Here are 11 of the best document management systems for a variety of businesses and industries.
Running a business means contending with an ever-growing number of important documents. Those documents may need to meet specific regulatory requirements. They may need to be edited by multiple parties. They may even need every step of their edit process saved for auditing or rollbacks. And then they must be securely stored in a way that makes it easy for team members to find what they need and use it appropriately.
There are many types of document management systems, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, and choosing the right one for your business can feel overwhelming. This list of document management systems aims to make that process easier, providing ten leading options in document management so you can make a more confident decision about what’s right for your business, big or small.
Find the best document management solutions for your business with our guide, The complete guide to document management systems.
What is a document management system?
Document management systems (DMS) are suites of tools that companies use to store, modify, and keep track of the many documents necessary to conduct business. Those documents can include simple text files, complex legal or online forms, images, and more. Many document management systems also offer document capture, workflow management, and a host of other features businesses may find useful. Most are cloud-based and work with a number of computer operating systems. They are ideal for companies who need document management software on Mac and PC, and several have mobile capabilities across iOS and Android. Head here for more information on what document management systems do.
We’ve highlighted some compelling document management software examples, their standout features, and some potential use cases below, with options ranging from low cost document software geared toward small businesses to high-end enterprise offerings designed with huge teams in mind.
List of document management systems
OnBase by Hyland Software
Hyland Software is a leader in the enterprise content management market, and their document management system, OnBase, is a popular option in the space. Many crucial document management features show up in OnBase's suite, including revision history, electronic signatures, and internal document distribution and access tracking. The system can automate document generation, speeding up processes and reducing the risk of user error. Its document capture uses OCR scanning, and it has a wide range of integrations.
Pricing isn't available online, but Hyland says it's flexible and will be determined according to your business's needs.
Kofax Intelligent Automation Platform
Kofax offers document-heavy businesses a wide range of useful tools through its Intelligent Automation Platform. TotalAgility provides document intelligence and task automation; robotic process automation (RPA) allows for the automation of complex tasks with no coding required; SignDoc allows for secure electronic signatures; Mobile Capture turns photos taken with phones into digital documents that OmniPage can scan with OCR and make editable; and the list goes on. The suite also includes document-specific tools such as compliance monitoring, audit trail reporting, and watermarking.
All those interlocking systems can speed things up for your business, but they can also be a lot for new users to take in. For pricing, you can schedule a demo with Kofax directly.
Microsoft SharePoint Online
SharePoint Online offers document management in addition to workflow and collaboration management. It’s particularly useful for large, distributed teams. Document management in SharePoint offers both simultaneous document editing and check-in/check-out functionality. The system also boasts version control that allows users to revert unwanted changes, outstanding compliance tools, and a host of third-party integrations.
As a Microsoft product, SharePoint Online benefits from easy integration with the entire Microsoft Office 365 suite. It can even be purchased in a bundle with those products. Pricing generally starts at less than $10 per user.
DocuWare Cloud
DocuWare Cloud takes aim at businesses with high-volume paper records, offering scanning through the web client or the DocuWare Cloud Scan App complemented by stellar OCR. The ability to turn scanned paper forms into ones that can be edited and filled out digitally, plus compliance with HIPAA and other legal standards, make this a good option for medical businesses. It also retains document histories and allows version control.
DocuWare Cloud offers four plans based on user size, beginning with four users and scaling up to 100. For pricing, businesses have to contact DocuWare’s sales team.
Document Manager by Document Logistix
Document Logistix is based in the United Kingdom, which may explain its focus on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance, but its office in Austin, Texas helps it cater to customers stateside with its Document Manager system. Document Manager offers automated document capture, full indexing of stored documents, audit trails, and workflow management, but its greatest asset may be its modular architecture. This allows customers a great deal of flexibility regarding what, precisely, they pay for.
Pricing is done on a per-client basis, so you’ll have to get in touch to find out what the system will cost.
PaperVision by Digitech
PaperVision is Digitech’s entry into document management, and it’s a good one. You’ll find audit trails, check-in/check-out editing, version control, document annotation and e-signature support among its featureset. It can be installed on-premises with PaperVision Enterprise, or used as a cloud-based application through PaperVision.com, which makes it accessible from mobile devices.
If you’re looking to capture physical documents in addition to organizing digital ones, you’ll need to use Digitech’s PaperVision Capture integration — not such a big deal, but it can be nice to have document capture in the same place as the rest of your document work. Users also report that PaperVision requires some level of coding knowledge to unlock its deepest customization options. Pricing for PaperVision starts at $35 per user per month and runs up to $125 per user per month.
OnlyOffice Workspace
A list of document management systems without OnlyOffice Workspace would miss out on one of the most versatile options in the space. It plays well as document management for Google Drive, sports an easy-to-use interface, and includes project management tools aplenty on top of its robust document management offerings. Users can edit documents simultaneously with built-in chat, and changes are tracked in case a rollback becomes necessary.
OnlyOffice is also affordable, especially for nonprofit and educational organizations. In addition to a universal 30-day free trial, nonprofits and schools can use the service for free in perpetuity, making it a great low cost document management software in those cases. For most businesses, however, the service costs around $5 per user per month. Alternatively, enterprise clients can buy a perpetual license starting at $1,500.
Did You Know?:The fi-8170 can scan up to 70 pages per minute and 10,000 pages per day. Click here to learn more.
Upland FileBound
Upland FileBound offers enterprise content management with a host of features one might expect to see under that umbrella, electronic form support and e-signatures among them. The system also offers document and image capture, easily configured permissions and security settings, and — best of all — no-code workflow automation to help you streamline operations. The system can be deployed locally or through the cloud.
Potential customers should contact Upland for pricing information.
M-Files
M-Files’ main selling point is its organizational structure. It eschews standard folder-based organization and opts instead for organizing by keywords, tags, and categories. That can take some getting used to, but also offers significant efficiency upsides for finding documents. Other features include duplicate file detection, document capture with OCR, check-in/check-out tools for document editing, offline mobile support across Android and iOS, electronic signature support, and plenty of third-party integrations such as Salesforce CRM, the Google Suite, and Microsoft Office.
M-Files offers a 30-day free trial, but for exact pricing businesses need to get in touch with the service directly.
Laserfiche
Any list of document management systems will run into several that users describe as hard to use. Laserfiche bucks that trend, with a friendly interface that speeds up the learning process. Which is good, because there are a lot of vital features to learn. Archiving and retention, document classification, e-signature support, offline access, and check-in/check-out editing all come packaged in Laserfiche, as does Microsoft 365 integration and frequent updates to the software.
The service starts at $50 per month per user, and runs up to $79 per month per user.
ABBYY FlexiCapture
ABBYY’s FlexiCapture solution boasts some of the best OCR in the game as part of its document scanning offerings, and that scanning continues to improve over time thanks to the implementation of machine learning. That makes it easy to pull critical data from structured or unstructured documents. FlexiCapture also offers automation tools that can help streamline workflows company-wide.
Prices start at $29.99 per month for up to 500 pages of documents, and rise as high as $299.99 per month for up to 10,000 pages.
Square 9
Square 9Square is a business document management company with a wide range of solutions for clients. Its document management software services include document capture with OCR that works with structured and unstructured documents. It can also automate document routing to speed up intake processes. It has an easy document look-up function, and integrates well with CRM, ERP and HRM.
Potential clients should contact Square 9 for pricing information.
Did You Know?:PCMagazine called the fi-8270 "the best of both worlds" for its combination of sheetfed and flatbed scanning. Click here to read the full review and learn why it earned an “excellent” 4 out of 5 rating.
Our recommendation: fi and SP Series Scanners
Those browsing for a list of document management systems have a wide array of needs, from keeping their electronic records straight to digitizing their paper ones. We take great pride in having spent the last 50+ years researching, designing and developing some of the most advanced and powerful electronics in the world, including our professional grade fi and SP Series scanners.
Built to purpose for the most demanding document handling jobs, fi and SP scanners are capable of processing tens-of-thousands of pages per day at the highest levels of accuracy. Their intuitive integration capabilities with all existing work suites minimize time-to-value for businesses looking to invest in tools that will pay dividends for years to come. Click here to learn more or shop the rest of our production scanner line.