You perfectly know that paperwork and administrative things can really steal your personal time or business activities. Not to mention that a document that can’t be found when you need it, can eat your nerves.
This is exactly where document management software solutions come to help. Even free systems are much better than no one. They help you to store documents in a way that makes it incredibly easy to find them later. Nothing gets lost, and you control better your time and activities.
Cloud-based, electronic, web-based, or for free download, they can do a lot for you.
On this page, you will see a list of top free document management software tools and their main features. Before that let’s see some additional info.
Table of Contents
What is a document management software (DMS)? Why do you need it?
It is a computer system and software that allows you to store, manage, edit and track electronic documents. It helps you control and organize documents for personal or business needs.
Document management systems come in many sizes with different features, from tools designed to archive individual or medium-size office documents to full-featured enterprise solutions.
A DMS should also improve and protect access to your personal or company’s information. Whether your company is a small or medium-size business or a large corporation, a DMS can cover the need of controlling the flow of information and can help you to improve your organizational skills.
Ler’s outline the benefits of document management software:
- Improves process efficiency
- Saves your time and money
- Provides fast access to your documents anywhere and anytime.
- No lost information.
- Protection of your files from an unauthorised access.
- Sharing of information among many people.
- Faster response to customer’s needs and more.
7 Best Free Document Management Software
Zoho Docs
Zoho Docs is one of the most popular online document management systems for storing, creating, sharing and collaborating.
The software is suitable for freelancers, small businesses, large enterprises, mid-sized businesses. They have premium plans and a completely free option. The free plan provides a comprehensive range of features and includes unlimited file and folder sharing, editing tools, user management, history, and more.
This software is accessible from any device with an internet connection. Devices Supported: Android, iPhone, iPad, Linux, Mac, iPhone-iPad, Windows, Web-based.
Zoho Docs allows you to store all your files, images, and music in one central location. You can share them effortlessly with friends or colleagues. You can start with 5 GB of free storage.
Moreover, you can create a Zoho docs file on your PC/Mac to access them very quickly.
Their Free Plan Includes:
- Always free for teams of up to 25 users.
- 5 GB of free storage.
- 1GB File upload limit.
- Admin Controls.
- Desctop Sync.
- Dropbox integration.
- Secure file collaboration.
- Mobile app.
- Email notification.
- In-app chat
Zoho Docs is not only one of the best free document management software but also one of the top free collaboration software over there. Give it a try and you will be very surprised.
Website: https://www.zoho.eu/
Bitrix 24
There is no way to talk about top free document management software and not to include this one.
This modern free system is available both on a cloud and on-premise.
In addition, you can easily move from the cloud to your own server any time you want.
You can work with your documents on Android and iOS-based devices as well.
Suitable for all: from personal and freelancer needs to large business corporations, Bitrix24 provides online and offline document storage, easy document sharing, document editing, social collaboration, and more.
Basic features for a free account:
- Unlimited free users
- Free cloud storage: 5 GB
- Desktop apps for Mac and PC
- API and open source code available
- Mobile document management
- Company/Group/Personal drives
- Version History
Your presentations, videos, documents, and any other files can be placed for download, collaboration, or private use. In no time, you can find any document quickly.
Website: https://www.bitrix24.com/
Scopidea
Actually, Scopidea is a free and simple project management software but it also is an online free document management system that allows people to create and edit their content.
It provides you with accurate information for the date of the document creation, editing dates, and modifier names during the upload process.
This program has fewer features than the 2 above systems but is a good choice for businesses looking for free ways to keep track of documents and store them all in one place.
Features of Scopidea:
- 1 GB storage
- No need to download your documents, you can preview them in your browser.
- File management tool that allows you to find documents in no time.
- Access to the same document at the same time by many users.
- Manage document changes and revisions through the version control function.
- Document security.
- You can set periods for documents, and for archival or removal processes.
As we mentioned above this is a simple project management software, so in addition to file management, the system provides other free business features and benefits. Some of them are: invoicing and estimating, event and meeting management, time tracking.
Also with your free account, you get e-mail support and video tutorials.
Website: https://www.scopidea.com
OnlyOffice
OnlyOffice is a comprehensive cloud-based office and productivity suite. This system provides the key elements of online document editors, document and project management tools, and CRM.
Actually, OnlyOffice is a very popular solution with millions of users all over the world and is one of the best platforms for project and document management. The system is translated into 21 languages.
OnlyOffice is an incredibly feature-rich office suite that provides all tools to organize your business: document management, online document editors, CRM, projects, calendar, a community with blogs, chat, forums, and much more.
It has a Community Edition Cloud Version that is completely free and premium editions.
The Free Community Edition Cloud Version includes:
- Open source license
- Full-featured web office
- Document Management
- Online Document Editors
- Desktop and Mobile Document Editors
- Projects
- CRM
- Calendar
- Community
- Available on Linux
- Recommended number of users: up to 20.
If you are searching not only for free document management software but for a complete business office system, then OnlyOffice is worth considering. Definitely!
Website: https://www.onlyoffice.com
Filestack
Filestack is an interesting and different software solution that allows you to manage file uploads on a variety of internet platforms. You can upload heavy files within seconds.
What can you do with this software?
As Filestack integrates with the top cloud drives, you can upload your file from any platform to edit it and export it to the required location. You can programmatically manipulate files to deliver content fast and easily.
Filestack offers a powerful RESTful Transformation Solution for manipulating images and office documents on the -fly. You can add image filters, borders, effects, etc.
In addition to that, there are filters that can give your images a professional look. They offer audio and video transcoding too. Filestack works with all types of files including documents, images, audio, video, PDFs, PowerPoints, and more.
Also, they provide great storage solutions, so your data is secure and accessible all the time.
Their Free Plan includes:
- 250 file uploads
- 500 File Transformations
- 3 GB Viewing Bandwidth
- 50 MB File Upload Size
- 20+ Cloud Integrations
- Upload Any File Type
- Responsive Images
- Document Conversions
- Integrated CDN and more.
Despite the fact, Filestack is a different type of document management software than the one listed above, its powerful features and benefits are worth mentioning.
Website: https://www.filestack.com/
FossLook
FossLook is more than a free document management software. It is a documents workflow and collaboration platform available for on-premise deployment.
It is a business automation platform that gives you full visibility and control over your workflow. The most valuable features of FossLook are electronic document management and collaboration on different types of projects, tasks, and other business-related documents.
The platform is a free software choice for both small businesses and large enterprises.
Also, FossLook provides a web interface so if your computer does not have the FossLook client installed, you can still use the program on your browser.
They have 3 license types: free, limited and commercial. The free version is a freely distributable version with no restrictions on functionality and time of use.
The free version features and benefits:
- Number of clients: up to 5
- Unlimited time of use
- Basic support
- Software updates
- Protected data storage
- Simple business process modelling strategy
- Integrated Mail Server.
- e-Signature Support.
- Combination of an email client and document management system
- MS Office Integration
- Document history and statistics and more.
If you need a free business automation solution with powerful email client and document management system, take a look at this software. You might be delighted by its features.
Krystal DMS
Krystal DMS is a simple and features rich web-based document management software. It is a powerful way to find documents anywhere and anytime.
It is multi-user, browser-based system with an integrated workflow solution that enables businesses to store, manage and distribute documents using any device.
The software has many editions: Enterprise, Premium, Xpress, Standart and Community Edition. All paid versions are very affordable.
Its Community Edition is a free and open source solution that that provides business and individuals with various document management features.
Features and benefits of the Free Edition:
- Comes with an Open Source database.
- Helps you to store and retrieve documents with ease.
- You can store up to 512 MB of digital documents.
KRYSTAL DMS is a solution that allows you to go paperless, automate document-driven processes, and manage digital content.
Website: http://www.krystaldms.in/
Conclusion
Before choosing any paid or free document management software decide your goals and needs! This will decrease the risk of choosing a not unsuitable solution.
Do you just want a simple document management system or do you want additional features such as collaboration, workflow, web office features?
Take your time to define a few basics! All of the DMS aims to save your time and efforts. However, which one will cover your crucial needs depends on your choice.