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OpenKM Community vs Plone

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?
OP OpenKM Community Archived Enterprise document management and content platform VS PL Plone Enterprise CMS and document repository with strong security
FeatureOpenKM CommunityPlone
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score15 · At risk72 · Good
StatusArchivedActively maintained
CategoryDocument ManagementDocument Management
LicenseGPL-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageJavaPython
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM2,048 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 849★ 310
First released20062001
ReplacesDocuWare, SharePointSharePoint

What are OpenKM Community and Plone?

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

Plone

Plone is a mature open-source content management system widely used as a secure document repository and intranet. It offers fine-grained workflow, versioning, and permissions on every content item.

  • Granular workflows
  • Content versioning
  • Strong security model
  • Extensible add-ons

OpenKM Community vs Plone: key differences

The biggest difference is maintenance: OpenKM Community's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Plone is actively maintained. OpenKM Community is written in Java, while Plone is built with Python. Plone is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for OpenKM Community. Plone is the more established project (first released 2001), while OpenKM Community arrived in 2006. OpenKM Community has the considerably larger community, at 849 GitHub stars versus 310.

Why pick each one

Choose OpenKM Community if…

  • Comprehensive enterprise features
  • Mature platform

Watch out for

  • Heavy resource use
  • Complex administration
OpenKM Community details

Choose Plone if…

  • Battle-tested security
  • Highly customizable

Watch out for

  • Steep learning curve
  • Heavy stack
Plone details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenKM Community or Plone better?

Neither is universally better. OpenKM Community has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are OpenKM Community and Plone free and open-source?

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

Can I run OpenKM Community and Plone with Docker?

OpenKM Community: yes. Plone: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, OpenKM Community or Plone?

Plone has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for OpenKM Community. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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