OpenKM Community 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.
| Feature | OpenKM Community | Paperless-AI |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 84 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Document Management | Document Management |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Java | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 849 | ★ 5,952 |
| First released | 2006 | 2024 |
| Replaces | DocuWare, SharePoint | DocuWare |
What are OpenKM Community and Paperless-AI?
OpenKM Community
OpenKM is an enterprise content management system with a community edition for storing and managing documents and records. It offers workflows, metadata, OCR, and granular security controls.
- Workflow automation
- Metadata and records management
- OCR and full-text search
- Fine-grained security
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
OpenKM Community vs Paperless-AI: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: OpenKM Community's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Paperless-AI is actively maintained. OpenKM Community is written in Java, while Paperless-AI is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for OpenKM Community versus MIT for Paperless-AI. Paperless-AI is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for OpenKM Community. OpenKM Community is the more established project (first released 2006), while Paperless-AI arrived in 2024. Paperless-AI has the considerably larger community, at 5,952 GitHub stars versus 849.
Why pick each one
Choose OpenKM Community if…
- Comprehensive enterprise features
- Mature platform
Watch out for
- Heavy resource use
- Complex administration
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 OpenKM Community or Paperless-AI better?
Paperless-AI is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenKM Community if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are OpenKM Community and Paperless-AI free and open-source?
Yes. OpenKM Community is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Paperless-AI under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenKM Community and Paperless-AI with Docker?
OpenKM Community: yes. Paperless-AI: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, OpenKM Community or Paperless-AI?
Paperless-AI has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for OpenKM Community. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.