A DEVONthink alternative for Windows and Linux (for a smaller job)
People who have used DEVONthink on a Mac and then move to Windows go looking for the same thing and do not find it, because nothing on Windows is quite DEVONthink. DocAttic is not either. It does one part of the job, the part most people actually needed.
What DEVONthink is
A document and knowledge manager for macOS and iOS from DEVONtechnologies. You put documents into databases; it indexes and searches them, OCRs scans in the Pro edition, suggests where a new document belongs, finds related items, tags, annotates, and syncs between your devices. It is deep, mature software, and if you live in it, there is no substitute. It is also Mac only, licensed by edition, and built around keeping your documents inside its databases.
What most people wanted from it
Ask someone who bought DEVONthink why, and the first answer is usually "my documents were everywhere". The Downloads folder, three old laptops, an external drive, scanner output, email attachments saved who knows where, with the same PDF in four places. They wanted it gathered, de-duplicated and findable. The knowledge-management features came after, if at all.
What DocAttic does
DocAttic is a collector. You point it at folders, drives and backup exports and it reads PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, EPUB, MOBI, text and Markdown, unpacking compressed archives as it goes. It compares file contents so an identical document is kept once whatever it was named, and files everything by year into ordinary folders, keeping the real timestamps from inside backups. The originals are never modified. Every run ends with a report of what was read, kept, skipped and could not be opened. It runs on Windows and Linux.
| DocAttic | DEVONthink | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, Linux | macOS, iOS |
| Gathers from drives, folders, backups | Yes | Import or index |
| Removes duplicate documents | Yes, by content | Flags duplicates |
| Where documents live afterwards | Ordinary folders by year, yours | DEVONthink databases (or indexed in place) |
| Full-text search, OCR, tagging, AI filing | No | Yes |
| Sync between devices | No, it is a folder; sync it how you like | Built in |
| Works without the app installed | Yes, nothing proprietary | Export first |
| Price | One-time $59.99, free trial | Licensed by edition; see their site |
When DEVONthink is the answer
- You are on a Mac and want a research database: search inside everything, OCR, see-also, tags, annotations.
- You want the same library on an iPad and a Mac, kept in sync by the app.
When DocAttic is
- You are on Windows or Linux.
- The problem is the mess, not the research: gather, de-duplicate, file by year, done.
- You want the result to be a plain folder tree that Windows Search, your backup software and your successors can all read without any particular program.
DocAttic is the first half of DEVONthink, for the platforms DEVONthink does not run on. If you need the second half, nothing here replaces it.
What about the price?
DEVONthink is licensed by edition. DocAttic is a one-time $59.99 with a free trial that keeps up to 100 documents and never expires, with all 1.x updates included. You are paying for a consolidation you only have to do once, and a folder you own afterwards.
Questions people ask
Is there a Windows version of DEVONthink?
No. DEVONthink runs on macOS and iOS only. On Windows and Linux, DocAttic covers the gathering and de-duplicating part; search is left to the operating system or any indexer you prefer.
Does DocAttic do OCR on scanned PDFs?
No. It files scanned PDFs by date and removes duplicates, but it does not read the text inside images. If you need searchable scans, run an OCR tool first; DocAttic will happily archive the result.
Can I move from DocAttic's archive into DEVONthink later?
Yes. The archive is ordinary files in ordinary folders, which DEVONthink can import or index directly, so nothing is locked in.
Try DocAttic on your own files
The download is free and fully working; the trial keeps up to 100 items and never expires. A one-time $59.99 licence removes the limit, with all 1.x updates included. Windows 10 or later and Linux. Nothing is uploaded, ever.
Get it now