head to head · open source
Steel vs pdf_oxide
Steel has 7,668 GitHub stars, 982 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. pdf_oxide has 1,037 stars, 130 forks, 322 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Steel leads on adoption by 639% (7,668 vs 1,037 stars). Steel is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; pdf_oxide is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Steel has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, pdf_oxide 13%. pdf_oxide was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (llm), 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
| Steel | pdf_oxide | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.7K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 982 | ⑂ 130 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Steel if
- You weight community size — 7.7K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pdf_oxide if
- You want the pdf_oxide feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and pdf_oxide fits your workflow better
About Steel
Steel is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed browser API written in TypeScript that gives AI agents and applications cloud browser sessions, so teams can automate the web without building browser infrastructure from scratch.
read the full Steel overview →
About pdf_oxide
PDFOxide is a Rust core PDF toolkit with bindings for nineteen additional languages, plus a command line tool and an MCP server, aimed at developers and data teams that need fast, permissively licensed text extraction, image extraction, markdown conversion, and PDF creation and editing.
read the full pdf_oxide overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Steel or pdf_oxide more popular?
Steel has 7,668 GitHub stars and pdf_oxide has 1,037. Steel has the larger community by that measure.
Are Steel and pdf_oxide free?
Both are open source. Steel is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pdf_oxide under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Steel and pdf_oxide?
Steel is written in TypeScript and pdf_oxide in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Steel or pdf_oxide?
Choose Steel if you want the larger community (7,668 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pdf_oxide if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.