Open source document management: choose your DMS and electronic signature with good reason
Invoices, contracts and correspondence are spread across folders, mailboxes and paper, and signatures run through a US service or the printer? We capture which documents you file, search and sign, and how. During the selection you try the candidates for archive and signing in your own demo instances; we compare them with your processes and deliver a reasoned decision. Afterwards we roll out the solution and, if you wish, operate it in Germany.
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The following are trademarks of their respective owners: Paperless-ngx (the Paperless-ngx project), Documenso (Documenso, Inc.), DocuSeal (DocuSeal, Inc.). WZ-IT is an independent service provider and has no business, partnership, or contractual relationship with these companies. We offer independent migration, installation, hosting, and operations services.
Starting point
You want to organise documents and sign digitally, but do not know with what yet
- Receipts, contracts and correspondence sit in network drives, mailboxes and paper folders and are hard to find
- For electronic signatures you use a US service or still print and scan
- The open-source systems differ widely, from a lean archive with text recognition to a system with workflows and metadata
- Retention obligations and the German GoBD raise questions that should be settled before choosing a tool
A decision paper instead of a feature list
The result is a reasoned decision for archive and signing that business units, accounting and IT support together. The paper is yours and remains usable without a follow-up order.
Weighted decision matrix
Your criteria weighted by importance: capture and text recognition, search, metadata, permissions, retention, signing workflow, interfaces and operations.
Licence and cost picture
Licences from vendor information, features only paid editions include, such as SAML SSO in DocuSeal or Documenso's enterprise features, operating model and running costs.
Filing concept and migration path
Which document types and metadata apply, how existing documents move over from network drive, mailbox or a previous system, and which combination we recommend and why.
Vendor-neutral among self-hostable software: if a commercial document management system or a SaaS signing service clearly fits better, the recommendation says so. WZ-IT offers rollout and operations; the decision stays with you.
Four steps to a decision on DMS and signing
The selection runs remotely; on-site sessions are possible plus travel costs. Your existing systems stay unchanged.
- 01
Capture documents and processes
Which documents arrive, how they are filed, searched, approved and signed, and which retention periods and permissions apply.
- 02
Weight the criteria
Agree with business units, accounting and IT what matters: capture, search, metadata, permissions, retention, signing and operations.
- 03
Try the candidates
You receive demo instances of Paperless-ngx with its AI features, Mayan EDMS, Documenso, DocuSeal and OpenSign with sample documents. In parallel we check editions, licences, maintenance status, sign-in, interfaces and operating model.
- 04
Demonstrate the finalists
We also show the finalists with your own sample documents, collect feedback and hand over the decision paper.
What we need for the selection
- Contacts from business units, accounting and IT
- Overview of current filing, scanners and signing tools
- Document types with approximate volume and the applicable retention periods
- A few test users who try the demo instances
- A few anonymised sample documents for the finalist demonstration
What the document management selection covers
The selection looks at two areas: the document archive with capture and search, and electronic signing. Depending on your situation we assess both or only one. All candidates are available to you as demo instances during the selection.
Current state and criteria
Document types, volumes, processes, permissions and retention periods; criteria weighted together with business units, accounting and IT.
Demo instances of the candidates
Archive: Paperless-ngx with its AI features and Mayan EDMS. Signing: Documenso, DocuSeal and OpenSign. Provided by WZ-IT with sample documents, to try for the duration of the selection. Docspell, Papermerge and Paperless-AI as an add-on to Paperless-ngx are assessed in the matrix.
Licence review
Editions and costs from vendor information, features of the paid editions, obligations from the open-source licences and the projects' maintenance status.
Filing and retention concept
Document types, metadata, permissions, retention periods, logging and export as the technical basis for your process documentation.
Migration path
Transfer from network drive, mailbox, scanner folder or a previous document management system.
Finalist demonstration
In addition, the finalists with your own sample documents before you decide.
Boundary
The selection decides, the rollout implements
- Setting up the target systems, migration and training (part of the rollout)
- Tax and legal advice, for example on the GoBD or the signature level a document requires
- Buying licences or subscriptions such as DocuSeal Pro; you buy these directly from the vendor
- File sharing and co-editing documents: the collaboration selection covers those
Price
Selection with a defined scope, rollout after the decision
Scope and price of the selection are fixed before you order. We only know the scope of the rollout after the current-state review, so you receive the proposal for it together with the decision paper.
Document management selection
from €3,900
excl. VAT, one-time
Credited against the rollout if you order it within 6 months on the same topic.
For organisations before deciding on a document archive, electronic signing or both.
- Current-state review and weighted criteria
- Demo instances of the candidates for archive and signing
- Licence and operating limits of the candidates
- Demonstration of the finalists with your documents
- Decision paper with recommendation
Outcome: Decision paper with weighted matrix, licence costs from vendor information, filing concept, migration path, operating model and recommendation per area.
Document management rollout
On proposal
Proposal with the decision paper
Roll out archive and signing with sign-in, pilot, transfer of existing documents and training, then move them into operations.
Building blocks
- Filing structure, document types, metadata and permissions
- Pilot area with single sign-on
- Connection of scanner, mailbox and signing workflow
- Transfer of existing documents
- In-house training for key users and admins
- Transition to managed operations
Outcome: Running solution with acceptance, transferred documents and defined operations.
Remote is the default; on-site sessions are charged with travel costs. You buy licences and subscriptions for paid editions directly from the vendor. The decision paper is yours and remains usable without a follow-up order.
All prices are net and exclude statutory VAT. The offers are addressed to businesses.
Rollout and operations from one provider
After the decision we roll out archive and signing and, if you wish, operate them in German data centres or on your infrastructure. If invoices and delivery notes should also be read automatically, AI document processing can be added.
Managed Open Source
Updates, backups with restore tests and monitoring for archive and signing.
View operationsPilot from €17,900 excl. VATAI document processing
Read and check invoices, delivery notes and order confirmations automatically, self-hosted.
View document processingfrom €3,900 excl. VATCollaboration selection
Choose file sharing, office, chat and video as a Microsoft 365 alternative with demo instances.
View collaboration selectionFrequently asked questions about choosing a DMS and e-signing
Costs, demo instances, system choice, GoBD, signature levels and operations
The document management selection costs from €3,900 excl. VAT. It covers the current-state review, weighted criteria, demo instances of the candidates for archive and signing, the review of licence and operating limits and the finalist demonstration. You receive the proposal for the rollout with the decision paper. The selection price is credited if you order the rollout within 6 months on the same topic.
Yes. During the selection WZ-IT provides demo instances with sample documents: Paperless-ngx with its AI features and Mayan EDMS for the archive, Documenso, DocuSeal and OpenSign for signing. Your staff try the systems themselves without committing first; the demo instances are available for the duration of the selection. We also demonstrate the finalists with your own sample documents. Because of their maintenance status, Docspell and Papermerge are assessed in the matrix only.
That mainly depends on how much structure you need. Paperless-ngx is an archive with text recognition, automatic matching and, since version 3.0, built-in AI features that are switched off by default (Paperless-ngx, release 3.0.0); Paperless-AI can add AI-based classification and semantic search. Mayan EDMS brings metadata, versions and workflows and fits when documents go through approval steps. Docspell and Papermerge cover similar tasks, but their latest releases date from March and August 2025, and Papermerge is looking for new maintainers according to its project page (Papermerge). The selection weights these differences against your requirements.
No software is GoBD-compliant on its own. The GoBD (the German tax authority's rules for electronic records) state that updates, permissions, configuration and data completeness also determine compliance, and that third-party certificates or attestations do not bind the tax authority (GoBD margin numbers 179 to 181, last amended by the Federal Ministry of Finance letter of 14 July 2025, German). The selection checks the candidates' technical features such as logging, versioning, retention and export. Whether your process meets the GoBD is a question for your tax adviser or auditor.
With self-hosted signing software such as Documenso, DocuSeal or OpenSign, documents and signature data stay on your servers. The signature level a document needs is set by law, not by the software: under the eIDAS Regulation, a qualified electronic signature requires a qualified certificate from a qualified trust service provider (eIDAS Regulation, Art. 3). Since version 2.13.0, Documenso connects trust service providers for advanced and qualified signatures (Documenso, release 2.13.0). The selection checks what each candidate supports technically. Documenso vs. DocuSeal compares two of the candidates directly.
The candidates' licences allow use without licence fees, including operation by a service provider. Costs arise for servers, backups, updates and support. Some features are only available in paid editions: DocuSeal, for example, offers SAML SSO, trusted signing certificates and API access only in the Pro edition (DocuSeal, pricing), and Documenso's enterprise features are under a commercial licence (Documenso, enterprise licence). The decision paper sets these costs against your current situation.
Paperless-ngx and the other candidates run on a Linux server or in containers. We operate them in German data centres, on your infrastructure or on a local server on your premises. Which model fits depends on document volume, protection requirements and scanner integration, and is set out in the decision paper.
Vendor-neutral among self-hostable software: you buy licences and subscriptions directly from the vendor, not through us. If a commercial document management system or a SaaS signing service clearly fits better, the recommendation says so. WZ-IT offers rollout and operations, but the decision paper remains usable without a follow-up order.
Yes. We operate all candidates as Managed Open Source from from €129.90 excl. VAT / workload and month per application in German data centres, on your infrastructure or on a local server, with updates, backups and monitoring.
Request the DMS selection
Which documents do you want to organise or sign?
Briefly name document types, approximate volume, current filing and the reason. We confirm the scope of the selection before you order.
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Stadtwerke Brühl - municipal energy and infrastructure utility.
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ml&s - full-service provider for the electronics industry.
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Aphy AG - AI platform for hotel back-office.
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SweetConnect - cross-manufacturer Industry 4.0 platform for confectionery production.
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