The Open Source Alternative to Adobe Acrobat & iLovePDF

🩺 Vitals

📦 Version: v1.16.1 (Released 2026-01-26)
🚀 Velocity: Active (Last commit 2026-01-30)
🌟 Community: 10.9k Stars · 846 Forks
🐞 Backlog: 114 Open Issues

🏗️ Profile

Official: bentopdf.com
Source: github.com/alam00000/bentopdf
License: AGPL-3.0
Deployment:Docker (Tiny ~9MB)
Data Model: Stateless / Client-Side WASM
Jurisdiction: India 🇮🇳
Compliance: HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA
Complexity: Low (1/5) - Single Container
Maintenance: Low (1/5) - Zero State
Enterprise Ready: High (4/5) - GDPR Safe, Metadata Scrubber

1. The Executive Summary

What is it? BentoPDF is a privacy-first PDF manipulation tool (merge, split, compress, convert) that runs entirely in the user's browser. Even if you self-host it on a server, the heavy lifting happens on the client side. This "Architectural Privacy" means the server technically cannot see the file contents.

The Strategic Verdict:

🔴 For Heavy Server OCR: Caution. Since it relies on the browser, massive bulk processing of thousands of files might be slower than server-side farms.
🟢 For Legal & Finance: Strong Buy. The only way to use a "web tool" for contracts without violating NDA/GDPR data transfer clauses.

2. The "Hidden" Costs (TCO Analysis)

Cost Component	Proprietary (Adobe/iLovePDF)	BentoPDF (Self-Hosted)
Data Risk	High (Cloud Upload)	Zero (Client-Side)
License Fee	~$15-20/user/mo	$0 (AGPLv3)
Infrastructure	$0	Negligible (9MB RAM)

3. The "Day 2" Reality Check

🚀 Deployment & Operations

Installation: Incredible efficiency. TheDocker image is under 10MB. It can run on the smallest possible slice of a server or even a Raspberry Pi.
Security: Because it is stateless, there is no database to back up or secure.

🛡️ Security & Governance

Telemetry: Unlike some competitors (e.g., recent Stirling-PDF controversies), BentoPDF positions itself as telemetry-free and transparent.
Sanitization: Includes pro-grade tools to strip hidden metadata (author, location, edit history) from PDFs before sharing.

BentoPDF