DocuWare vs SeedDMS

DocuWare captures business information, automates document workflows, and keeps documents in centralized archives. It can capture material from scanners, email, Microsoft Teams, file imports, print streams, and other sources, with indexing and barcode recognition. Users can build workflows with drag-and-drop tools, automate recurring tasks and approvals, set deadlines, and follow progress in a dashboard. Search covers document content and indexed metadata, while versioning tracks document histories. DocuWare is offered as cloud SaaS, on-premises, or hybrid deployment. The maker says cloud and on-premises share a code base and feature parity; cloud subscriptions include complete functionality, with pricing based on users and storage. Integrations include 500 applications, with iPaaS connectors to more than 1,000 cloud applications and a REST-based platform service. Cloud documents use AES-256 encryption, traffic uses HTTPS with TLS, and data is triply mirrored, including a second copy elsewhere in the same region. Pricing is listed from $30/user/mo, and a free trial is available. Some on-premises capabilities may require additional licenses.

SeedDMS is a free, open-source document management system with a web interface for small and medium-sized enterprises. It can handle uses from private document storage to enterprise workflow management, including invoices, documentation, learning materials, email, and photos. Document features include version storage, user and group management, access control lists, full-text search, and WebDAV. Workflows support document review, approval, and revision; version 6.0.x also adds role-based restrictions on operations. SeedDMS is based on PHP and supports MySQL, SQLite3, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB. It can be self-hosted on public or private servers, and Docker images are available. Listed extensions include Collabora Office, ONLYOFFICE, Tesseract OCR, Tika, Etherpad, HedgeDoc, and Paperless-ngx. The feature list also includes a REST API and Prometheus metrics. Extensions offer virus scanning and passkey authentication, though no security certification or compliance standard is stated. The download page lists 6.0.x and 5.1.x branches and recommends 6.0.x for new installations. SeedDMS costs nothing.