--- title: "ArkhamMirror vs paperless-ngx" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/mantisfury-arkhammirror-vs-paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx" tools: ["mantisfury-arkhammirror", "paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx"] --- # ArkhamMirror vs paperless-ngx *GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026* ## Verdict Pick ArkhamMirror if arkhamMirror is a privacy-focused, self-hosted document intelligence platform with entity extraction and knowledge graph creation capabilities tailored for investigative journalists in air-gapped environments; pick paperless-ngx if paperless-ngx is a community-supported document management system that leverages OCR and machine learning for scanning, indexing, and archiving documents. It is built with Python and is licensed under GPL-3.0. [ArkhamMirror](https://github.com/mantisfury/ArkhamMirror) reports 490 GitHub stars, 49 forks, and 0 open issues, last pushed Jan 25, 2026. [paperless-ngx](http://docs.paperless-ngx.com/) has 45k stars, 3.1k forks, and 6 open issues, last pushed Sep 18, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [ArkhamMirror's repository](https://github.com/mantisfury/ArkhamMirror) and [paperless-ngx's repository](https://github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx). | | [ArkhamMirror](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror.md) | [paperless-ngx](/tools/paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Local-first AI-powered document intelligence platform for investigative journalism | A community-supported supercharged document management system | | Stars | 490 | 45,263 | | Forks | 49 | 3,122 | | Open issues | 0 | 6 | | Language | Python | Python | | Adopt for | ArkhamMirror is a privacy-focused, self-hosted document intelligence platform with entity extraction and knowledge graph creation capabilities tailored for investigative journalists in air-gapped environments. | paperless-ngx is a community-supported document management system that leverages OCR and machine learning for scanning, indexing, and archiving documents. It is built with Python and is licensed under GPL-3.0. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | MIT | GPL-3.0 | | Categories | Data & Retrieval, Developer Tools | Data & Retrieval | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [ArkhamMirror](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror.md) | [paperless-ngx](/tools/paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Slowing (36%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 237d | 0d | | Open issues (now) | 0 | 6 | | Stars delta | +6 (30d) | Unknown | | Open issues delta | 0 (30d) | Unknown | | Owner type | User | Organization | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: ArkhamMirror - **Requirements:** Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker - **Adopt for:** ArkhamMirror is a privacy-focused, self-hosted document intelligence platform with entity extraction and knowledge graph creation capabilities tailored for investigative journalists in air-gapped environments. ## Decision facts: paperless-ngx - **Adopt for:** paperless-ngx is a community-supported document management system that leverages OCR and machine learning for scanning, indexing, and archiving documents. It is built with Python and is licensed under GPL-3.0. ## Choose when ### Choose ArkhamMirror if… - License: ArkhamMirror is MIT, paperless-ngx is GPL-3.0. - Requirements: Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker. - Tags unique to ArkhamMirror: air-gapped, data-visualization, digital-forensics, docker. - Also covers Developer Tools. - When handling sensitive data that requires strict privacy controls and confidentiality ### Choose paperless-ngx if… - License: paperless-ngx is GPL-3.0, ArkhamMirror is MIT. - Tags unique to paperless-ngx: ai, angular, archiving, django. - Use paperless-ngx if you are looking for a system that supports scanning, indexing, and archiving documents with a strong community support and continuous updates. ## When NOT to use ArkhamMirror - When you require cloud-based services or real-time collaboration features that are not available in a self-hosted solution - For general-purpose document intelligence tasks that do not involve investigative journalism or detailed privacy requirements - If your project's success depends on the integration with specific third-party APIs or cloud storage systems - In scenarios where continuous online data synchronization and real-time updates to central servers are essential ## When NOT to use paperless-ngx - Avoid paperless-ngx if you require a proprietary solution with commercial support, as it is an open-source project under GPL-3.0. - Do not use paperless-ngx if you need a document management system that does not rely on Docker for deployment, as it heavily integrates Docker for its setup. - Skip paperless-ngx if you are looking for a system that does not involve community-supported development, as it may not meet specific enterprise-level requirements for customization and support. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between ArkhamMirror and paperless-ngx? ArkhamMirror: Local-first AI-powered document intelligence platform for investigative journalism. paperless-ngx: A community-supported supercharged document management system. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose ArkhamMirror over paperless-ngx? Choose ArkhamMirror over paperless-ngx when License: ArkhamMirror is MIT, paperless-ngx is GPL-3.0; Requirements: Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Tags unique to ArkhamMirror: air-gapped, data-visualization, digital-forensics, docker; Also covers Developer Tools; When handling sensitive data that requires strict privacy controls and confidentiality. ### When should I choose paperless-ngx over ArkhamMirror? Choose paperless-ngx over ArkhamMirror when License: paperless-ngx is GPL-3.0, ArkhamMirror is MIT; Tags unique to paperless-ngx: ai, angular, archiving, django; Use paperless-ngx if you are looking for a system that supports scanning, indexing, and archiving documents with a strong community support and continuous updates. ### When should I avoid ArkhamMirror? When you require cloud-based services or real-time collaboration features that are not available in a self-hosted solution For general-purpose document intelligence tasks that do not involve investigative journalism or detailed privacy requirements If your project's success depends on the integration with specific third-party APIs or cloud storage systems In scenarios where continuous online data synchronization and real-time updates to central servers are essential ### When should I avoid paperless-ngx? Avoid paperless-ngx if you require a proprietary solution with commercial support, as it is an open-source project under GPL-3.0. Do not use paperless-ngx if you need a document management system that does not rely on Docker for deployment, as it heavily integrates Docker for its setup. Skip paperless-ngx if you are looking for a system that does not involve community-supported development, as it may not meet specific enterprise-level requirements for customization and support. ### Is ArkhamMirror or paperless-ngx more popular on GitHub? paperless-ngx has more GitHub stars (45,263 vs 490). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are ArkhamMirror and paperless-ngx open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (ArkhamMirror: MIT, paperless-ngx: GPL-3.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to ArkhamMirror or paperless-ngx? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [ArkhamMirror alternatives](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror/alternatives) and [paperless-ngx alternatives](/tools/paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx/alternatives) ([ArkhamMirror markdown twin](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror/alternatives.md), [paperless-ngx markdown twin](/tools/paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx/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/mantisfury-arkhammirror-vs-paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, ArkhamMirror or paperless-ngx? ArkhamMirror: Slowing. paperless-ngx: 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 ArkhamMirror and paperless-ngx? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [ArkhamMirror trust report](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror/trust); [paperless-ngx trust report](/tools/paperless-ngx-paperless-ngx/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=mantisfury-arkhammirror`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=mantisfury-arkhammirror) - 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/_