DSpace vs Mayan EDMS
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?
DSpace
Turnkey repository application providing durable access to digital
VS
Mayan EDMS
Free electronic document management with workflows
| Feature | DSpace | Mayan EDMS |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document Management | Document Management |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,089 | ★ 1,100 |
| First released | 2026 | 2011 |
| Replaces | — | DocuWare, M-Files |
Why pick each one
Choose DSpace if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is DSpace or Mayan EDMS better?
Neither is universally better. Mayan EDMS has the larger community, while DSpace is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are DSpace and Mayan EDMS free and open-source?
Yes. DSpace is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Mayan EDMS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run DSpace and Mayan EDMS with Docker?
DSpace: check the project docs for container support. Mayan EDMS: yes.