OSI-licensed open source
Document workflow management combines document storage with routing, approvals and process automation. In open source this usually means pairing a document management system (DMS) with a workflow or BPM engine, or using a DMS with built-in workflows.
This guide lists document-centred systems (Mayan EDMS, Paperless-ngx, Alfresco Community, Teedy, Docspell, Papermerge) and two process engines (Flowable, Bonita) for custom approval flows. Licences were verified; Mayan EDMS's licence was confirmed on PyPI because its GitLab page was not readable.
Tools, licences and pricing checked against vendor and repository pages on November 7, 2026.
| Tool | Best for | Pricing | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayan EDMS | Workflow-capable DMS | Free, open source (self-hosted); paid support and extras - see vendor | GPL-2.0-only |
| Paperless-ngx | Personal and small-team scanning | Free, open source (self-hosted) | GPL-3.0 |
| Alfresco Community Edition | Enterprise-style content services | Free, open source (self-hosted) | LGPL-3.0 |
| Flowable | Custom approval workflows and BPMN | Free, open source | Apache-2.0 |
| Teedy | Lightweight DMS | Free, open source (self-hosted) | GPL-2.0-only |
| Docspell | Auto-sorting inbound documents | Free, open source (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 |
| Papermerge | Scanned document archives | Free, open source (self-hosted) | Apache-2.0 |
| Bonita | Process applications | Free community edition; paid editions - see vendor pricing | LGPL-2.1 |
Best for: Workflow-capable DMS · Free, open source (self-hosted); paid support and extras - see vendor
Mayan EDMS describes itself as an advanced enterprise free open-source document management system; its project tags include workflow and business process management.
Best for: Personal and small-team scanning · Free, open source (self-hosted)
Paperless-ngx is a community-supported document management system for scanning, indexing and archiving documents.
Best for: Enterprise-style content services · Free, open source (self-hosted)
Alfresco Community Edition is the community content service repository behind Alfresco's content platform.
Best for: Custom approval workflows and BPMN · Free, open source
Flowable is a compact and highly efficient workflow and BPM platform for developers, administrators and business users.
Best for: Lightweight DMS · Free, open source (self-hosted)
Teedy is a lightweight document management system with many features of larger solutions.
Best for: Auto-sorting inbound documents · Free, open source (self-hosted)
Docspell organises piles of documents from scanners and email with minimal effort.
Best for: Scanned document archives · Free, open source (self-hosted)
Papermerge is an Apache-2.0 document management system for scanned documents, with OCR, full-text search, tags and folders.
Best for: Process applications · Free community edition; paid editions - see vendor pricing
Bonita's engine deploys, executes and manages process-based applications built with Bonita Studio or the Engine APIs.
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| If you need… | Start with |
|---|---|
| DMS with built-in workflows | Mayan EDMS, Alfresco Community |
| Custom BPMN approvals | Flowable, Bonita |
| Scan-to-archive | Paperless-ngx, Papermerge, Teedy |
| Auto-sort email and scans | Docspell |
Quick answers to common questions
Routing, approving and tracking documents through defined steps.
Only if the DMS's built-in features cannot model your approvals.
No, because it is not OSI open source in current versions.
Yes. All eight are self-hostable, so documents can stay inside your own infrastructure.
List it on TechLogHub and we'll review it for this guide.
