the catalog · 📄 Documents & PDFs

Stirling PDF

★ 60k

Web app with 50+ PDF operations — merge, split, sign, OCR, redact — all processed locally on your server.

Stirling PDF does the job of Adobe Acrobat, self-hosted. It is MIT-licensed, so you can do essentially what you like with it, and it installs in about one command. Adobe Acrobat bills $20 for it. 60k stars on GitHub.

Open-source replacement for Adobe Acrobat.

Licence: MIT
Self-hosting: Easy
The paid one costs: $20
GitHub stars: 60k

view the code →official site →

Is it actually a replacement?

We have written a verdict on what it replaces — what you lose, and why people still pay:

Can I open-source Adobe Acrobat Pro? →

How Stirling PDF runs

Where it runs

Stirling PDF runs on your machine or their cloud.

Installing it

Install the native Windows/macOS desktop build, run the Linux JAR, or deploy the documented Docker image/Compose stack; a hosted cloud edition also exists.

Where your data lives

Desktop and self-hosted deployments process files on the user's machine/server and can use mounted local storage; the cloud edition uploads files for transient server processing.

What setup takes

The native desktop app is simple, but a full private cross-platform service and automation setup is most reliably deployed with Docker.

The catch compared with Adobe Acrobat Pro

Its toolbox is broad, but precise WYSIWYG page-content editing and Acrobat's mature accessibility, prepress, enterprise signing, and admin workflows are not equivalent.

Stirling PDF questions

Is Stirling PDF open source?

Yes — it is released under MIT.

Can Stirling PDF replace Adobe Acrobat?

Our verdict on Adobe Acrobat Pro is YES. Stirling PDF (89k stars), Typst (40k stars), Docmost (21k stars) are mature open-source replacements for Adobe Acrobat Pro — self-host in one command and stop paying $29.99/mo.

Can I self-host Stirling PDF?

Yes — we rate it easy to self-host, and it runs on your machine or their cloud. Install the native Windows/macOS desktop build, run the Linux JAR, or deploy the documented Docker image/Compose stack; a hosted cloud edition also exists.