Frontify vs Lytho: which DAM fits which team

Verdict

DAMSelection assessment: Frontify leads on documented security, hosting choice and PIM connector depth, and Lytho leads on creative workflow and proofing inside the DAM. Lytho publishes plan limits and Frontify publishes none. DAMSelection holds no security certification for Lytho. See the Frontify profile, the Lytho profile and the vendor directory.

Choose Frontify when:

• Salsify is your PIM of record, because Frontify develops its own Salsify integration (Fit Map level 4, Enterprise plan).
• Your security review asks for ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type II, TISAX or Cyber Essentials.
• Your designers work in Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma, where Frontify builds both integrations and includes them free on all plans.
• Your teams want AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or Figma to reach brand assets and guidelines through an MCP server.

Choose Lytho when:

• Creative requests, proofing and approvals must run in the DAM platform, with online proofing and workflow stages unlimited on all three plans.
• You want to size a quote from published limits: 10, 25 or unlimited core users and 500 GB, 2 TB or 5 TB of storage.
• Brand and compliance checks should run before human approval, through AI Reviewers sold in yearly review allowances.
• Your AI policy requires a vendor statement that customer data is never used to train AI models.

Where Frontify and Lytho differ

Frontify and Lytho differ in product scope, the unit that drives price and their company history. The template's facts table covers hosting, certifications and connectors, so this table adds the rest.

The Bynder vs Frontify page compares Frontify with a Forrester Leader.

Product content and PIM integration

Frontify holds a level 4 Fit Map cell for Salsify and a level 3 cell for Akeneo, and Lytho holds no Fit Map cell. DAMSelection assessment: Frontify is the stronger documented fit for a product-led brand team.

The Frontify Akeneo integration sends assets one way, from Frontify to Akeneo, as CDN URLs. Metadata syncs in both directions, nightly by default, and only one main image per product identifier syncs. DAMSelection assessment: that limit rules out Frontify as the gallery source for Akeneo products with many images, unless a demo shows otherwise.

Lytho lists no packaged PIM connector. DAMSelection assessment: DAM and PIM form one product content supply chain, so a Lytho buyer with a PIM should scope an API build before signing. See the Salsify integration page, the Akeneo integration page and the PIM and DAM Fit Map.

Hosting and security differences

Frontify documents its hosting regions, tenancy, certifications and subprocessors, and Lytho's public record covers a Netherlands hosting statement only. Ask Lytho for certification evidence and its product hosting region before the security review.

Frontify documents the US or EU choice for enterprise customers only. DAMSelection assessment: a smaller Frontify contract should state the region in writing. Use the security review guide and the data residency entry.

Pricing model differences

Frontify and Lytho both quote on request, and Lytho publishes the plan limits that shape its quote. Frontify publishes no tiers.

Worked example: a brand team with 40 staff and 60 agency partners who log in each month counts 100 monthly active users at Frontify. The same team runs 500 AI reviews a month at Lytho, which uses the 6,000-review yearly allowance in full. DAMSelection assessment: storage, egress and AI credit consumption drive five-year DAM cost more than licence fees. Model both in the TCO calculator.

AI capabilities documented for each

Frontify documents a broader set of AI features, and Lytho documents brand compliance review plus search and tagging. Neither facts file records an announced feature.

Frontify

• Shipped: auto-tagging for images and H.264 video in Media, Logo, Icon and Document libraries.
• Shipped: Enhanced Image Search from natural-language queries, and OCR-based Content Search inside PDFs, presentations and scans.
• Shipped: Brand Assistant trained on brand guidelines, and an MCP server for AI tools.
• Shipped: Predictive Metadata, Duplicate Detection and AI Translations.

Lytho

• Shipped: AI Reviewers check content against brand and compliance standards before human approval.
• Shipped: AI search finds assets by meaning, context and intent, and handles synonyms, typos and incomplete metadata.
• Shipped: AI tagging applies the customer taxonomy, generates descriptions and creates alt text.

DAMSelection assessment: ask Frontify which plan includes each AI feature, and ask Lytho which plan carries which AI Reviewers allowance.

What to test to separate them in a scripted demo

A Frontify and Lytho demo should test the review flow, PIM linkage and pricing units on your own assets. Use the DAM demo script and the agencies shortlist.

1. Run one creative request from brief to approved asset, with two review rounds and one external reviewer.
2. Check 20 assets against your brand rules with AI and show which flags a human must clear.
3. Sync 10 products with five images each to your PIM and show which images arrive.
4. Auto-tag 200 of your images against your taxonomy and show the tag accuracy.
5. Show how an external partner login counts toward the user or licence total.
6. Show the hosting region, certificates and AI processing location in the contract.