nb Notes vs Papra
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
nb Notes
Command-line note-taking, bookmarking, and archiving tool
VS
Papra
Minimalistic self-hosted document archiving platform
| Feature | nb Notes | Papra |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | E-books & Media Library |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Shell | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,343 | ★ 5,160 |
| First released | 2019 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion | Evernote, Dropbox |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is nb Notes or Papra better?
Neither is universally better. nb Notes has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are nb Notes and Papra free and open-source?
Yes. nb Notes is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Papra under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run nb Notes and Papra with Docker?
nb Notes: check the project docs for container support. Papra: yes.