Paperless-ngx vs Teedy: Document Management Compared

Quick Verdict

Paperless-ngx is the better choice for most self-hosters. Its automated document classification, machine learning tagging, and consumption folder workflow make it the gold standard for going paperless. Choose Teedy only if you specifically need document approval workflows, LDAP authentication, or a traditional enterprise DMS structure with formal routing.

Updated March 2026: Verified with latest Docker images and configurations.

Overview

Paperless-ngx is a community-maintained document management system focused on the paperless office workflow. Scan a document, drop it in a folder, and Paperless-ngx automatically OCRs it, classifies it by correspondent and type, applies tags based on content, and makes everything searchable. Active development with frequent releases.

Teedy (formerly Sismics Docs) is a lightweight document management system with built-in workflow routing, 256-bit AES encryption, and LDAP support. It handles a wider range of file formats (Office docs, presentations) but lacks the automated classification that defines Paperless-ngx. Development has slowed — v1.11 released March 2023.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Paperless-ngx	Teedy
OCR engine	Tesseract + text layer injection	Tesseract 4
Automatic classification	Yes — ML-based tagging	No — manual tagging only
Consumption folder	Yes — auto-ingest from watched directory	No
Email ingestion	Yes — IMAP polling	Yes — email import
Document types	PDF, images (primary focus)	PDF, images, ODT, DOCX, PPTX
Workflow/approval routing	No	Yes — multi-step approval chains
Full-text search	Yes (excellent)	Yes (advanced search mode)
Correspondents model	Yes — auto-detected	No
Tags	Yes — auto-assigned + manual	Yes — manual only
LDAP/SSO	No native LDAP	Yes — built-in LDAP
Two-factor authentication	No native 2FA	Yes — TOTP
AES encryption at rest	No	Yes — 256-bit AES
Webhooks	No	Yes
REST API	Yes	Yes
Mobile app	PWA (responsive web)	Android app
Multi-user	Yes	Yes (with permissions)
Docker Compose complexity	4 services (app + Redis + PostgreSQL + Gotenberg)	2 services (app + PostgreSQL)
RAM usage	1-2 GB	512 MB - 1 GB
Development activity	Very active (monthly releases)	Slow (last release March 2023)
License	GPL-3.0	GPL-2.0

Document Ingestion

The core difference: Paperless-ngx is built around automated ingestion. Drop a scanned receipt into a consumption folder (or email it), and Paperless-ngx:

1. OCRs the document and creates a searchable PDF
2. Detects the correspondent (who sent it)
3. Assigns a document type (invoice, receipt, contract)
4. Applies tags based on content matching rules
5. Extracts and stores the creation date

Teedy requires you to upload documents through the web UI or API, then manually tag and categorize them. There’s no watched folder, no automatic classification, no machine learning. You do all the organizing yourself.

For a household scanning invoices and receipts, Paperless-ngx’s automation saves hours. For an office managing formal documents with approval chains, Teedy’s manual workflow may be preferred.

Docker Setup Comparison

Paperless-ngx (4 containers):

services:
  paperless:
    image: ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx:2.20.11
  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
  gotenberg:
    image: gotenberg/gotenberg:8.17

Teedy (2 containers):

services:
  teedy:
    image: sismics/docs:v1.11
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine

Teedy is simpler to deploy — half the containers, fewer moving parts. Paperless-ngx needs Redis for task queuing and Gotenberg for document conversion.

Resource Usage

Resource	Paperless-ngx	Teedy
RAM (idle)	800 MB - 1.5 GB	400-700 MB
RAM (OCR processing)	1.5-3 GB	700 MB - 1.5 GB
CPU during OCR	High (multi-threaded)	Medium
Disk (app + dependencies)	~2 GB	~500 MB
Database growth	Fast (full-text index + thumbnails)	Moderate

Teedy is lighter because it’s a simpler Java application without the task queue, thumbnail generation, and ML classification pipeline that Paperless-ngx runs.

Search Capabilities

Both support full-text search, but Paperless-ngx is significantly better:

• Paperless-ngx: Searches document content, correspondents, types, tags, dates, and custom fields. Filtered views. Saved searches. The search is central to the UX — it’s how you find everything.
• Teedy: Full-text search is available but requires using “advanced search.” Basic search may not surface OCR’d text. The experience is more like a traditional file browser with search bolted on.

Security

Teedy has the edge on built-in security features:

• AES-256 encryption at rest — all stored documents are encrypted
• LDAP integration — connect to Active Directory or OpenLDAP
• TOTP two-factor authentication — native 2FA support
• Audit logging — track all document access and modifications

Paperless-ngx has none of these natively. For LDAP or 2FA, you’d need a reverse proxy with Authelia or Authentik in front. Documents on disk are not encrypted (you’d use filesystem-level encryption).

Use Cases

Choose Paperless-ngx If…

• You scan receipts, invoices, and letters regularly
• You want documents automatically classified and tagged
• Search and retrieval speed matter most
• You prefer active, well-maintained software
• You’re a household or small business going paperless
• You want the best OCR pipeline (text layer injection into PDFs)

Choose Teedy If…

• You need document approval workflows (review → approve → archive)
• LDAP authentication is a requirement
• You want built-in 2FA without extra infrastructure
• Encrypted storage at rest is mandatory
• You manage Office documents (DOCX, PPTX) alongside PDFs
• You need webhook integrations for automation
• Simpler Docker deployment matters (2 containers vs 4)

Final Verdict

Paperless-ngx dominates for the use case most self-hosters care about: turning paper into searchable, organized digital documents automatically. Its machine learning classification, consumption folder, and active development make it the category leader. Teedy serves a different niche — formal document management with approval workflows and enterprise authentication. If you’re going paperless at home, Paperless-ngx is the obvious choice. If you’re managing contract approvals or need LDAP and encryption, Teedy fills gaps Paperless-ngx doesn’t.

Related

• How to Self-Host Paperless-ngx
• How to Self-Host Teedy
• How to Self-Host Docspell
• Paperless-ngx vs Stirling-PDF
• Paperless-ngx vs Docspell
• Best Self-Hosted Document Management
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Adobe Acrobat
• Paperless-ngx: OCR Not Working — Fix