SelfHostMap

Paperless-AI alternatives

Short answer

We track 1 self-hosted alternative to Paperless-AI: MinerU.

Paperless-AI has had no commit since Mar 31, 2026, which is one reason to look at alternatives.

MinerU (same category): an actively maintained project (Paperless-AI is stale) and larger community (82.3k vs 6.0k GitHub stars).

Last updated · how we rank · sources

Paperless-AI alternatives compared

Self-hosted alternatives to Paperless-AI, ranked
#AppAdvantages over Paperless-AIEst. server costOfficial hardwareLicenseStarsLast commitCompare
—Paperless-AI (this app)Stale (no commit in 180+ days)not estimated (no official RAM figure)not publishedMIT6.0kMar 31, 2026—
1 MinerU
Same category		 an actively maintained project (Paperless-AI is stale); larger community (82.3k vs 6.0k GitHub stars)
Trade-off: Paperless-AI has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional)		 from €11.99/mo minimum 2 GB RAM MinerU Open Source License (Apache-2.0 with additional terms) 82.3k Oct 11, 2026 Paperless-AI vs MinerU

Ranked by the number of objective advantages each alternative has over the app (cheaper estimated server cost, lighter official RAM figure, no GPU needed, fewer license conditions, better maintenance status, at least 1.5× the GitHub stars, simpler deploy). Ties: same-category apps first, then more GitHub stars. License order used: Permissive (MIT/Apache) → Open core → Copyleft (GPL) or Custom conditions → Network copyleft (AGPL) → Source-available. Archived projects are not listed as alternatives.

What each alternative is

  • MinerU (Document processing): Document parser that converts PDFs, scans and Office files into clean Markdown or JSON for LLMs and RAG.

Paperless-AI alternatives: FAQ

What is the best self-hosted alternative to Paperless-AI?

By our objective ranking: 1. MinerU (an actively maintained project (Paperless-AI is stale); larger community (82.3k vs 6.0k GitHub stars)). "Best" depends on the features you need; the ranking only counts cost, hardware, license, maintenance, community size and deploy complexity.

Is there a cheaper alternative to Paperless-AI?

Not by our estimate. Paperless-AI: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Alternatives: MinerU (from €11.99/mo).

Which Paperless-AI alternative has the most permissive license?

None has fewer conditions than Paperless-AI (MIT (Permissive)). Alternatives: MinerU: MinerU Open Source License (Apache-2.0 with additional terms) (Custom / conditional). Not legal advice.

Is Paperless-AI still maintained?

Stale (no commit in 180+ days). Last commit: Mar 31, 2026. Checked Oct 22, 2026.

Related

Sources