head to head · open source
Papermark vs pdfx
Papermark has 9,181 GitHub stars, 1,396 forks, 239 open issues and last shipped 21 days ago. pdfx has 1,063 stars, 122 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Papermark leads on adoption by 764% (9,181 vs 1,063 stars). Papermark is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; pdfx is written in TypeScript under MIT. Papermark has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, pdfx 11%. Papermark was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (open-source, 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 | pdfx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.2K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-28 | 2026-08-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 122 |
| 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 pdfx if
- You want the pdfx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and pdfx 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 pdfx
PDFx is a free, MIT licensed, open source desktop application and file format that bundles many PDF documents into a single valid PDF, aimed at people who need to organise, view, reorder and export large collections of documents on macOS, Windows or Linux.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Papermark or pdfx more popular?
Papermark has 9,181 GitHub stars and pdfx has 1,063. Papermark has the larger community by that measure.
Are Papermark and pdfx free?
Both are open source. Papermark has no licence declared in this registry, and pdfx is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Papermark and pdfx?
Papermark is written in TypeScript and pdfx 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, Papermark or pdfx?
Choose Papermark if you want the larger community (9,181 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose pdfx if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.