# OpenKM — Document Management (DMS)

OpenKM by OpenKM holds a panel rating of 2/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2.5/5), as of 2026-11-04. Provenance: provenance unknown; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: OpenKM (https://www.openkm.com)
- Category: [Document Management (DMS)](https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): provenance unknown
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/openkm
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/openkm/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/openkm/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-11-04 · evaluated 2026-11-04 · oldest source captured 2026-11-03

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: OpenKM
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026

## The panel's verdict

OpenKM, a document management system whose captured pages carry a Palma de Mallorca address, is strongest on document workflows, scored 4-6 on a native OKMFlow engine documenting review, approval and validation steps, serial and parallel routing, task assignment to users or groups, monitoring, and per-node execution logs with graph views. Capture and indexing follows at 4-5, on OCR plugins that extract date, number, text and barcode values by pattern, a Windows scanner utility, and an Invoice Capture application that catalogs PDF invoices automatically. The weak end is compliance: audit-proof archiving scores 0-2 and versioning and permissions 2-3, because the captured permissions pages document administration access levels only and the archiving pages describe developer utilities for ZIP and JAR files. The judges split on that silence — some marked audit-proof archiving not rated for lack of public information while others scored the same pages 1 and 2. Sovereignty sits at 4 on a Spanish entity and self-hosting; search and portability scores 2-3, and the only public price is the free Community Edition.

**Speaks for it:**
- Document workflows scored 4-6, the strongest-scoring category, on a native OKMFlow engine with review, approval and validation workflows, serial and parallel routing, and per-node execution logs with graph views
- Capture and indexing scored 4-5, with OCR plugins that extract date, number, text and barcode values from OCR text by pattern, plus a Windows scanner utility and an Invoice Capture application that catalogs PDF invoices automatically
- Sovereignty scores sit at 4, on a published Spanish legal entity at c/ Bunyola 13, 07004 Palma de Mallorca and vendor pages stating the system runs on your own servers
- The Community Edition is described as free, with source code at GitHub for versions prior to 7.0

**Held against it:**
- Audit-proof archiving scored 0-2; the captured archiving pages document developer utilities for ZIP and JAR files, and we found no public information on retention periods or immutability of archived documents
- Versioning and permissions scored 2-3; the captured permissions pages cover administration access levels only, and we found no public information on version history or a log of who read or changed a document
- Search and portability scored 2-3; search is documented as one phrase on the vendor's own pages and the only export documentation captured is developer utilities that package directories into ZIP and JAR archives
- The connectors named on the captured pages are a Bonita connector and a Joomla explorer, and we found no public information on DATEV, ERP or Microsoft 365 integration
- The captured pages give two different company names for the licensing entity, and we found no public information on cloud data residency, subprocessors or a data processing agreement

**Best for:**
- You need approval and review workflows with task assignment, monitoring and execution logs, running on your own servers
- Your intake is mostly scanned paper and PDF invoices processed with pattern-based OCR extraction
- You want a free Community Edition to evaluate before committing to a paid deployment
- You want a Spanish legal entity as contracting party with a self-hosted option

**Avoid if:**
- You need audit-proof, retention-based archiving; audit-proof archiving scored 0-2 and the captured archiving documentation covers only ZIP and JAR file utilities
- You must show version history, check-in and check-out, or who opened and changed each document; versioning and permissions scored 2-3 and the captured permissions pages document administration access levels
- Your accounting process depends on handover to DATEV or an ERP system; the connectors actually named on the captured pages are Bonita and a Joomla explorer
- You need a documented exit with bulk export carrying metadata and versions; search and portability scored 2-3 and the only export evidence is developer ZIP and JAR utilities

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v2). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The GoBD Auditor | The Records Manager | The IT Integrator | The Mittelstand Owner | The Data Protection Officer | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Capture, OCR & indexing | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Versioning, permissions & audit trail | 1/5 | 1.5/5 | 1/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1/5 |
| Audit-proof archiving & retention | n/r | n/r | n/r | 1/5 | 0.5/5 | n/r |
| Document workflows & integrations | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Search, retrieval & exit | 1/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 |
| European sovereignty | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Pricing transparency | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r |
| **Weighted verdict** | **1.5/5** | **2/5** | **2/5** | **1.5/5** | **1.5/5** | **2/5** |

### The judges

- **The GoBD Auditor** (v1.0): Has sat through tax audits on the company side and knows that "GoBD-konform" on a homepage proves nothing. Wants the auditor's Testat with its scope and date, archived documents that cannot change, retention per document type, and a Z3 export the tax office can read.
- **The Records Manager** (v1.0): Owns the filing plan and gets the call when a contract from 2019 cannot be found. Wants metadata that is set at capture rather than typed later, version history with restore, search that respects permissions, and a bulk export that keeps metadata and versions together.
- **The IT Integrator** (v1.0): Connects the DMS to the ERP, DATEV and Microsoft 365 and maintains it afterwards. Wants connectors with a stated scope rather than a logo wall, a documented API with webhooks, single sign-on, and a migration path in and out that does not depend on the vendor's services team.
- **The Mittelstand Owner** (v1.0): Runs a forty-person company and wants the paper out of the office and the invoices approved without chasing anyone. Reads for e-invoice intake, an approval workflow that works without a consultant, and a price for users, storage and modules before the partner visit, not after.
- **The Data Protection Officer** (v1.0): Knows the DMS ends up holding personnel files, health certificates and customer contracts in one place. Asks where the cloud edition stores them, which AI provider reads them during capture, who the subprocessors are, and how GDPR deletion is reconciled with retention duties.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has read "revisionssicher" on every DMS homepage and a Testat on almost none. Distrusts "AI-powered capture" without a validation step, "seamless SAP integration" without a scope, and "no vendor lock-in" from a vendor that documents no export — and treats "price on request from your partner" as an answer.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | — |
| Open source | Not determined | — | — |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Integrations**
- Github source: prior to 7.0 · yes [S2]

**Legal**
- Address: c/ Bunyola 13, 07004 Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain [S1]
- Address: c/ Bunyola 13, 07004 Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain [S2]
- Company address: c/ Bunyola 13, 07004 Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain [S9]
- Company entity: Open Document Management System S.L. [S2]
- Company name: Open Document Management System S.L. [S9]
- Entity: Open Document Management System S.L. [S1]
- License type: EULA - OpenKM End User License Agreement, published by OpenKM Knowledge Management System S.L. [S4]
- Warranty: no [S4]

**Product**
- Admin permissions: Admin permission feature lets administrators set administration access levels for users [S5]
- Admin permissions admin role: A table displays all users with administrative access based on their admin role; default admin role documented under Security configuration parameters [S6]
- Admin permissions change access: User-level access is changed via Edit user-level access icon, selecting access level, and clicking Edit button [S6]
- Admin permissions overview: Admin permission feature lets administrators set administration access levels for users [S6]
- Admin permissions role based: A table displays all users with administrative access based on their admin role [S5]
- Admin permissions user level edit: Administrators can change user-level access via Edit user-level access icon [S5]
- Admin permissions user roles example: Can grant users access only to manage users and roles [S6]
- Archiveutils createjar: createJar(File path, String root, OutputStream os) recursively creates a JAR archive from a directory [S7]
- Archiveutils createjar: createJar(File path, String root, OutputStream os) recursively creates a JAR archive from a directory, returns void [S8]
- Archiveutils createzip: createZip(File path, OutputStream os) creates a ZIP archive from a file, returns void [S7]
- Archiveutils createzip: createZip(File path, OutputStream os) creates a ZIP archive from a file, returns void [S8]
- Archiveutils createzip directory: createZip(File path, String root, OutputStream os) recursively creates a ZIP archive from a directory [S7]
- Archiveutils deletefilesfromzipbyextension: deleteFilesFromZipByExtension deletes all files with a given extension from an existing ZIP archive; comparison is case-insensitive [S7]
- Archiveutils overview: Utility methods for archive handling, creating ZIP or JAR [S7]
- Archiveutils purpose: Utility methods for archive handling, e.g. creating ZIP or JAR [S8]
- Archiveutils version: Documentation for OpenKM version 8.1 [S8]
- Community edition free: yes [S2]
- Compatibility 1x: Deprecated · 1.x · no · Version 7.1.13 to 7.1.17 [S4]
- Compatibility 2x: Deprecated · 2.x · no · Version 7.1.18 and later [S4]
- Compatibility 3x: Active · 3.x · no · Version 8.1.5 and later · yes [S4]
- Complex workflows: yes [S9]
- Cross platform utilities: Bonita-OpenKM-connector · OpenKM Joomla Explorer · Older versions [S2]
- Definition: Software to store, organize, and manage documents in a centralized digital repository [S2]
- Description: Web application to manage invoices (PDF documents) in OpenKM, send/receive invoices and catalog them automatically [S4]
- Dev environment: Development environment shared as OVA virtual machine, all platforms [S2]
- Dev environment tested: Virtual Box · VMWare · Hyper-v [S2]
- Download: yes [S1]
- Global search: yes [S9]
- Install requirements: Java JDK 1.8 or higher [S2]
- Installer download: OKMInstaller.jar, all platforms [S2]
- Integration flexibility: yes · yes [S1]
- License from 7 0: 7.0 onwards · free binary package · no [S2]
- License pre 7 0: GPL-2.0 · 6.3 and earlier [S2]
- Mail notifications: yes [S9]
- Modular architecture: yes · 2 [S1]
- Ocr capture barcode plugin: Barcode plugin: optional pattern; empty pattern returns text from a Barcode engine; non-empty pattern returns barcode text matching pattern; raises exception on empty text or no match [S3]
- Ocr capture date plugin: Date plugin: pattern is mandatory; returns Calendar based on OCR text and pattern; raises exception if pattern empty, OCR text empty, or not convertible to Calendar [S3]
- Ocr capture number plugin: Number plugin: optional pattern; returns number based on OCR text; raises exception if OCR text empty, no match, or not convertible to number [S3]
- Ocr capture string plugin: String plugin: optional pattern; empty pattern returns text extracted by OCR; non-empty pattern returns OCR text matching the pattern only once; empty OCR text or non-unique match raises exception [S3]
- Okmflow engine: OKMFlow is OpenKM's native workflow engine for document-centric processes [S9]
- Okmflow features: dynamic task assignment, real-time editing, action automation, full traceability [S9]
- Okmflow website: www.okmflow.com [S9]
- On premises hosting: runs on customer's own servers (on-premises infrastructure) [S1]
- Platform description: Document Management and Enterprise Knowledge Platform that centralizes, automates, and secures organizational knowledge [S1]
- Review approval validation workflows: yes [S9]
- Serial parallel workflows: yes [S9]
- Spanish version: yes [S1]
- Support channel: community forum [S2]
- Target market: Targets companies and public institutions, large organizations [S1]
- Task assignment: yes [S9]
- Trial demo: yes [S1]
- Windows utilities: OpenKM AddIn-6.1.3 · OpenKM Digital Signature Client 1.1.0 · OpenKM Hot Folder 1.1 · OpenKM Scanner 1.1 [S2]
- Workflow engine: workflow engine that automates business processes and connects workflows with document management [S9]
- Workflow extension graph: Graph view displays the workflow diagram with the current workflow task highlighted [S10]
- Workflow extension log: Log view shows detailed workflow execution history [S10]
- Workflow extension overview: Shows chronologically ordered tasks performed and the workflow status graph for a given node [S10]
- Workflow extension tab: Users select the Workflow tab on a repository node to see assigned workflows [S10]
- Workflow monitoring: yes [S9]

**Support**
- Bug tracker: yes [S1]
- Community forum: yes [S1]
- Documentation: yes [S1]
- Documentation resources: Developer guide · Source code at GitHub (versions prior to 7.0) · Community forum · Online documentation · Administration guide [S2]
- Training courses: yes [S1]
- Webinars: yes · yes [S1]

## Questions

### Is OpenKM European?

Not determined: the vendor’s pages as captured do not say where OpenKM is based.

### Where does OpenKM store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026.

### Does OpenKM have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to OpenKM?

As of 4 Nov 2026, the panel rates [AMAGNO (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/amagno), [PaperOffice (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/paperoffice) and [Doxis (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/doxis) highest among the other 21 Document Management (DMS) products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [AMAGNO](https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/amagno) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [OpenKM alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/openkm/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- We found no public information on pricing on the pages we read (openkm.com, openkm.com/en/open-source-document-management-system.html, docs.openkm.com/okm-8.2/built-in-ocr-data-capture-plugins, docs.openkm.com/invoice-capture, docs.openkm.com/okm-8.2/admin-permissions, docs.openkm.com/okm-8.1/admin-permissions and 4 more). If the vendor publishes it somewhere else, send us the page.
- We found no public information on compliance on the pages we read (openkm.com, openkm.com/en/open-source-document-management-system.html, docs.openkm.com/okm-8.2/built-in-ocr-data-capture-plugins, docs.openkm.com/invoice-capture, docs.openkm.com/okm-8.2/admin-permissions, docs.openkm.com/okm-8.1/admin-permissions and 4 more). If the vendor publishes it somewhere else, send us the page.
- 3 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor page: https://www.openkm.com (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S2] Open-source licence page — found from the homepage: https://www.openkm.com/en/open-source-document-management-system.html (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S3] Capture, OCR & indexing — found from sitemap: https://docs.openkm.com/okm-8.2/built-in-ocr-data-capture-plugins/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S4] Capture, OCR & indexing — found from sitemap: https://docs.openkm.com/invoice-capture/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S5] Versioning, permissions & audit trail — found from sitemap: https://docs.openkm.com/okm-8.2/admin-permissions/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S6] Versioning, permissions & audit trail — found from sitemap: https://docs.openkm.com/okm-8.1/admin-permissions/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S7] Audit-proof archiving & retention — found from sitemap: https://docs.openkm.com/okm-8.2/archiveutils/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S8] Audit-proof archiving & retention — found from sitemap: https://docs.openkm.com/okm-8.1/archiveutils/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S9] Document workflows & integrations — found from sitemap: https://www.openkm.com/en/workflows.html (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S10] Document workflows & integrations — found from sitemap: https://docs.openkm.com/okm-8.2/workflow-extension/ (checked 2026-11-03)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "OpenKM — Document Management (DMS)", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-04. https://whats-best.ai/software/document-management/openkm

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1404?target=page