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10 top picks · 3 audience rankings

Best open source document management systems

The best open source document management system is Stirling-PDF, with 93,634 GitHub stars, the Apache-2.0 license and a Docker image; Paperless-ngx and Docuseal are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: Stirling-PDF leads for startups, enterprise and freelancers; Paperless-ngx for small business. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 15 apps in the document management category of the appsgit catalog.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    Stirling-PDF

    Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF

    Local hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files, such as merging, splitting, file conversions and OCR.

    Document ManagementTypeScriptDocker

    Stirling-PDF has 93,634 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,925 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat.

  2. Rank 2:

    Paperless-ngx

    paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx

    Scan, index, and archive all of your paper documents with an improved interface (fork of Paperless).

    Document ManagementPythonDocker

    AI-nativePaperless-ngx has 46,308 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,625 commits in the last year.

  3. Rank 3:

    Docuseal

    docusealco/docuseal

    Create, fill, and sign digital documents (alternative to DocuSign).

    Document ManagementRubyDocker

    Docuseal has 18,658 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 925 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.

1 of 4 · 10 picks

Top picks

10 of the 15 apps in the document management category, ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Stirling-PDF

    Local hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files, such as merging, splitting, file conversions and OCR.

    Stirling-PDF has 93,634 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,925 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat.

  2. 2

    Paperless-ngx

    Scan, index, and archive all of your paper documents with an improved interface (fork of Paperless).

    AI-nativePaperless-ngx has 46,308 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,625 commits in the last year.

  3. 3

    Docuseal

    Create, fill, and sign digital documents (alternative to DocuSign).

    Docuseal has 18,658 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 925 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.

  4. 4

    Documenso

    Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).

    Documenso has 15,336 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 695 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.

  5. 5

    BentoPDF

    Powerful, privacy-first, client-side PDF toolkit that allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser.

    BentoPDF has 15,844 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 482 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat.

  6. 6

    Gotenberg

    Developer-friendly API to interact with powerful tools like Chromium and LibreOffice for converting numerous document formats (HTML, Markdown, Word, Excel, etc.) into PDF files, and more.

    Gotenberg has 13,228 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 366 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat.

  7. 7

    Papra

    Minimalist document storage, management and archiving platform designed to be simple to use and accessible to everyone.

    Papra has 5,539 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 685 commits in the last year.

  8. 8

    OpenSign

    Document signing software (alternative to DocuSign).

    OpenSign has 7,058 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 77 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign.

  9. 9

    SnapOtter

    Suite of 200+ web tools for converting and editing images, videos, audio and PDFs, including a layer-based image editor, OCR, transcription, background removal and batch processing pipelines…

    AI-nativeSnapOtter has 2,782 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 689 commits in the last year.

  10. 10

    Docspell

    Auto-tagging document organizer and archive.

    Docspell has 2,333 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 77 commits in the last year.

2 of 4 · 5 picks

Best for startups

Ranked for startups on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Stirling-PDF

    Local hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files, such as merging, splitting, file conversions and OCR.

    Stirling-PDF has 93,634 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,925 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, a permissive license (Apache-2.0) and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    Paperless-ngx

    Scan, index, and archive all of your paper documents with an improved interface (fork of Paperless).

    AI-nativePaperless-ngx has 46,308 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,625 commits in the last year. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Docuseal

    Create, fill, and sign digital documents (alternative to DocuSign).

    Docuseal has 18,658 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 925 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Gotenberg

    Developer-friendly API to interact with powerful tools like Chromium and LibreOffice for converting numerous document formats (HTML, Markdown, Word, Excel, etc.) into PDF files, and more.

    Gotenberg has 13,228 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 366 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, a permissive license (MIT), a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    Documenso

    Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).

    Documenso has 15,336 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 695 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

3 of 4 · 5 picks

Best for small business

Ranked for small business on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites, recent commits and deploy guides.

  1. 1

    Paperless-ngx

    Scan, index, and archive all of your paper documents with an improved interface (fork of Paperless).

    AI-nativePaperless-ngx has 46,308 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,625 commits in the last year; appsgit has a step-by-step deploy guide for it. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website, a commit in the last 90 days and an appsgit deploy guide.

  2. 2

    Stirling-PDF

    Local hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files, such as merging, splitting, file conversions and OCR.

    Stirling-PDF has 93,634 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,925 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Docuseal

    Create, fill, and sign digital documents (alternative to DocuSign).

    Docuseal has 18,658 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 925 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Documenso

    Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).

    Documenso has 15,336 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 695 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    BentoPDF

    Powerful, privacy-first, client-side PDF toolkit that allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser.

    BentoPDF has 15,844 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 482 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

4 of 4 · 5 picks

Best for enterprise and freelancers

Ranked for enterprise and freelancers (the same order for each) on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Stirling-PDF

    Local hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files, such as merging, splitting, file conversions and OCR.

    Stirling-PDF has 93,634 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,925 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    Paperless-ngx

    Scan, index, and archive all of your paper documents with an improved interface (fork of Paperless).

    AI-nativePaperless-ngx has 46,308 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,625 commits in the last year. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Docuseal

    Create, fill, and sign digital documents (alternative to DocuSign).

    Docuseal has 18,658 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 925 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Documenso

    Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).

    Documenso has 15,336 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 695 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    BentoPDF

    Powerful, privacy-first, client-side PDF toolkit that allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser.

    BentoPDF has 15,844 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 482 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source document management system?

The best open source document management system is Stirling-PDF, with 93,634 GitHub stars, the Apache-2.0 license and a Docker image; Paperless-ngx and Docuseal are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: Stirling-PDF leads for startups, enterprise and freelancers; Paperless-ngx for small business. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 15 apps in the document management category of the appsgit catalog.

Is Stirling-PDF free?

Yes. Stirling-PDF is open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Which open source document management system is best for a startup?

Stirling-PDF ranks first for startups, with 93,634 GitHub stars, the Apache-2.0 license and a Docker image; Paperless-ngx and Docuseal follow. The startups ranking adds points for Docker images, permissive licenses, project websites and recent commits on top of stars and activity.

Which open source document management system is best for a small business?

Paperless-ngx ranks first for small business, with 46,308 GitHub stars, the GPL-3.0 license and a Docker image; Stirling-PDF and Docuseal follow. The small business ranking adds points for Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites, recent commits and deploy guides on top of stars and activity.

Can I self-host these document management systems with Docker?

Yes, all of them. Stirling-PDF, Paperless-ngx and Docuseal publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose.

Are all of these document management systems open source?

All 10 apps on this list are open source. You can self-host and modify each one under its license.

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