Paperless-AI vs Paperless-ngx
Short answer
Paperless-AI: AI auto-tagging and document chat for Paperless-ngx (currently unmaintained). Paperless-ngx: Document management system that OCRs scans into a searchable archive, auto-tags them and adds optional LLM suggestions and chat. Both are in our Document processing category.
Choose Paperless-AI if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Copyleft (GPL)).
Choose Paperless-ngx if you want: an actively maintained project (Paperless-AI is stale) and larger community (47.3k vs 6.0k GitHub stars).
Paperless-AI and Paperless-ngx 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-ngx side by side
| Paperless-AI | Paperless-ngx | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document processing | Document processing |
| What it is | AI auto-tagging and document chat for Paperless-ngx (currently unmaintained). | Document management system that OCRs scans into a searchable archive, auto-tags them and adds optional LLM suggestions and chat. |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| License type | Permissive | Copyleft (GPL) |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. | Free for internal and commercial use. If you distribute a modified version you must release it under GPL-3.0; running it for your own team is not distribution. |
| Status | Stale (no commit in 180+ days) | Active |
| GitHub stars | 6.0k | 47.3k |
| Last commit | Mar 31, 2026 | Oct 29, 2026 |
| Latest release | v3.0.9 | v3.4.0 |
| 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 | No. OCR and the built-in classifier run on CPU; LLM features call the provider you configure. |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker | Docker Compose (official install script) |
| Known gotchas | 2 listed | 4 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Not documented | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not documented | Free (OIDC free) |
| Audit log | Not documented | Yes, free |
| RBAC | Not documented | Not documented |
| Details | Full Paperless-AI guide → | Full Paperless-ngx guide → |
Key differences
- License: Paperless-AI: MIT (Permissive). Paperless-ngx: GPL-3.0 (Copyleft (GPL)).
- GPU: Paperless-AI: not required or not stated. Paperless-ngx: optional / see notes.
- Deploy: Paperless-AI: Docker · multi-container stack. Paperless-ngx: Docker Compose (official install script) · multi-container stack.
- Status: Paperless-AI: Stale (no commit in 180+ days). Paperless-ngx: Active.
- GitHub stars: Paperless-AI: 6.0k. Paperless-ngx: 47.3k.
- Last commit: Paperless-AI: Mar 31, 2026. Paperless-ngx: Oct 29, 2026.
- Latest release: Paperless-AI: v3.0.9 (Nov 4, 2025). Paperless-ngx: v3.4.0 (Oct 29, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Document processing; Official hardware: not published; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure).
Paperless-AI vs Paperless-ngx: FAQ
Paperless-AI or Paperless-ngx: which should a small business choose?
Choose Paperless-AI if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Copyleft (GPL)). Choose Paperless-ngx if you want: an actively maintained project (Paperless-AI is stale) and larger community (47.3k vs 6.0k GitHub stars). Paperless-AI and Paperless-ngx publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, Paperless-AI or Paperless-ngx?
Paperless-AI: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Paperless-ngx: 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-ngx need?
Paperless-AI: not published. Paperless-ngx: not published.
What is the license difference between Paperless-AI and Paperless-ngx?
Paperless-AI: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. Paperless-ngx: GPL-3.0 (Copyleft (GPL)). Free for internal and commercial use. If you distribute a modified version you must release it under GPL-3.0; running it for your own team is not distribution. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is Paperless-AI or Paperless-ngx more actively maintained?
Paperless-AI: Stale (no commit in 180+ days), last commit Mar 31, 2026. Paperless-ngx: Active, last commit Oct 29, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 30, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, Paperless-AI or Paperless-ngx?
Paperless-AI installs via Docker (multi-container stack); Paperless-ngx via Docker Compose (official install script) (multi-container stack). Paperless-AI lists 2 known gotchas and Paperless-ngx lists 4; see each app page.
Related
- Paperless-AI self-hosting guide · Paperless-ngx self-hosting guide
- All Paperless-AI alternatives, ranked
- All Paperless-ngx alternatives, ranked
- Docling Serve vs Paperless-AI
- Docling Serve vs Paperless-ngx
- MinerU vs Paperless-AI
- MinerU vs Paperless-ngx
- PaddleOCR vs Paperless-AI
- PaddleOCR vs Paperless-ngx
- Paperless-AI vs paperless-gpt
- Paperless-AI vs Unstract
- paperless-gpt vs Paperless-ngx
- Paperless-ngx 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-ngx GitHub repository: github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx
- Paperless-ngx documentation, Paperless-ngx deploy instructions: github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx/blob/main/docs/setup.md
- Paperless-ngx license: github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx/blob/dev/LICENSE
- Paperless-ngx hardware requirements: github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx/blob/main/docs/faq.md
- 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.