head to head · open source
Paperless-ngx vs Filestash
Paperless-ngx has 47,590 GitHub stars, 3,330 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Filestash has 14,860 stars, 1,015 forks, 126 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Paperless-ngx leads on adoption by 220% (47,590 vs 14,860 stars). Paperless-ngx is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Filestash is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. Paperless-ngx has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Filestash 7%. Paperless-ngx was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (archiving, dms), 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
| Paperless-ngx | Filestash | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 15K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Paperless-ngx if
- You weight community size — 48K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Filestash if
- You want the Filestash feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Filestash fits your workflow better
About Paperless-ngx
Paperless ngx Paperless ngx is a document management system that transforms your physical documents into a searchable online archive so you can keep, well, less paper . Paperless ngx is the official successor to the original Paperless & Paperless ng projects and is designed to distribute the responsibility of advancing and supporting the project among a team of people. Consider joining us! Thanks to the generous folks at DigitalOcean, a demo is available at demo.paperless ngx.com using login demo / demo . Note: demo content is reset frequently and confidential information should not be uploaded. Features Getting…
read the full Paperless-ngx overview →
About Filestash
What is this? Filestash started as a storage agnostic Dropbox like file manager that speaks every storage protocol ( FTP , SFTP , S3 , SMB , WebDAV , IPFS, and about 20 more ). It grew into what we want to be the world's best file management platform, centered around 3 separate products : Web client (the file manager available from your browser) : documentation / screenshot / demo Native client (to sync your data on your device) : repo / screenshots for mac , windows , linux , android & iphone Gateways (to expose your storages over any protocol) : showcase The philosophy that guides this project is: "anything…
read the full Filestash overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Paperless-ngx or Filestash more popular?
Paperless-ngx has 47,590 GitHub stars and Filestash has 14,860. Paperless-ngx has the larger community by that measure.
Are Paperless-ngx and Filestash free?
Both are open source. Paperless-ngx is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Filestash under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Paperless-ngx and Filestash?
Paperless-ngx is written in Python and Filestash in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Paperless-ngx or Filestash?
Choose Paperless-ngx if you want the larger community (47,590 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Filestash if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.