head to head · open source
PyMuPDF vs WritingTools
PyMuPDF has 10,744 GitHub stars, 800 forks, 58 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. WritingTools has 2,455 stars, 159 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. PyMuPDF leads on adoption by 338% (10,744 vs 2,455 stars). PyMuPDF is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; WritingTools is written in Swift under GPL-3.0. PyMuPDF has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, WritingTools 6%. PyMuPDF 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| PyMuPDF | WritingTools | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 800 | ⑂ 159 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PyMuPDF if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick WritingTools if
- You want the WritingTools feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and WritingTools fits your workflow better
About PyMuPDF
PyMuPDF is a high performance Python library, built on the MuPDF C engine, for extracting, analysing, converting, rendering and manipulating PDF and other documents, aimed at Python developers building data extraction, document processing and AI retrieval pipelines.
read the full PyMuPDF overview →
About WritingTools
WritingTools is an open source, system wide writing assistant for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is inspired by Apple Intelligence Writing Tools and uses cloud based or local large language models to proofread, rewrite, summarize, and transform selected text across applications. The project is written in Swift and released under the GPL 3.0 license. The README states it works in nearly any language.
read the full WritingTools overview →
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Publishing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Publishing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is PyMuPDF or WritingTools more popular?
PyMuPDF has 10,744 GitHub stars and WritingTools has 2,455. PyMuPDF has the larger community by that measure.
Are PyMuPDF and WritingTools free?
Both are open source. PyMuPDF is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WritingTools under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PyMuPDF and WritingTools?
PyMuPDF is written in Python and WritingTools in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, PyMuPDF or WritingTools?
Choose PyMuPDF if you want the larger community (10,744 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose WritingTools if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.