# i-librarian-free vs Paperless-ngx

> Two self-hosted [Document Management projects](https://selfhost.directory/document-management), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | i-librarian-free | Paperless-ngx |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 50/100 | 86/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #28 of 46 in Document Management | #3 of 46 in Document Management |
| GitHub stars | 356 | 47 220 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +1 264 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 2 | 26 ✓ |
| Latest release | 5.11.3 · 2 Dec 2025 | v3.3.4 · 22 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Paperless-ngx scores 86/100 against 50/100 for i-librarian-free, so it is the safer default.

Paperless-ngx ships more often: 26 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for i-librarian-free.

If you want the quickest setup, Paperless-ngx is easier to run; i-librarian-free needs more configuration.

Paperless-ngx is growing faster right now (+1 264 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [i-librarian-free](https://selfhost.directory/project/i-librarian-free) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/i-librarian-free.md)
- [Paperless-ngx](https://selfhost.directory/project/paperless-ngx) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/paperless-ngx.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/i-librarian-free-vs-paperless-ngx