Stirling-PDF
Local hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files, such as merging, splitting, file conversions and OCR.
Best self-hosted Document Management software in 2026
A document management system (DMS) is a system used to receive, track, manage and store documents and reduce paper.
We track 19 open-source, self-hosted Document Management apps. 17 of them had commits in the last 90 days, 17 can run with Docker, and the most common licenses are AGPL-3.0 (9), GPL-3.0 (4), Apache-2.0 (2). The most-used languages are Nodejs, PHP, Java. Below are the top picks by GitHub stars, followed by every app ranked by stars weighted by maintenance health.
Alternatives to DocuSignAlternatives to Adobe ScanAlternatives to Adobe AcrobatAlternatives to SmallpdfAlternatives to iLovePDFAlternatives to SharePointAlternatives to Paperless-ngx
Top 5 by GitHub stars
| # | App | Stars | Health | Last activity | License | Language | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stirling-PDF | 96.5k | Active | 2026-11-09 | Apache-2.0 | Docker, Java | ✓ |
| 2 | Paperless-ngx | 48.1k | Active | 2026-11-09 | GPL-3.0 | Python, Docker | ✓ |
| 3 | Docuseal | 19k | Active | 2026-11-09 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker | ✓ |
| 4 | BentoPDF | 16.3k | Active | 2026-11-09 | AGPL-3.0 | Nodejs, Docker | ✓ |
| 5 | Documenso | 15.7k | Active | 2026-11-05 | AGPL-3.0 | Nodejs, Docker | ✓ |
- Stirling-PDF — Local hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files, such as merging, splitting, file conversions and OCR.
- Paperless-ngx — Scan, index, and archive all of your paper documents with an improved interface (fork of Paperless).
- Docuseal — Create, fill, and sign digital documents (alternative to DocuSign).
- BentoPDF — Powerful, privacy-first, client-side PDF toolkit that allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser.
- Documenso — Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).
Head-to-head comparisons
Paperless-ngx vs Stirling-PDFDocuseal vs Stirling-PDFBentoPDF vs Stirling-PDFDocuseal vs Paperless-ngxBentoPDF vs Paperless-ngxBentoPDF vs Docuseal
All 19 self-hosted Document Management apps
Ranked by GitHub stars weighted by maintenance health.
Paperless-ngx
Scan, index, and archive all of your paper documents with an improved interface (fork of Paperless).
Docuseal
Create, fill, and sign digital documents (alternative to DocuSign).
BentoPDF
Powerful, privacy-first, client-side PDF toolkit that allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser.
Documenso
Digital document signing platform (alternative to DocuSign).
Gotenberg
Developer-friendly API to interact with powerful tools like Chromium and LibreOffice for converting numerous document formats (HTML, Markdown, Word, Excel, etc.) into PDF files, and more.
OpenSign
Document signing software (alternative to DocuSign).
Papra
Minimalist document storage, management and archiving platform designed to be simple to use and accessible to everyone.
SnapOtter
Suite of 200+ web tools for converting and editing images, videos, audio and PDFs, including a layer-based image editor, OCR, transcription, background removal and batch processing pipelines (alternative to SmallPDF, iLovePDF, CloudConvert).
Docspell
Auto-tagging document organizer and archive.
Signature PDF
Sign and manipulate PDFs with collaboration, organization, compression and metadata editing.
Mayan EDMS
Electronic document management system for your documents with preview generation, OCR, and automatic categorization among other features.
Papermerge
Document management system focused on scanned documents (electronic archives). Features file browsing in similar way to dropbox/google drive. OCR, full text search, text overlay/selection.
EveryDocs
Simple Document Management System for private use with basic functionality to organize your documents digitally.
SimpleDMS
Easy-to-use, metadata-driven, document management system (DMS) for small businesses that sorts documents almost by itself.
I, Librarian
Organize PDF papers and office documents. It provides a lot of extra features for students and research groups both in industry and academia.
PdfDing
PDF manager, viewer and editor offering a seamless user experience on multiple devices. It's designed to be minimal, fast, and easy to set up using Docker.
Bottle Rocket
Document scanning and management application, compatible with Rocketbook and Scribzee formats.
SeedDMS
Document Management System with workflows, access rights, fulltext search, and more.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best self-hosted Document Management software in 2026?
By GitHub stars, the most popular self-hosted Document Management apps are Stirling-PDF (96,541 stars), Paperless-ngx (48,103 stars), Docuseal (19,031 stars). Popularity is only one signal: also check maintenance health, license and whether it fits your setup.
How many self-hosted Document Management apps are actively maintained?
17 of the 19 apps listed had commits in the last 90 days and 1 more in the last 12 months; for 1 we have no repository activity data.
Which self-hosted Document Management apps can I run with Docker?
17 of the 19 apps can run with Docker; 1 publish an image on Docker Hub, including Documenso.
Which licenses do self-hosted Document Management apps use?
The most common licenses in this category are AGPL-3.0 (9 apps), GPL-3.0 (4 apps), Apache-2.0 (2 apps).
How much does it cost to self-host Document Management software?
The software itself is free to download. Based on our rough hardware estimates, the cheapest suitable VPS plan starts at about $10/month (median $10/month across apps in this category). Several light apps can share one server.
Figures from GitHub and Docker Hub as of 2026-11-15; hosting costs are rough estimates.