Top 5 Open Source Document Management Systems
2024-04-18 14:00:40 • Filed to: Software for Business • Proven solutions
No matter the size of your business, you will have a flow of documentation to create, manage and organize so everything runs smoothly. Document Management Systems (DMS) have become an essential part of business software inventory but most programs are costly to purchase and run. This is where open source document management system comes in. This online, low-cost (often free) software is readily available, and a great solution for most business practices. But choosing the right program can be a long, arduous task.
Follow our guide to find the best document management system open source software for your company.
Top 5 Open Source DMS software
1. OpenDocMan
Created to conform to ISO 17025’s document management requirements, OpenDocMan is simple to install and use and is noted for being among the best open source document management systems available. It is used by a growing number of fortune 500 companies, small businesses, education providers, government agencies and individuals for their document management needs. It is also available in 10 languages.
OpenManDoc is completely flexible to your needs, supporting multiple operating systems (including Linux, Unix, Mac Os X, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7), and file types. As an entirely web-based application, it offers access from any location and simple web-based back-up functionality.
The software has been created with individual user and departmental workflow in mind. It includes controllable access control for each file and an automated document review process so that reviewers can approve or reject new documents or changed files. Businesses can set email notifications prior to and after a review to keep the workflow effective.
The intuitive search function allows quick browsing by department, author, or category and full search that also incudes meta-data and comments. This function makes locating your files simple and efficient.
2. Alfresco Community Edition
This software breaks down the Alfresco Enterprise Edition (content and file management software) for companies with the ability to self-support and who want the capability to research and adopt developments for their own requirements. Free and widely available, Alfresco Community Edition is flexible for developers who want to work with the latest Alfresco features in non-critical environments. This is the best open source document repository for developing new aspects for your business.
Alfresco comes with robust user and workflow elements with easy-access features that make on-site and remote working seamless through mobile apps and offline access. It also comes with a full range of collaboration tools such as team sites, task lists and version tracking.
Through multiple open APIs and many other deployment options, it is easy to integrate and extend the Alfresco software for your needs.
With any development functionality security can be a concern but Alfresco comes with information governance and enterprise-grade security to keep your company on the right side of legal requirements and security.
Free Download Alfresco Community Edition>>
3. LogicalDoc Community Edition
Much like the above Alfresco software this is the free, open source document management version of the LogicalDOC software, supported by developers. This open source version, the LogicalDoc Community Edition, does not come with all the functionality of the paid-for commercial editions but does offer much of the basic functionality needed to get the most out of the software.
LogicalDoc Community Edition offers a lot for your document workflow with a multilingual, desktop interface and user-friendly features such as multilingual full-text indexing, full version control, task manager, importing from zip files, and document searching to keep control of your documents.
Collaboration is also a key element of LogicalDOC and the Community edition provides some useful tools. Users can check files in and out, email or download review tickets, and communicate with other users via an internal messaging system. The integrated contacts address book also allows you to keep track of existing and new contacts.
Integration is also key with the software providing SOAP and REST API interfaces and integration extensions for both WordPress and Joomla. Basic statistics and reporting also allows users to keep track of your document workflows.
LogicalDOC is also secure, providing solid password protection. With solid basic features and development capability LogicalDOC Community edition is a good open source dms option.
Free Download LogicalDoc Community Edition>>
4. Kimios
Kimios aims to optimize working with documents as an alternative to oversized, bulky enterprise management systems. It largely achieves this by streamlining a lot of functions for better day-to-day use.
One area it has achieved this ease-of-use is with the search functionality. It is a key feature of this open source document repository. Both content and metadata is indexed for each document meaning it can be searched for with full-text or boolean seacrh queries. By combing multiple search criteria Kimios becomes a powerful document search engine.
Collaborative features include version control, customizable workflows, commenting alongside simple bookmarking, and check-in and check-out functions to make working together on documents an easy task.
Based on a fully Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Kimios is fully integrated with third parties through all applications (web client, Kimios Explorer and Kimios for Office) and this architecture offers strong interoperability that can be used through different APIs in dotNet, Java and open source dms php.
5. OpenKM Community Edition
Our final suggestion for the top open source document management systems worth considering for your business is OpenKM Community Edition. This is perfect, no-cost solution for small repositories and non-critical data.
Despite its free status OpenKM Community Edition is flexible across most working environments. It is available across a wide-range of operating systems (Windows Server, Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Red Hat, CentOS, Fedora and others) and databases (HSQL, H2 and MySQL).
This software gives developers the access they need with exposed API functionality for CMIS, SOAP and Rest.
The software’s general features allow for effective document management. These features include basic search, antivirus integration for stronger security, and the ability to extract text and convert documents into different file types. OCR functionality also allows users to convert images into text simply and effectively.
For less critical documentation, OpenKM Community Edition also offers all the simple tools you need.
Free Download OpenKM Community Edition>>
It is worth researching the full range of open source dms software available, but the above guide provides five that are worth considering, no matter the size of your business. Explore the options to select the best document management system open source software for your needs.
To compliment your open source documentation needs, PDFelement is here to help! It can help you edit, protect, and archive your PDF documents in order to streamline your company’s workflow and improve documentation. If you want to learn more, visit: Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor.
Shortcomings of Open Source File Management System
The list above outlines some of the best open source document management systems on the market. Some shortcomings of open source DMS that we wanted to note are:
- Fewer features – it is only logical that free software should come with fewer features than paid versions. While some of the open source DMS provide paid versions, they are still of poorer quality than the paid versions of regular open source document management tools.
- Lack of technical support – since these are open source tools, you usually have to ask the community if you have an issue with the software.
- These programs rarely meet the compliance standards of government agencies or business industries.
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Elise Williams
chief Editor
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