Adobe Experience Manager offers multiple ways to share, distribute, and reuse content and digital assets. The three common solutions are Brand Portal, Asset Share Commons, and AEM Content Hub. While they may look similar, they are designed for completely different use cases. This article offers a clear comparison across features, capabilities, and ideal usage scenarios.
1. What is AEM Brand Portal?
AEM Brand Portal is an Adobe-managed, cloud-hosted platform for distributing approved digital assets to external partners such as agencies, resellers, retailers, and franchise teams. It provides secure access without exposing your main AEM author instance to external users.
Key Features
- Secure external access via Adobe IMS
- Publish-approved assets only
- Download presets and controlled renditions
- Asset expiry and governance
- Analytics and usage visibility
- No hosting/maintenance required
Best For
Organizations that need a governed, branded portal for distributing images, product assets, and marketing materials to external stakeholders.
2. What is Asset Share Commons?
Asset Share Commons (ASC) is an open-source asset browser UI built on top of AEM. It is fully customizable and is usually used to provide asset access to internal employees or specific partner groups.
Key Features
- Open-source and fully configurable
- Faceted search and custom components
- Browser and download portal for AEM assets
- Integrated with AEM permissions and workflows
- Runs on customer-managed AEM infrastructure
Best For
Organizations that want complete control over UI/UX and custom functionality without using an Adobe SaaS solution.
Limitations
- Requires AEM development effort
- No Adobe-managed hosting
- Not ideal for large-scale external distribution
3. What is AEM Content Hub?
AEM Content Hub is a cloud-native, centrally governed content discovery and reuse layer available only in AEM as a Cloud Service. It allows authors across multiple sites or business units to search, discover, and reuse approved content instantly.
Key Features
- Unified search across AEM instances
- Reuse of components, fragments, and assets
- AI-powered tagging and smart content discovery
- Ideal for multi-site, multi-brand organizations
- No hosting or maintenance required (SaaS)
Best For
Enterprises using AEM Cloud to maintain consistent brand/content quality across teams and regions.
Limitations
- Available only in AEM Cloud Service
- Less customizable compared to ASC
Comparison Table
| Feature | Brand Portal | Asset Share Commons | Content Hub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | SaaS asset distribution portal | Customizable open-source AEM UI | Cloud-native content discovery layer |
| Primary Users | External partners | Internal teams / controlled groups | Authors across brands/regions |
| Customization | Low | Very high | Low–medium |
| Setup Effort | Very low (Adobe-managed) | Medium–high (development needed) | None (cloud-native) |
| Hosting | Adobe hosted | Customer AEM hosted | Adobe cloud |
| Best Use Case | External asset distribution | Custom internal/external UI | Content reuse across multiple AEM instances |
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Brand Portal if you need:
- A secure distribution portal for external agencies/partners
- No maintenance or infrastructure burden
- Strong access governance
Choose Asset Share Commons if you need:
- Complete UI customization
- Integration with custom workflows
- A self-hosted, developer-friendly solution
Choose Content Hub if you need:
- Unified content reuse across regions/teams
- A cloud-native ecosystem
- Modern governance and AI-driven search
Conclusion
Brand Portal, Asset Share Commons, and Content Hub are purpose-built solutions that address different content distribution challenges. Brand Portal excels at external asset sharing, Asset Share Commons shines with its customization flexibility, and Content Hub leads in enterprise content reuse across distributed teams.
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