--- title: "surf vs paperless-gpt" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/deta-surf-vs-icereed-paperless-gpt" tools: ["deta-surf", "icereed-paperless-gpt"] --- # surf vs paperless-gpt *GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026* ## Verdict Pick surf if surf is an open-source tool for managing personal notes by integrating local or remote AI models to process files and webpages; pick paperless-gpt if paperless-gpt uses LLMs and OCR for document processing within the paperless-ngx framework, available in Go with MIT license. [surf](https://deta.surf) reports 3.6k GitHub stars, 251 forks, and 32 open issues, last pushed Aug 24, 2026. [paperless-gpt](https://github.com/icereed/paperless-gpt) has 2.7k stars, 208 forks, and 157 open issues, last pushed Sep 19, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [surf's repository](https://github.com/deta/surf) and [paperless-gpt's repository](https://github.com/icereed/paperless-gpt). | | [surf](/tools/deta-surf.md) | [paperless-gpt](/tools/icereed-paperless-gpt.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Tools for organizing files and webpages locally to generate notes using personal AI notebooks. | Document Digitalization powered by AI | | Stars | 3,572 | 2,702 | | Forks | 251 | 208 | | Open issues | 32 | 157 | | Language | TypeScript | Go | | Adopt for | surf is an open-source tool for managing personal notes by integrating local or remote AI models to process files and webpages. | paperless-gpt uses LLMs and OCR for document processing within the paperless-ngx framework, available in Go with MIT license. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | MIT | | Categories | Data & Retrieval, Developer Tools, LLM Frameworks | Computer Vision, LLM Frameworks | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [surf](/tools/deta-surf.md) | [paperless-gpt](/tools/icereed-paperless-gpt.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Active (82%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 26d | 1d | | Open issues (now) | 32 | 157 | | Stars delta | +50 (30d) | +88 (30d) | | Open issues delta | 0 (30d) | -20 (30d) | | Owner type | Organization | User | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/deta-surf/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/icereed-paperless-gpt/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: surf - **Adopt for:** surf is an open-source tool for managing personal notes by integrating local or remote AI models to process files and webpages. ## Decision facts: paperless-gpt - **Adopt for:** paperless-gpt uses LLMs and OCR for document processing within the paperless-ngx framework, available in Go with MIT license. ## Choose when ### Choose surf if… - surf is primarily TypeScript; paperless-gpt is Go. - License: surf is Apache-2.0, paperless-gpt is MIT. - Tags unique to surf: claude, deepseek, gemma, knowledge-base. - Also covers Data & Retrieval, Developer Tools. - Need a robust integration with both local and remote language models for comprehensive note creation ### Choose paperless-gpt if… - paperless-gpt is primarily Go; surf is TypeScript. - License: paperless-gpt is MIT, surf is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to paperless-gpt: ai, document-processing, llm, ocr. - Also covers Computer Vision. - paperless-gpt ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - Need integration with existing paperless-ngx setup ## When NOT to use surf - Prefer using proprietary, closed-source tools that do not allow open model choices - Require extensive cloud-based collaboration features among multiple users ## When NOT to use paperless-gpt - Looking for a tool that operates independently of paperless-ngx infrastructure - Prefer solutions not requiring configuration for different LLM providers - Require real-time high-volume processing where additional latency from AI integration is undesirable ## Common questions ### What is the difference between surf and paperless-gpt? surf: Tools for organizing files and webpages locally to generate notes using personal AI notebooks.. paperless-gpt: Document Digitalization powered by AI. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose surf over paperless-gpt? Choose surf over paperless-gpt when surf is primarily TypeScript; paperless-gpt is Go; License: surf is Apache-2.0, paperless-gpt is MIT; Tags unique to surf: claude, deepseek, gemma, knowledge-base; Also covers Data & Retrieval, Developer Tools; Need a robust integration with both local and remote language models for comprehensive note creation. ### When should I choose paperless-gpt over surf? Choose paperless-gpt over surf when paperless-gpt is primarily Go; surf is TypeScript; License: paperless-gpt is MIT, surf is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to paperless-gpt: ai, document-processing, llm, ocr; Also covers Computer Vision; paperless-gpt ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; Need integration with existing paperless-ngx setup. ### When should I avoid surf? Prefer using proprietary, closed-source tools that do not allow open model choices Require extensive cloud-based collaboration features among multiple users ### When should I avoid paperless-gpt? Looking for a tool that operates independently of paperless-ngx infrastructure Prefer solutions not requiring configuration for different LLM providers Require real-time high-volume processing where additional latency from AI integration is undesirable ### Is surf or paperless-gpt more popular on GitHub? surf has more GitHub stars (3,572 vs 2,702). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are surf and paperless-gpt open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (surf: Apache-2.0, paperless-gpt: MIT). ### Where can I find alternatives to surf or paperless-gpt? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [surf alternatives](/tools/deta-surf/alternatives) and [paperless-gpt alternatives](/tools/icereed-paperless-gpt/alternatives) ([surf markdown twin](/tools/deta-surf/alternatives.md), [paperless-gpt markdown twin](/tools/icereed-paperless-gpt/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/deta-surf-vs-icereed-paperless-gpt.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, surf or paperless-gpt? surf: Active. paperless-gpt: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for surf and paperless-gpt? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [surf trust report](/tools/deta-surf/trust); [paperless-gpt trust report](/tools/icereed-paperless-gpt/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=deta-surf`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=deta-surf) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_