Stirling-PDF

Active

Country: United Kingdom (GB)
Founded: 2023
Developer: Stirling-Tools (individual or small team, initially created with ChatGPT assistance)
Pricing: Free (open-source)
Open source: Yes
Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows, Web

Indexes

PDF Tools

Overview

Stirling-PDF is a locally hosted web application for PDF manipulation, offering tools to split, merge, convert, reorganize, compress, and edit PDFs without sending data to external services.¹²³ It targets users seeking privacy-focused, self-hosted alternatives to online PDF services, running via Docker on personal servers.²³⁷

Key Features

PDF Merging/Splitting - Merge multiple PDFs or split into pages or specified ranges.
Page Reorganization - Reorder, rotate, or move PDF pages interactively.
Conversion - Convert PDFs to/from images, Word, PowerPoint, HTML, Markdown using LibreOffice.
Compression and Repair - Compress file size and repair corrupted PDFs.
Security Features - Add/remove passwords, set permissions, and auto-redact text.
OCR Support - Perform OCR on PDFs using OCRMyPDF.
Image and Watermark Addition - Add images, watermarks, or signatures to PDFs.
PDF Comparison - Compare two PDFs and highlight text differences.

Pricing

Plan	Price	Includes
Community	Free	All features, self-hosted

Platforms & Requirements

Runs as a web application via Docker on Linux, macOS, or Windows servers; accessible via browser on any device.²³⁴ No native desktop or mobile apps; requires Docker installation and server setup with no specified minimum hardware beyond standard Docker requirements.⁷

Integrations & Ecosystem

Docker
Portainer
Nginx Proxy Manager
LibreOffice
OCRMYPDF
API for external scripts

Alternatives

App	Difference
Adobe Acrobat	Commercial desktop/web app with subscription; cloud-based processing unlike Stirling-PDF's local execution.
PDFsam	Desktop-focused open-source tool; lacks web interface and advanced conversions of Stirling-PDF.
LibreOffice Draw	Free office suite PDF editor; no self-hosted web UI or batch processing features.
OnlyOffice	Collaborative office suite with PDF tools; requires more resources and not PDF-specific.

Reputation

Stirling-PDF is praised for its extensive local PDF tools, privacy (no data leaves network), and open-source nature, making it popular for self-hosting on Unraid, YunoHost, and Docker.¹²³⁷ Some users note workflow issues like mandatory web uploads for editing and occasional formatting problems in URL-to-PDF conversion.³⁵ By 2026, users have shifted to alternatives citing unspecified shortcomings, though it remains active.⁶

Sources (7)