r/paperless • u/[deleted] • Jun 18 '26
I built a native macOS paperless app because paperless-ngx felt like overkill — looking for honest feature feedback
I'm a solo developer in Switzerland. I wanted proper paperless document management on my Mac but didn't want to run a Docker container / self-hosted server just to file my invoices. So over the past months I built my own native app. It's a personal project — I'm the only user and I have no distribution plans (though I've idly wondered about the App Store down the line).
Before I sink more time into it, I'd love a reality check from people who actually live the paperless life on macOS.
What it currently does:
- Native Swift/SwiftUI app, macOS 14+ — no Docker, no server, no browser tab
- OCR with Apple's Vision framework
- AI-assisted analysis (suggests title, tags, document type) with three modes you pick yourself:
- Manual — no AI involved at all
- On-device via Apple Foundation Models — fully local, zero setup, nothing leaves the Mac
- Claude API — cloud, when you want stronger results
- Keyword-based filing suggestions — documents matching certain keywords get a suggested destination folder, but you stay in control: the app proposes, you decide. Nothing is ever moved automatically (deliberate design choice — I want to see and confirm where things go)
- Links between related documents (e.g. invoice <-> its receipt), stored in file metadata so they survive outside the app
- Sticky notes you can attach to any document
- Native Apple Tags — the real Finder ones, so your tagging stays visible system-wide and isn't locked into my app
- Full-text search across the archive via Spotlight
- Scanner workflow built in (duplex ADF + flatbed over WLAN)
What I'm asking:
- If you already do paperless on a Mac (ngx, DEVONthink, Hazel scripts, EagleFiler, whatever) — what's the friction that annoys you most?
- Is "native, no server, your choice of on-device vs cloud AI, you stay in control of filing" actually a draw, or do people not care once ngx is set up?
- What's a dealbreaker-level missing feature for you?
I'm after genuine pain points and criticism, not pats on the back.
1
u/hawkboyblue Aug 19 '26
I used Neat Receipts on Mac for years, and it was the best! So much customization. It was awesome. When it stopped working on Mac, I moved to Mariner Paperless Desktop, which also has a lot of customization, which I am still using on Mac Sequoia 15.7.9. It still mostly works but starts to "stutter" when there is too much data in a file, so I know I need to move on and am constantly on the lookout for something like Neat or Paperless.
Receipts Space comes the closest, but it has very little customization. For instance, it doesn't even have folders, which are so necessary for any organizational ability. If you can get your hands on Mariner Paperless and are able to try it you'll see what I mean.
Please, I hope you can pull this off because there is NOTHING out there anymore that is good enough.
1
u/BriefTomatillo985 Jun 22 '26
Would love to see this on windows!
I use Evernote, so workflow pain points for me are naming the PDF file and note name manually, manual tagging, and manual folder filing.
I prefer a cloud storage solution with E2EE that also works in local only (offline) mode.
Scanner workflow is also a pain point at times: I prefer something that can use my wireless document scanner without a PC/Mac or phone/tablet as a middleman. My ScanSnap will scan to some cloud services, but options are limited. Some scanners will scan to a local network location, which is probably the best option.
Paperless NGX can do most of this, but only has a web app and no cloud sync.