head to head · open source
Papermark vs docspell
Papermark has 9,286 GitHub stars, 1,415 forks, 239 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. docspell has 2,343 stars, 186 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Papermark leads on adoption by 296% (9,286 vs 2,343 stars). Papermark is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; docspell is written in Elm under AGPL-3.0. Papermark has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, docspell 8%. docspell was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Papermark | docspell | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.3K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Elm |
| Last push | 2026-08-28 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 186 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Papermark if
- You weight community size — 9.3K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other 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 Papermark
Papermark The open source DocSend alternative. papermark.com Papermark is the open source document sharing alternative to DocSend, featuring built in analytics and custom domains. Features Shareable Links: Share your documents securely by sending a custom link. Custom Branding: Add a custom domain and your own branding. Analytics: Gain insights through document tracking and soon page by page analytics. Self hosted, Open source: Host it yourself and customize it as needed. Demo Tech Stack Next.js – Framework TypeScript – Language Tailwind – CSS shadcn/ui UI Components Prisma ORM PostgreSQL Database NextAuth.js –…
read the full Papermark 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 →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Document Management & E-Signatures projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Document Management & E-Signatures field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Papermark or docspell more popular?
Papermark has 9,286 GitHub stars and docspell has 2,343. Papermark has the larger community by that measure.
Are Papermark and docspell free?
Both are open source. Papermark has no licence declared in this registry, and docspell is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Papermark and docspell?
Papermark 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, Papermark or docspell?
Choose Papermark if you want the larger community (9,286 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose docspell if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.