head to head · open source
Docuseal vs bentopdf
Docuseal has 18,558 GitHub stars, 1,867 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. bentopdf has 15,578 stars, 1,339 forks, 156 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Docuseal leads on adoption by 19% (18,558 vs 15,578 stars). Docuseal is written in Ruby under AGPL-3.0; bentopdf is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. Docuseal has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, bentopdf 9%. bentopdf 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
| Docuseal | bentopdf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 16K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docuseal if
- You weight community size — 19K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bentopdf if
- You want the bentopdf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and bentopdf fits your workflow better
About Docuseal
Docuseal is an open source document filling and signing platform for individuals and teams, and its repository describes it as an open source alternative to DocuSign. It is built in Ruby on Rails and uses a self hosted deployment model, with interface components associated with Tailwind CSS, Vue, and Hotwire Turbo.
read the full Docuseal overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docuseal or bentopdf more popular?
Docuseal has 18,558 GitHub stars and bentopdf has 15,578. Docuseal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docuseal and bentopdf free?
Both are open source. Docuseal is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and bentopdf under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docuseal and bentopdf?
Docuseal is written in Ruby and bentopdf in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Docuseal or bentopdf?
Choose Docuseal if you want the larger community (18,558 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose bentopdf if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.