head to head · open source
bentopdf vs Documenso
bentopdf has 16,233 GitHub stars, 1,450 forks, 156 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Documenso has 15,633 stars, 3,432 forks, 238 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bentopdf leads on adoption by 4% (16,233 vs 15,633 stars). bentopdf is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; Documenso is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. bentopdf has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Documenso 22%. Documenso was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (pdf), 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
| bentopdf | Documenso | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 16K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 3.4K |
| 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 Documenso if
- You want the Documenso 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 Documenso fits your workflow better
About bentopdf
BentoPDF BentoPDF is a powerful, privacy first, client side PDF toolkit that is self hostable and allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser. No server side processing is required, ensuring your files remain secure and private. Table of Contents Join Us on Discord Documentation Licensing Stargazers over time Thank You to Our Sponsors Why BentoPDF? Features / Tools Supported Organize & Manage PDFs Edit & Modify PDFs Convert to PDF Convert from PDF Secure & Optimize PDFs Other Products Translations Getting Started Prerequisites Quick Start Static Hosting Self Hosting…
read the full bentopdf overview →
About Documenso
The Open Source DocuSign Alternative. Learn more » Discord · Website · Documentation · Issues · Upcoming Releases · Roadmap About Documenso Signing documents digitally should be fast and easy and should be the best practice for every document signed worldwide. This is technically quite easy today, but it also introduces a new party to every signature: The signing tool providers. While this is not a problem in itself, it should make us think about how we want these providers of trust to work. Documenso aims to be the world's most trusted document signing tool. This trust is built by empowering you to self host…
read the full Documenso overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is bentopdf or Documenso more popular?
bentopdf has 16,233 GitHub stars and Documenso has 15,633. bentopdf has the larger community by that measure.
Are bentopdf and Documenso free?
Both are open source. bentopdf is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Documenso under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between bentopdf and Documenso?
bentopdf is written in JavaScript and Documenso 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 Documenso?
Choose bentopdf if you want the larger community (16,233 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Documenso if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.