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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 (Apache-2.0, 95,215 GitHub stars, Docker image). Paperless-ngx stands out for AI features named in its own description, and Docuseal stands out for its Ruby codebase.

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.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed daily

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.

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Document ManagementTypeScriptDocker

    Stands out for the most GitHub stars. Stirling-PDF has 95,215 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,068 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).

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Document ManagementPythonDocker

    AI-nativeStands out for AI features named in its own description. Paperless-ngx has 47,176 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,786 commits in the last year.

  3. Rank 3:

    Docuseal

    docusealco/docuseal

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

    Active · last commit Oct 26, 2026

    Document ManagementRubyDocker

    Stands out for its Ruby codebase. Docuseal has 18,873 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,013 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.

At a glance

Open source document management systems compared

Ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 16 apps in the document management category. Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.

Top 10 picks compared, data as of Oct 28, 2026
AppStands out forLicenseGitHub starsCommits (12 mo)Last commitDocker image
Stirling-PDFthe most GitHub starsApache-2.095,2152,068Oct 28, 2026Yes
Paperless-ngxAI features named in its own descriptionGPL-3.047,1761,786Oct 28, 2026Yes
Docusealits Ruby codebaseAGPL-3.018,8731,013Oct 26, 2026Yes
BentoPDFits JavaScript codebaseAGPL-3.016,1721,030Oct 28, 2026Yes
Documenso–AGPL-3.015,589723Oct 28, 2026Yes
Gotenberg–MIT13,465396Oct 27, 2026Yes
Papra–AGPL-3.05,604711Oct 26, 2026Yes
OpenSign–AGPL-3.07,18899Oct 26, 2026Yes
SnapOtter–AGPL-3.02,8703,694Oct 28, 2026Yes
Docspell–AGPL-3.02,34288Oct 27, 2026Yes

1 of 4 · 10 picks

Top picks

10 of the 16 apps in the document management category.

  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.

    Stands out for the most GitHub stars. Stirling-PDF has 95,215 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,068 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-nativeStands out for AI features named in its own description. Paperless-ngx has 47,176 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,786 commits in the last year.

  3. 3

    Docuseal

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

    Stands out for its Ruby codebase. Docuseal has 18,873 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,013 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.

  4. 4

    BentoPDF

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

    Stands out for its JavaScript codebase. BentoPDF has 16,172 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,030 commits in the last year; it replaces Adobe Acrobat.

  5. 5

    Documenso

    Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).

    Documenso has 15,589 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 723 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and 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 13,465 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 396 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 5,604 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 711 commits in the last year.

  8. 8

    OpenSign

    Document signing software (alternative to DocuSign).

    OpenSign has 7,188 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 99 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 2,870 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 3,694 commits in the last year.

  10. 10

    Docspell

    Auto-tagging document organizer and archive.

    Docspell has 2,342 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 88 commits in the last year.

2 of 4 · 5 picks

Which open source document management system is best for startups?

For startups, Stirling-PDF ranks first (Apache-2.0, 95,215 GitHub stars), followed by Paperless-ngx and Docuseal. 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 95,215 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,068 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 47,176 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,786 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 18,873 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,013 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 13,465 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 396 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

    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 16,172 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,030 commits in the last year; it replaces 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

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

For small business, Paperless-ngx ranks first (GPL-3.0, 47,176 GitHub stars), followed by Stirling-PDF and Docuseal. 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 47,176 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,786 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 95,215 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,068 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 18,873 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,013 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

    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 16,172 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,030 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.

  5. 5

    Documenso

    Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).

    Documenso has 15,589 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 723 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 of 4 · 5 picks

Which open source document management system is best for enterprise and freelancers?

For enterprise and freelancers, Stirling-PDF ranks first (Apache-2.0, 95,215 GitHub stars), followed by Paperless-ngx and Docuseal. 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 95,215 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,068 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 47,176 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,786 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 18,873 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,013 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

    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 16,172 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,030 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.

  5. 5

    Documenso

    Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).

    Documenso has 15,589 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 723 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.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

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.

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.

Which of these document management systems is the most actively developed?

SnapOtter, with 3,694 commits in the last 12 months and a latest release, v2.2.0, from July 2026. Activity is a good sign that bugs and security issues get fixed.

How is this list ranked?

Ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 16 apps in the document management category. Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.

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