Comparison

Paperparrot vs Swift Paperless

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Paperparrot

Organize your documents effortlessly with this native client for Paperless-ngx. Upload, scan, and secure files in various formats. Enjoy offline access, custom views, and powerful search capabilities.

Highlights
  • Connect to multiple Paperless-ngx instances
  • Add documents in various formats
  • Scan documents via camera or network scanner
  • Secure documents with Face/Touch ID
  • Extensive search and Spotlight support
  • Create custom document views
  • Offline document synchronization
Features
Read full description

Paperparrot is an app designed to make organizing your documents easy and it's completely compatible with Paperless-ngx. Features: - Connect to multiple Paperless-ngx-Instances - Add documents in various formats like PDF, JPEG, PNG, TXT or office documents - Scan documents from right within Paperparrot using your phones camera or an Airscan-capable network scanner - Secure your documents using Face-/Touch-ID - Extensive search capabilities - Support for Spotlight search to find documents from your home screen - Create custom views to easily access sets of documents - Share documents to Paperparrot from other apps - Synchronize documents from your Paperless-ng(x) server to your device for offline access - Built in support for push notifications from your server (additional setup required)* - Dark mode! * The free version of Paperparrot is limited to six documents and some features like custom queries and push notifications are unavailable. These limitation can be removed through an in-app purchase. There is both a one-time purchase or an optional auto-renewing subscription (1 month free trial included). The one-time purchase unlocks all current and future updates. With the subscription, all features are available for the duration of your subscription. Both the subscription and one-time purchase can be shared with your family. Paperparrot is licensed under the Apple standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Swift Paperless

This app allows users to manage documents directly from their iOS device. It seamlessly integrates with a self-hosted document management system, ensuring data privacy and control. Easily find, categorize, and add new documents on the go.

Highlights
  • Native iOS integration
  • Paperless-ngx compatibility
  • Document finding
  • Document categorization
  • Add documents from phone
Features
Read full description

Swift Paperless is a native iOS app that interacts with the popular Paperless-ngx document management software. Paperless-ngx is self-hosted, and therefore fully privacy preserving: you control your data! With Swift Paperless, it's easy to find, categorize and also add documents from your phone!

Screenshots

Paperparrot4 screens
Swift Paperless4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Swift Paperless at free against Paperparrot's free with in-app purchases. Swift Paperless also leads on review sentiment (97% vs 87%) and ratings volume (77 vs 17). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Paperparrot sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per year and Swift Paperless sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Paperparrot against 4.9 for Swift Paperless. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 77 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Paperparrot's written reviews are positive against 97% of Swift Paperless's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paperparrot ships an update every 5 weeks, Swift Paperless monthly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Paperparrot versus Swift Paperless: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaperparrotSwift Paperless
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (17 ratings) — better4.9 (77 ratings)
Positive reviews86.8% of reviews97.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1777 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLeo WehrfritzPaul Gessinger

Customer experience

Paperparrot

All ratings16 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews53 reviews
Positive86.8%
Neutral9.4%
Negative3.8%

Swift Paperless

All ratings72 ratings
Positive98.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive97.0%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.5%

User reviews

Paperparrot

From 17 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent Paperless-NGX client
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 👍 Great value for the price
  • 👍 Seamless integration with Paperless-NGX
  • 👍 Fast and reliable performance

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Rudimentary tag updates
  • 🐛 Unreliable scanner search
  • 🐛 Bonjour search needs reliability
  • 🐛 Needs better language implementation
  • 🐛 Ergonomics need improvement

Swift Paperless

From 77 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and efficient performance
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • ✨ Modern and clean design
  • ✅ Seamless integration with Paperless-ngx
  • 📱 Excellent mobile scanning feature

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Metadata box not resizable on iPhone 13 Mini
  • 🐛 Document upload screen sometimes exits unexpectedly
  • 🐛 Extra step to access iOS share sheet
  • 🐛 Can't scroll multi-page PDFs on iPad
  • 🐛 Document scan function buried in menus

Bugs and requests

Paperparrot

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App crashes on start
  • Everything disappeared
  • Saved views in Paperless are mixed with other documents in the app
  • Custom fields and their values are not displayed correctly
  • Filtering by custom field values does not work
Show 7 more
  • Custom views based on custom fields do not work
  • Constant reloading needed when documents change
  • App stalls and doesn't let you choose another instance if current is not working
  • Duplicate imports of documents
  • Data loss in remaining entries after removing duplicates
  • Not all PDF files can be opened (e.g., converted EML files)
  • Scanner search is unreliable

Requested features

12 requests
  • AI assistant for document questions (like Gemini Notebook)
  • Integration with Openrouter for AI
  • Chinese language support
  • Improved multi-edit functionality (e.g., 'Select' button, bottom toolbar)
  • Integration with Files app
Show 7 more
  • Option to change theme colors
  • Scanner remembers last used options
  • Notification upon completion of large document processing
  • Ability to select tags without the list disappearing
  • Use archived document for display instead of original
  • Copy-paste document capture
  • Support for opening converted EML files directly

Swift Paperless

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Metadata box not resizable on iPhone 13 Mini
  • Document upload screen sometimes exits unexpectedly
  • Extra step to access iOS share sheet
  • Cannot scroll multi-page PDFs on iPad
  • Server removal from list upon logout
Show 2 more
  • Editing area only half screen after update
  • App crying about certificate issue with HTTPS

Requested features

12 requests
  • Ability to quickly open next document in current view (like 'save & next')
  • Option to hide preview side bar for full-screen document view
  • Smarter server management in multi-instance setup
  • Ability to search within a document
  • Support for Title view only without thumbnails
Show 7 more
  • Siri Shortcuts support for adding documents
  • Option to add from a network scanner
  • Support for SSO
  • Ability to copy file content from the app
  • Option to send documents from archive via share menu (e.g., email)
  • Grid view with thumbnails on iPad
  • Direct donation link in the app

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Paperparrot

Subscriptions1
  • Subscription (1 Year)1 Month trial$2.991 Year
One-time5
  • Generous Tip$0.99
  • Very Generous Tip$2.99
  • Subscription (1 Year)$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Unlock All Features$4.99
  • Super Generous Tip$9.99
4 purchases

Swift Paperless

One-time4
  • Coffee money$3.99
  • Proper thank-you$8.99
  • Above and beyond$17.99
Show 1 more
  • Legendary generosity$44.99

Questions

Is Paperparrot free?
Paperparrot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Swift Paperless free?
Swift Paperless is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Paperparrot or Swift Paperless?
Paperparrot is rated higher. Paperparrot averages 5.0 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Swift Paperless averages 4.9 from 77 ratings.
Do Paperparrot or Swift Paperless have ads?
Neither Paperparrot nor Swift Paperless shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paperparrot or Swift Paperless?
Paperparrot ships an update every 5 weeks, and Swift Paperless monthly. Most recently, Paperparrot was updated on November 3, 2026 and Swift Paperless on November 3, 2026.

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