head to head · open source
Papra vs PaperKnife
Papra has 5,742 GitHub stars, 336 forks, 190 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PaperKnife has 1,533 stars, 107 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Papra leads on adoption by 275% (5,742 vs 1,533 stars). Papra is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; PaperKnife is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Papra has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, PaperKnife 7%. Papra 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
| Papra | PaperKnife | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.7K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-12 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 336 | ⑂ 107 |
| 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 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 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 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 Papra or PaperKnife more popular?
Papra has 5,742 GitHub stars and PaperKnife has 1,533. Papra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Papra and PaperKnife free?
Both are open source. Papra is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and PaperKnife under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Papra and PaperKnife?
Papra is written in TypeScript 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, Papra or PaperKnife?
Choose Papra if you want the larger community (5,742 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.