OpenKM Community vs Papermerge

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?
FeatureOpenKM CommunityPapermerge
CategoryDocument ManagementDocument Management
LicenseGPL-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaPython
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM2,048 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 850★ 521
First released20062017
ReplacesDocuWare, SharePointEvernote, DEVONthink

Why pick each one

Choose OpenKM Community if…

  • Comprehensive enterprise features
  • Mature platform
OpenKM Community details

Choose Papermerge if…

  • Familiar folder structure
  • Good PDF handling
Papermerge details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenKM Community or Papermerge better?

Neither is universally better. OpenKM Community has the larger community, while Papermerge is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are OpenKM Community and Papermerge free and open-source?

Yes. OpenKM Community is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Papermerge under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenKM Community and Papermerge with Docker?

OpenKM Community: yes. Papermerge: yes.

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