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6 jobs · 16 apps

Best open source software for law firms

For a law firm, a self-hosted stack starts with docassemble for document assembly, Docuseal for e-signatures and Paperless-ngx for document management. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

Legal work runs on documents. This stack covers guided document assembly, e-signatures, document management, secure file sharing, client intake forms and time billing.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    docassemble

    jhpyle/docassemble

    System for guided interviews and document assembly, based on Python, YAML, and Markdown.

    Polls, Surveys & EventsJavaScriptDocker

    docassemble has 989 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 253 commits in the last year.

1 of 6 · 1 pick

Document assembly

  1. 1

    docassemble

    System for guided interviews and document assembly, based on Python, YAML, and Markdown.

    docassemble has 989 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 253 commits in the last year.

2 of 6 · 3 picks

E-signatures

  1. 1

    Docuseal

    Create, fill, and sign digital documents (alternative to DocuSign).

    Docuseal has 18,658 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 925 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.

  2. 2

    Documenso

    Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).

    Documenso has 15,336 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 695 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.

  3. 3

    OpenSign

    Document signing software (alternative to DocuSign).

    OpenSign has 7,058 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 77 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign.

3 of 6 · 4 picks

Document management

  1. 1

    Paperless-ngx

    Scan, index, and archive all of your paper documents with an improved interface (fork of Paperless).

    AI-nativePaperless-ngx has 46,308 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,625 commits in the last year.

  2. 2

    Papra

    Minimalist document storage, management and archiving platform designed to be simple to use and accessible to everyone.

    Papra has 5,539 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 685 commits in the last year.

  3. 3

    Papermerge

    Document management system focused on scanned documents (electronic archives). Features file browsing in similar way to dropbox/google drive. OCR, full text search, text overlay/selection.

    Papermerge has 542 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 193 commits in the last year.

  4. 4

    Docspell

    Auto-tagging document organizer and archive.

    Docspell has 2,333 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 77 commits in the last year.

4 of 6 · 3 picks

Secure file sharing

  1. 1

    Nextcloud

    Access and share your files, calendars, contacts, mail and more from any device, on your terms.

    Nextcloud has 37,003 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 7,289 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Drive and Dropbox.

  2. 2

    Seafile

    File hosting and sharing solution primary for teams and organizations.

    Seafile has 15,307 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 39 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Drive and Dropbox.

  3. 3

    CryptPad

    Collaboration suite built to enable collaboration, synchronizing changes to documents in real time.

    CryptPad has 7,989 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 477 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Docs and Google Workspace.

5 of 6 · 2 picks

Client intake

  1. 1

    Formbricks

    Experience Management Suite built on the largest open source survey stack worldwide. Gracefully gather feedback at every step of the customer journey to know what your customers need.

    Formbricks has 13,065 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,403 commits in the last year; it replaces Typeform and Google Forms.

  2. 2

    OpnForm

    Beautiful form builder.

    OpnForm has 3,783 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 292 commits in the last year; it replaces Typeform and Google Forms.

6 of 6 · 3 picks

Time and billing

  1. 1

    Kimai

    Track work time and print out a summary of your activities on demand.

    Kimai has 5,057 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 223 commits in the last year.

  2. 2

    solidtime

    Modern time tracking application for freelancers and agencies.

    solidtime has 8,965 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 402 commits in the last year.

  3. 3

    Invoice Ninja

    Powerful tool to invoice clients online.

    Invoice Ninja has 10,223 GitHub stars, is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0 (not an open-source license), ships a Docker image and had 2,002 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Xero.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source software for law firms?

For a law firm, a self-hosted stack starts with docassemble for document assembly, Docuseal for e-signatures and Paperless-ngx for document management. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

What is docassemble?

Docassemble is a system for guided interviews and document assembly based on Python, YAML and Markdown. It is commonly used to build interviews that produce documents from a client's answers.

Is self-hosting good for client confidentiality?

It keeps client files on servers the firm controls rather than a vendor's cloud. Confidentiality still depends on access control, encryption, backups and your professional rules; this is not legal advice.

Is docassemble free?

Yes. docassemble is open-source software released under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I run this stack with Docker?

13 of the 16 apps here publish Docker images, including docassemble, Docuseal and Documenso, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups.

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