Mayan EDMS

Open-source alternative · mapped from 2 paid tools. Fit is not feature parity.

Facts

License

GNU General Public License v2.0 The GNU GPL is the most widely used free software license and has a strong copyleft requirement. When distributing derived works, the source code of the work must be made available under the same license. There are multiple variants of the GNU GPL, each with different requirements. May Commercial useModificationDistributionPrivate use Must License and copyright noticeState changesDisclose sourceSame license No LiabilityWarranty Summary from GitHub's choosealicense.com

Paid-feature tier A

Self-host

Paid-feature limitsNone established

Tier A: Current canonical GitLab LICENSE and official FAQ establish GPL-2.0-only since 4.6; Apache metadata belongs to older mirror. Public software includes workflows, versions, OCR, granular permissions and REST API. Commercial support tiers limit service coverage, not software user/document capacity. No separate paid software edition identified. License source. Repository: mayan-edms/mayan-edms. Self-host: server; hosted offer from the project: no.

Replaces 2 paid tools

DocuWareEntry price Not established

Fit:

Both support document versions, permissions and workflows. Export documents/metadata and rebuild workflow states, roles and integrations using Mayan REST API; DocuWare forms and add-on modules are not proven portable.

Sources: start.docuware.com, docs.mayan-edms.com · checked 2026-10-21
Full comparison: DocuWare vs Mayan EDMS
M-FilesEntry price USD 65 / seat / month

Fit:

Partial fit for document storage, metadata, versioning and approval workflows. Rebuild M-Files metadata relationships, workflows, access rules and Microsoft 365 experiences; Mayan API supports custom integration but no direct vault migration was verified.

Sources: www.m-files.com, docs.mayan-edms.com · checked 2026-10-21
Full comparison: M-Files vs Mayan EDMS

Selected by OSSHunt

Mayan EDMS is listed as an open-source alternative to DocuWare and M-Files, with partial fit or better. Maintainers can show this in a README; the badge links back to this page.

Markdown

[![OSSHunt: replaces DocuWare · M-Files](https://osshunt.com/badge/mayan-edms.svg)](https://osshunt.com/alternatives/mayan-edms/)

HTML

<a href="https://osshunt.com/alternatives/mayan-edms/"><img src="https://osshunt.com/badge/mayan-edms.svg" alt="OSSHunt: replaces DocuWare · M-Files"></a>

reStructuredText

.. image:: https://osshunt.com/badge/mayan-edms.svg
   :target: https://osshunt.com/alternatives/mayan-edms/
   :alt: OSSHunt: replaces DocuWare · M-Files

Shields users: https://img.shields.io/endpoint?url=https%3A%2F%2Fosshunt.com%2Fbadge%2Fmayan-edms.json. Styles: add ?style=flat-square, plastic or for-the-badge. What the badge means and how to remove it.