Top 5 Open Source Document Management Systems

Helping organizations gain control over their DMS is what LogicalDoc does best. You can access the software via any web browser. And that is one of the main differences between LogicalDoc and any other open source document management software. Unlike others cloud-based systems, LogicalDoc is accessed through your own network. You can use the software to create, and coordinate any number of documents and increase collaboration and productivity of your team.

Pros:

• Quick retrieval and easy access to documents
• Excellent support team, backed up with good pricing structure
• Easy to use and install, as well as maintain the constant update

Cons:

• The community edition is buggy and limited
• No client sync a local directory with the repository

Another open source document management system, Alfresco is designed mostly for enterprises. The software provides enterprises with document management, web content management, image management, content repository, workflow, records management, and much more. It is a complex piece of software, and while the company does put effort in making it easy to deploy, there is a steep learning curve.

Pros:

• You maintain version of each change within the document
• When you want, you can get any revision
• Easy customization

Cons:

• Complex to use
• You need to be administrator to change settings in the security system
• Incoherent APIs

The software tracks the flow of content through the business cycle. Most of the features in Nuxeo are designed to reduce time-consuming search and retrieval. You can capture content within the system in a number of ways, including email, scanning images, and office documents. With a great audit logging, you can track the content lifecycle easily.

Pros:

• Your projects are easily maintainable
• Robust platform with everything available through APIs
• Every aspect can be customized

Cons:

• Huge learning curve for beginners
• Customizing can get tricky and complex

One of the best open source document management systems, KnowledgeTree allows users to secure, share, track, and manage documents. Some of the features include Search within Document Contents, Workflow, Metadata, Version-Controlled Document Repository, and WebDAV support. KnowledgeTree is one of the most favorable open source DMS for sales reps.

Pros:

• You can easily find the right content at the right time
• Quick plays enable users to create cadences of content
• You can create rules based on fields in Salesforce and assign content to those rules

Cons:

• Not as intuitive as other open source content management systems
• Not great sync with Box.com, as you have to delete files in both directories

A web based collaboration platform, Feng Office helps you manage your projects easily. You can collaborate with your team, but also with your customers. Some of the project management features include task management, time tracking, Gantt Chart, document management, and knowledge management. Formerly known as OpenGoo, Feng Office is now one of the best document management system open source on the market.

Pros:

• Very useful and simple to use free version
• You can track and email alerts to multiple people
• You can tag items

Cons:

• Search feature is not as good as it should be
• Every update, Feng Office removes some features from the community edition and makes them paid-only
• Templates require a lot of work

So, what can you do? Well, choosing a paid version document management system is always an option. And those should not be so expensive. For example, you can get a very cost-effective tool, only if you look around on the market. One such tool is PDFelement for Business. With the best cost-to-value ratio on the market, PDFelement has quickly become a major player for document management. Here are some of the main features:

• Convert any document into a fully editable and searchable PDF document
• Protect documents with two-factor authentication password, as well as with redaction tool
• Manage page with highlights, annotations, notes and much more
• OCR technology that works in 20 different languages and will help you easily find anything you are looking for
• Digitally sign documents that are as legally binding as hard-copy documents
• Combine two or more documents into one single PDF document