Papra
Minimalistic document archiving — search, tags, and email ingestion.
AGPL-3.0 document management for long-term storage. OCR search, tagging rules, API/webhooks, and a <200MB Docker image — cloud at papra.app or self-host.
Mayan EDMS is itself a mature, free, open-source (GPL-2.0) document management system built on Python and Django, with OCR, workflows, and role-based access control — it's not proprietary, so an "alternative" here usually means someone wants a simpler, lighter-weight tool instead of Mayan's larger feature set.
Papra is a more minimalistic open-source option if Mayan's full workflow and RBAC system is more than you need.
FAQ
Is there a free, open-source alternative to Mayan EDMS?
Yes. Papra is open source (AGPL-3.0) and free to self-host.
What's the best open-source alternative to Mayan EDMS?
Papra is the simpler pick if you want basic archiving, tagging, and search without Mayan's more extensive workflow and role-based access control system.
What are the top open-source alternatives to Mayan EDMS?
Browse all open-source alternatives to Mayan EDMS above, or explore the full Business & Finance category for more options.