Document Automation Software in 2023 We Recommend You Try

Different companies in diverse sectors of the economy have their unique document-creation workflows. In one company, it is often necessary to generate a report of a field service employee with a photo of the result of the work and send a signed document to the client. In other companies, it is more often necessary to create proposals based on information about clients from the database. All companies and departments within companies have different processes. Is there any software that will help automate the workflow in your company? The good news is that any process involving a particular document can be automated. There are several different document automation software on the market. We will look at several tools that can help you eliminate routine, save employees' work time, reduce paper costs, and minimize errors in a workflow. We hope this article will help you to choose the most suitable document generation software for your case!

What is document automation software?

In a broad sense, document automation software is used to generate documents by filling document templates with data from a third-party app, saving documents, signing them, and sending them electronically across different apps. You can learn about specific usage examples from our customer stories. Document creation software has many diverse functions. Thus, they might not always match your needs. Let's get acquainted with a brief overview of the most popular document automation tools, their features, cost, pros, and cons to help you make the right choice.

List of 7 document automation tools

1. Plumsail Documents
2. Formstack Documents
3. PandaDoc
4. Templafy
5. Conga Composer
6. Gavel (formerly Documate)
7. Documint

1. Plumsail Documents

Plumsail Documents helps to set up effective document management in companies from different business areas. Users can generate documents from templates by filling them with data from any system, signing them with an electronic signature, save and send to anywhere across any app. The application meets the needs of the most demanding customers. It works equally well with simple and complex documents. Plumsail Documents can format and process data in document templates with duplicate fields, tables, pictures, diagrams, math formulas, and many others.

Advantages

1. Support for all MS Office formats. Plus PDF, Fillable PDF, and HTML. A generated document can be in the original file format plus PDF. A convenient online document editor is based on the Google Docs editor and works the same with all formats of documents.
2. You can work with a document template offline, upload it to your Plumsail Documents account and proceed to work online.
3. There is a list of ready-made document templates. You can customize any ready-made document template as you like. Just add your logo, change contact information, text, formatting, and other things.
4. With the Plumsail templating engine, you can format pulled data in sophisticated ways. Easy-to-use templating syntax supports lists, tables, charts, math formulas, pictures, QR and barcodes, and many more. So you can operate with merged data in document templates and generate documents with complex logic.
5. In Plumsail Documents, a data capture form is created for each document template by default. You can share a link to the data capture form or embed it into your website. Also, there are Plumsail Forms that allow you to design and customize forms with additional features.
6. There are over 2,000 integrations that reach almost all software. You can use native integrations, Power Automate, and Zapier connectors to sign your documents, deliver them via email or store them across your favorite apps.
7. Affordable prices. Plumsail Documents starts from $25/month and allows you to manage 200 documents without limitations. You can create teams and invite as many users to the system as you need without extra charge.
8. With Plumsail Documents, you can convert any document format to PDF, protect PDF with watermarks, disable printing, modification, and annotations, and set a password. Also, you can Split and Merge PDFs using Power Automate.
9. 30-day free trial. No credit card is required. You can register an account and try all the features, learn details in the documentation, set the integrations, and check how it works without any rush.

Limitations

1. There is no mobile app. However, as practice shows, mobile app is not necessary.

Best for

Best for custom document automation in any business, whether a small law firm or a big service company with complex document workflow. Especially for those who use Microsoft SharePoint, Azure Logic Apps, and Dynamics 365 CRM.

2. Formstack Documents

In short, Formstack Documents helps automate workflow when creating documents. It allows you to generate documents by filling in document templates with data from different systems, sign ready-made documents with an electronic signature, save them, and send them to recipients by email. Its works are very similar to Plumsail Documents, but there are several significant differences in features. We recommend you read a detailed comparison of both systems in our article.

Advantages

1. It supports MS Office document formats, as well as fillable PDFs, and there are two document editors. One is built-in, and another is an online editor based on the MS Office Online editor.
2. There are ready-made document templates. But the design and document format of document templates are not visible when you select one from the list. Read more about this in the “cons".
3. The templating syntax supports simple logical if/else and looping operations with data merged into variables.
4. There is a built-in electronic signature, and you can configure integration with third-party electronic signature software.
5. For each document template, a data capture form is created automatically. You can share a link to a web form. Also, you can buy Formstack Forms to customize the form and embed it into your website.
6. You can use native integrations, Zapier and Power Automate connectors, and integrate Formstack Documents with your favorite software to deliver your documents by email and save them across different systems.

Limitations

1. There is no support for HTML files.
2. There is no way to see the design, format, and content of the future document when searching for a document template in the list of ready-made templates.
3. Formstack templating syntax does not support math formulas for processing data, pulling images into variables, and other operations with merged data. So, you can't create a complex document automation workflow.
4. There is no mobile app.
5. With Formstack Documents, it takes quite a lot of time to sort out all the nuances and limitations of the different document editors. It can be inconvenient and confusing if you work with many diverse documents.

Best for

It is best suited for users who already use other products of the Formstack platform.

3. PandaDoc

PandaDoc is an application created primarily to automate document workflow in sales and marketing departments. It helps to create documents, share them, and track documents online with a team. This software is great for creating contracts and proposals. However, since PandaDoc focuses on document management automation in sales departments, it may not be suitable for your case.

Advantages

1. There is the tracking of document viewing by its recipient, which can be useful information for sales departments and customer journey maps. You can set the roles and approvals, track activities and statuses of documents you created.
2. The online editor allows you to work with the document by using the drag-n-drop function and dragging different blocks for the document content. You can customize all the blocks and change the design of the document.
3. There is a built-in electronic signature function
4. PandaDoc focuses on Salesforce and other CRMs with native integration that allows flexible work.
5. You can connect your software via Zapier or Integrate, send documents by email, and share them with your colleagues and users from your PandaDoc contact list.

Limitations

1. In PandaDoc, you can only work with documents in Word format. There is no Excel support. Document formats such as PDF, PPTX, JPEG, and PNG turn into the background after downloading.
2. Forms work on the fillable fields posted in the document template. Not on variables. You will not be able to fill in your variables in the document using the form.
3. There is no possibility of formatting data in variables when filling out document templates.
4. The resulting document can only be created and saved in PDF format. In addition, it is hard to find the function of testing the document before sending it to the recipient. It may exist, but I haven't been able to find it.
5. There is no integration with Power Automate.
6. There are no formatting options for data merging into variables of document templates.

Best for

PandaDoc is best suited for document workflow automation related to operations in the sales and marketing department.

4. Templafy

Templafy is especially an Enterprise platform created for large organizations. It has a wide range of functions related to document management automation in companies. Company managers can set restrictions, roles, and rights to change documents, and employees can manage documents and send them to each other and to customers.

Advantages

1. Support for all MS Office, PPTX, and PDF formats.
2. There is a wide range of document templates for different circumstances and its own built-in convenient document editor.
3. The permission-based system provides supervisors and compliance teams oversight and control when managing documents, ensuring that team members use only approved content.
4. A built-in electronic signature and integrations with different systems allow you to save and deliver documents via any app.
5. The user-friendly interface allows you to quickly learn how to use the tools and functions of the program.

Limitations

1. You will not be able to take the Free Trial and get acquainted with the program right away. To see how it works, you need to make an appointment with the manager and go through a live tour.
2. This software is suitable only for large organizations. Templafy requires a minimum of 50 users.
3. Custom pricing is available upon request only.

Best for

It is an enterprise solution for large companies that want to automate document flow within the company.

5. Conga Composer

Conga Composer was created for use in sales departments that work with Salesforce. Conga Composer allows Salesforce customers to configure document creation for their needs. It helps automatically populate several types of document templates with data from any standard or custom object in Salesforce, save, and send the generated documents to recipients.

Advantages

1. There is support for MS Office formats, plus PDF and HTML email.
2. There is a list of document templates for the main types of Salesforce processes and objects.
3. You can use the built-in electronic signature function and connect a third-party electronic signature via Zapier.
4. You can send generated documents by email and save them in your favorite software using integration via Zapier.
5. You can track how customers engage with the document once it’s been sent.
6. Conga Composer API allows you to embed document generation features into your website or application.

Limitations

1. Conga Composer is designed to be used in close conjunction with Salesforce and, therefore, will not suit many of you.
2. There is no way to try the Free Trial immediately. You can try a free trial only after talking to the manager.
3. Judging by the information from third-party resources, there are difficulties with supporting some functions in Salesforce Lightning, formatting documents, replication contracts using the parent feature, and other errors.

Best for

It is best suited where you need document workflow automation based on processes and objects in Salesforce.

6. Gavel (formerly Documate)

Gavel (formerly Documate) is a platform created with the participation of lawyers and engineers to help non-profit organizations provide legal assistance, automate document management processes, and facilitate their work. It leaves a particular imprint on how this software works. It is primarily a questionnaire, and all documents are generated based on the data that the user enters when filling out the forms. Despite this, users from other business areas can also successfully use this software in their workflow and automate the creation of documents. Nevertheless, law firms are the major group of Gavel users.

Advantages

1. The main advantage lies in the fact that this program is specialized for law firms and has been developed taking into account the specifics of this business.
2. A simple and convenient online editor helps to manage questionnaires and document templates.
3. The document template editor is based on the MS Office editor, in addition to which you need to install Word Add-in from the Microsoft Store.

Limitations

1. A 7-day free trial is a quite short period of time, and you must specify the payment card details when registering an account.
2. It supports documents in Word and PDF format only.
3. The data enters the document templates by filling out forms, and there is no way to pull up data from other systems.
4. Gavel (formerly Documate) was created mainly for lawyers, so you may lack some features to automate processes in another type of business.
5. Sending ready-made documents is possible only by email.

Best for

It is best suited for automating some processes in law firms.

7. Documint

Documint is an application that helps to generate documents from templates. Data for documents can be taken from different systems by integration via Zapier or native integrations with apps. Documint, itself, appeared not so long ago, in 2021, and has not yet managed to acquire a wide range of functions, but still, it can be considered for use. It is suitable for creating very simple documents in small companies since it is impossible to create complex documents there.

Advantages

1. A simple and handy online document editor with a drag-and-drop function allows you to create a document template.
2. You can preview the resulting document.
3. There is an electronic signature, and it is possible to connect the software of a third-party developer to an electronic signature via Zapier.

Limitations

1. Documint does not support downloading your document templates, so you can choose one from the four document templates or create your own from scratch.
2. Variables in templates perform only the function of a data placeholder. Variables cannot be formatted, and logical functions cannot be applied to them. So, an online editor allows you to create only simple documents.
3. There is no integration with Power Automate.
4. There is no way to insert images into document templates dynamically using variables.

Best for

Documint is best suited for creating very simple documents in small companies that use software from the list of native integrations.

Conclusions

As you may have learned from our article, there are different software on the market for document management automation, and not all are suitable for your tasks. At the same time, Plumsail Documents is well suited for most types of business, so perhaps it will be the best solution for you. The price is affordable, and a 30-day free trial allows you to try all the features, evaluate support, and get assistance in setting up workflow automation in your company.

Register a free trial account in Plumsail Documents.