head to head · open source
Browser Use vs PDFLayoutTextStripper
Browser Use has 118,573 GitHub stars, 13,159 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. PDFLayoutTextStripper has 1,610 stars, 213 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Browser Use leads on adoption by 7,265% (118,573 vs 1,610 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; PDFLayoutTextStripper is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, PDFLayoutTextStripper 13%. PDFLayoutTextStripper 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
| Browser Use | PDFLayoutTextStripper | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 119K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-17 | 2026-10-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 213 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Browser Use if
- You weight community size — 119K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick PDFLayoutTextStripper if
- You want the PDFLayoutTextStripper feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and PDFLayoutTextStripper fits your workflow better
About Browser Use
Navigate the web like a human does. Find an available slot, pick a date and time, handle the CAPTCHA, and book a driving test. Explore more demos and prompts ↗ Which Browser Use do I need? Path 1: Fully Hosted Cloud: Scale up with a fully hosted agent and browser. Path 2: CLI: Automate your own browser tasks. Path 3: Python Library: Run the open source Browser Use agent locally from your own code. Quickstart Path 1: Fully Hosted Cloud Scale browser automation with our hosted agent, stealth browsers, and infrastructure for profiles, recordings, and data policies. Get started with the API ↗ New Google, GitHub, or…
read the full Browser Use overview →
About PDFLayoutTextStripper
PDFLayoutTextStripper Converts a PDF file into a text file while keeping the layout of the original PDF. Useful to extract the content from a table or a form in a PDF file. PDFLayoutTextStripper is a subclass of PDFTextStripper class (from the Apache PDFBox library). This repository is supported by our sponsor Spire.PDF for Java Create, edit, convert, and process PDF documents programmatically in Java, with support for tables, forms, images, annotations, and more. Explore Spire.PDF for Java → Use cases Data extraction from a table in a PDF file Data extraction from a form in a PDF file How to install Maven…
read the full PDFLayoutTextStripper overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or PDFLayoutTextStripper more popular?
Browser Use has 118,573 GitHub stars and PDFLayoutTextStripper has 1,610. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and PDFLayoutTextStripper free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and PDFLayoutTextStripper under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and PDFLayoutTextStripper?
Browser Use is written in Python and PDFLayoutTextStripper in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Browser Use or PDFLayoutTextStripper?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (118,573 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose PDFLayoutTextStripper if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.