head to head · open source
Dify vs PaddleOCR
Dify has 160,251 GitHub stars, 25,336 forks, 1,067 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PaddleOCR has 92,143 stars, 11,613 forks, 243 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Dify leads on adoption by 74% (160,251 vs 92,143 stars). Dify is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; PaddleOCR is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Dify has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, PaddleOCR 13%. Dify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Dify | PaddleOCR | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 160K | ★ 92K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 12K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dify if
- You weight community size — 160K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick PaddleOCR if
- You want the PaddleOCR feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and PaddleOCR fits your workflow better
About Dify
Dify Cloud · Self hosting · Documentation · Dify edition overview Dify is an open source LLM app development platform. Its intuitive interface combines AI workflow, RAG pipeline, agent capabilities, model management, observability features (including Opik, Langfuse, and Arize Phoenix) and more, letting you quickly go from prototype to production. Here's a list of the core features: Quick start Before installing Dify, make sure your machine meets the following minimum system requirements: CPU = 2 Core RAM = 4 GiB The easiest way to start the Dify server is through Docker Compose. Before running Dify with the…
About PaddleOCR
Global Leading OCR Toolkit & Document AI Engine English 简体中文 繁體中文 日本語 한국어 Français Русский Español العربية PaddleOCR converts PDF documents and images into structured, LLM ready data (JSON/Markdown) with industry leading accuracy. With 70k+ Stars and trusted by top tier projects like Dify, RAGFlow, and Cherry Studio, PaddleOCR is the bedrock for building intelligent RAG and Agentic applications. 🚀 Key Features 📄 Intelligent Document Parsing (LLM Ready) Transforming messy visuals into structured data for the LLM era. SOTA Document VLM : Featuring PaddleOCR VL 1.6 (0.9B) , the industry's leading lightweight…
read the full PaddleOCR overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dify or PaddleOCR more popular?
Dify has 160,251 GitHub stars and PaddleOCR has 92,143. Dify has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dify and PaddleOCR free?
Both are open source. Dify has no licence declared in this registry, and PaddleOCR is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Dify and PaddleOCR?
Dify is written in Python and PaddleOCR in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Dify or PaddleOCR?
Choose Dify if you want the larger community (160,251 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose PaddleOCR if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.