Paperless-ngx: Managed Hosting, Installation and Operations
WZ-IT plans, installs and operates Paperless-NGX as managed hosting, in your cloud or on premises. Depending on the target design, we also provide migration, secure network and identity integration, monitoring, backups, updates, integrations and further development.
Paperless-ngx is an open-source document management system that uses OCR to index scanned and digital documents and make them searchable.
Rules and learned assignments can suggest tags, correspondents and document types. Quality and business approval depend on your documents and processes.
Automatically organize and index your documents with tags, correspondents, types, and custom fields.
Controlled Data Location
With self-hosted operations, you control data location and access paths. External mail, storage or AI services are assessed as separate data flows.
OCR Text Recognition
OCR processing makes suitable scans searchable; recognition quality depends on the source, language and scan.
Multilingual OCR
The Tesseract engine can be configured with language packs selected for the document collection.
PDF/A Archiving
Paperless-ngx can create archive files alongside originals. Format, retention and legal requirements are aligned with the use case.
Machine Learning
Rules and learned assignments support classification; important results can still be reviewed by the responsible team.
Multiple Formats
PDFs, images and additional formats can be processed depending on the installed parsers and converters.
Modern Web App
Intuitive user interface with dashboard, drag-and-drop upload, and advanced search functions.
Workflow System
Powerful workflows and integrated integrity checking for your document archive.
Operations beyond installation
Operate Paperless-ngx as a reliable document process
A production document archive combines application, OCR, database, queue, storage, ingestion channels and backups. We align these components with document volume and workflows.
Document platform
Paperless-ngx, database, queue and configuration are operated reproducibly and kept upgradeable.
OCR and processing
Languages, workers, formats and ingestion rules are adapted to documents and throughput.
Ingestion and workflows
Scanners, email, APIs, directories and optional AI services are connected in a controlled way.
Protection and recovery
Monitoring, backups, updates and integrity checks protect the technical archive.
Area
Responsibilities in document operations
Technical operations do not replace business decisions about retention or permissions.
Area
Responsibility
Scope and boundaries
Platform and OCR stack
WZ-IT
Operation of application, database, Redis, OCR components and agreed ingestion services.
Updates and monitoring
WZ-IT
Controlled updates, technical monitoring and incident handling according to service level.
Backups and restore
WZ-IT
Backup of documents, database and configuration plus scheduled recovery checks.
Archive migration and ingestion
Shared
WZ-IT builds ingestion paths and test runs; the customer assesses sources, duplicates and completeness.
Roles and access
Shared
Technical roles and SSO are integrated; business access rules are defined together.
Retention and document classes
Customer
The customer owns retention periods, categories, legal requirements and approval processes.
Custom workflows and AI
Optional WZ-IT service
API automation, specialised parsers or local AI extensions can be delivered separately.
Infrastructure, integration and operations
Paperless-NGX as part of your infrastructure
We do more than provide an application. WZ-IT designs the technical architecture, integrates network and identity, operates the agreed scope and develops integrations when the standard product is not enough.
Architecture and migration
Sizing, target environment, data transfer, cutover and recovery are resolved before production operations.
On-Premise
In your data center: Installation on bare-metal, VM or Docker · Integration with existing Active Directory/LDAP
Cloud Installation
AWS, Azure, Hetzner & more: Installation on AWS, Azure, GCP, Hetzner · Terraform/IaC setup (optional) · Kubernetes or Docker Compose · Capacity and scaling design
Take over an existing Paperless-NGX environment
We assess your existing Paperless-NGX environment, plan the target architecture and safeguard the transition with backups and a rollback option.
Enterprise Setup
Advanced architecture after technical and licence assessment: HA and recovery design where supported by the application and edition · Logging according to feature set and edition · Custom security policies
Network and identity
SSO, secure access, internal systems and existing security components are integrated appropriately.
Secure Access & Networking
NetBird, WireGuard, site connectivity and cloud networking · Easy client setup for all devices
Central rules for users, groups and administrative access
Reverse Proxy & Hardening
TLS, firewall, rate limiting and traceable access
Monitoring and service level
Updates, backups, technical monitoring and response paths follow a transparent operational scope.
24/7 proactive monitoring
Updates and patches
CVE and security-advisory monitoring for the operating system and managed application, regular updates, and priority deployment of available patches for critical vulnerabilities
Daily backup with 7-day retention
Personal technical contact
Integration and development
APIs, automation and custom extensions can be delivered beyond basic deployment.
REST API Integration
We connect Paperless with the outside world. Uploads directly from the scanner, retrieval of documents for the customer portal, or bulk exports for audits - all programmatically controlled.
Post-Consumption Hooks
The killer feature: After the OCR process, Paperless executes our scripts. We analyze the text content and decide: Is this an invoice? Then off to the bank API. Is it a contract? Then email to Legal.
Custom Parsers
When standard OCR fails (e.g., with special barcodes or handwritten forms), we integrate specialized parsers or AI vision models into the pipeline.
Full-service installation with no hidden costs
What the Paperless-NGX setup includes
Complete installation & configuration
SSL certificate & reverse proxy setup
Backup strategy & disaster recovery
Performance optimization & tuning
Security hardening following OWASP
Monitoring & logging setup
Documentation & best practices
Administrator training (remote)
30 days email support included
Dedicated contact person
Optional integration: LDAP/AD, SSO, MFA
Update strategy & patch management setup
The exact scope depends on the application, edition, infrastructure and criticality. Vendor licences and non-standard components are quoted separately.
Use Cases
Using Paperless-NGX in your organisation
Medium-sized Enterprises
Digital document management with a controllable data location and defined access paths
Sensitive Document Collections
Technical safeguards for organisations with specific privacy and permission requirements
Hybrid Cloud Setups
Controlled connection of on-premises sources to cloud or data-centre operations
Distributed Teams
Defined access paths for distributed teams, optionally through VPN or zero-trust access
Retention & Archive Processes
Technical support for defined retention, export and review processes
Department Solutions
Dedicated installations for HR, accounting or sales teams
AI extension
Extend Paperless-NGX with AI
Optional AI services are integrated around data location, permissions and quality requirements
Paperless is brilliant for archiving. But with scripting, it becomes an engine for business processes. We use interfaces to not just store documents, but trigger actions.
Auto-Pay via FinTS
Problem
Invoices are scanned but then must be manually paid in online banking.
Solution
A post-consumption script extracts IBAN and amount (RegEx/AI), creates an XML transfer, and pushes it (after approval) to the banking API.
RegEx & AI Tagging
Problem
Standard matching is too imprecise. Documents end up in the wrong context.
Solution
Implementation of complex tagging logic. E.g., 'If date > 2024 AND contains Project Number X, then tag with Project-X and move to Folder Y'.
Tax Advisor Export
Problem
At month-end, all invoices must be painstakingly gathered and zipped.
Solution
A cronjob searches all documents with tag 'Invoice' and 'This Month', creates a ZIP with meaningful naming, and uploads it to the tax advisor's shared folder.
Managed Hosting & Operations
How much does hosting for Paperless-NGX cost?
Compute, applications, storage and response are shown separately. You can see what ongoing operations include and which requirements need a technical assessment.
Starter workload from€129.90/ month · Modular pricing based on your requirements - service level, apps and compute selectable individually.
Paperless-NGX hosting in Germany: GDPR-compliant operations
One managed standard application included
Dedicated compute workload in S, M, L or XL
Subdomain on wz-it.cloud included
German provider, German data centres, no US clouds
ISO 27001-certified and BSI C5-attested data centres
99.9 % standard availability per month
CVE and security-advisory monitoring for the operating system and managed application, regular updates, and priority deployment of available patches for critical vulnerabilities
Central collection of agreed system and operations logs with immutable retention
Size Paperless-ngx by document volume and OCR load
Archive size, daily intake, page count, OCR languages, previews and concurrent users affect compute and storage differently.
Starting-point guidance
Usage scenario
Technical starting point
Key factors
Small team and ongoing document intake
S or M plus document storage
Suitable for moderate archives and normal OCR processing.
Multiple users and regular OCR batches
M or L plus storage
Worker count, page volume, formats and search load are included.
Large archive migration
Custom architecture
Temporary OCR capacity, ingestion control, duplicates and validation are planned.
Critical archive or AI extension
Custom architecture
Recovery, access protection, additional models and GPU needs are assessed separately.
The standard price covers a typical workload. Larger archives, bulk migrations and AI components are sized separately.
Sizing and deployment
Deployment for archives and data paths
Paperless-ngx can be fully operated by WZ-IT, in your cloud, on-premises or as a hybrid connected to existing ingestion sources.
WZ-IT managed hosting
Operations on European infrastructure with compute, document storage, backup and service level.
Your cloud account
Operations in your cloud with existing network, storage and security services.
On-premises
Installation and operations on your virtualisation or servers.
Hybrid with ingestion sources
Secure integration of scanners, mailboxes, file shares and other document sources.
Target architecture
Plan documents from ingestion through recovery
We treat ingestion, OCR, classification, access, storage and backup as one end-to-end data flow.
Document sources
Scanners, email, upload, API and watched ingestion directories.
Secure access
TLS, reverse proxy, network rules and optional private access through NetBird or VPN.
Identities and roles
Local accounts or SSO with agreed roles, groups and administrative access.
Paperless-ngx
Consumption, OCR, search, workflows and controlled document management.
PostgreSQL and Redis
Metadata, task queues and reliable background processing.
Document storage and backup
Originals, archive formats, exports and encrypted offsite backups.
Ingestion, API and optional AI
Scanners, mail, business systems, post-consumption hooks and separately assessed AI services.
Whether a setup meets legal archive or retention requirements depends on processes and configuration and is not guaranteed by the software alone.
Role in the overall system
Related services for Paperless-NGX
This page covers installation and agreed platform operations for Paperless-NGX. Choosing archive and signing beforehand, the access layer and special confidentiality requirements are separate building blocks that can be added when needed.
Three relevant adjacent paths instead of a long list of further products. All prices are net and exclude statutory VAT. The offers are addressed to businesses.
Answers about migration, OCR, storage and operations.
Yes. We assess version, database, document storage, consume directories, OCR languages and integrations, then plan backup, test migration and cutover.
Depending on the source, through watched directories, exports, API or a controlled migration run. For large archives, we plan samples, duplicate handling and a documented completion check.
No. OCR quality depends on scans, language, layout and source format. Rules and automatic assignments are tested; business-critical results should still be reviewed.
Yes in a fully local configuration. External mail, storage, automation or AI services create deliberate additional data flows, which we document and protect transparently.
This depends on originals, archive formats, previews, growth and retention. The configurator provides a starting point; larger archives are sized from a sample or inventory assessment.
Yes, depending on the target identity architecture and components used. We integrate existing identity providers and agree roles and emergency access.
No. Audit and retention requirements depend on technology, configuration and organisational processes. We support the technical implementation but do not make blanket legal compliance claims.
Paperless-ngx imports documents, creates searchable text with OCR and organises content through correspondents, document types, tags and workflows. Result quality depends on source documents and configuration.
The upstream software currently has no traditional vendor licence fee. Infrastructure, setup, migration, operations and optional connected services are charged separately; the deployed version and its licence remain authoritative.
We back up the database, originals, archive files, configuration and relevant keys consistently. A resilient plan also covers retention, an offsite copy, job monitoring and agreed restore tests.
Yes. Depending on security and process requirements, we configure mail retrieval, watched import directories, SFTP, API or automation and document the resulting data flows.
Optionally. Classification, suggestions or search can use local or external models. Model, data flow, cost and professional review are assessed separately from the Paperless-ngx core.
WZ-IT moved our studio infrastructure from decentralised individual devices to a central platform: every site is securely connected via VPN, new devices are onboarded automatically and an entire site is provisioned from a template, without manual steps on location. What impressed me most is the breadth and depth of their knowledge: Timo and Robin are not a typical IT provider who sets up a server and leaves. The two of them think their way into highly complex infrastructure and software topics, work through every requirement we put in front of them, and build networking, provisioning and operations so that everything fits together in the end. WZ-IT is an excellent partner for complex software, network and architecture projects.
Steve KirchnerManaging Director, nextGYM GmbHView project
International
Built in Germany's Ruhr Valley. Running worldwide.
WZ-IT designs, develops and operates infrastructure and software for clients in Germany and internationally. We deliver projects remotely and continue supporting them in ongoing operations after go-live.
