vs M-Files

PaperOffice AI vs M-Files

Metadata DMS vs. API stack: 69 types, audit trail and signature in the same account.

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At a glance

WORM + Legal Holdtamper-evident
69ready document types
Full-text +semantic search
300+API/MCP tools
from €6.00per 1,000 pages

Made for real business. Not for hype.

From inbox to archive

Product UI from August 5, 2026 · from €6 per 1,000 pages

1 · Workspace

Document list with fields, preview and confidence — Pristine demo universe.
2 · Workflow / HITL

Approval queue with approve, reject and escalate in the same job path.
3 · Compliance / WORM

Retention, legal hold and revision on the document — deletion blocked.

In the same account

More than extraction

Extract

AI OCR with bounding boxes — 69 types, fields with location.

from €6 per 1,000 pages
HITL review

Seamless in the job path — task and document also on mobile.

Web + Mobile
Sign

SES signatures from the same credit balance.

SES from the balance
WORM archive

Audit-proof filing and audit trail.

included

Comparison table

No public price list for M-Files in this comparison — billing model only, without list amounts (as of 08/2026).

Criterion	PaperOffice	M-Files
Bounding boxes (word/line level)	Yes (word/line level, Surya OCR)	n/a
Sandwich PDF / searchable archive PDF	Yes — searchable archive PDF	n/a
Click-to-evidence / visual validation (HITL)	Yes — click-to-evidence / HITL	n/a
Structured IDP fields (ready types)	69 ready document types incl. DATEV/ZUGFeRD/XRechnung	n/a
DMS/archive included (WORM, audit, legal hold)	Yes — WORM, audit trail, legal hold	Yes — records/archive
Native MCP server (tool count)	Yes — 300+ API/MCP Tools	no MCP server documented (as of 09/2026)
EU inference on owned hardware	Yes — owned EU GPU hardware	no owned EU AI inference hardware
API-first / headless	Yes — REST + MCP	API available
Setup	Self-service token	Partner/implementation project
Pricing model	One credit balance for all features: from €6.00–€60.00 per 1,000 pages by quality tier	Named-user subscription, tiered by user type (power vs casual); custom/negotiated pricing; volume discounts from ~1,000 users
List price per 1,000 pages	Basic €20.00 / Premium €60.00 / Ultra €200.00 per 1,000 pages (2/6/20¢)	Licensed per user, not per page
Billing	from €6.00 per 1,000 pages (Elite) — same scale on every tier	n/a

Source: https://www.m-files.com/pricing/, retrieved 09/2026. Prices may change.

M-Files is a trademark of its respective owner. PaperOffice is not affiliated with or endorsed by M-Files. Competitor details are based on publicly available sources (as of 08/2026) and are provided without warranty.

Pricing model with qualification tiers

Our prices are public — including partner terms.

Unit: Price per 1,000 pages

Tier	Elite Partner (−70%)	Partner (−40%)	Enduser
Basic	€6.00	€12.00	€20.00
Premium	€18.00	€36.00	€60.00
Ultra	€60.00	€120.00	€200.00

Billing is internal in credits; amounts follow the selected currency (base: list price).

Elite terms after qualification — criteria and program are public: Pricing · Partner program

All plans and pricing Become a partner

When is M-Files the better choice?

Teams that want metadata-driven ECM with M-Files and an existing partner project stay with M-Files — the strength is the object model in a classic ECM sense.

When API/IDP-first with DMS filing and MCP matter, PaperOffice is the better fit.

Trusted by leading companies worldwide

Key differences

M-Files

M-Files: classic DMS with named-user licenses and partner rollout. Filing and workflow are the core — API access and AI extraction follow edition and project.

PaperOffice AI

Document platform with API: result in the archive, one credit balance, hosted in the EU, MCP for AI agents.

Three decision axes

What happens to the result?

The result from M-Files stays in that product context. PaperOffice keeps extraction and archive on the same document.

Contracts & billing

M-Files licenses per named user — price on request. Extraction or signature can have their own contracts. PaperOffice bundles this in one account.

Where do your data run?

M-Files stores and organizes files in its own model — residency depends on edition and hosting. PaperOffice runs its own EU servers and keeps extraction plus audit-proof filing together.

Integrated in minutes

Copy llms-full.txt
https://api.paperoffice.ai/latest/docs/llms-full.txt
Paste into Claude, Cursor or your agent
Say what you want to build — the agent delivers the finished integration.

Or connect directly: MCP server for Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT →

Migration in 3 steps

Import & Migration API — documented in llms-full.txt.

Inventory from M-Files

Prepare documents and metadata from M-Files for ZIP/scan-source import (no price assumptions).

Import job in PaperOffice

Upload via the Import API and poll status — can run in parallel with M-Files.

Workflows & MCP

After cutting over from M-Files: connect HITL workflows and MCP tools on the same access path.

llms-full.txt MCP Extract hub

FAQ

Is PaperOffice a M-Files alternative?

Yes. PaperOffice AI can be evaluated as an alternative to M-Files — along license, self-service, GoBD/WORM and agents, API-first.

What does PaperOffice cost compared to M-Files?

Basic 2¢, Premium 6¢, Ultra 20¢ per page — PaperOffice’s full price list is public. No reliable public price list for M-Files is recorded here — so the table states the billing model, not competitor amounts (often seat or project rather than per-page).

What specifically sets M-Files apart from PaperOffice?

M-Files primarily solves the core job described on this page. PaperOffice keeps extraction, archive (WORM), permissions, HITL and MCP on the same document — with a public per-page price list.

How do I migrate from M-Files to PaperOffice?

From M-Files: prepare inventory as ZIP/scan source, start an import job, then workflows via REST and MCP via OAuth 2.1 or a User token (po_ut_ / po_gt_). No mandatory partner project. llms-full.txt: Import & Migration.

Where is data processed — differently from M-Files?

On our own servers in the EU — including audit-proof filing and an audit trail. Where M-Files processes data is documented by the vendor.

Does switching from M-Files require a partner project?

Moving from M-Files typically starts with token + Import API — self-service instead of a mandatory project. Fastest with llms-full.txt.