head to head · open source
Docuseal vs pdfcpu
Docuseal has 18,558 GitHub stars, 1,867 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. pdfcpu has 8,842 stars, 633 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Docuseal leads on adoption by 110% (18,558 vs 8,842 stars). Docuseal is written in Ruby under AGPL-3.0; pdfcpu is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Docuseal has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, pdfcpu 7%. Docuseal 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 | pdfcpu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 8.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 633 |
| 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 pdfcpu if
- You want the pdfcpu feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and pdfcpu 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 pdfcpu
pdfcpu is a PDF processing library and command line tool written in Go. It lives in the Go and Golang ecosystem, is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license, and is listed under Business Software in the Document Management and E Signatures category. The project has existed for nine years, carries 8,835 stars and 628 forks, and lists 121 open issues. Its maintainer, Horst Rutter, is a member of the PDF Association, and the project documentation lives at pdfcpu.io. The GitHub topics attached to the repository are cli, go, golang, golang library, pdf, pdf files, and pdf tools, which describes both halves of what the…
read the full pdfcpu overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docuseal or pdfcpu more popular?
Docuseal has 18,558 GitHub stars and pdfcpu has 8,842. Docuseal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docuseal and pdfcpu free?
Both are open source. Docuseal is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and pdfcpu under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docuseal and pdfcpu?
Docuseal is written in Ruby and pdfcpu in Go. 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 pdfcpu?
Choose Docuseal if you want the larger community (18,558 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pdfcpu if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.