head to head · open source
Papermark vs pdfcraft
Papermark has 9,242 GitHub stars, 1,406 forks, 239 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. pdfcraft has 2,684 stars, 903 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped today. Papermark leads on adoption by 244% (9,242 vs 2,684 stars). Papermark is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; pdfcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Papermark has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, pdfcraft 34%. pdfcraft 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
| Papermark | pdfcraft | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.2K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-08-28 | 2026-10-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 903 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Papermark if
- You weight community size — 9.2K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pdfcraft if
- You want the pdfcraft feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and pdfcraft fits your workflow better
About Papermark
Papermark open source document sharing alternative to DocSend. Project lives in Next.js/TypeScript web stack, category Business Software / Document Management & E Signatures. GitHub metadata: 9166 stars, 1392 forks, 239 open issues, last push 2026 08 28T15:58:25Z. README says built in analytics and custom domains. It is self hosted, open source, and customizable as needed. License field says NOASSERTION, so license terms need separate check.
read the full Papermark overview →
About pdfcraft
PdfCraft is an open source, clean room reimplementation of Adobe Acrobat built in pure Rust, aimed at anyone who wants a fast native tool to read, organize, secure and edit PDFs without an account or a cloud connection.
read the full pdfcraft overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Papermark or pdfcraft more popular?
Papermark has 9,242 GitHub stars and pdfcraft has 2,684. Papermark has the larger community by that measure.
Are Papermark and pdfcraft free?
Both are open source. Papermark has no licence declared in this registry, and pdfcraft is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Papermark and pdfcraft?
Papermark is written in TypeScript and pdfcraft in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Papermark or pdfcraft?
Choose Papermark if you want the larger community (9,242 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose pdfcraft if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.