# Fess vs Paperpile — Fit & Features

Canonical: https://trutool.co/compare/fess-vs-paperpile
Author: Sandeep (https://trutool.co/authors/sandeep)

Compare Fess and Paperpile by use case, features, limitations, and evaluation questions.

## Compare fit, features, and limitations

### Fess
Fess is a free, open source enterprise search server — crawler, admin console, and search UI built in. Set up in minutes.
Best fit: People and teams evaluating research & science for a specific workflow.
- Core product workflow
Before you choose: Test a representative task, inspect outputs, and confirm integrations, permissions, data handling, licensing, and current costs.
Pricing: https://fess.codelibs.org
- [Read Fess profile](https://trutool.co/tools/fess): Read Fess profile

### Paperpile
Reference and citation management.
Best fit: Researchers and knowledge workers considering Paperpile for this job: Reference and citation management.
- Reference and citation management
Before you choose: Test source provenance, citation accuracy, search coverage, document handling, and export formats in the exact plan you intend to use.
Pricing: https://paperpile.com
- [Read Paperpile profile](https://trutool.co/tools/paperpile): Read Paperpile profile