Paperless-ngx on VPS: Ranked by Storage & Cost
Paperless-ngx scans and OCRs documents into a searchable archive. Storage is the cost driver. Here's our chart: 5 providers, ranked by €/GB, vCPU, and total monthly spend.
Hetzner — Best €/GB Storage for Paperless OCR
$4.15/mo for 4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, and 40 GB NVMe. Our chart of 5 providers ranks Hetzner first on storage-per-dollar for Paperless' document archive + OCR workload.
Get Hetzner VPS →Paperless — OCR CPU Spikes + Storage Compounds
Paperless-ngx is a document archive: scan or upload PDFs, Tesseract OCRs them locally, tags auto-assign by content or filename, full-text search indexes the result.
OCR is CPU-bound but bursty (queued background jobs). Storage compounds: 10,000 pages = ~50–100 GB raw. Our chart emphasizes €/GB because storage cost grows linearly with your archive horizon and scan volume.
This guide ranks 5 providers' archive-suitable tiers (4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, $3.99–$12/mo). All handle 5k–50k page archives with background OCR on 2 vCPU. 50–100 scans/day fit base tier; scale vCPU for higher throughput, storage for longer retention.
Minimum Server Requirements for Paperless-ngx
| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| CPU | 2 vCPU | 2+ vCPUs |
| Storage | 20 GB | 40+ GB NVMe |
| OS | Ubuntu 22.04+ | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS |
Top 5 VPS Providers for Paperless-ngx Compared
We deployed Paperless-ngx on each provider and measured startup time, response latency, and resource usage. Here are the results:
Pros
- Unbeatable price-to-performance ratio
- European data centers with strong privacy
- NVMe storage on all plans
Cons
- No US data centers
- Control panel less polished than competitors
All Hetzner Plans
| Plan | CPU | RAM | Storage | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CX22 | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | 40 GB NVMe | $4.15/mo | Get Plan → |
| CX32 | 4 vCPU | 8 GB | 80 GB NVMe | $7.49/mo | Get Plan → |
| CX42 | 8 vCPU | 16 GB | 160 GB NVMe | $14.49/mo | Get Plan → |
| CX52 | 16 vCPU | 32 GB | 320 GB NVMe | $28.49/mo | Get Plan → |
Pros
- Very beginner-friendly control panel
- Competitive pricing with frequent deals
- 24/7 customer support
Cons
- Renewal prices are higher
- Limited advanced configuration options
All Hostinger Plans
| Plan | CPU | RAM | Storage | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KVM 1 | 1 vCPU | 4 GB | 50 GB NVMe | $4.99/mo | Get Plan → |
| KVM 2 | 2 vCPU | 8 GB | 100 GB NVMe | $6.99/mo | Get Plan → |
| KVM 4 | 4 vCPU | 16 GB | 200 GB NVMe | $12.99/mo | Get Plan → |
| KVM 8 | 8 vCPU | 32 GB | 400 GB NVMe | $19.99/mo | Get Plan → |
Pros
- Excellent documentation and tutorials
- $200 free credit for new accounts
- Strong developer ecosystem
Cons
- Higher pricing than budget providers
- No phone support available
All DigitalOcean Plans
| Plan | CPU | RAM | Storage | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 1 vCPU | 2 GB | 50 GB SSD | $12.00/mo | Get Plan → |
| Regular | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | 80 GB SSD | $24.00/mo | Get Plan → |
| CPU-Optimized | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | 25 GB SSD | $42.00/mo | Get Plan → |
| Memory-Opt | 2 vCPU | 16 GB | 50 GB SSD | $84.00/mo | Get Plan → |
Pros
- 32 data center locations worldwide
- Hourly billing with no lock-in
- High-performance NVMe storage
Cons
- Interface can be overwhelming for beginners
- Support response times vary
All Vultr Plans
| Plan | CPU | RAM | Storage | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Compute | 1 vCPU | 2 GB | 50 GB SSD | $10.00/mo | Get Plan → |
| Cloud Compute | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | 80 GB SSD | $20.00/mo | Get Plan → |
| High Frequency | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | 64 GB NVMe | $24.00/mo | Get Plan → |
| Bare Metal | E-2286G | 32 GB | 2x 480GB SSD | $120.00/mo | Get Plan → |
Pros
- One-click deploys from Git
- Auto-scaling based on usage
- No server management needed
Cons
- Can get expensive at scale
- Less control over infrastructure
All Railway Plans
| Plan | CPU | RAM | Storage | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | Shared 8 vCPU | 8 GB | 100 GB | $5.00/mo | Get Plan → |
| Pro | Shared 32 vCPU | 32 GB | 250 GB | $20.00/mo | Get Plan → |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Get Plan → |
Architecture Overview
A typical Paperless-ngx deployment on a VPS uses Docker for easy management and Nginx as a reverse proxy:
Paperless-ngx Deployment Architecture
How to Set Up Paperless-ngx on a VPS
Step 1: Provision VPS with storage space
Choose your VPS provider (we recommend Hetzner for the best value), select an Ubuntu 24.04 LTS image, and configure your SSH keys. Most providers have this ready in under 2 minutes.
Step 2: Deploy Paperless-ngx with Docker Compose
SSH into your server, install Docker and Docker Compose, and pull the Paperless-ngx container image. Configure your environment variables and Docker Compose file according to the official documentation.
Step 3: Configure OCR, storage, and scanning workflow
Set up Nginx as a reverse proxy with SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt. Point your domain to the server IP, and your Paperless-ngx instance will be accessible via HTTPS.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Paperless-ngx do?
Scans → OCR text extraction → full-text searchable archive. Tags auto-assign based on filename, content, or rules. Replaces a physical filing system.
How much storage do I need?
See our chart: 40 GB base tier holds ~5,000 pages (5–10 GB raw). Most users expand via block storage. Calculate 1 MB per page average.
Does it support OCR?
Yes, Tesseract is built-in. Supports 100+ languages. On our 2–4 vCPU tiers, OCR runs in background; bigger tasks benefit from upgraded CPU.
Can I scan directly to Paperless?
Yes, IMAP or consumption folder. Most home scanners: upload to shared folder, Paperless polls and processes. See performance notes for your VPS tier.
Is it good for business use?
Yes. Invoice, receipt, and contract scanning for bookkeeping. See our chart: 4 GB RAM tier handles 50–100 scans/day. Scale vCPU for higher throughput.