qpdf/qpdfGitHub
choose when you need a mature, high-performance C++ library/CLI for PDF transformations and are not tied to Go.
qpdf: A content-preserving PDF document transformer
- 5.3k
- C++
- Apache-2.0
active2mo ago
pdfcpu/pdfcpu Alternatives
PDF processing/tooling
pdfcpu is a Go library and CLI for PDF processing: validation, optimization, encryption, signing, assembly, and content extraction, supporting up to PDF 2.0.
Same job, different approach
Solves the same problem with a different architecture or at a different layer. Expect to rewrite the integration.
py-pdf/pypdfGitHub
choose when working in Python and need a pure-Python library for splitting/merging/cropping PDFs.
A pure-python PDF library capable of splitting, merging, cropping, and transforming the pages of PDF files
- 10.2k
- Python
- NOASSERTION
active2mo ago
Older generation, or narrower
An earlier or more limited way to do the job. Still the right call when you need something small, proven, or CPU-only.
pdfminer/pdfminer.sixGitHub
choose when you primarily need deep text extraction from PDFs in Python rather than full document manipulation.
Community maintained fork of pdfminer - we fathom PDF
- 7.0k
- Python
- MIT
active7mo ago
opendatalab/PDF-Extract-KitGitHub
choose when you need extraction of high-quality content (especially layout) from PDFs via a specialized toolkit.
A Comprehensive Toolkit for High-Quality PDF Content Extraction
- 10.0k
- Python
- AGPL-3.0
dormant1.8y ago
jsvine/pdfplumberGitHub
choose when you need detailed character/line/table extraction from PDFs for data analysis in Python.
Plumb a PDF for detailed information about each char, rectangle, line, et cetera — and easily extract text and tables.
- 10.7k
- Python
- MIT
active2mo ago
End-user tools
Does the same job, but ships as an app. Useful to a person, not swappable into a codebase.
Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDFGitHub
choose when you want a self-hosted web UI for PDF editing instead of integrating a Go library.
#1 PDF Application on GitHub that lets you edit PDFs on any device anywhere
- 90.0k
- Java
- NOASSERTION
active2mo ago
alam00000/bentopdfGitHub
choose when you want a browser-based privacy-focused PDF toolkit with no server component.
The Privacy First PDF Toolkit
- 14.7k
- JavaScript
- AGPL-3.0
active2mo ago
snapotter-hq/SnapOtterGitHub
choose when you need a broader self-hosted file-processing pipeline with PDF conversion/OCR among many file types.
Open-source, self-hosted file-processing tool. Convert, compress, OCR, transcribe & run local AI across image, video, audio, PDF & documents, via UI, REST API & pipelines. Your files never leave your network.
- 2.4k
- TypeScript
- AGPL-3.0
active1mo ago
potatameister/PaperKnifeGitHub
choose when you want a lightweight local-only PDF utility app with GUI, not a programmatic library.
Privacy-first PDF utility (Zero-Server Architecture). Merge, split, compress, and edit PDFs 100% locally on your device. No uploads, no servers, no tracking.
- 1.4k
- TypeScript
- AGPL-3.0
active4mo ago
wmjordan/PDFPatcherGitHub
choose when you want a Windows desktop GUI for bookmark editing and page manipulation.
PDF补丁丁——PDF工具箱，可以编辑书签、剪裁旋转页面、解除限制、提取或合并文档，探查文档结构，提取图片、转成图片等等
- 12.6k
- C#
- none
active2mo ago
PDFCraftTool/pdfcraftGitHub
choose when you want an all-in-browser PDF toolkit with 90+ tools, no backend.
PDFCraft is a free, privacy-focused PDF toolkit that runs entirely in your browser. With 90+ professional tools, you can edit, convert, merge, split, and secure your PDF files without ever uploading them to a server.
- 8.3k
- TypeScript
- AGPL-3.0
active2mo ago
Listed as an alternative to
These projects were analysed and named pdfcpu among their alternatives. The relationship is not symmetric — how pdfcpu rates them is a separate judgement, made when pdfcpu is analysed in its own right.
PDFCraftTool/pdfcraftGitHub
calls pdfcpu “Go CLI/library for high-performance scriptable PDF operations; choose if you need terminal-based tooling.”
PDFCraft is a free, privacy-focused PDF toolkit that runs entirely in your browser. With 90+ professional tools, you can edit, convert, merge, split, and secure your PDF files without ever uploading them to a server.
8.3kTypeScriptactive