head to head · open source
PyMuPDF vs anymd
PyMuPDF has 11,113 GitHub stars, 836 forks, 58 open issues and last shipped yesterday. anymd has 1,069 stars, 93 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. PyMuPDF leads on adoption by 940% (11,113 vs 1,069 stars). PyMuPDF is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; anymd is written in Rust under MIT. PyMuPDF has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, anymd 9%. PyMuPDF was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (epub), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| PyMuPDF | anymd | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 836 | ⑂ 93 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PyMuPDF if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick anymd if
- You want the anymd feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and anymd fits your workflow better
About PyMuPDF
PyMuPDF The PDF engine behind over 50 million monthly downloads, powering AI pipelines worldwide. PyMuPDF is a high performance Python library for data extraction, analysis, conversion, rendering and manipulation of PDF (and other) documents. Built on top of MuPDF — a lightweight, fast C engine — PyMuPDF gives you precise, low level control over documents alongside high level convenience APIs. No mandatory external dependencies. Why PyMuPDF? Fast — powered by MuPDF, a best in class C rendering engine Accurate — pixel perfect text extraction with font, color, and position metadata Versatile — read, write…
read the full PyMuPDF overview →
About anymd
anymd PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, EPUB, HTML and web pages, images (OCR), audio and video (metadata, subtitles, transcripts). A fast Rust MCP server and CLI that runs on your machine. No API key. Install · Benchmarks · Tools · CLI · Formats · Docs Formerly pdf reader mcp . Migrating from pdf reader mcp A real, unedited terminal recording (asciinema + agg, script ). The last command is Claude Code answering from the PDF through the anymd MCP server. Why anymd Fast. Native Rust converts in parallel, page by page. On the 19 benchmark documents every tool converted, anymd takes 12.1 s in total; docling 1,723.3 s…
read the full anymd overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PyMuPDF or anymd more popular?
PyMuPDF has 11,113 GitHub stars and anymd has 1,069. PyMuPDF has the larger community by that measure.
Are PyMuPDF and anymd free?
Both are open source. PyMuPDF is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and anymd under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PyMuPDF and anymd?
PyMuPDF is written in Python and anymd in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, PyMuPDF or anymd?
Choose PyMuPDF if you want the larger community (11,113 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose anymd if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.