Document approval software helps to formalize and automate the sequence of steps for reviewing, approving, and finalizing documents. Having a structured approval process ensures that all materials, from contracts and legal documents to marketing brochures and expense reports, meet required standards before they are put into use. Think of it as a centralized platform where your entire team can share files, discuss changes, and give the final green light, all in one place. By creating a defined document approval workflow, these systems eliminate the chaos of email chains and lost files, providing a clear, standardized path for every document to follow.
How does document approval software work?
Approval tools can help bring order to the often chaotic document review process. While specifics vary between companies, the typical document workflow follows a logical progression designed to ensure clarity, accountability, and efficiency.
A standard document approval process generally involves these key stages :
Document submission: The process begins when a user uploads a document into the approval platform and submits it for review.
Automated routing: The workflow software automatically routes the document to the right people based on predefined rules. This can be a sequential workflow, where the document moves from one person to the next in a specific order, or a parallel workflow, where multiple people can review it simultaneously.
Collaborative review and feedback: Once notified, reviewers can access the document to provide feedback. Instead of messy email threads, collaborators can leave comments directly on the file, ensuring all stakeholders are working from the same page.
Revisions and version control: After feedback is collected, the document owner can make the necessary edits and upload a new version. Good approval software includes robust version control, stacking the latest version on top of previous ones and often providing a side-by-side comparison to easily track changes. This prevents the all-too-common problem of stakeholders accidentally reviewing an outdated draft.
Final approval and archiving: Once all revisions are complete, the document is sent for final approval. Approvers can give their official sign-off, often with an electronic signature. The approval and document are then recorded and stored.
Throughout this workflow, the system assigns clear roles—such as creator, reviewer, and approver—and sends automatic notifications of status changes and reminders to keep the process moving, ensuring due dates are met.
The benefits of approval workflow tools
Faster approvals: Approval requests are automatically routed and real-time alerts are sent to approvers, reducing approval times. This not only speeds up individual approvals but also boosts overall efficiency by eliminating delays and bottlenecks.
Greater transparency: Capture every action, decision, and communication within the workflow, making it easy to track approvals. This single source of truth provides stakeholders with complete transparency, gives administrators greater control over processes, while ensuring compliance with internal and external rules.
Higher productivity: Streamline communication and provide stakeholders with context at every stage of the approval process. Automating mundane tasks also means employees can devote more time to strategic activities, boosting both productivity and job satisfaction.
Reduced costs: Operational costs are lowered by cutting down on manual work, minimizing delays, and decreasing overall spending.
What to look for in approval software
Automated & conditional workflows: The software should provide robust workflow capabilities, with both sequential and parallel routing capabilities. Advanced systems should also offer conditional logic for dynamic routing based on document content, as well as a no-code, drag-and-drop interface to easily customize workflows as needed.
Collaboration tools: Centralize feedback and streamline communication by providing in-document commenting, threaded discussions, and annotation/markup tools. Look for features like side-by-side version comparison to track changes and time-stamped commenting for audio/video content reviews to enhance the overall collaborative experience.
Seamless integrations: Evaluate the platform's ability to connect with your existing tech stack, including CRM software, project management platforms, cloud storage providers, and team communication apps.
Scalability: Consider how the software will support business growth by evaluating the pricing model and its impact on the total cost of ownership. Compare per-user/per-month pricing with flat-rate monthly fees and evaluate the total cost of your tech stack.
Top approval workflow software at a glance
Top 10 document approval software of 2025
Based on the evaluation criteria above, the following 10 tools represent the best-in-class solutions across a diverse range of use cases, industries, and budgets. Each has been reviewed to highlight its unique strengths and ideal customer profile.
1. Lark: Best for all-in-one collaboration and integrated approval automation
Lark is a dynamic, unified collaboration suite that seamlessly integrates document approval software into a broader ecosystem of productivity tools, including chat, video conferencing, calendars, and no-code databases. It is designed for teams that want to eliminate the need to switch between multiple applications, managing communication, collaboration, and custom approval workflows all in one place.
Key features: Lark Approval is robust and highly customizable app that can be used for all types of workflows, from expense approvals to travel requests. A wide variety of approval flows are also available out-of-the-box, allowing teams to get started right away. Customizing your own flow is easy with a visual form builder that supports drag-and-drop to build multi-step approval processes. If reviewers need more context, a group can be created with a click to pull everyone together to get over the details. The platform also supports integrated document management with real-time co-editing, in-document comments, and version control. It ensures important documents are adequately protected and everyone gets prompt feedback and sufficient context.
Pricing: Lark offers a generous free plan that includes 11 powerful apps for up to 20 users. The Pro plan starts at $12 per user, per month and unlocks advanced features like group video calls, increased storage, more automation runs, and more users.
Lark is an exceptionally powerful all-in-one solution for businesses aiming to consolidate their tech stack. Its strength lies in embedding effective approval workflows directly within the communication and collaboration tools teams use daily. While the sheer number of features can present a learning curve for new users, it offers incredible value for organizations that want to unify their business processes on a single platform.
2. Wrike: Best for integrated project & approval management
Wrike is a comprehensive work management platform where document approvals are a deeply integrated component of the broader project lifecycle. It is the ideal solution for teams that want to manage everything—from initial task creation and resource planning to final approval and reporting—within a single, unified environment.
Key features: Wrike allows users to build customizable workflows directly into project templates. A task can automatically enter an "In Review" status, notifying the designated approvers. Based on their decision, the status can then automatically change to "Approved" or "Needs Revision". The platform features visual dashboards with dedicated widgets that provide an at-a-glance view of all pending approvals, preventing bottlenecks. It also includes online proofing tools for leaving in-context feedback on creative assets.
Pricing: Wrike offers a functional free plan for small teams. Paid plans, such as Team and Business start at $10 per user, per month when billed annually and Enterprise and Pinnacle plans have custom pricing.
Image source: wrike.com
Wrike excels in environments where approvals are intrinsically linked to structured project plans. It provides unparalleled visibility for project managers who need to see how approval timelines impact overall project delivery. The primary consideration is its per-user pricing model, which can become costly for organizations that need to include a large number of external stakeholders in the review process.
3. Filestage: Best for creative teams & external collaboration
Filestage is a purpose-built online proofing platform designed to streamline the review and approval of creative content, including videos, designs, documents, and websites. Its defining characteristic is its exceptional ease of use, particularly for external collaborators like clients and freelancers, who can leave feedback without needing to create an account or undergo training.
Key features: Filestage provides a centralized console to track the status of all active reviews. It features clear version control with a side-by-side comparison tool to easily spot changes, one-click approval buttons, and automated reminders to nudge tardy reviewers. For multimedia content, it offers frame-accurate, time-stamped commenting on video and audio files, eliminating ambiguous feedback.
Pricing: Filestage offers a free plan to get started. Its paid plans charge a flat monthly fee that includes unlimited team members and reviewers. Pricing is tiered based on the number of active projects, with the Basic plan starting at $109 per month.
Image source: filestage.io
The "unlimited reviewers" pricing model makes Filestage a top choice for creative agencies, marketing teams, and production houses that depend on heavy collaboration with external partners. The platform prioritizes a frictionless and intuitive review experience above all else.
4. PandaDoc: Best for sales document & proposal workflows
PandaDoc specializes in optimizing the "last mile" of the sales cycle. It is a powerful platform that combines document generation, approval workflows, and e-signatures to accelerate the creation and execution of sales proposals, quotes, and contracts.
Key features: The platform allows teams to build documents from pre-approved templates and content libraries, ensuring brand consistency. Its approval workflows are tailored for sales scenarios, featuring conditional approvals (e.g., automatically requiring a manager's sign-off for discounts over a certain percentage), content locking to prevent unapproved changes by sales reps, and an audit trail that tracks every interaction with the document from creation to final signature.
Pricing: PandaDoc provides free e-signatures. The crucial approval workflow features are included in its Business plan, which is priced at $49 per user, per month when billed annually.
Image source: pandadoc.com
PandaDoc is the definitive tool for sales-driven organizations. It makes it easy to sign documents and streamlines the entire quote-to-cash document lifecycle. If the primary bottleneck is in getting sales documents out the door accurately and quickly, PandaDoc is a top-tier solution.
5. Ziflow: Best for high-volume creative & brand compliance
Ziflow is an enterprise-grade online proofing platform engineered for marketing and creative teams that manage digital assets in high volume. It places a strong emphasis on maintaining brand consistency and supporting complex, automated compliance reviews.
Key features: Ziflow supports over 1,200 different file types, ensuring virtually any creative asset can be reviewed. It offers precise markup and annotation tools, automated multi-stage workflows, and robust versioning with pixel-level comparison. It is SOC 2 compliant, meeting stringent security requirements, and its ZiflowAI feature can help accelerate reviews by suggesting copy edits or checking for compliance elements.
Pricing: Ziflow offers a free plan suitable for individuals or very small-scale use. Its team-oriented plans can be quite expensive, with the Standard plan starting at $199 per month for 15 users.
Image source: ziflow.com
Ziflow is a direct and powerful competitor to Filestage but is geared more toward the enterprise market. It excels where workflows are complex and regulatory or brand compliance is a top priority. The statistics it promotes, such as a 59% reduction in time spent managing proofing workflows, underscore its focus on efficiency at scale.
6. ClickUp: Best for customizable workflows
ClickUp positions itself as the "one app to replace them all," offering an expansive suite of productivity tools that includes task management, collaborative docs, whiteboards, spreadsheets, and goals. Its document approval functionality is a flexible component within this massive ecosystem.
Key features: ClickUp's power lies in its extreme customizability. Users can build approval workflows using custom task statuses, automation rules (e.g., "When a task is moved to 'Final Review', assign it to the department head and set a due date"), and pre-built templates. These custom workflows can be applied to tasks, subtasks, and documents within the platform.
Pricing: ClickUp offers a free plan that includes unlimited tasks and members, but only 60MB of storage. Its Unlimited plan costs $7 per user, per month and the Business plan costs $12 per user, per month (when billed annually).
Image source: clickup.com
ClickUp is a good choice for teams seeking ultimate flexibility and a unified workspace, provided they are willing to invest time in the initial setup. Its great strength lies in the wide range of features, which may be challenging to learn.
7. Kissflow: Best for no-code business process automation
Kissflow transcends simple document approval to become a full-fledged business process management (BPM) and no-code application development platform. It empowers business users, without any coding knowledge, to design, build, and automate complex, end-to-end business processes for departments like HR, Finance, and Operations.
Key features: The platform features an intuitive drag-and-drop visual workflow builder, real-time process monitoring dashboards, granular role-based permissions, and the ability to construct entire custom business applications centered around an approval process, such as employee onboarding or capital expenditure requests.
Pricing: Kissflow is an enterprise-focused solution with the Basic plan starting at $1,500 per month, which includes up to 50 users. This pricing structure makes it unsuitable for small businesses or teams with simple needs.
Image source: kissflow.com
Kissflow is the right choice when the business need is not merely to approve a single document, but to automate the entire multi-step, cross-departmental business process in which that document plays a part. It is a powerful platform but requires significant financial investment.
8. ProofHub: Best for simple proofing with flat-rate pricing
ProofHub offers a balanced blend of project management and centralized online proofing. Similar to Filestage, its most compelling feature is its straightforward, non-per-user pricing model, which makes it highly attractive for teams of varying sizes.
Key features: The platform includes an online proofing tool that allows users to annotate and leave feedback directly on designs and documents. It supports the creation of custom approval workflows, integrates approvals with task management, and facilitates real-time collaboration through built-in chat and discussion threads.
Pricing: ProofHub does not charge per user. Its Essential plan is a flat $45 per month (billed annually) for unlimited users and 40 projects. The Ultimate Control plan, at $89 per month (billed annually), adds advanced features and unlimited projects.
Image source: proofhub.com
ProofHub is an excellent, budget-friendly solution for organizations that need solid project management and proofing capabilities without the high cost or complexity of more advanced systems. Its flat-rate, unlimited-user pricing is its standout advantage, providing predictable costs regardless of team growth.
9. Jotform: Best for form-based approval processes
Jotform began as a powerful online form builder and has evolved into a sophisticated workflow automation tool. Its unique strength lies in initiating an approval process directly from a data collection point, such as a submitted leave request form, a purchase order, or a new client application.
Key features: Jotform features a visual, drag-and-drop workflow builder that supports conditional logic (e.g., "If request type is 'IT Hardware', route to the IT department"). It enables the creation of complex, multi-level approval flows, includes integrated e-signature collection, and sends automated email notifications at every stage of the process.
Pricing: The platform offers a free Starter plan with a limit of 5 forms. Its paid tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold) are priced based on submission and storage limits rather than the number of users, making it scalable for teams. Paid plans start at $34 per month when billed annually.
Image source: jotform.com
If an approval process consistently begins with someone filling out a form, Jotform is the purpose-built solution. It is less focused on collaborative document editing and more on automating the decision-making workflow that follows a data submission.
10. Cflow: Best for SMBs that need customizable business workflows
Cflow is a no-code workflow automation platform targeted at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It strikes a balance between ease of use and power, enabling non-technical users to automate a wide range of operational processes, such as CapEx approvals, IT service requests, and procurement workflows.
Key features: Cflow provides a visual workflow builder, highly customizable forms, and real-time dashboards for approval tracking. A standout feature is its Public Forms capability, which allows external parties to initiate a workflow. Another key differentiator is the ability for individuals without a Cflow license to participate in and approve workflows, reducing friction and cost.
Pricing: The platform uses a per-user pricing model, starting at $11 per user, per month, with a required minimum of 10 users. This places the typical entry point at around $110 per month.
Image source: cflow.com
Cflow occupies a valuable middle ground between overly simple task management tools and highly complex, expensive BPM platforms like Kissflow. It is an excellent choice for a growing business that needs to formalize and automate multiple operational workflows, not just a single document sign-off process.
How to choose the right approval platform
Selecting the right document approval software can significantly impact productivity, compliance, and employee morale. There are a wide range of solutions and they generally fall into two categories: platform-based options like Lark, Wrike, and ClickUp, which provide a comprehensive work management ecosystem, and specialized tools such as Filestage and PandaDoc, that are more suited for specific domains like creative, sales, or finance approvals.
Here is a three step approach to finding the right fit:
Identify your main pain point: Clearly define your biggest bottleneck. Is it accelerating contract approvals, streamlining creative project reviews with clients, or optimizing invoice processing? This will help you focus on the most relevant software category.
Evaluate your reviewer team: Consider the composition of your approval team. Is it a small internal group, or does the process involve numerous external clients, partners, or freelancers? This will guide you toward the most cost-effective pricing model, whether it's per-user or a flat-rate subscription.
Take advantage of free plans/trials: Shortlist two or three promising tools and test their free plan or trial with a project. This allows you to assess the user interface, ease of use, and overall effectiveness in the real world.
Final thoughts
There is a diverse range of document approval software out there that are suitable for different business needs. From comprehensive platforms to specialized solutions, the key is to identify your core pain points, evaluate your team's composition, and make sure of free plans and trials to find the right product in the long term. While many excellent options exist, Lark offers the best solution for a wide variety of businesses. Its all-in-one suite enhances collaboration while built-in approval automation simplifies the entire approval process. In fact, teams can get started for free, with no complex set up or integrations needed. Paid plans are also very competitively priced, making it a standout choice for organizations seeking to consolidate their tech stack without sacrificing functionality or budget.
