Documents are the lifeblood of businesses. They’re the foundation on which your business is built, and without them, you can barely keep afloat. That said, managing documents can be a challenge. And that’s where software like document management software comes in—they provide a great way to manage all your documents from one place, so you don’t have to waste time canvassing through folders and files again and again.
Best Document Management Software UK
DocuWare
Overview: One of the top providers of document and content management systems, DocuWare was formed in 1988. (as of 2021). Major corporations including IKEA and Sony utilize it, and it is available in 16 different languages.
DocuWare offers automated workflow and digital document management solutions. It works well for businesses of any size in all significant sectors, including manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and government.
Key features:
- Operates on Windows desktops, web browsers, or iOS/Android mobile apps.
- Offers training in person and remotely, with customer support available during regular business hours.
- Provides collaboration tools, compliance tracking, and eSignature.
- Offers features for document archiving, assembly, indexing, and retention.
- Offers optical character recognition (OCR), file recovery, version control, and offline access.
- Enables integration with over 500 different applications.
Pros: The user interface is easy on the eyes, intuitive, and user-friendly. The tool has an effective drag and drop functionality, and users can perform multiple tasks in multiple documents without leaving the main console.
Rating: 4.4 out of 5 on G2.
Price: DocuWare offers a free trial. Its basic plan provides four users with 20GB of storage for $300 a month.
Dropbox Business
Dropbox is a platform for collaboration and cloud-based file storage created for the modern workplace to lessen busywork so you can concentrate on the things that matter. Dropbox Business enables limitless business growth while giving you total control over user behavior and sensitive company data.
Dropbox Business is best suited for collaboration across a team of users.
Key features:
- Operates on Windows/Mac desktops as well as web-browsers, iOS, and Android apps.
- Provides live training with 24/7 support with live representatives.
- Offers collaboration tools, eSignature, version control, and compliance tracking.
- Offers features for document archiving, assembly, indexing, and retention.
- Offers file recovery, file type conversion, offline access.
- Enables administration with user and role management.
Pros: Dropbox Business provides a good amount of storage space for a business entity. It is a great collaboration tool for our team. Working on common projects, revising documents, and creating system backups can all be done with ease.
Rating: 4.3 out of 5 on G2.
Price: A free trial is available. The Standard plan is $12.50 per month per user (starting at five users). For full access to more sophisticated features and unlimited storage, purchase the Advanced plan at $20 per month per user.
eFileCabinet
Overview: On a single platform, eFileCabinet offers companies intelligent organizing, workflow automation, secure file-sharing, and eSignature requests.
This tool is ideal for content management of businesses of all sizes across industries, including accounting, construction, real estate, manufacturing, and healthcare.
Key features:
- Offers a cloud-based and on-premise platform.
- Operates on Mac and Windows, iOS, and Android mobile apps.
- Provides features for managing workflows, OCR, secure file-sharing, email importing, and eSignature.
- Allows file type conversion, version control, file recovery, and document archiving.
- Offers in-person and remote training along with 24/7 support.
Pros: Offers on-premise and cloud options, giving customers the flexibility to choose the best plan for their business.
Rating: 4.4 out of 5 on G2.
Price: eFileCabinet offers three subscription tiers:
- Advantage: The Advantage tier is priced at $55 per user per month (billed annually). It requires a minimum of three users.
- Business: The Business tier costs $99 per user per month (billed annually).
- Unlimited: The Unlimited tier costs $199 per user per month (billed annually).
Google Drive
Overview: Anyone with a Google account can access Google Drive, a cloud-based DMS. It makes it simple to save, sync, and share files.
This tool is best suited for teams collaboratively working on real-time projects. Shareability and real-time editing features of Google Drive take professional collaboration to the next level.
Key features:
- Provides extensive storage for many file types.
- Enables integration with other Google products and outside apps and files.
- Offers Search function to find documents by file type or by name.
- Allows file conversion, file editing history, document back-up to the cloud for easy synchronization across devices and easy recovery.
- Offers easy file sharing with external members through like sharing and email.
- Offers offline capabilities for selected files and accounts.
Pros: Due to its intuitive UI, Google Drive aces it when it comes to usability. Its efficient built-in search engine is a highlight, allowing users to search files by type and owner.
Rating: 4.7 out of 5 on G2.
Price: Free, single users are given 15GB of storage, and they can pay for more storage (billed by month). GSuite subscriptions include 30GB with the Basic Plan at $6 per user per month for those looking to implement it in a business setting. The Business plan, which is the most popular one, offers unlimited cloud storage for $12 per user per month.
Laserfiche
Overview: Laserfiche offers automated business processes and intelligent document management. By using effective workflows, electronic forms, document management, and analytics, it eliminates manual processes and automates repetitive tasks, speeding up corporate operations.
Laserfiche platform is suitable for content management of businesses of all sizes in industries such as accounting, construction, education, real estate, manufacturing, and healthcare.
Key features:
- Operates on Windows, iOS/Android apps, and web-based access.
- Offers collaboration tools, eSignature, and compliance tracking.
- Offers features for document archiving, indexing, retention, version control, and offline access
- Offers file recovery and file type conversion.
- Provides business process management, workflow management, and enterprise content management features.
Pros: Laserfiche boosts efficiency with automation, optimizing the application process, simplifying case management, and eliminating paperwork for employee onboarding. Laserfiche makes it easy to create, store, and send digital documents within the business, speeding up correspondence and making it easy to make data-driven decisions since all the information is in one place.
Rating: 4.6 out of 5 on G2.
Price: The product uses a subscription-based model for $50 per month.
Editorial comments: Laserfiche seems more expensive than other solutions and does not provide document assembly
LogicalDOC
By emphasizing quick document retrieval and business process automation, LogicalDOC seeks to assist enterprises in taking control of their document management.
Because of its adaptability, LogicalDOC is best suited for small, medium, and large businesses, such as banks, healthcare facilities, mechanical industries, and medium-sized towns.
Key features:
- Operates on web-browsers, iOS, and Android App with a multilingual interface.
- Provides multilingual full-text indexing, version control, document password protection.
- Allows document search, check-in/check-out function, annotations, internal messaging, and email sharing.
- Enables modifications under specific functions.
Pros: LogicalDOC is a very intuitive tool for planning, executing, and managing business projects.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 on G2.
Price: LogicalDOC Community is free, open-source software. There are larger packages available with consultation. Check LogicalDOC’s website for more.
Editorial comments: The free, open-source software, while being a cost-effective option, lacks some safety and document recovery features. These are available with paid licenses.
M-Files
A next-generation intelligent information management platform from M-Files helps individuals access and use information more efficiently, which boosts corporate performance. M-Files unites systems, data, and content throughout the organization without interfering with current systems and processes or necessitating data migration, in contrast to standard enterprise content management (ECM) solutions or content services platforms.
M-Files is suitable for small to mid-sized businesses that lean heavily on paper-based processes. Their packaging is unique. Customers can choose which features they want and can opt-out of others, making it both flexible and cost-efficient.
Key features:
- Enables customization with other features available for purchase and bundling.
- Offers offline access, file recovery, file type conversion, version control.
- Provides OCR features for more complete search capabilities.
- Offers collaboration tools, automated workflow, compliance tracking, eSignature.
- Offers features for document archiving, assembly, indexing, and retention.
- Provides access and control permission tools.
Free Document Management Software for Windows
Alfresco
A free open source document management program for Windows is called Alfresco. It is a fantastic piece of software that makes managing numerous documents simple. It is basically a collaborative content management system that allows different departments and users to manage various categories of material.
Using the Admin Tools menu, you must first create numerous users in order to share documents with them and manage documents with them. Additionally, you may configure this software to just allow users to see and update documents for specific individuals. In addition, I appreciate its document labeling tool, which enables users to mark papers with phrases like “I am editing” and “others are editing” to let other users know how far along a project is. You can use the menus in this software to manage many parts of documents.
OpenDocMan
Another free open source document management program for Windows is called OpenDocMan. It is web-based software that needs a web browser and hosting software like Apache to function. After this software has been installed successfully, you can manage and store a huge number of documents in a variety of formats. This software supports a variety of file types, including PDF, TXT, XML, and DOC. An organization with a variety of users and departments may find this software to be quite helpful.
You must first create new users, departments, and categories of files that you want to administer using the software’s Admin menu before adding and managing documents through them. You may begin adding and managing documents collaboratively once you’ve added users and departments. This software has four primary options for managing documents: Add Document, Search, Check-in, and Home.
Feng Office
Another free open source document management program for Windows is Feng Office. It is yet another piece of online-based software that requires a web browser and hosting software like XAMPP to function. With the use of this program, you may manage projects, notes, workspaces, and more in addition to managing documents. This software makes it simple to upload, store, and manage documents in a variety of formats (RTF, DOC, TXT, CSV, etc.). This software offers two major menus, Overview and Documents, for managing documents.
LogicalDOC
The newest free open source document management program for Windows is called LogicalDOC. It is a specialized document management program that allows you to gather all of your documents in one location. As a result of centralized data, there is only one point of access, increasing the security of documents. In addition, this software makes it simple to upload, allocate, and remove documents.
This software’s user interface is simple and has choices for Administrator, Search, Documents, and Dashboard. You can quickly handle documents from these four available choices.
Personal Document Management Software
Adobe Document Cloud
A cloud service for organizing and storing a range of files is called Adobe Document Cloud. Users who frequently work with PDF files will particularly benefit from it. However, there is a significant disadvantage to this personal document organizer program. It doesn’t support a lot of file types.
Although Adobe Document Cloud is a premium service, a sample version is available. Files can be sorted in a variety of ways, including by name, creation date, and others.
All users who seek to streamline their workflow by automating the filling out and signing of documents will find Adobe Document Cloud to be helpful. Additionally, you can store screenshots and images using this app.
The ability to send and track files online makes it possible to keep track of all document changes.
Google Docs
A free online tool from Google called Google Docs was created as an alternative to Microsoft Word. It is employed to produce, store, and sort new files.
Although it frequently works with images, scans, and other types of files, this free file management program primarily concentrates on text documents. Google Docs has fantastic collaboration tools that make it easy to manage teams and work on several projects.
The service’s availability is its primary benefit. All of your documents can be accessed from any device if you have a Google account. The uploaded files can be secured by limiting access to the URL or making it read-only.
The disadvantage of Google Docs is its slow work, especially if you have a bad Internet connection. When you try to perform some operations, the system may freeze for a long time.
FileCenter
You may scan, archive, organize, and locate computer data with the help of the user-friendly software called FileCenter. In a single workflow, it combines numerous file management, scanning, text recognition, and modification functions.
When working with PDF files, this customized document organizer is extremely helpful. The documents can be seen without being opened. In file cabinets, it is also possible to distribute files. Additionally, FileCenter is where you may keep all of your papers.
An inventive OCR search is another practical function. The file may be encrypted or deleted without a chance for recovery, depending on your demands.
The software offers excellent Outlook integration, allowing you to save any communication as a separate computer file.
OpenKM
One of the most versatile personal document management programs, OpenKM supports the majority of the current file formats. Digital documents and scans are primarily stored, sorted, managed, and tracked using this.
You can create, keep, use, and manage records with the OpenKM record management system. Additionally, it works well for receiving and disposing of files. Additionally, data on the operations and transactions of various organizations can be recorded.
Bitrix24
An easy-to-use platform for managing and storing files in multiple formats is Bitrix24. The program is available in cloud and self-hosted (on-premise) versions. All setups can be transferred to your own server. Bitrix24 also provides you with direct access to its source code.
This service stands out for its well-coordinated teamwork. The programmers made every effort to allow users to work both independently and as a team.
Bitrix24 also offers strong file security thanks to the ability to make internal or external linkages. As a result, the designers can vouch for the security of your private data.
eDoc Organizer
Since it is a fully functional document control program, eDoc Organizer is a great choice for both professional and private use. Three file management choices are available with this software: the cloud-based version, the on-premise version, and the enterprise edition. As a result, eDoc Organizer can be used by large enterprises.
The software provides a number of document sorting options. Files may be sorted by name, date, or OCR. Additionally, PDF-formatted files can be saved and shared safely. You can easily save, analyze, and compare files using eDoc Organizer.
Kimios
Kimios is free software for managing documents that can be used for document creation, editing, tracking, and storage. In addition to handling papers, it facilitates process improvement.
All popular file formats and metadata are compatible with this file management system. Additionally, it’s simple to share documents with your collaborators.
The convenience of the service is its biggest benefit. This is because of the interface’s simplicity and thoughtful design. Users may concentrate solely on their task because the layout isn’t crowded with pointless banners.
Being a cross-platform program, it comes with a mobile application. Besides, Kimios allows users to access collaborative features and work with documents in the same workspace. Thus, you don’t need to incorporate massagers or email correspondence into your work.
LogicalDOC CE
A platform for managing personal documents is available for free under the third edition of the GNU Lesser General Public License as Logical DOC Community Edition (LogicalDOC CE).
This file management system supports CMIS, WebDAV protocols, HTTPS, users and group management, events log, and collaborative features in addition to WordPress, Dropbox, and Joomla integration. It can also generate reports and password-protect documents.
Despite being open-source, the service has features that are comparable to those of pricey document management programs. Additionally, iOS and Android users can download the LogicalDOC CE mobile application. You can handle your documents practically constantly and everywhere thanks to this.
Folderit
Online document management tool Folderit is appropriate for both personal and professional use. The advanced search function in Folderit is a special feature that makes it easy to locate all the required files.
Utilizing three access levels, the electronic document management system enables you to share files, folders, and even accounts (Previewer, Viewer, Editor). Additionally, you can make a user group and share the papers with everyone in it at once. You may view a history of each activity any team member has made on a file using the Audit Trail function.
It is feasible to upload updated versions of a file while keeping older versions of the file and its associated information. Additionally, you may access all of your files stored in Folderit from any device and retrieve your document with only one click.
Best Document Management Software
Rubex
Rubex by eFileCabinet Online is a cloud-based service that gives remote workers the same capability that they would have in the office when they log in from any computer with internet connection. In fact, we’ve already named Rubex by eFileCabinet as the top document management solution for companies that employ remote workers. It features a smart mobile app that allows access to all of the files that are kept. The system offers a number of ways to search for documents and utilizes a conventional cabinet-folder file structure. There are three pricing tiers for Rubex by eFileCabinet Online, each with a different amount of storage and features.
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint is a leader in the document management and collaboration space, and for good reason. Its comprehensive slate of features includes the ability to establish content hubs or organize archives by teams. It allows you to create custom metadata fields across all files stored in the system, making it easy to tailor the way you organize your documents to your business’s needs. It is especially convenient for businesses that already use other Microsoft products, such as Office 365.
SharePoint provides a scalable and adaptable platform for managing and organizing your documents as well as working together on their production and editing. But because it’s a complicated system with a steep learning curve, you can assume that your team will need training and some time to get used to it.
M-Files
A complete document management solution with an elegant and simple to use interface is M-Files. Numerous industries, including accounting, business consulting, building, engineering, energy, finance, manufacturing, professional services, and real estate, can benefit from it. Numerous capabilities in M-Files enable companies to automate workflow procedures, digitize huge amounts of physical paper, and manage documents with ease. It streamlines the storage and retrieval process, for instance, by providing version control and metadata suggestions. You may further expedite and streamline your document management processes by integrating it with Parashift, a deep-tech business that specializes in machine learning document retrieval. You can automatically process a wide variety of organized, semi-structured, and unstructured documents rather than manually classifying documents and reading data.
Three alternative service plans are provided by M-Files. We like that each one may be used on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid system, allowing customers to select the kind of system that best suits their organization’s requirements and capabilities. You can be guaranteed that your document management system is current with each plan’s simple deployment and automatic updates. If you require more help, M-Files provides managed services, team training services, and rapid deployment packages. In addition, the business provides a wide range of online learning tools, including case studies, infographics, e-books, films, podcasts, and on-demand webinars.
VIENNA Advantage Community
Businesses can use VIENNA Advantage, an open-source, community-driven document management system, for nothing. Its user-friendly interface is intuitive to use and well-structured. It includes features for process automation to speed up tasks and secure document encryption. Additionally, it is expandable, enabling your company to expand with a free document management solution.
The technical hurdle with VIENNA Advantage is that you have to rely on the community of users to assist you set up the software and resolve any problems. VIENNA Advantage does not have a tech support staff, in contrast to commercial document management software.
Conclusion
Software for document management is a crucial tool for companies. It can assist you with document organization, document storage, and document saving. You should select the appropriate software if you wish to handle your business documents effectively.