Arhivix or Paperless-ngx: a hosted service or your own server?
Arhivix is a hosted document management system with its own apps for the web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, files hosted on AWS in the EU (Frankfurt and Dublin) and a free plan that needs no card. You connect company email inboxes or upload your folders, and Arhivix reads each document, recognises its type and proposes supplier, amount, dates and numbers for a person to confirm; paid plans are priced per company, not per user. Paperless-ngx is open-source software under GNU GPL version 3 that you install on your own server and back up and update yourself, as its administration guide describes.
Last reviewed:
| What we compared | Arhivix | Paperless-ngx |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop and mobile apps | Arhivix Yes Web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android [1] | Paperless-ngx Partial Mobile and desktop apps are third-party projects listed in the project wiki [6] |
| Setup (self-service or through a partner) | Arhivix Self-service: you sign up, upload your folders or connect an email inbox, and Arhivix indexes everything in the background. With an Enterprise contract your existing archive is moved in for you [2] | Paperless-ngx Self-service with an installation script, Docker Compose or a bare metal install; the docs also link to community-listed hosting providers [7] |
| Document intake (email inboxes, phone scan, scanner) | Arhivix Yes Gmail, Microsoft 365 and IMAP inboxes with rules that file the attachments, upload, desktop scanner and phone camera [1] | Paperless-ngx Partial Email accounts, a consumption folder for scanners (file share set up by you), web upload and REST API; phone scanning through third-party apps [8] |
| Who it is built for | Arhivix Companies of every size: ready plans for teams of up to 20 user accounts, and Enterprise contracts for organizations whose documents pass through several teams and systems [3] | Paperless-ngx No target group is stated; the README says the safest way to run it is on a local server in your own home with backups [9] |
| Integrations | Arhivix Yes Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, a REST API with signed webhooks and an MCP connector for AI assistants [4] | Paperless-ngx REST API, webhook actions in workflows, and Gmail and Outlook mail accounts through OAuth2 [8] |
| Audit log | Arhivix Yes Every view, edit, download, share and permission change is recorded with the user and the time, in a log the customer cannot alter [5] | Paperless-ngx Yes Records all changes to a document in an audit log shown in a History tab, on by default since version 2.7 [8] |
| Reads and classifies documents | Arhivix Yes OCR reads each document, Arhivix recognises its type and proposes supplier, amount, dates and numbers, and a person confirms every proposal [1] | Paperless-ngx Yes Tesseract OCR, machine learning that adds tags, correspondents and document types, and optional LLM suggestions that are off by default [10] |
| Where the data is hosted | Arhivix AWS in the EU, two regions (Frankfurt and Dublin), encrypted at rest with AES-256 [5] | Paperless-ngx On the server where you install it [10] |
Arhivix is the better choice if
- Nobody in your company wants to run a server: Arhivix is hosted for you on AWS in the EU, with backups run by NOTIX, and you start by signing up and uploading your folders or connecting an email inbox while Arhivix indexes everything in the background. Paperless-ngx is installed on your own server, and its administration guide describes the backups and updates you run yourself.
- Your team works on different devices: Arhivix has its own apps for the web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and the phone app scans paper with the camera, detecting and straightening each page. The Paperless-ngx mobile and desktop apps are third-party projects listed in its wiki.
- Documents arrive by email: you connect Gmail, Microsoft 365 or IMAP inboxes, and email rules file attachments to a folder, set the document type or notify a colleague, based on the sender, subject or content. Arhivix then reads each document, recognises one of 22 document types, proposes supplier, amount, dates and numbers for a person to confirm, and warns about possible duplicates.
- You want your files hosted for you in the EU: Arhivix hosts them on AWS in Frankfurt and Dublin, encrypts files at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS, and gives paid customers, on request, a GDPR data processing agreement that forbids using customer data to train AI models (security).
- Your company works in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace: people sign in with Microsoft Entra ID or Google, a Microsoft 365 tenant comes in with its groups as roles, its document libraries and its Outlook inboxes, and Google Drive syncs with a workspace. Claude or ChatGPT connects through the MCP connector that Arhivix hosts, with access limited by each user's role, and every paid plan includes a REST API with signed webhooks (integrations).
- You want a company behind the product: Arhivix is made by NOTIX DOO Beograd, Serbia, paid plans include email support, and an Enterprise contract adds migration of your existing archive, a named account manager and an SLA. Paperless-ngx support is community support through GitHub Discussions and a Matrix chat room.
- You want to start free and then pay for the company, not per seat: the free plan Arhivix Lite needs no card, and paid plans are priced per company, with 5, 10 or 20 user accounts, unlimited devices, and hosting and storage included (plans).
What running Paperless-ngx yourself involves
- You run the backups and updates of your installation yourself (administration guide).
- A bare metal install runs on Linux only; Windows is not supported (setup guide).
- The project README states that information is stored in clear text without encryption and that no security guarantees are made, and it says the safest way to run Paperless-ngx is on a local server in your own home with backups (Paperless-ngx README).
- The mobile and desktop apps and the hosting providers listed in the project wiki are third-party projects that the team does not endorse or support (Related Projects wiki page).
- An export made with one version cannot be imported into a different version, so the version you export from matters when you move (administration guide).
How we compared
NOTIX makes Arhivix. Every fact in the table comes from each vendor's public pages, opened on 11 November 2026 and listed under Sources. For Paperless-ngx these are the documentation files, README, licence and wiki in the project's GitHub repository; the same documentation is published at docs.paperless-ngx.com.
Questions people ask
Is Paperless-ngx free for a small business?
The software has no price: the install script and Docker images download from GitHub at no charge, and the licence is GNU GPL version 3. You provide the server and the time for backups and updates (administration guide). Arhivix starts with a free plan, Arhivix Lite, that needs no card, and paid plans are priced per company, not per user, with hosting and storage included; plans are on the pricing page.
Is there a hosted Paperless-ngx, without self-hosting?
The Paperless-ngx documentation lists managed hosting only as community-maintained third-party options, and the team does not endorse or support the providers listed in its wiki. Arhivix is a separate hosted document system with its own apps: you sign up, upload your folders or connect an email inbox, and your files are hosted on AWS in the EU (Frankfurt and Dublin).
Is there a Paperless-ngx alternative for Mac and Windows?
Paperless-ngx runs on a server you set up with Docker or a bare metal install, and a bare metal install works on Linux only (setup guide); its mobile and desktop apps are third-party projects. Arhivix has its own apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android as well as the web app, and the service behind them is hosted for you.
Can I move my documents from Paperless-ngx to Arhivix?
Paperless-ngx stores documents as plain files in its media folder (Paperless-ngx FAQ), and its document exporter writes all documents to a folder (administration guide). You upload those folders to Arhivix, and Arhivix indexes the documents in the background; with an Enterprise contract your existing archive is moved in for you.
Where does Arhivix store my documents, and who controls them?
On AWS in the EU, in two regions (Frankfurt and Dublin), encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS. Under GDPR you are the controller and NOTIX is the processor; the data processing agreement is part of the terms of service, is available to paid customers on request, and forbids using customer data to train AI models.
Can I export my documents if I leave Arhivix?
Yes. You are the controller of your data: after cancellation you have 30 days to export your documents and their metadata in standard formats, and everything, backups included, is then deleted within 120 days of termination.
Sources
- 1. Arhivix: About Arhivix
- 2. Arhivix: Arhivix home page, questions and answers
- 3. Arhivix: Arhivix pricing
- 4. Arhivix: Arhivix integrations
- 5. Arhivix: Arhivix security
- 6. Paperless-ngx: Paperless-ngx wiki: Related Projects
- 7. Paperless-ngx: Paperless-ngx documentation: Setup (docs/setup.md)
- 8. Paperless-ngx: Paperless-ngx documentation: Usage (docs/usage.md)
- 9. Paperless-ngx: Paperless-ngx README
- 10. Paperless-ngx: Paperless-ngx documentation: Home (docs/index.md)
Information about other products comes from their public pages, checked on the date shown. If something has changed, write to info@arhivix.com and we will correct it.