head to head · open source
Papra vs docspell
Papra has 5,742 GitHub stars, 336 forks, 190 open issues and last shipped yesterday. docspell has 2,351 stars, 186 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Papra leads on adoption by 144% (5,742 vs 2,351 stars). Papra is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; docspell is written in Elm under AGPL-3.0. Papra has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, docspell 8%. Papra was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (document), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Papra | docspell | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.7K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Elm |
| Last push | 2026-11-12 | 2026-11-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 336 | ⑂ 186 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Papra if
- You weight community size — 5.7K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick docspell if
- You want the docspell feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Elm
- You evaluated both and docspell fits your workflow better
About Papra
Papra Document management platform Minimalistic document management and archiving platform. Demo • Docs • Self hosting • Roadmap • Discord Introduction Papra is a minimalistic document management and archiving platform. It is designed to be simple to use and accessible to everyone. Papra is a platform for long term document storage and management, like a digital archive for your documents. Forget about that receipt of that gift you bought for your friend last year, or that warranty for your new phone. With Papra, you can easily store, forget, and retrieve your documents whenever you need them. A live demo of the…
read the full Papra overview →
About docspell
Docspell Document Management System (DMS) Docspell is a personal document organizer. Or sometimes called a "Document Management System" (DMS). You'll need a scanner to convert your papers into files. Docspell can then assist in organizing the resulting mess :wink:. It can unify your files from scanners, emails and other sources. It is targeted for home use, i.e. families, households and also for smaller groups/companies. You can associate tags, set correspondends and lots of other predefined and custom metadata. If your documents are associated with such meta data, you can quickly find them later using the…
read the full docspell overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Papra or docspell more popular?
Papra has 5,742 GitHub stars and docspell has 2,351. Papra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Papra and docspell free?
Both are open source. Papra is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and docspell under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Papra and docspell?
Papra is written in TypeScript and docspell in Elm. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Papra or docspell?
Choose Papra if you want the larger community (5,742 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose docspell if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.