Arhivix or M-Files: which one fits your company?
Arhivix is a document management system priced per company, not per user: plans include 5, 10 or 20 user accounts and unlimited devices, and the free plan, Arhivix Lite, needs no card. It takes in documents from company email inboxes, the phone camera, a scanner or upload, recognises the document type, proposes supplier, amount, dates and numbers for a person to confirm, and keeps everything on AWS in the EU (Frankfurt and Dublin). M-Files is sold per seat: Essentials is €65 per seat per month, with subscriptions typically billed annually.
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| What we compared | Arhivix | M-Files |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model (per user or per company) | Arhivix Per company, not per user: plans include 5, 10 or 20 user accounts and unlimited devices, and Enterprise is a contract priced per organization [1] | M-Files Per seat; Enterprise pricing also reflects scale, governance needs, automation, AI usage and document volume [7] |
| Free plan | Arhivix Yes Arhivix Lite: 1 GB, 2 users, 1 workspace and 1 email inbox, with no card needed [1] | M-Files No No free plan; the pricing page lists only Essentials and Enterprise [7] |
| Setup (self-service or through a partner) | Arhivix Self-service: you sign up, upload your folders or connect an email inbox, and Arhivix indexes everything in the background. With an Enterprise contract your existing archive is moved in for you [2] | M-Files Through M-Files or its partners, which include systems integrators and value-added resellers [8] |
| Document intake (email inboxes, phone scan, scanner) | Arhivix Yes Gmail, Microsoft 365 and IMAP inboxes with rules that file the attachments, upload, desktop scanner and phone camera [3] | M-Files Yes Paper documents from local or network scanners [9] |
| Reads and classifies documents | Arhivix Yes OCR reads each document, Arhivix recognises its type and proposes supplier, amount, dates and numbers, and a person confirms every proposal [3] | M-Files Yes M-Files Aino classifies documents automatically in both editions; Aino agents that extract metadata and classify documents are in Enterprise only [7] |
| Where the data is hosted | Arhivix AWS in the EU, two regions (Frankfurt and Dublin), encrypted at rest with AES-256 [4] | M-Files Microsoft Azure, in a primary and a secondary region; the cloud page does not name the regions [10] |
| Desktop and mobile apps | Arhivix Yes Web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android [3] | M-Files Yes M-Files Desktop, M-Files Web, and M-Files Mobile apps for iOS and Android [11] |
| Electronic signature | Arhivix Yes PDFs are signed in the desktop app for Windows and macOS with your own certificate and a timestamp [5] | M-Files Yes Electronic signatures on workflow state transitions, such as document approval, come with the Electronic Signatures and Advanced Logging module, available for a separate fee [12] |
| Version history and restore | Arhivix Yes Every change becomes a new version, and any earlier version can be brought back [6] | M-Files Yes Each check in after a check out saves a new version on the server, and an earlier version can be restored with Roll back [13] |
| Sharing with people outside the company | Arhivix Yes A link with an expiry date and a password, or a folder shared with another company that uses Arhivix [6] | M-Files Yes Visitor links, either passcode protected for named email addresses or open to anyone, with an expiry date [14] |
Arhivix is the better choice if
- You want one plan for the whole company, not a price per seat. Arhivix is priced per company: plans include 5, 10 or 20 user accounts and unlimited devices, and what each plan includes is on the pricing page. M-Files publishes the Essentials price per seat, and Enterprise is quoted by sales.
- You want to start on your own. You sign up, upload your folders or connect an email inbox, and Arhivix indexes everything in the background; the free plan, Arhivix Lite, needs no card. M-Files is set up through M-Files or its partners.
- Your documents arrive as attachments in Gmail, Microsoft 365 or IMAP inboxes, or as photos from a phone. Arhivix takes them in from each of these channels, files email attachments by your rules, recognises the document type, warns about possible duplicates and proposes supplier, amount, dates and numbers for a person to confirm.
- Some of your people work on Macs and want a desktop app. Arhivix has desktop apps for Windows and macOS, as well as web, iOS and Android apps. M-Files Desktop runs on Windows only, and macOS users work in M-Files Web.
- You want to know where your documents are kept. Arhivix keeps them on AWS in the EU (Frankfurt and Dublin), encrypted at rest with AES-256, and its GDPR data processing agreement forbids using your data to train AI models. The M-Files Cloud page names Microsoft Azure with a primary and a secondary region but not which ones, and control over where content is stored is offered through add-ons.
- You want AI assistants and your own software to work with your documents. Arhivix connects Claude or ChatGPT through an MCP connector, with access limited by each user's role, and every paid plan includes a REST API with signed webhooks.
- You keep contracts with end dates and notice periods. For a contract with an end date, Arhivix sets the expiry and the last day to give notice as deadlines by itself, and a reminder you add arrives in the app and as a phone notification.
How Arhivix and M-Files are priced
Arhivix is priced per company, not per user: plans include 5, 10 or 20 user accounts and unlimited devices, and every plan and its price is on the pricing page. Enterprise is a contract priced per organization, with migration of your existing archive, custom integrations, a named account manager, and an SLA and DPA in the contract. For companies in Serbia, Arhivix also sends and receives e-invoices through SEF and keeps the archive book.
M-Files Essentials is €65 per seat per month, with subscriptions typically billed annually (German M-Files pricing page). M-Files Enterprise has no published price; a quote comes from sales. M-Files product support covers technical issues only: training, consulting and implementation are billed separately, and the M-Files for Outlook and M-Files for Outlook Pro add-ins need separate licenses.
Getting your data out
In M-Files, administrators can export objects, files and the metadata structure as content packages, for long-term archiving or import into another vault. For M-Files Cloud, the M-Files general terms say a backup copy of cloud data can be requested until 30 days after the subscription ends, in a format M-Files determines, and the work is billed on a time and material basis unless agreed otherwise.
Arhivix gives you 30 days after cancellation to export your documents and metadata in standard formats, and deletes everything, backups included, within 120 days.
How we compared
The Arhivix column comes from pages of our own website. Facts about M-Files come from M-Files public pages, its user guide and its general terms. All of them were opened on 11 November 2026. The euro price is quoted from the German edition of the M-Files pricing page.
Questions people ask
What is an alternative to M-Files for a small company?
M-Files Essentials is €65 per seat per month, with subscriptions typically billed annually (checked on 11 November 2026). For a company that needs its documents taken in, read, filed and found, Arhivix is priced per company, not per user: plans include 5, 10 or 20 user accounts and unlimited devices, the free plan Arhivix Lite needs no card, and every plan is on the pricing page.
Is there an M-Files alternative with a proper Mac app?
M-Files Desktop runs on Windows only, and macOS users work in M-Files Web. Arhivix has desktop apps for Windows and macOS, plus web, iOS and Android apps.
How does Arhivix protect company documents?
Arhivix keeps documents on AWS in the EU (Frankfurt and Dublin), encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS. Access is set per workspace, folder and document, sign-in can use two-factor authentication, and every view, download and share is recorded in an audit log the customer cannot alter. Under GDPR you are the controller and NOTIX the processor, and the data processing agreement forbids using your data to train AI models.
Does M-Files or Arhivix have a free plan?
M-Files has no free plan: its pricing page lists only Essentials and Enterprise. Arhivix has a free plan, Arhivix Lite, with 1 GB, 2 users and 1 workspace, and no card is needed.
Sources
- 1. Arhivix: Arhivix pricing
- 2. Arhivix: Arhivix home page, questions and answers
- 3. Arhivix: About Arhivix
- 4. Arhivix: Arhivix security
- 5. Arhivix: Arhivix e-signature
- 6. Arhivix: Document management for consulting firms
- 7. M-Files: M-Files Pricing | Document Management System Plans & Editions
- 8. M-Files: Partners
- 9. M-Files: M-Files user guide: Scanning and text recognition (OCR)
- 10. M-Files: Secure, Scalable Document Management in the Cloud (M-Files Cloud)
- 11. M-Files: M-Files user guide: M-Files Cloud requirements
- 12. M-Files: M-Files user guide: Electronic signatures
- 13. M-Files: M-Files user guide: Version history
- 14. M-Files: M-Files user guide: Sharing to people without access to M-Files
Information about other products comes from their public pages, checked on the date shown. If something has changed, write to info@arhivix.com and we will correct it.