Ambar vs Filestash

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted document management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureAmbarFilestash
CategoryDocument ManagementDocument Management
LicenseApache-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM2,048 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker, binary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 1,944★ 14,451
First released20172017
ReplacesDocuWare, M-FilesDropbox, SharePoint

Why pick each one

Choose Ambar if…

  • Fast search across many sources
  • Good OCR coverage
Ambar details

Choose Filestash if…

  • Unifies access to many backends
  • Easy deployment
Filestash details

Frequently asked questions

Is Ambar or Filestash better?

Filestash is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Ambar if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Ambar and Filestash free and open-source?

Yes. Ambar is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Filestash under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Ambar and Filestash with Docker?

Ambar: yes. Filestash: yes.

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