Paperless
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersFrankfurt, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Paperless firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Paperless
- Legal name
- Paperless GmbH
- Website
- https://paperless.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Paperless industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Electronic Signature and Document Automation Software
- NAICS
- Document Preparation Services (56141)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- E-Signature & Digital Transaction Management (DTM) (HDAEAGAF)
Keywords
Where Paperless is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Frankfurt
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Paperless business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription Licenses: Tiered subscription model with Basic and Business plans offering unlimited users in all plans. Revenue generated from recurring monthly or annual subscriptions. Enterprise tier available with custom pricing.
- White-Label / OEM Licensing: Revenue from ISV (Independent Software Vendor) partners integrating Paperless e-signatures under their own brand. Partners benefit from new revenue sources by offering integrated e-signatures to their customers.
- Transaction-based Services: Paperless Basic plan includes 600 document processes per year as part of the subscription, with additional usage potentially billed separately.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Basic plan - 149€/month with unlimited users and 600 documents/year |
| Subscription | Monthly | Business plan - 279€/month with full feature set |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise plan - Custom pricing for large organizations |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Paperless product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Paperless sells a cloud-based document automation and electronic signature platform that lets organizations digitize forms, contracts, and approval workflows. The platform provides eIDAS-compliant signatures (Simple, Advanced, Qualified), contract lifecycle management, smart no-code forms, visual workflow automation, and a developer API, with data hosted exclusively in ISO 27001 certified German data centers.
Product overview
Paperless is a unified German-hosted document automation platform offering e-signatures, contract lifecycle management, smart forms, and workflow automation. The core product portfolio includes three electronic signature levels (EES, AES/FES, and QES) for varying legal requirements, Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) for end-to-end contract automation, Forms for interactive data collection, and Workflows for process automation. The platform also offers a White-Label Solution for ISV partners to embed e-signatures under their own brand, an API for developer integrations, and SmartDocs for dynamic document handling. Paperless Ident provides identity verification (ID card and video) to enable qualified electronic signatures.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Paperless: Main brand for digital signature, contract lifecycle management, forms, and workflow automation solutions.
Products and services
- Electronic Signature (EES) Simple Electronic Signature for quick document signing with legally binding validity. Suited for internal approvals or agreements that do not require written form.
- Advanced Electronic Signature (AES / FES) Advanced Electronic Signature with signatory authentication before signing, providing increased security and higher evidential value for contracts.
- Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) Qualified Electronic Signature providing maximum legal security and identity verification, the digital equivalent of a handwritten signature, enabled via Paperless Ident.
- Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Contract Lifecycle Management solution for automating contract processes with status tracking, document generation, automated workflows, and digital archiving to reduce turnaround times, minimize errors, and deliver measurable cost savings.
- Forms Smart forms and applications product for creating interactive digital forms with no-code drag-and-drop functionality, conditional logic, and data collection.
- Workflows Automated workflows and process automation using the Paperless Workflow Designer for customizing signature and document workflows with approvals, notifications, and data transfers between systems.
- Paperless API API-first integration solution enabling developers to build customized signature and document processes that integrate into existing business workflows, with documentation and sandbox testing.
- White-Label Solution for ISV Partners White-label e-signature offering for Independent Software Vendors to embed legally compliant electronic signatures under their own brand, including all signature levels, identification, seals, document generation, workflows, and online forms.
Quantifiable outcome
- 80%+ of contracts signed and returned same day
- +12 more outcomes
Companies that use Paperless
Customer profileNamed customers20 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Paperless technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature10 records
Paperless partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- PropstackcorePropstack, a specialized CRM platform for real estate brokers, integrated Paperless e-signatures into their platform. The integration enables Propstack customers to create contracts from templates, send for digital signature, and automatically archive signed documents - all within the CRM interface. Case study demonstrates 96% faster document creation and up to 3 hours time savings per transaction.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Paperless competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SignNow (airSlate): E-signature and document workflow platform under airSlate with API, mobile, and enterprise offerings. Comparable feature breadth to Paperless including API integrations and unlimited-user plans, targeting similar SMB and mid-market customers.
- Dropbox Sign (HelloSign): E-signature solution acquired by Dropbox, targeting SMBs and developers with API-first integration. Direct competitor to Paperless's e-signature and API products, with comparable developer-friendly positioning and broader consumer brand reach.
- PandaDoc: Document automation platform offering e-signatures, contract templates, and workflow automation targeting SMB and mid-market. Overlaps significantly with Paperless's CLM, smart templates, and forms products, and is named explicitly on Paperless's comparison pages.
- Skribble: Swiss-based e-signature provider with strong DACH and EU presence, offering eIDAS-compliant signatures. Closest direct regional competitor to Paperless, explicitly cited on Paperless's pricing page as a comparable alternative, with similar compliance positioning.
- Eversign: SMB-focused e-signature and document workflow platform with API, white-label, and embedded options. Comparable to Paperless on unlimited-user pricing, API-first architecture, and SMB target market, with similar partner/ISV distribution strategy.
Regional players
- Contractbook: Danish contract lifecycle management platform offering CLM, e-signatures, and workflow automation. Comparable product suite to Paperless, primarily serving the Nordic region rather than DACH but with similar European SMB/mid-market focus.
- Yousign: French e-signature platform offering eIDAS-compliant electronic signatures across Europe. Comparable in regulatory compliance and SMB targeting, but primarily serves the French market rather than German-speaking DACH where Paperless is strongest.
Broad incumbents
- DocuWare: German-headquartered document management and workflow automation platform serving European mid-market and enterprise. Adjacent competitor with overlapping document automation and workflow capabilities, sharing the German data sovereignty positioning that Paperless emphasizes.
- DocuSign: Global e-signature and CLM incumbent with the largest market share in digital agreements. Paperless directly competes on e-signatures, contract lifecycle management, and EU data sovereignty, but DocuSign offers a much broader product suite, global footprint, and enterprise sales force.
- Adobe Acrobat Sign: Adobe's e-signature offering bundled within the Acrobat and Document Cloud ecosystem. Competes head-to-head with Paperless on e-signatures and contract workflows, with much broader global distribution and integration into the Adobe productivity suite.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Paperless social profiles
Digital presencePaperless compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Paperless financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Paperless leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Paperless funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Paperless M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Paperless
What does Paperless do?
Paperless sells a cloud-based document automation and electronic signature platform that lets organizations digitize forms, contracts, and approval workflows. The platform provides eIDAS-compliant signatures (Simple, Advanced, Qualified), contract lifecycle management, smart no-code forms, visual workflow automation, and a developer API, with data hosted exclusively in ISO 27001 certified German data centers.
Is Paperless a public or private company?
Paperless is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Paperless founded?
Paperless was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Paperless based?
Paperless is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Paperless make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. SaaS Subscription Licenses are the primary driver. The others are white-Label / OEM Licensing and transaction-based Services.
Who are Paperless's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SignNow (airSlate), Dropbox Sign (HelloSign), PandaDoc, Skribble and Eversign. Regional players are Contractbook and Yousign. Broad incumbents are DocuWare, DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat Sign.
Does Paperless have an API?
Yes. Paperless offers an API-first platform enabling developers to integrate e-signatures and document workflows into existing business systems. The white-label solution page states integration can be achieved in under 2 weeks with a developer-friendly API, and a sandbox environment is available for testing before going live. Developer documentation is at www.paperless.io/en/developer.
What industry is Paperless in?
Paperless's product category is Electronic Signature and Document Automation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAGAF, E-Signature & Digital Transaction Management (DTM). Its NAICS code is 56141 and its SIC code is 7330.