
Ex Libris, a Clarivate product family, provides cloud-based SaaS software for academic library management, discovery, and research.
Ex Libris offers a cloud-based portfolio for academic and research libraries. Its current flagship products are the Alma library services platform for unified resource management, the Primo discovery service (including Primo VE) for patron-facing search, Leganto for reading-list and course-resource management, Rosetta for digital preservation, Esploro for research information management, and the Rapido and Rialto tools for resource sharing and collection development.
The suite is delivered as born-SaaS, multitenant software backed by shared data centers across North America, Europe, and Asia, and is used by more than 6,500 institutions in over 90 countries. Older products in the lineage include the Aleph and Voyager integrated library systems and the Summon, 360, bX, MetaLib, SFX, RefWorks, and Pivot services.
Academic and research libraries continue to consolidate fragmented, on-premise systems onto cloud platforms that unify print, electronic, and digital resource management and connect to discovery, reading-list, and research-information workflows. Demand is shaped by the shift to electronic and open-access content, the need for analytics on collection use, and pressure on library budgets.
Vendors are adding generative-AI-assisted discovery and workflow automation, as seen in Ex Libris feature releases such as the Primo Research Assistant and AI capabilities in Alma. The competitive set includes OCLC, EBSCO, SirsiDynix, Springshare, and open-source options such as FOLIO and Koha, with differentiation driven by breadth of suite, data openness, and installed-base community.
Ex Libris emphasizes born-SaaS, cloud-native architecture with a unified data model across its library services, discovery, and research products, so libraries manage print, electronic, and digital collections in one platform rather than across siloed systems. Open APIs, Linked Data support, a shared knowledge base (the Community Zone), and frequent feature releases let institutions extend and integrate the suite with campus and financial systems.
Its scale and install base, reported at more than 6,500 institutions across over 90 countries with services in more than 22 languages, give it a large customer community (ELUNA, IGeLU user groups) that drives roadmap input. Backing by Clarivate connects the portfolio to a broader scholarly-content and analytics ecosystem.