head to head · open source
bentopdf vs Papra
bentopdf has 15,578 GitHub stars, 1,339 forks, 156 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Papra has 5,466 stars, 301 forks, 190 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bentopdf leads on adoption by 185% (15,578 vs 5,466 stars). bentopdf is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; Papra is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. bentopdf has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Papra 6%. Papra was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| bentopdf | Papra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 5.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 301 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick bentopdf if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Papra if
- You want the Papra feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Papra fits your workflow better
About bentopdf
BentoPDF is a JavaScript, browser based PDF toolkit that merges, edits, converts, and processes documents entirely on the client, and it is aimed at individuals and teams who need those document workflows without sending files to a third party service.
read the full bentopdf overview →
About Papra
Papra is a minimalistic, self hostable, open source document management and archiving platform, written in TypeScript under the AGPL 3.0 licence, for anyone who needs to store documents for the long term and find them again later.
read the full Papra overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is bentopdf or Papra more popular?
bentopdf has 15,578 GitHub stars and Papra has 5,466. bentopdf has the larger community by that measure.
Are bentopdf and Papra free?
Both are open source. bentopdf is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Papra under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between bentopdf and Papra?
bentopdf is written in JavaScript and Papra in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, bentopdf or Papra?
Choose bentopdf if you want the larger community (15,578 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Papra if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.