Paperless-ngx scans, indexes, and archives documents in a community-supported document management system.
Open source
24 alternativesDocspell
Docspell organizes scanned documents, email attachments, and other files in a personal document management system.
About Docspell
Docspell is an open source personal document management system. It gathers scanned documents, email attachments, and files from other sources into one place. Users can assign tags, correspondents, and other predefined or custom metadata, then find documents later with search. Docspell is aimed at home use, including families and households, and at smaller groups or companies.
Docspell can suggest correspondents, guess tags, and find dates using machine learning, which reduces the manual work of adding metadata. It runs OCR on documents when needed and provides fulltext search. The project's own instructions describe a Docker setup as the quickest way to start, with the web interface available on a local port. Paper documents must first be converted to files with a scanner. File processing relies on external tools such as tesseract, unoserver, and ocrmypdf.
Key features
- Combines files from scanners, email, and other sources in one system
- Tags, correspondents, and predefined or custom metadata for documents
- Machine learning suggestions for correspondents, tags, and dates
- OCR applied to documents when needed
- Fulltext search across documents
- REST/HTTP API for accessing the system
Best for: Families, households, and smaller groups or companies that want to organize scanned papers, email attachments, and other files.
Good for
- Free software distributed under the AGPLv3 or later
- Machine learning can suggest metadata, reducing manual tagging work
- Everything is accessible through a REST/HTTP API
Watch out for
- Paper documents require a scanner to be converted into files
- File processing depends on external tools such as tesseract, unoserver, and ocrmypdf
- Machine learning features rely on the Stanford CoreNLP library, which is GPL-licensed
Docspell at a glance
- Website
- github.com/eikek/docspell
- Category
- Online Tools › Text Tools
- Type
- Open-source project
- Pricing
- Not confirmed. Check the site
- Platforms
- Android
- Open source
- Yes · Source code
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 6, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
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Docspell FAQ
Do I need a scanner to use Docspell?
Paper documents need to be converted into files with a scanner first. Docspell then helps organize the resulting files.
How can I start Docspell quickly?
The project describes a Docker setup as the quickest way to start. It involves cloning the docker repository, running docker-compose up -d, then opening the local address on port 7880 to sign up and log in.
What license does Docspell use?
Docspell is free software distributed under the AGPLv3 or later.
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