Best Self Hosted Alternatives to ConnectedPDF

ArchiveBox is a self-hosted, open-source web archiving application that captures and preserves web pages and associated media in durable formats for long-term access. It can ingest URLs, browser history, bookmarks, RSS feeds, and other sources and produces redundant snapshot outputs for offline viewing and analysis. (archivebox.io)

Key Features

• Multiple import sources: URLs, browser history, bookmarks, Pocket/Pinboard, RSS and more. (archivebox.io)
• Saves snapshots in redundant, portable formats: original HTML+CSS+JS, singlefile HTML, screenshot PNG, PDF, WARC, JSON, MP3/MP4, and SQLite index. (github.com)
• Web UI + CLI + Python API: manage collections via a self-hosted web app, a command-line interface, or the Python library. (github.com)
• Search & indexing options: SQLite FTS or external search backends (e.g., Sonic) for fast full-text queries. (docs.archivebox.io)
• Extensible extractors: integrates with standard tools (chromium/chrome, yt-dlp, singlefile, readability) and can be configured to run optional extractors. (docs.archivebox.io)

Use Cases

• Journalists and researchers preserving cited pages and social media posts for reproducibility and evidence. (archivebox.io)
• Legal and compliance teams capturing time-stamped snapshots for records and audits. (archivebox.io)
• Individuals or organizations creating offline archives of bookmarks, blogs, or multimedia collections. (github.com)

Limitations and Considerations

• Storage and disk usage can grow quickly (especially when archiving video/audio); careful tuning of extractor settings and filesystem choice is recommended. (docs.archivebox.io)
• Several high-fidelity extractors rely on external system packages (Chromium/Chrome, Node, ffmpeg, yt-dlp); installing the full feature set requires additional runtime dependencies. (docs.archivebox.io)

ArchiveBox is intended for users who need durable, self-hosted preservation of web content and provides multiple interfaces and storage-friendly outputs to support long-term access and programmatic workflows. (archivebox.io)

Papermerge is a web-based document management system focused on scanned documents and digital archives. It extracts text via OCR, indexes documents for full-text search, and provides a desktop-like web UI for organizing and managing document collections.

Key Features

• OCR processing of scanned PDFs and images (uses open-source OCR tooling to extract searchable text).
• Full-text search with support for multiple search backends and indexing options.
• OpenAPI-compliant REST API for automation and integrations.
• Document versioning so original and processed versions (for example OCRed versions) are retained.
• Categories, tags and user-defined custom fields (metadata) per document type for structured organization.
• Page management: reorder, rotate, cut, move or extract individual pages within documents.
• Multi-user access, group ownership and share controls for documents and folders.
• Modern, responsive frontend with dual-panel browsing, drag-and-drop and internationalization.

Use Cases

• Long-term archival of scanned documents for small-to-medium organizations and personal archives.
• Processing receipts, invoices and administrative paperwork with metadata and searchable OCR text.
• Managing contract and record versioning with searchable history and page-level edits.

Limitations and Considerations

• Robust full-text search typically requires deploying an external search backend (e.g., Elasticsearch, Solr, Xapian) for large archives; bundled minimal setups may omit advanced search.
• OCR and indexing are resource-intensive at scale and commonly run in background workers; production deployments should provision worker processes and sufficient CPU/RAM.
• The public demo instance is intentionally limited (for example, OCR and full-text search may be disabled) and is reset periodically, so it is useful only for exploring the UI and basic flows.

Papermerge is a focused solution for turning scanned documents into searchable, organized archives with metadata and version control. It exposes a programmable API and can be integrated into automated ingestion pipelines for document-centric workflows.

PdfDing is a self-hosted PDF manager, viewer, and editor designed for a fast, minimal, browser-based experience across devices. It helps you organize your PDF library, continue reading where you left off, and make edits or annotations without relying on third-party cloud services.

Key Features

• Browser-based PDF viewing with remembered reading position across devices
• Library organization with multi-level tags, starring, and archiving
• PDF editing tools including text, highlighting, and drawings
• Signature creation and reuse across devices
• Dedicated sections for managing and exporting highlights and comments
• Share PDFs via link or QR code with optional access control
• Single Sign-On via OIDC
• Customizable UI with dark mode, inverted colors, theme colors, and multiple layouts
• Markdown notes associated with documents

Use Cases

• Personal or team PDF library for papers, manuals, and ebooks with structured tagging
• Reviewing and annotating PDFs (highlights, drawings, comments) and exporting notes
• Securely sharing selected documents externally using expiring or access-controlled links

PdfDing is a strong fit for users who want complete ownership of their PDF collection while keeping a modern reading and annotation workflow. Its emphasis on multi-device continuity and lightweight deployment makes it well-suited for homelabs and small teams.