Question 1

What is paless?

Accepted Answer

With paless you get a protected document vault and Pal, an EU sovereign AI assistant that does your paperwork. Your documents are organized, searchable, and available from anywhere, while everything is hosted exclusively in the European Union and protected by European law.

Question 2

Is paless based on open source software?

Accepted Answer

Yes, paless is based on the open source project paperless-ngx. The founder of paless is a great fan of paperless-ngx and wanted to make its powerful document management capabilities accessible to everyone, without the need for technical setup or self-hosting. The service builds on this foundation with added security, automation, and a fully managed European hosting experience.

Question 3

When will paless be available?

Accepted Answer

We expect paless to be available in October 2026, with Business plans following in December 2026. Delays are possible, and we will announce a binding date as soon as we can commit to one. Back us on Kickstarter to be among the first to experience secure, automated document management.

Question 4

Is the AI secure and private?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The AI runs entirely on our own infrastructure inside the European Union. Your documents are never sent to external AI providers such as OpenAI, Google, or Microsoft (Azure), and your content is never used to train any AI models, ours or anyone else's. Everything stays within our secure European environment. Pal is operated in compliance with the EU AI Act.

Question 5

How accurate is the AI assistant and tagging?

Accepted Answer

Our AI assistant Pal and the automatic tagging are built to save you time, but like all AI they can occasionally be incomplete or incorrect. Pal answers are based on your own documents and always show their sources, so you can verify them. We recommend reviewing AI suggestions before relying on them, especially for important decisions. Pal does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice.

Question 6

Which languages does the AI tagging support?

Accepted Answer

AI tagging is currently available for English and German documents. Support for additional languages will be rolled out soon.

Question 7

Can I export my data or move to another system later?

Accepted Answer

Yes, at any time and at no extra cost. You can download a complete, structured export of your documents and their metadata whenever you want. The export is compatible with the open source paperless-ngx project, so you can move to a self-hosted setup or another system without losing your tags, correspondents, dates, and organization. You are never locked in.

Question 8

Can I throw away my physical documents after scanning them?

Accepted Answer

Yes. With paless you can recycle or dispose of your paper documents with confidence after digitizing them. Your documents are encrypted in transit and at rest, stored redundantly across European data centers, and you can download a complete backup at any time. Once stored in paless, your documents are protected against fire, flood, theft, and loss, so you can declutter your home or office with peace of mind. For the few documents that legally require a physical original, see the question below.

Question 9

Are there documents I should keep in physical form?

Accepted Answer

For most everyday documents, such as SIM card PIN codes, receipts, manuals, or contracts, a digital copy in paless is perfectly sufficient and often safer than keeping paper originals. However, some documents may still require physical originals for legal or official purposes. Examples include birth certificates, marriage certificates, property deeds, notarized documents, wills, and certain government-issued IDs. Requirements vary by country, so we recommend checking your local regulations. When in doubt, keep the physical original in a safe place alongside your digital copy in paless.

Question 10

Do I need to download backups regularly?

Accepted Answer

No, you don't need to, but you always can. Your documents are stored redundantly across separate European data centers with regular backups, so your data is protected against hardware failures and disasters without any action on your part. The download feature simply gives you full control over your data whenever you want it, so you are never locked in.

Question 11

Is going paperless good for the environment?

Accepted Answer

Yes, absolutely. By going paperless, you significantly reduce paper consumption, which saves trees, water, and energy used in production. Additionally, it reduces waste and the carbon footprint associated with transporting and recycling paper products.

Question 12

How secure is my data?

Accepted Answer

Your data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256), and stored redundantly across European data centers. We follow strict security practices and comply with the GDPR. Access is protected by multi-factor authentication, including hardware security keys.

Question 13

Where is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

All of your documents and personal data are stored and processed exclusively within the European Union. In normal operation your data is never transferred outside the European Economic Area. The providers we rely on to run the service are listed in our terms.

Question 14

Does paless run on Amazon, Google, or Microsoft (Azure)?

Accepted Answer

No. The service runs on independent European infrastructure and does not use Amazon (AWS), Google Cloud, or Microsoft (Azure) for your documents. Your data stays inside the European Union and outside the reach of non-EU cloud providers.

Question 15

Can people outside of Europe use paless?

Accepted Answer

Yes, paless is available to users worldwide. In fact, customers outside of Europe benefit from some of the highest data protection standards in the world. By storing your documents in European data centers under GDPR regulations, you gain access to privacy protections that often exceed those in other regions.

Question 16

How is my data encrypted?

Accepted Answer

Your documents are encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3, the latest and most secure protocol for data moving between your device and our servers, and they are encrypted at rest with AES-256 in our European data centers. Combined with strict access controls and multi-factor authentication, this protects your documents from unauthorized access.

Question 17

Is paless independently tested for security?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Around launch we will engage independent penetration testers and ethical hackers to actively try to break into paless. This will validate our defenses, alarms, and disaster recovery under real attack conditions, a level of proactive testing that is rare even among large companies. Our founder has worked in the banking and energy sectors and knows firsthand how uncommon this thoroughness is.

Question 18

Are the prices including VAT?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For consumers, the prices shown include VAT. The price you see is the gross price, including the value-added tax (VAT) of your EU country of residence, so there are no surprises at checkout. Business customers are shown net prices, with VAT added according to the applicable rules.

Question 19

Which payment methods can I use?

Accepted Answer

You can pay by credit card, SEPA direct debit, PayPal, or wero. Payment is made in advance for each billing period. Purchase by invoice is available for business customers only.

Question 20

Can I change my plan later?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time. Changes will be reflected in your next billing cycle.

Question 21

How can I cancel my subscription, and is there a minimum term?

Accepted Answer

You can cancel at any time and there is no long lock-in. On a monthly plan your subscription ends at the end of the current billing period. On a yearly plan a cancellation takes effect at the end of the year you paid for. If you do not cancel, the subscription continues month to month after that year. To cancel, use the cancellation button on our website or send an email to kuendigung@paless.eu. Your access continues until the end of the period you have already paid for. No hidden fees, no hassle.

Question 22

Can I cancel right after signing up (right of withdrawal)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. As a consumer you have a 14-day right of withdrawal. Within 14 days of signing up you can cancel the contract without giving any reason and receive a full refund. Simply send a clear statement to widerruf@paless.eu. If you asked us to start the service immediately during sign-up, we may charge a proportionate amount for the part of the service you have already used up to your withdrawal.

Question 23

What happens to my documents if I cancel?

Accepted Answer

After your contract ends, your documents stay available for download for up to 30 days so you can export everything you need. After that, they are deleted from our active systems and removed from our backups within the regular backup rotation. We recommend exporting your data before the 30-day window closes.

Question 24

How does the 30-day migration benefit work?

Accepted Answer

To make switching easy, documents you upload during your first 30 days do not count against your monthly upload limit, so you can migrate your existing archive quickly. The storage included in your plan still applies, and for operational reasons this migration benefit covers up to 5,000 documents. Larger migrations can be arranged on request.

Question 25

How does additional storage billing work?

Accepted Answer

Each plan includes a set amount of storage. If you exceed it, additional storage is billed per started gigabyte and added to your next invoice. For example, if your plan includes 50 GB and you use 50.1 GB, you are billed for 1 additional GB. We let you know before any extra charges apply.

Question 26

What usage limits apply to my plan?

Accepted Answer

Storage is never a hard wall. If you reach your included storage, paless keeps accepting your documents and simply bills the extra space, so uploads are never rejected for lack of room. Each plan does include monthly allowances for the number of documents you upload, OCR pages, and document chat usage, plus a maximum file size. You can see these allowances on the pricing page, and you can upgrade your plan at any time if you need more.

Question 27

What file formats are supported?

Accepted Answer

You can upload a wide range of file types. PDF documents and PNG, JPEG, TIFF, GIF, and WebP images are processed with OCR and converted into searchable PDF documents. Office documents such as .docx, .doc, .odt, .ppt, .pptx, .odp, .xls, .xlsx, and .ods are supported as well. The type of a file is determined by inspecting its content, so file extensions do not matter.

Question 28

What is the maximum file size supported?

Accepted Answer

The maximum size per file depends on your plan, ranging from 10 MB on the smallest plan up to 100 MB on the Business plan, which is more than enough for typical scanned documents, images, and office files. If you need to process much larger files, please contact our sales team to discuss a custom arrangement.

Question 29

Can I access paless from mobile devices?

Accepted Answer

Yes, paless works on all devices including smartphones, tablets, and computers. You can upload, search, and access your documents from anywhere.

Question 30

Is there a native app for paless?

Accepted Answer

Currently, paless is available as a web application that works on all devices. In the future, we plan to release a native app that will provide the opportunity to use your smart device's camera directly to scan and upload documents, making it even easier to digitize your paperwork on the go.

Question 31

Is the web version optimized for mobile devices?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the paless web application is fully optimized for mobile devices. The interface automatically adapts to your screen size, providing a smooth and intuitive experience on smartphones and tablets. You can upload, search, view, and manage your documents just as easily on mobile as on a desktop computer.

Question 32

What languages does paless support?

Accepted Answer

The paless interface is available in 43 languages. These are German, English, Afrikaans, Arabic, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malay, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Serbian (Latin), Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. You can easily switch between languages at any time, and the interface provides a consistent experience across all devices. Please note that the administration interface is available in English only.

Question 33

Does paless support Two-Factor Authentication?

Accepted Answer

Yes, paless supports Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and we strongly recommend enabling it for all users. 2FA adds an extra layer of security to your account by requiring a second verification step, such as a code from an authenticator app, in addition to your password. This significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access, even if your password is compromised.

Question 34

Does paless support hardware security keys like YubiKey?

Accepted Answer

Yes, paless supports hardware security keys such as a YubiKey through FIDO2, so you can use one for passwordless sign in or as a second factor on top of your password. Hardware security keys are the strongest form of multi-factor authentication available. They are phishing-resistant, the secret never leaves the device so it cannot be copied or remotely stolen, and signing in requires physical possession of the key. We recommend a hardware security key over authenticator apps for maximum account protection.

Question 35

Which document scanners are supported?

Accepted Answer

Any document scanner that can push scanned files to a network share (such as SMB/CIFS or FTP) is very likely supported by paless. This includes most modern office scanners from brands like Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Fujitsu, and many others.

Question 36

How often can I download a backup?

Accepted Answer

You can download a complete backup of all your documents once every 24 hours. This ensures system stability while giving you regular access to your data.

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