head to head · open source
Docuseal vs PaperKnife
Docuseal has 18,979 GitHub stars, 1,933 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PaperKnife has 1,525 stars, 107 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Docuseal leads on adoption by 1,145% (18,979 vs 1,525 stars). Docuseal is written in Ruby under AGPL-3.0; PaperKnife is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Docuseal has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, PaperKnife 7%. Docuseal was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (open-source, pdf), 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
| Docuseal | PaperKnife | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 107 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docuseal if
- You weight community size — 19K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick PaperKnife if
- You want the PaperKnife 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 PaperKnife fits your workflow better
About Docuseal
DocuSeal Open source document filling and signing DocuSeal is an open source platform that provides secure and efficient digital document signing and processing. Create PDF forms to have them filled and signed online on any device with an easy to use, mobile optimized web tool. ✨ Live Demo ☁️ Try in Cloud Features PDF form fields builder (WYSIWYG) 12 field types available (Signature, Date, File, Checkbox etc.) Multiple submitters per document Automated emails via SMTP Files storage on disk or AWS S3, Google Storage, Azure Cloud Automatic PDF eSignature PDF signature verification Users management Mobile optimized…
read the full Docuseal overview →
About PaperKnife
PaperKnife A simple, honest PDF utility that respects your privacy. Preview Why I built this Most PDF websites ask you to upload your sensitive documents—bank statements, IDs, contracts—to their servers. Even if they promise to delete them, your data still leaves your device and travels across the internet. I built PaperKnife to solve this. It's a collection of tools that run entirely in your browser or on your phone. Your files never leave your memory, they aren't stored in any database, and no server ever sees them. It works 100% offline. What it can do Modify: Merge multiple files, split pages, rotate, and…
read the full PaperKnife overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docuseal or PaperKnife more popular?
Docuseal has 18,979 GitHub stars and PaperKnife has 1,525. Docuseal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docuseal and PaperKnife free?
Both are open source. Docuseal is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and PaperKnife under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docuseal and PaperKnife?
Docuseal is written in Ruby and PaperKnife 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, Docuseal or PaperKnife?
Choose Docuseal if you want the larger community (18,979 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose PaperKnife if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.