Mayan EDMS vs Paperless-AI
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted document management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Mayan EDMS
Free electronic document management with workflows
VS
Paperless-AI
Automated AI tagging and analysis for Paperless-ngx
| Feature | Mayan EDMS | Paperless-AI |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Document Management | Document Management |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,100 | ★ 5,952 |
| First released | 2011 | 2024 |
| Replaces | DocuWare, M-Files | DocuWare |
What are Mayan EDMS and Paperless-AI?
Mayan EDMS
Mayan EDMS is an open-source electronic document management system for storing, indexing, and organizing documents with OCR. It includes workflows, document versioning, and granular permissions.
- OCR and full-text search
- Document workflows
- Versioning and history
- Granular access control
Paperless-AI
Paperless-AI is a companion service for Paperless-ngx that uses large language models to automatically analyze, tag, and categorize scanned documents. It connects to a Paperless-ngx instance and enriches documents with AI-generated metadata.
- AI-powered tagging
- Automatic categorization
- Paperless-ngx integration
- Document chat
Mayan EDMS vs Paperless-AI: key differences
Mayan EDMS is written in Python, while Paperless-AI is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Mayan EDMS versus MIT for Paperless-AI. Paperless-AI is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Mayan EDMS. Mayan EDMS is the more established project (first released 2011), while Paperless-AI arrived in 2024. Paperless-AI has the considerably larger community, at 5,952 GitHub stars versus 1,100.
Why pick each one
Choose Mayan EDMS if…
- Powerful workflow engine
- Enterprise-grade features
Watch out for
- Complex to configure
- Resource intensive
Choose Paperless-AI if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Mayan EDMS or Paperless-AI better?
Paperless-AI is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Mayan EDMS if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Mayan EDMS and Paperless-AI free and open-source?
Yes. Mayan EDMS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Paperless-AI under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mayan EDMS and Paperless-AI with Docker?
Mayan EDMS: yes. Paperless-AI: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Mayan EDMS or Paperless-AI?
Paperless-AI has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Mayan EDMS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.