10 Best Document Management Software & Solutions for India [2024]
Data laws in India are now very strict.
If your business violates the new Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) because you lack a proper file management strategy, you’ll pay huge fines of up to Rs 250 crore.
With poor document management, you incur penalties that increase your business’s risk of bankruptcy.
At the very least, these fines limit your revenue and growth
Interestingly, PWC has recently established that 91% of businesses in India are struggling with compliance with the DPDP Act. As a result, they face hefty fines and deregistration by the government.
Therefore, you need to leverage the best document management software in India to protect consumer data better.
With these tools, you can easily observe data collection and retention requirements.
In this guide, I’ll take you through the best document management software and solutions for businesses in India in 2024 that will help you achieve compliance and raise productivity.
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Quick summary:
1. FileCenter – Best for businesses running on Windows.
2. Egnyte – Best for securing sensitive documents.
3. Square 9 – Best for ensuring tax compliance.
4. NetDocuments – Best for managing legal documents.
5. DynaFile – Best for employee document management.
Let’s get started.
How to Choose a Document Management Software for India
a) Consider supported devices
When selecting a document management software, device compatibility is key. This will allow you to manage your documents across all your devices.
More specifically, I recommend a tool that lets you scan documents on your Android or iOS phone so that you won’t need additional digitization technologies.
b) Examine version control
If you’re working on documents with your team, version control can create audit trails about various document actions and boost collaboration.
Moreover, you’ll enjoy efficient document control and management. This makes it a key factor for choosing a document management software for your business in India.
c) Prioritize ease of learning
If you want to hit the ground running, prioritize a solution that’s easy to learn and install so that you can lower your business’s downtime.
So when choosing a document management software, I recommend one with an elaborate knowledge base that will ease implementation.
d) Examine database reliance
You should determine database reliance, which is a top tip for choosing the best document management software in terms of ease of use.
For example, tools with document storage in the cloud can get around expensive databases that often fail to support some of your programs.
e) Pay attention to cost-effectiveness
What’s your budget for a document management software? Your answer will guide you toward a solution that you can maintain without straining.
As far as choosing file management software goes, I recommend a monthly payment plan if your business is financially stable and a one-time fee otherwise.
1. FileCenter
FileCenter simplifies document management.
Its electronic filing system overlays your native Windows folders, thereby allowing you to manage documents via a simple file explorer that you can quickly master.
Additionally, you can edit documents in their original formats with FileCenter’s PDF editor, so that you don’t have to print, scan, and convert them first.
The Microsoft Office 365 integration plugin makes it the best document management software if you desire a solution that can accelerate your productivity with your Office suite.
What’s more, FileCenter can enhance regulatory compliance for your business in India, thanks to complete audit trails and automatic log-offs. So you can easily manage data as per the Digital Data Protection Act of 2023 & international policies like the GDPR.
Best features:
- It has electronic filing cabinets that replace your physical filing cabinets with digital filing structures to lower your document storage costs.
- FileCenter offers cloud access with DropBox, Google Drive and OneDrive, which enables you to remotely access files and collaborate with distributed teams.
- With features like PDF editing, you can use FileCenter to splice and annotate PDF files in the same place without purchasing additional software.
Pricing:
- 14-day free trial.
- Starting plan: $5/user per month.
Verdict:
FileCenter is a Windows-specific solution so you cannot use it on different operating systems. However, it offers you the lowest entry price point in this list, which justifies a transition. Additionally, most businesses in India already rely on Windows.
2. Egnyte
Egnyte enables intelligent content management.
Its multi-source governance feature allows you to manage documents stored on your local computers and your email-based repositories. As a result, you can unify data across your systems and make file retrieval time-efficient.
With Egnyte, you also get automatic document version numbering, which helps you to ensure that your team is always working with the latest information.
In fact, I’ve included it in this review of the best document management software for India in 2024 due to its military-grade encryption. This enables you to protect your business’s data from advanced ransomware attacks, which are rampant today.
Just like FileCenter, Egnyte offers cloud file management to lower your IT burden by minimizing your business’s need for on-premise hardware such as local servers.
Best features:
- Egnyte’s e-signature feature allows you to create legally binding documents from any device, consequently increasing the efficiency of contract management.
- It has an AI-driven assistant that you can query using natural language and get instant answers about files. This saves you time when searching for information.
- With the PDF annotator, you can edit and track file changes, thereby eliminating unnecessary back-and-forth communication & delays among your teams.
Pricing:
- 15-day free trial.
- Starting plan: $10/user per month.
Verdict:
Crucially, some Egnyte features are web-based, which makes it the best document management software if you’re working with low-specification, end-user devices. However, you’ll endure poor performance with unstable internet connections.
3. Square 9
Square 9 makes your business resource-efficient.
It is built with a smart global search feature, which helps you to locate data instantly while putting minimal resource constraints on your local servers.
Essentially, Square 9 can help you collect, digitize, and sort tax documents to enhance your business’s compliance with India’s Central Board of Revenue Act.
Furthermore, you also get an expense tracking organizer that improves the accuracy of your financial records so that you can control your cash flow better.
With Square 9’s advanced security, your business can easily achieve SOC 1 and 2 financial compliance certifications to make your brand more reputable and competitive.
Due to its AI-assisted data extraction, I rank Square 9 among the best document management software if you’re keen to tap into business process automation to increase your productivity.
Best features:
- Square 9 offers automated web forms through which you can collect information online. Consequently, you’ll eliminate repetitive form-creation processes.
- It offers automatic document routing and classification, so you can expedite file organization while reducing human error to improve data accuracy.
- You also get digital tax records storage and processing that hastens financial information retrieval. Now, you can prepare financial statements faster.
Pricing:
- No free trial.
- Contact Square 9 for pricing.
Verdict:
Square 9 offers industry-specific solutions that match your specific needs for tax document management. However, if you don’t have an accounting background, these features can be complex to master.
4. NetDocuments
NetDocuments is a legal document management system.
To help you keep your clients informed, it offers client services that allow you to share files and updates about case mentions and court dates with various parties during lengthy legal processes.
With NetDocuments’ automatic file scanning and indexing, you can even quickly perform due diligence and prepare for your cases more efficiently.
In light of its ability to help you create reusable document templates for court forms, I find that this is the best document management software if you want to minimize your iterative tasks for legal case handling in India.
NetDocuments also doubles up as an Outlook email management software, just like FileCenter. Therefore, you can merge jumbles of files in different email platforms to improve data visibility and eliminate data redundancies.
Best features:
- You get 150 integrations that cover both mobile devices and desktop platforms. As a result, you can simplify integration in complex workflows.
- Its digital signature integration feature with DocuSign allows you to collect signatures remotely and make your file management processes time-efficient.
- With the Microsoft Power Automate connector, you can integrate over 300 applications to eliminate administrative tasks and enhance your productivity.
Pricing:
- No free trial.
- Contact NetDocuments for pricing.
Verdict:
Crucially, I’ve noticed that NetDocuments partners with a third-party tool to provide e-signature features, so you don’t have to scan and print contracts. However, this add-on significantly raises your upfront costs.
5. DynaFile
DynaFile delivers excellent data reliability.
You can back up documents for your business across multiple server locations across India to realize better service uptime, and even provide role-based access to this information so that you can protect your data from insider threats.
Better yet, DynaFile’s electronic onboarding functions allow you to increase the quality of your hires and reduce your time-to-hire.
Courtesy of its HRIS integrator, I rank DynaFile among the best document management software for helping you to create various HR reports quickly without having to transport data back-and-forth across different systems.
Just like Filecenter, DynaFile is a top HR document management software that offers a drag-and-drop cloud drive. You can use it to make your business paperless and improve the efficiency of your filing processes.
Best features:
- It has barcode recognition that you can use to automate document scanning so that you can easily handle batch file processing with limited personnel.
- DynaFile provides custom integration connectors, which sync files across your existing systems so that you can automatically publish documents to its system.
- With its e-signature features, you can electronically sign documents. As a result, you can go paperless and improve internal approval processes.
Pricing:
- No free trial.
- Contact DynaFile for pricing.
Verdict:
Overall, I find that DynaFile’s HR-specific features can help you transform your employee document management processes. However, it lacks key features such as PDF editing so it’s not a holistic solution for your business.
6. PandaDoc
PandaDoc enhances agreement management.
It offers you custom templates for creating common business agreements for your business in India, including contracts, leases, and partnership agreements. So you can now use these templates to improve your close rates for business deals.
On top of that, you can use PandaDoc’s customizable quotation features to draft professional quotes quickly and earn more work and sales.
It also arms you with advanced document analytics, which summarizes file view times and the links clicked. Using this data, you will create more engaging reports.
With PandaDoc, you can improve customer information management through its native Salesforce integrations to generate more quality leads. Therefore, I find that PandaDoc is the best document management software if you’d like to increase your sales.
Best features:
- It offers a no-code, drag-and-drop editor so that you can set up and get started in minutes without having to sit through lengthy training sessions.
- You get access to over 1000 business agreement templates that fit all your business’s needs and ultimately reduce your document drafting time.
- PandaDoc allows you to automatically draft price quotes using data in your catalog. Ultimately, this ensures high-quality buying experiences for your clients.
Pricing:
- 14-day free trial.
- Starting plan: $19/user per month.
Verdict:
PandaDocs has many business templates that you can use to manage documents for various business processes. However, you’ll need to extensively customize some of these templates and this can be time-consuming.
7. FileHold
With FileHold, you can find documents faster.
It organizes your documents according to unique metadata. Then, you can use its advanced search function to quickly narrow down your searches.
Additionally, FileHold lets you create document links that show relationships between files and folders, empowering you to logically group data.
Via the courier feature, which works like FileCenter’s file-sharing portal, you get a proof-of-delivery system that you can use to pinpoint document delivery errors and solve client disputes.
If you’re running low on data storage space, this is the best document management software for your business as its virtual repositories enable you to expand your hard drive space.
Best features:
- You get a document activity software calendar that summarizes your daily tasks and reminds you of pending tasks so that you can meet your deadlines.
- It also provides you with a mobile portal that allows you to work on documents out of the office even when you are not connected to FileHold’s server.
- FileHold is built with user audit tracking and logging. Besides helping you ensure audit compliance, these features allow you to protect intellectual property.
Pricing:
- 14-day free trial.
- Contact FileHold for pricing.
Verdict:
While FileHold offers you a generous free trial window, you’ll notice that many of its critical features will remain locked during this period. As a result, you can’t extensively explore its capabilities to make an informed purchase decision.
8. Box
Box is a remote document collaboration system.
Via the content cloud co-edit feature, you can create a remote environment where your teams seamlessly contribute to the same content. So you can draft high-quality reports by accommodating diverse perspectives and ideas.
In addition, you can use the Box Canvas feature for virtual whiteboarding to ensure better idea clarity when you’re working on documents with your team.
Furthermore, you can use Box as an office automation solution via its relay feature to elevate your productivity.
Finally, its Box Notes feature enables you to take notes and organize reviews about your projects. For this reason, I’m certain it’s the best document management software if you’re keen to improve your project planning processes.
Best features:
- Box has a canvas where you can co-edit documents with other content collaborators and concurrently tap into multiple expertise of team members.
- You can use Box AI to quickly scan through lengthy documents and derive key insights that you need to make critical decisions for your business.
- It offers native e-signature functions that allow you to remotely and efficiently handle document approvals for overseas customers and team members.
Pricing:
- 14-day free trial.
- Staring plan: $17.30/user per month.
Verdict:
Box offers many collaborative features that enable your team to work more efficiently. However, if you oversee a small team, the minimum user requirements may result in you paying for surplus licenses that you don’t need.
9.DocuPhase
DocuPhase automates financial document management.
You can leverage it to automatically filter and sort invoices from all your digital channels, and route them to the right team members for review. This reduces the amount of time you spend manually routing each document.
Moreover, you can automate your accounts payable and accounts receivable processes to lower data entry errors for more accurate cash flow projections.
Through its patch code separator, you can use Docuphase to capture and effortlessly organize documents from various office equipment. This makes it the best document management software to help you achieve holistic file digitization.
Just like FileCenter, you can execute bulk OCR scanning with DocuPhase. Therefore, you don’t have to perform strenuous and manual data entry in the first place.
Best features:
- It has intelligent auto-indexing that allows you to automate document classification so that you don’t have to spend time manually sorting files.
- You can use DocuPhase’s ERP integrations to create a single source of truth across your business without having to perform manual data migration.
- With its cloud-hosted platform, you’ll use fewer on-premise hardware to achieve a simple and cost-efficient IT infrastructure for your business.
Pricing:
- No free trial.
- Contact DocuPhase for pricing.
Verdict:
DocuPhase offers a simple user interface that you can quickly master and put to work. However, I find that customer support is unreliable and its knowledge base is not very elaborate as it covers just a few of its features.
10. LogicalDOC
LogicalDOC offers enterprise document management.
It is powered by zonal OCR technology, which allows you to automate data extraction with higher accuracy, specificity, and speed compared to traditional OCR software.
Overall, you can use LogaicalDOC’s advanced data manipulation controls to simplify the analysis of complex data and speed up business intelligence.
Even more impressively, LogicalDOC offers you a multilingual user interface that accommodates 17 languages, making it the best document management software if you’d like to create a diverse workflow that accommodates all your staff.
Moreover, you can use it to create searchable PDF files and split documents, making it easy to retrieve information from large batches of files and redact sensitive data to protect intellectual property.
Best features:
- LogicalDOC offers you file type conversion, which allows you to convert documents into formats that are compatible with your business’s programs.
- It provides data compliance tracking so that you can monitor changing data laws and policies and keep your document management ahead of regulatory shifts.
- With the document assembly feature, you can quickly create documents from text and data fragments. This helps you reduce your file drafting times.
Pricing:
- 30-day free trial.
- Contact LogicalDOC for pricing.
Verdict:
If you run an enterprise in India, you can unlock high-quality content intelligence with LogicalDOC that gives you a competitive business advantage. However, I find that it may not be ideal if you’re a small business as it’s expensive to maintain.
Conclusion
Paper-based workflows are unsustainable.
With manual file storage, you may rely on bulky file cabinets to store your records and you’ll need to rent additional floor space.
So paper-driven processes increase your cost of business and therefore reduce your profit margins.
In fact, Statista has established that businesses pay Rs. 111 per square foot per month for office space in Mumbai. This cost only multiplies as your business grows.
However, you can leverage the best document management software in India to digitize your files.
Overall, I recommend FileCenter for its completeness as it merges many top features like PDF editing and OCR scanning into one software.
Click here to start your free FileCenter trial and take your business to the next level by turbocharging your profits.
With FileCenter, you can create a paperless workflow to save at least $7,500 per employee annually, which you can reinvest in your business.