Paperless Less Paper vs LinkBuddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Paperless Less Paper
This app provides a native iOS client for managing your self-hosted document archive. It allows for comprehensive searching, editing, and offline access to your documents, with robust server connection options and document organization tools.
- Comprehensive document searching with filters
- Edit documents and metadata directly
- Offline document access
- Import documents via share sheet
- Connect to multiple servers
- Manage tags, correspondents, and storage paths
Read full descriptionHide full description
Less Paper is a native iOS client for paperless-ngx 3.x and earlier, the self-hosted document archive. It talks directly to your own server, and to nothing else. FIND ANYTHING The complete filter set from the web interface, custom fields included: title and content, correspondent, document type, storage path, tags, dates and ASN. Save any filter as a view, then create, edit and reorder your saved views without leaving the app. EDIT WHERE YOU ARE READING Fix a title, reassign a correspondent, add tags, notes or custom field values from the document itself — one Open menu leads to every section: Content, Custom fields, Details, History, Metadata and Notes, each editable when your account allows it. History lists who changed what and when, the way the web UI shows it. Select several documents and change them together, merge them, or delete them in one go. READ IT WITH NO SERVER IN REACH Save a document offline and it is kept on the device in full — the PDF, its notes, metadata and custom fields. The Offline tab reads those stored copies, so it works on a plane, in a basement, or anywhere your server is not. Pull to refresh and only the documents that actually changed are fetched again. GET DOCUMENTS IN Send anything on your device to paperless-ngx from the share sheet. Password-protected PDFs are unlocked on import, and the password is kept in the keychain so the next document from the same source opens without asking. The inbox then says what became of each one: File Tasks lists every import — which finished, which are still running, and which failed and why — and a failure can be dismissed once you have dealt with it. BUILT FOR REAL SETUPS Connect as many servers as you like and switch between them. Sign in with a password, or with the single sign-on provider your server is configured with. Client certificates, custom HTTP headers and reverse proxies such as Authelia are all supported. A restricted account works too: the app follows your user's permissions and simply does not show what you may not do. When something does go wrong, a local error log — with anything credential-shaped redacted out of it — is there to read and share, and nothing leaves the device unless you send it. KEEP THE ARCHIVE TIDY Create, rename and delete tags, correspondents, document types and storage paths, and set ownership and permissions on any document. Restore anything you deleted from the trash, or empty it for good. Works with every paperless-ngx from 2.15.3 to 3.x. Universal: iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad — on iPad the document opens in a column beside the list rather than covering it. Less Paper is open source. Issues and feature requests are welcome at https://github.com/plu/less-paper
LinkBuddy
This is a free, open-source client for a self-hosted bookmark management service. It allows users to add, edit, archive, and search bookmarks, with support for a share sheet extension and an in-app browser. It's privacy-focused and ad-free.
- Add, edit, archive, delete bookmarks
- Search bookmarks (active, archive, unread, untagged, shared)
- Share sheet extension for external app sharing
- In-app browser with Safari Reader View
- Dark and light mode themes
- iPad compatible
- Privacy focused and ad-free
Read full descriptionHide full description
LinkBuddy is a free and open source client for linkding, a selfhosted bookmark management service. NOTE: This does not work without a selfhosted instance of linkding and an associated API access token. Please see more information about setting up linkding here: https://linkding.link/ Features: - Add, edit, archive and delete bookmarks - View and search your active, archive, unread, untagged, and shared bookmarks - Supports share sheet extension to share URLs from other apps into LinkBuddy - Open and view links in in-app web browser - Supports Safari Reader View via in-app web browser - Supports dark mode and light mode themes - iPad compatible - Privacy focused - this app doesn't store or track any personal user information, logs, or display any ads - Free and open source: https://github.com/peterto/LinkBuddy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: LinkBuddy at none against Paperless Less Paper's 4. LinkBuddy also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Paperless Less Paper's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (20 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Paperless Less Paper sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. LinkBuddy asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Paperless Less Paper against 5.0 for LinkBuddy. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paperless Less Paper has 20 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Paperless Less Paper ships an update weekly, LinkBuddy every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paperless Less Paper | LinkBuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (20 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 87.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 20 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Johannes Plunien | Peter To |
Customer experience
Paperless Less Paper
LinkBuddy
In-app purchases
Paperless Less Paper
- Tiny tip$1.00
- Small tip$4.00
- Medium tip$9.00
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Large tip$22.00
LinkBuddy
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Paperless Less Paper free?
Is LinkBuddy free?
Which has better reviews, Paperless Less Paper or LinkBuddy?
Do Paperless Less Paper or LinkBuddy have ads?
Which is updated more often, Paperless Less Paper or LinkBuddy?
Other comparisons















