Claris International Inc., formerly FileMaker Inc., is an American software company owned by Apple Inc. Apple formed the company in 1987 to manage and market application software separately from Apple's hardware and operating-system businesses. During its first period under the Claris name, the company published Macintosh and Apple II software including MacWrite, MacPaint, MacDraw, MacProject, AppleWorks, ClarisWorks, Claris Emailer, Claris Home Page, and FileMaker. Apple reorganized Claris as FileMaker Inc. in 1998, when the subsidiary narrowed its focus to the FileMaker database product line. FileMaker Inc. restored the Claris name in 2019 after acquiring the integration startup Stamplay, whose product became Claris Connect.
History
Apple software subsidiary
thumb|alt=Low-rise office building formerly used as Claris headquarters in Santa Clara, California|Former Claris headquarters in Santa Clara, California
Apple announced plans in April 1987 to spin off its application software business into a separate subsidiary. The company began with five major Apple software products and about $50 million in annual revenue, and Apple expected it to become independent within 18 months. Apple retained ownership of the new company, which was based in the Silicon Valley area and initially led by Apple executive Bill Campbell.
In 1988, Claris acquired the database application FileMaker from Nashoba Systems and released it as FileMaker II. FileMaker became one of Claris's most durable products. The company released FileMaker Pro in 1990 and a cross-platform version for Macintosh and Windows in 1992.
Products in the 1990s
ClarisWorks, an integrated office suite created by former Claris employees Bob Hearn and Scott Holdaway, was released for Macintosh in 1991. The product was separate from the earlier Apple II AppleWorks line, though it later inherited the AppleWorks name after being moved back to Apple. Other products included Claris Emailer, Claris CAD, ClarisDraw, Claris Organizer, Claris Impact, and Claris Home Page.
Claris Home Page included tools for building database-driven websites with FileMaker Pro 4.1 and Claris Dynamic Markup Language (CDML). CDML later survived mainly as a historical term associated with FileMaker's older web-publishing tools.
FileMaker Inc.
Apple kept Claris as a wholly owned subsidiary rather than completing the independent spin-off originally contemplated in 1987. Apple took over distribution of ClarisWorks and Mac OS products, while FileMaker Inc. continued to develop and market FileMaker Pro.
Return to the Claris name
FileMaker Inc. announced in August 2019 that it was restoring the Claris name and becoming Claris International Inc. TechCrunch reported that the FileMaker product line would continue under the Claris FileMaker name. As of 2026, the company's principal products were Claris FileMaker, a low-code custom app and database platform, and Claris Connect, a workflow automation and app-integration service.
Products
Claris's historical products included the Apple-originated MacWrite, MacPaint, MacDraw, MacProject, and AppleWorks applications; FileMaker and FileMaker Pro; the ClarisWorks integrated suite; and later products such as Claris Emailer, Claris Resolve, Claris Impact, Claris Organizer, Claris CAD, and Claris Home Page. Most non-FileMaker products were either moved back to Apple, discontinued, or left unsupported after the 1998 restructuring. Claris Connect is marketed as a workflow automation service for connecting business applications and web services.
See also
- List of Mac software
- Clarus the Dogcow