head to head · open source
pdfcpu vs OpenSign
pdfcpu has 8,895 GitHub stars, 644 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenSign has 7,211 stars, 853 forks, 148 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pdfcpu leads on adoption by 23% (8,895 vs 7,211 stars). pdfcpu is written in Go under Apache-2.0; OpenSign is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence. pdfcpu has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, OpenSign 12%. OpenSign was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | OpenSign | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.9K | ★ 7.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 644 | ⑂ 853 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick pdfcpu if
- You weight community size — 8.9K 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 OpenSign if
- You want the OpenSign feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and OpenSign fits your workflow better
About pdfcpu
pdfcpu: PDF tooling for Go and the command line pdfcpu is a PDF processing library and command line tool written in Go. It supports validation, optimization, encryption, signing, document assembly, content extraction, and other common PDF operations. pdfcpu supports PDF versions through PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000 2). PDF 2.0 validation support is basic and continuously improving. Horst Rutter, the maintainer of pdfcpu, is a member of the PDF Association. Installation Usage CLI Validate a PDF: Merge two PDFs: Go API See API documentation for usage examples. Features Validate, optimize, split, trim, and merge PDFs Extract…
read the full pdfcpu overview →
About OpenSign
The free and open source alternative to DocuSign Website • Help Docs • API Docs • Blog • Discord • Twitter • LinkedIn The premier open source document signing solution(DocuSign alternative) Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Features 3. Installation 4. Usage 5. Contribution Guidelines 6. License 7. Acknowledgments Please star ⭐ the repo to support us! 😀 Introduction Welcome to OpenSign, the premier open source docusign alternative document e signing solution designed to provide a secure, reliable and free alternative to commercial esign platforms like DocuSign, PandaDoc, SignNow, Adobe Sign, Smartwaiver…
read the full OpenSign overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is pdfcpu or OpenSign more popular?
pdfcpu has 8,895 GitHub stars and OpenSign has 7,211. pdfcpu has the larger community by that measure.
Are pdfcpu and OpenSign free?
Both are open source. pdfcpu is licensed under Apache-2.0, and OpenSign has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between pdfcpu and OpenSign?
pdfcpu is written in Go and OpenSign 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, pdfcpu or OpenSign?
Choose pdfcpu if you want the larger community (8,895 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenSign if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.