head to head · open source
pdfcpu vs browserytools
pdfcpu has 8,842 GitHub stars, 633 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. browserytools has 689 stars, 79 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. pdfcpu leads on adoption by 1,183% (8,842 vs 689 stars). pdfcpu is written in Go under Apache-2.0; browserytools is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. pdfcpu has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, browserytools 11%. pdfcpu was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (pdf-tools), 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
| pdfcpu | browserytools | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.8K | ★ 689 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 633 | ⑂ 79 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick pdfcpu if
- You weight community size — 8.8K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick browserytools if
- You want the browserytools 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 browserytools fits your workflow better
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 →
About browserytools
BrowseryTools is a collection of 152 free browser based utilities — image and PDF tools, converters, formatters, calculators, generators, and on device AI tools — built for people who need to process files or text without uploading anything to a server, signing up for an account, or tolerating ads.
read the full browserytools overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is pdfcpu or browserytools more popular?
pdfcpu has 8,842 GitHub stars and browserytools has 689. pdfcpu has the larger community by that measure.
Are pdfcpu and browserytools free?
Both are open source. pdfcpu is licensed under Apache-2.0 and browserytools under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between pdfcpu and browserytools?
pdfcpu is written in Go and browserytools 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, pdfcpu or browserytools?
Choose pdfcpu if you want the larger community (8,842 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose browserytools if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.