Paperless-ngx vs Teedy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted document management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Paperless-ngx | Teedy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 67 · Good |
| Category | Document Management | Document Management |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 45,960 | ★ 2,566 |
| First released | 2022 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Evernote, DEVONthink | Evernote, SharePoint |
What are Paperless-ngx and Teedy?
Paperless-ngx
Paperless-ngx is a community-supported document management system that transforms physical documents into a searchable digital archive. It performs OCR, automatic tagging, and full-text indexing of all your paperwork.
- Automatic OCR processing
- Smart tagging and matching
- Full-text search
- Document archiving
Teedy
Teedy, formerly Sismics Docs, is an open-source document management system for organizing scanned and digital documents. It offers full-text search, OCR, tagging, and granular access control for teams.
- Document management
- OCR and full-text search
- Tagging and workflows
- LDAP and access control
Paperless-ngx vs Teedy: key differences
Paperless-ngx is written in Python, while Teedy is built with Java. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Paperless-ngx versus GPL-2.0 for Teedy. Teedy is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Paperless-ngx. Teedy is the more established project (first released 2016), while Paperless-ngx arrived in 2022. Paperless-ngx has the considerably larger community, at 45,960 GitHub stars versus 2,566.
Why pick each one
Choose Paperless-ngx if…
- Excellent for paperless offices
- Very active community
Watch out for
- Resource intensive
- Initial tuning required
Choose Teedy if…
- Good team features
- Mature codebase
Watch out for
- Java memory footprint
- Interface feels dated
Frequently asked questions
Is Paperless-ngx or Teedy better?
Neither is universally better. Paperless-ngx has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Paperless-ngx and Teedy free and open-source?
Yes. Paperless-ngx is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Teedy under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Paperless-ngx and Teedy with Docker?
Paperless-ngx: yes. Teedy: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Paperless-ngx or Teedy?
Teedy has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Paperless-ngx. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.