Document management software is becoming an integral part of a company’s day-to-day operations in order to keep up with the ever-increasing amount of documents being created. In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the 7 best document management software for small business, along with my top 3 choices, so that you can pick the best one.
The best document management software for small business are Alfresco, Box, LogicalDoc, SharePoint, eFileCabinet, DocuWare, and DropBox.
A document management software is a great way for small businesses to save time, money, and effort. These software’s are designed to keep track of all documents and files in one central location so that business staff can easily find what they need- when they need it.
When considering a document management system for your business, there are many features to consider and weigh. You should have the ability to search for documents, create new folders, delete old files, follow the latest trends, and organize in any way you want without limits. In addition, the solution should have strong security model, integration with other software to prevent information silos, high scalability, and so on.
There are many types of document management software, each with their own features and specialized fields. Some are more suited for personal use, while others are best for a small business or large enterprise.
I strongly recommend reading this guide for details about document management statistics.
Benefits of Document Management Systems
A document management system will most certainly minimize your reliance on paper documents, lowering physical storage and printing expenses. Furthermore, it allows employees to discover documents more quickly, and controlling the lifecycle of documents is simplified and managed.
Let’s take a look at some of the most significant advantages of implementing a document management software.
1- Less physical storage
One of the most important document management software benefits is the ability to digitize your documents thus decreasing the physical storage needed when dealing with paper documents.
Storing physical records necessitates a lot of storage space, maintenance, cabinets, and so on. All of these costs will be reduced to a fraction of what they were before the transition to a digital world.
According to a study, physical document storage took up nearly 15% of the overall office area. And, on average, office space in the United States costs $285 per square foot. At that amount, that’s a lot of money to spend on document storage alone.
In today’s digital world, digital document archiving is far less expensive and more convenient.
2- Reduce operational costs
Another great example of the top DMS benefits is the ability to reduce operational and storage costs.
Modern businesses are constantly looking for ways to decrease their operational costs and moving away from paper documents to digital and implementing a system will help achieve this goal.
A DMS, when correctly deployed, may help organizations never lose a document again, discover documents faster, protect documents, and share documents between departments and peers more quickly.
3- Improve security
Most organizations agree that one of the most important benefits they rely on is creating a strong security architecture to secure digital documents.
Document security is a major topic since missing information or having sensitive information exposed to the public may have a significant influence on a company’s overall success rate.
A variety of causes might cause paper documents to fall into the wrong hands, be misplaced, or even be destroyed. Digitized papers, on the other hand, will want specific and distinct handling in order to be properly kept and maintained.
A reputable solution would often have a plethora of capabilities to handle the whole lifespan of your documents’ security, from encryption to watermarking, to applying digital right management or restricting access to only authorized roles.
For more information, I strongly recommend reading this article
Let’s get started reviewing the best document management software for small business!
Comparison of Best Document Management Software For Small Business
| Best DMS | Free Trial | Price | Deployment | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfresco | Yes | Free | Cloud, On Premise | 4.5 |
| Box | Yes | $35 | Cloud | 4.5 |
| LogicalDoc | Yes | Free | Cloud, On Premise | 4.5 |
| SharePoint | Yes | $5 | Cloud, On Premise | 4.5 |
| eFileCabinet | No | N/A | Cloud, On Premise | 4 |
| DocuWare | No | N/A | Cloud, On Premise | 4 |
| DropBox | Yes | $9.99 | Cloud | 3.5 |
What is the Best Document Management Software For Small Business?
Here are my picks for the best file and document management software for small business to manage the complete document lifecycle.
- Alfresco
- Box
- LogicalDoc
- Microsoft SharePoint
- eFileCabinet
- DocuWare
- DropBox
1- Alfresco
Alfresco is one of the best document management software for small business. Its smart interface, content management, and powerful document management module have made it your go-to choice for maintaining your organization’s core documents and digital assets.
Alfresco is enterprise software that provides all the most important document management, case management, and document approval functionalities on a daily basis with its strong automated records management capabilities enabling your business to comply with rules and regulations.
Although it may be utilized in almost any industry, it has a track record of success with banking and insurance, healthcare, government, manufacturing, and content publishing companies.
Alfresco, founded in 2005, has over 1300 clients, 10 distinct global offices, and a customer satisfaction score of more than 90%.
PROS
- The license fee is significantly lower than other providers
- Document version control
- Document workflow
- Easy customization
- Fine-grained role and permission
- Community support
- Digital asset management
- Document imaging
CONS
- The user interface is not instinctive
- DMS and BPM have distinct licensing and user interfaces
- Documentation could be improved
- Restricting the deployment model to only Docker
Best for small to medium businesses
PRICING
Alfresco comes with a community edition that is completely free to download and a paid edition in which you need to contact them to get the quote.
2- Box
Box is a cloud-based document management software that helps businesses to store, manage and secure their files.
Users can upload documents and files to Box from their computer or mobile device. They can also share them with other users by sending an email invitation. Files are automatically synced across all devices and remain accessible even if the user is offline.
Box provides an easy way to access and share documents, files, and data across any device with an internet connection. With Box you can:
– Create folders and upload your files securely
– Share your documents and digital files with anyone
– Share a link to the folder so others can view it without downloading the content
– Download files to your devices for offline viewing
PROS
- Document search & retrieval
- File sync, storage & archiving
- Collaboration
- Cloud storage
- Document capture & imaging
- Document classification
- Automated workflows
- Mobile support
- Archiving
CONS
- Limited offline capability
PRICING
Box comes with 4 different plans
- Business: $15/user/month
- Business Plus: $25/user/month
- Enterprise: $35/user/month
- Enterprise Plus: Custom pricing
3- LogicalDoc
LogicalDoc is yet another excellent free and best document management software for small business. The GNU license is used to provide the community edition, which is absolutely free to download. The program provides a variety of functions and makes it simple to manage your documents and files.
It organizes personal or business documents, making it easier to locate prior versions. It allows for content-based searching by utilizing document content indexing. It is presently available in 15 languages.
It supports almost all internet browsers. However, the mobile and tablet application is not available for the community edition.
As you may know, my preferred option for open source document management systems is to have comprehensive documentation and videos, which LogicalDoc does.
It comes with 4 editions: community, business, cloud, and enterprise.
I strongly advise you to check it out.
4- SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint is one of the best document management software for small business. It offers a single web-based interface from which multiple servers and applications can be accessed. It provides comprehensive administrative and file management, document collaboration tools, and content management services.
SharePoint’s mission is to help companies unleash their creativity, maximize time, and streamline collaboration. Designed for maximum performance with the most creative work in mind, it helps professionals get more done faster.
Because of the widespread use of Microsoft products in companies, it has become the go-to product due to its ease of integration with Microsoft teams, Microsoft office apps, and other related products. However, in order to get the most out of this ECM software, some customizations must be made.
There are numerous Microsoft-certified partners who can assist you in fully customizing this program to better meet your business needs.
PROS:
- Productivity suite integration
- Third-party partner ecosystem
- Team groups (integration with MS Teams)
- Approval processes
- Clean and easy user interface
- Version control
- Document indexing
CONS:
- Need extra support
- More integration with non-Microsoft products
PRICING:
There are three plans: 5$ user/month, 10$ user/month, 23$ user/month
5- eFileCabinet
eFileCabinet is a document management system that helps you manage and control your documents. It supports the storage of different types of files, including PDF, Microsoft Office formats, images, videos and more. You can also use it to share documents with other people or groups within your organization.
It is a web-based application that offers a number of features that help you in managing your documents. You can create folders to organize different types of files and assign permissions to them. You can also upload multiple files from different locations at once and then synchronize them with all the other devices on which eFileCabinet is installed.
eFileCabinet is the best document management system for small business because it has a simple interface and is user-friendly. It also offers a free trial, so you can see for yourself how it works.
PROS:
- Great security features
- Device Syncing
- Zonal OCR
- SecureDrawer
- eSignature
- Version control
CONS:
- High pricing
Pricing:
Prices are not disclosed, however from the online community, we can say it is somehow pricy.
6- DocuWare
Docuware is a digital software used for managing documents, images, videos and other digital content. It also helps to make sure that the content is secure, searchable and accessible across devices.
It provides an easy way to manage documents in a company. It also has features such as document conversion, document sharing and online storage which allows users to store any type of digital content.
Docuware covers all the elements of a document management system as it offers many features that are important for any organization specifically tailored to small business needs.
PROS:
- Good OCR
- Easy to use web interface
- Great document processing
- Fast document retrieval
- Scalable
- Document digitization
CONS:
- No outlook integration
- No mobile accessibility
PRICING:
Price is not disclosed.
7- DropBox
Dropbox is a cloud-based file hosting service that allows users to create a folder on their personal computer or mobile device, then synchronize it with their account on the Dropbox website, and finally share it with other people.
Dropbox is one of the most popular document management software for small business, as it offers an easy way to save and access files across various devices. It enables users to access their data from any location, and has been designed for use with multiple operating systems.
This software enables you to share files with others and collaborate on projects in real time. You can also share a folder with others so that they can add and edit files without being given full access to the entire account, which makes it perfect for teams. Dropbox is available across all devices and operating systems, making it easier than ever to get your work done anywhere.
The service is free for the first 2 GB of storage space.
