head to head · open source
pdfcpu vs signaturepdf
pdfcpu has 8,842 GitHub stars, 633 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. signaturepdf has 831 stars, 108 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. pdfcpu leads on adoption by 964% (8,842 vs 831 stars). pdfcpu is written in Go under Apache-2.0; signaturepdf is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. pdfcpu has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, signaturepdf 13%. 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), 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 | signaturepdf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.8K | ★ 831 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 633 | ⑂ 108 |
| 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 signaturepdf if
- You want the signaturepdf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and signaturepdf 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 signaturepdf
Signature PDF is a free, open source web application under the AGPL 3.0 licence that lets people sign a PDF alone or together with others while also organizing pages, editing metadata, and compressing the file, and it is aimed at individuals, associations, cooperatives, and hosting providers who would rather run document signing on infrastructure they control than hand documents to a third party service.
read the full signaturepdf overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is pdfcpu or signaturepdf more popular?
pdfcpu has 8,842 GitHub stars and signaturepdf has 831. pdfcpu has the larger community by that measure.
Are pdfcpu and signaturepdf free?
Both are open source. pdfcpu is licensed under Apache-2.0 and signaturepdf under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between pdfcpu and signaturepdf?
pdfcpu is written in Go and signaturepdf 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 signaturepdf?
Choose pdfcpu if you want the larger community (8,842 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose signaturepdf if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.