KeepsakeKeepsake vs paperless-ngx
paperless-ngx is the open-source gold standard for self-hosted document management — genuinely excellent if you enjoy running a home server. Keepsake is for the other 99% of families: the same "documents file themselves" outcome with no Docker, no server, and encryption on by default.
Should I use paperless-ngx or Keepsake?
If you enjoy running a server, paperless-ngx is free, open source and excellent, with server-side OCR and mature multi-user permissions — but you administer it, it is not encrypted at rest by default, and remote access is your problem. Keepsake gives the same filed-and-searchable outcome as apps on your PC and phone, encrypted by default, with no server to run and no Docker.
| Keepsake | paperless-ngx | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free / £19 yr Premium / £29 Family / £79 Teams | Free, open source |
| Runs on | Your PC, phone and browser — as apps | A server you administer (Docker/Linux) |
| Setup time | Two minutes | An afternoon, if it goes well |
| OCR | On-device, automatic | Server-side (Tesseract), automatic |
| Encryption at rest | Always — AES-256-GCM per document | Not by default (disk/OS-level DIY) |
| Mobile experience | Native Android app + installable PWA | Third-party clients / web UI |
| Sync across devices | Built in, through your cloud | You are the sync (VPN/reverse proxy) |
| Expiry alerts / renewals | Yes, with country checklists | Custom fields + DIY workflows |
| Family sharing | Key-based permissions | Multi-user with server-side permissions |
| Maintenance | App updates | You patch, back up, and monitor it |
Keepsake prices are in pounds sterling (£); paperless-ngx's are its own published list prices, quoted in their original currency and unconverted.
When paperless-ngx is the better choice
- You already run a home server and enjoy administering it — paperless-ngx is mature, scriptable and free.
- You need heavy DMS workflows: mail ingestion, custom pipelines, tag taxonomies across thousands of docs.
- You want every line of code open source today.
When Keepsake is the better choice
- Nobody in the family wants to maintain a server — or debug one at 11pm when the reverse proxy dies.
- You want encryption as the default state, not a project.
- You want your phone as a first-class citizen: capture, OCR, travel capsule, offline vault.
- You want document intelligence (expiry, renewal packs, identity card) rather than infrastructure.
The honest verdict
We tell people honestly: if "self-hosted" makes you excited rather than tired, run paperless-ngx — it's wonderful software. Keepsake exists because most households will never run Docker, and they deserve encrypted, OCR-filed, expiry-watched documents too. We're "paperless-ngx for normal people": the server it needs is the phone already in your pocket.