Paperless-AI vs paperless-gpt
Short answer
Paperless-AI: AI auto-tagging and document chat for Paperless-ngx (currently unmaintained). paperless-gpt: LLM add-on for paperless-ngx that does better OCR and writes titles, tags and correspondents. Both are in our Document processing category.
Choose Paperless-AI if you want: larger community (6.0k vs 2.8k GitHub stars).
Choose paperless-gpt if you want: an actively maintained project (Paperless-AI is stale).
Paperless-AI and paperless-gpt publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Last updated · computed from each project's official docs and live GitHub data · sources
Paperless-AI vs paperless-gpt side by side
| Paperless-AI | paperless-gpt | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document processing | Document processing |
| What it is | AI auto-tagging and document chat for Paperless-ngx (currently unmaintained). | LLM add-on for paperless-ngx that does better OCR and writes titles, tags and correspondents. |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| License type | Permissive | Permissive |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the license notice. |
| Status | Stale (no commit in 180+ days) | Active |
| GitHub stars | 6.0k | 2.8k |
| Last commit | Mar 31, 2026 | Oct 16, 2026 |
| Latest release | v3.0.9 | v0.31.0 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | Not published |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | Not required / not stated | Not needed for the app itself. A GPU only matters if you run the LLM locally (for example with Ollama). |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker | Docker Compose |
| Known gotchas | 2 listed | 3 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Not documented | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not documented | Not supported (OIDC not supported · SAML not supported · LDAP not supported) |
| Audit log | Not documented | Not documented |
| RBAC | Not documented | No |
| Details | Full Paperless-AI guide → | Full paperless-gpt guide → |
Key differences
- GPU: Paperless-AI: not required or not stated. paperless-gpt: optional / see notes.
- Deploy: Paperless-AI: Docker · multi-container stack. paperless-gpt: Docker Compose · multi-container stack.
- Status: Paperless-AI: Stale (no commit in 180+ days). paperless-gpt: Active.
- GitHub stars: Paperless-AI: 6.0k. paperless-gpt: 2.8k.
- Last commit: Paperless-AI: Mar 31, 2026. paperless-gpt: Oct 16, 2026.
- Latest release: Paperless-AI: v3.0.9 (Nov 4, 2025). paperless-gpt: v0.31.0 (Oct 14, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Document processing; License: MIT (Permissive); Official hardware: not published; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure).
Paperless-AI vs paperless-gpt: FAQ
Paperless-AI or paperless-gpt: which should a small business choose?
Choose Paperless-AI if you want: larger community (6.0k vs 2.8k GitHub stars). Choose paperless-gpt if you want: an actively maintained project (Paperless-AI is stale). Paperless-AI and paperless-gpt publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, Paperless-AI or paperless-gpt?
Paperless-AI: not estimated (no official RAM figure). paperless-gpt: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Our estimate is the cheapest Hetzner Cloud plan that meets each project's official RAM and vCPU figure; it covers the server only.
How much hardware do Paperless-AI and paperless-gpt need?
Paperless-AI: not published. paperless-gpt: not published.
What is the license difference between Paperless-AI and paperless-gpt?
Paperless-AI: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. paperless-gpt: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the license notice. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is Paperless-AI or paperless-gpt more actively maintained?
Paperless-AI: Stale (no commit in 180+ days), last commit Mar 31, 2026. paperless-gpt: Active, last commit Oct 16, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 27, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, Paperless-AI or paperless-gpt?
Paperless-AI installs via Docker (multi-container stack); paperless-gpt via Docker Compose (multi-container stack). Paperless-AI lists 2 known gotchas and paperless-gpt lists 3; see each app page.
Related
- Paperless-AI self-hosting guide · paperless-gpt self-hosting guide
- All Paperless-AI alternatives, ranked
- All paperless-gpt alternatives, ranked
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- MinerU vs paperless-gpt
- PaddleOCR vs Paperless-AI
- PaddleOCR vs paperless-gpt
- Paperless-AI vs Unstract
- paperless-gpt vs Unstract
- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- Paperless-AI GitHub repository: github.com/clusterzx/paperless-ai
- Paperless-AI documentation: github.com/clusterzx/paperless-ai/wiki/2.-Installation
- Paperless-AI license: github.com/clusterzx/paperless-ai/blob/main/LICENSE
- Paperless-AI hardware requirements, Paperless-AI deploy instructions: github.com/clusterzx/paperless-ai#readme
- paperless-gpt GitHub repository: github.com/icereed/paperless-gpt
- paperless-gpt documentation: github.com/icereed/paperless-gpt#getting-started
- paperless-gpt license: github.com/icereed/paperless-gpt/blob/main/LICENSE
- paperless-gpt hardware requirements: github.com/icereed/paperless-gpt#prerequisites
- paperless-gpt deploy instructions: github.com/icereed/paperless-gpt#docker-compose
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-25): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub REST API (stars, commits, releases): docs.github.com/en/rest
Every value is generated from the same verified data as the app pages. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.