head to head · open source
Documenso vs Papra
Documenso has 15,633 GitHub stars, 3,432 forks, 238 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Papra has 5,695 stars, 327 forks, 190 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Documenso leads on adoption by 175% (15,633 vs 5,695 stars). Documenso is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Papra is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Documenso has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Papra 6%. Documenso 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
| Documenso | Papra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 5.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 327 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Documenso if
- You weight community size — 16K 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 Papra if
- You want the Papra feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Papra fits your workflow better
About Documenso
The Open Source DocuSign Alternative. Learn more » Discord · Website · Documentation · Issues · Upcoming Releases · Roadmap About Documenso Signing documents digitally should be fast and easy and should be the best practice for every document signed worldwide. This is technically quite easy today, but it also introduces a new party to every signature: The signing tool providers. While this is not a problem in itself, it should make us think about how we want these providers of trust to work. Documenso aims to be the world's most trusted document signing tool. This trust is built by empowering you to self host…
read the full Documenso overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Documenso or Papra more popular?
Documenso has 15,633 GitHub stars and Papra has 5,695. Documenso has the larger community by that measure.
Are Documenso and Papra free?
Both are open source. Documenso is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Papra under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Documenso and Papra?
Documenso is written in TypeScript and Papra in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Documenso or Papra?
Choose Documenso if you want the larger community (15,633 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Papra if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.