Ex Libris business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Subscription-based SaaS Licensing: Cloud-based subscription model for library management platforms including Alma, Primo, Leganto, Rapido, and campusM. Institutions pay recurring subscription fees based on scope of deployment, user count, and modules selected.
- Professional Services: Implementation, training, and consulting services provided by global teams to ensure on-time and on-budget project deployment
- Cloud Services: Cloud infrastructure and hosting services providing security, data privacy, and reliability across all institutional data and systems
- Content Services: Discovery and knowledge base content including electronic resources, knowledge bases, and discovery indexes
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise subscription licensing for large academic institutions and consortia |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Professional services for implementation and ongoing support |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels11 records
Ex Libris product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ex Libris provides cloud-based SaaS library management and discovery software for academic, national, and public libraries. Its core platforms, Alma (unified library services) and Primo (discovery), are sold alongside Leganto, Rapido/RapidILL, campusM, Alma Specto, Rialto, Esploro, Rosetta, and Library Open Workflows, on multi-year subscription agreements with professional implementation, cloud hosting, and content services.
Product overview
Ex Libris, a Clarivate company, provides a unified suite of cloud-based library software solutions for academic, national, and public libraries. The portfolio centers on two core platforms: Alma (library services platform) for unified management, analytics, metadata, and network collaboration; and Primo (discovery service) for resource discovery, relevance ranking, and exploration. Supporting modules include Leganto (course reading lists with AI), Rapido and RapidILL (resource sharing/ILL), campusM (mobile campus engagement), Alma Specto (AI-powered digital collections), Rialto (collection development), Esploro (research management), Rosetta (digital preservation), and Syndetics Unbound (catalog enrichment). Additional offerings include Vega for Academic, legacy Aleph/Voyager systems, Library Open Workflows (no-code automation), Linked Open Data services, and professional/cloud/support services. The company is integrating generative AI capabilities including Academic AI, Alma AI Metadata Assistant (Lili), Primo Research Assistant, and Leganto AI Syllabus Assistant across the portfolio.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Ex Libris: Primary brand for library management software solutions including Alma, Primo, Summon, and other platforms.
- Alma
- Primo
- Summon
- Leganto
- Rapido
- RapidILL
- campusM
- Rosetta
- Rialto
- Esploro
- Alma Specto
- Library Open Workflows
Products and services
- Alma Library Services Platform
Quantifiable outcome
- Saved Georgia Tech students $64,000 on course materials using Leganto
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Ex Libris
Customer profileNamed customers23 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Ex Libris technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability8 records
Feature12 records
Ex Libris partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.
- Ingram Library ServicescoreIngram Library Services joined the Rialto collection development marketplace, enabling libraries to access Ingram's extensive print and digital content distribution capabilities through the Rialto platform.
- Browns BookscoreBrowns Books joined Rialto providing print availability and academic book distribution. Browns VLE now available in Rialto for enhanced collection development workflows.
- KortextcoreKortext joined Rialto as a partner, integrating digital textbook and learning content distribution with collection development workflows.
- University of MelbournestrategicClarivate partnered with the University of Melbourne to deliver next-generation library solutions, collaborating on innovation in academic library technology.
- University of Electro-CommunicationscoreUniversity of Electro-Communications in Japan adopted Ex Libris Alma Library Services and Primo Discovery Service to enhance access to academic resources.
- National Institute of Informatics Library (Japan)coreJapan's National Institute of Informatics Library went live with Alma and Primo to improve efficiency in accessing academic resources.
- Oxford University (Bodleian Libraries)coreUniversity of Oxford adopted RapidILL interlibrary loan service to automate ILL transactions and participate in national/international resource sharing.
- Cambridge University LibrarycoreCambridge University Library adopted RapidILL to improve interlibrary loan efficiency and content delivery to end users.
- Bavarian State LibrarycoreBavarian State Library chose Alma platform for cloud migration to increase efficiencies and improve user experience.
- De Gruyter BrillcorePartnership providing libraries with earlier visibility into future collections through Rialto, enabling better collection development decisions.
- Bond UniversitycoreBond University adopted Alma Specto to power digital collections and storytelling for institutional repositories.
- ORCIDcoreEsploro integrated with ORCID to enable researchers to synchronize profile data and expose scholarly work consistently.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Ex Libris competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- ByWater Solutions: ByWater Solutions is a leading provider of Koha hosting, migration, and support services for academic and public libraries. It represents an emerging alternative to Ex Libris by enabling libraries to adopt open-source ILS with managed services rather than a commercial platform.
- Koha: Koha is the leading open-source integrated library system, widely used by academic and public libraries globally as a lower-cost alternative to commercial ILS platforms. It directly competes with Alma in the mid-market and emerging-market academic library segments.
- FOLIO: FOLIO is an open-source library services platform developed by a consortium including EBSCO, LYRASIS, Index Data, and academic libraries. It represents an emerging alternative to commercial ILS offerings including Alma, particularly for libraries seeking community-driven open infrastructure.
Direct peers
- Innovative Interfaces: Innovative Interfaces (now part of Ex Libris post-2019 acquisition) provided Sierra and Polaris ILS platforms that compete with and complement Ex Libris Alma. The Sierra and Polaris customer bases were migrated into the Ex Libris portfolio and remain meaningful references for ILS replacement decisions.
- Auto-Graphics: Auto-Graphics provides resource sharing and ILL software (AGent ILL, SHAREit) that directly competes with Ex Libris Rapido and RapidILL. Both vendors serve academic and public library consortia for interlibrary loan automation.
- OCLC: OCLC is the world's largest library cooperative, operating WorldShare Management Services, WorldCat discovery, and ILL services that directly compete with Ex Libris's Alma, Primo, and Rapido platforms in academic and public libraries. Both serve overlapping customer segments with cloud-based library infrastructure and global footprints.
- SirsiDynix: SirsiDynix provides Symphony and BLUEcloud Library Services, a direct competing integrated library system used by academic and public libraries. It targets a similar customer base to Ex Libris Alma with comparable cloud-managed ILS, discovery, and electronic resource management capabilities.
- Talis: Talis is a UK-based reading list management platform (Talis Aspire) that directly competes with Ex Libris Leganto in higher education. It serves a comparable customer segment of academic libraries with similar course resource list functionality.
Broad incumbents
- EBSCO Information Services: EBSCO is a broad incumbent in the library ecosystem offering discovery (EDS), full-text content, research databases, and FOLIO-based library services. It overlaps with Ex Libris in discovery, content, and increasingly in ILS via FOLIO, serving the same academic library buyers.
- ProQuest: ProQuest is a sister company to Ex Libris under Clarivate, providing research databases, ebooks, and dissertations to academic libraries. While primarily a content publisher, ProQuest overlaps with Ex Libris in serving the same institutional buyers and increasingly in workflow integration.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Ex Libris social profiles
Digital presenceEx Libris compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Ex Libris financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ex Libris leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Ex Libris subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries12 records
Ex Libris funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ex Libris M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A3 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ex Libris
What does Ex Libris do?
Ex Libris provides cloud-based SaaS library management and discovery software for academic, national, and public libraries. Its core platforms, Alma (unified library services) and Primo (discovery), are sold alongside Leganto, Rapido/RapidILL, campusM, Alma Specto, Rialto, Esploro, Rosetta, and Library Open Workflows, on multi-year subscription agreements with professional implementation, cloud hosting, and content services.
Is Ex Libris a public or private company?
Ex Libris is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Ex Libris founded?
Ex Libris was founded in 1986. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Ex Libris based?
Ex Libris is headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark, in the Europe region.
How does Ex Libris make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription-based SaaS Licensing is the primary driver. The others are professional Services, cloud Services and content Services.
Who are Ex Libris's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are ByWater Solutions, Koha and FOLIO. Direct peers are Innovative Interfaces, Auto-Graphics, OCLC, SirsiDynix and Talis. Broad incumbents are EBSCO Information Services and ProQuest.
Does Ex Libris have an API?
Yes. Ex Libris provides a Developer Network (developers.exlibrisgroup.com) for API access, integrations, and developer resources. The Library Open Workflows (LibOW) product enables API connections, webhooks, Cloud apps, forms, external systems and AI model integrations. Products support API integrations including resource sharing ILL integrations, Alma API, and Primo API access. Developer documentation is at developers.exlibrisgroup.com.
What industry is Ex Libris in?
Ex Libris's product category is Library Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAEAGAE, Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation), with a secondary code of EDAEAGAF, Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.