# Stirling PDF review, pricing and alternatives

Source: https://listme.name/software/stirling-pdf
Website: https://www.stirling.com/

Open-source PDF tools you can self-host on your own server

Stirling PDF is an open-source PDF toolkit from Stirling PDF Inc. that runs as a web application on infrastructure you control. Its core code is under the MIT license, and the company says it is free for individual use. The GitHub project lists PDF merging, conversion and OCR among its tools.

Stirling PDF is a web application with many PDF tools, including merging, splitting, converting, OCR and editing. It is self-hosted, so files are processed on a server the user or the user's company runs. The GitHub project lists self-hosted, PDF OCR and PDF merging among its topics.

The core code is published under the MIT license. A proprietary directory in the repository is licensed separately. The company reports more than 30 million downloads and says the software is free for individual use. It suits IT teams and privacy-minded users. For a polished desktop editor on one computer, PDF Expert or Foxit is simpler.

- Free and open source | Web, Self-hosted | open source (MIT)
- Price: Free for individual use; core code is MIT-licensed
- Checked: 2026-10-10

## Strengths

- Self-hosted, so files stay on your own server
- MIT-licensed core with many PDF tools

## Limits

- Self-hosting means you run updates and backups
- Parts of the repository use a separate proprietary license

## Rankings

- #10 of 11 in [best PDF editors](https://listme.name/best/pdf-editors), score 78.5: Open-source PDF tools that run on your own server, with MIT-licensed core code. Someone has to host and update it, so it suits IT teams and privacy-minded users more than people who want a desktop editor.

## Alternatives

- [Adobe Acrobat](https://listme.name/software/adobe-acrobat), score 90.5
- [PDF-XChange Editor](https://listme.name/software/pdf-xchange-editor), score 89.5
- [Foxit PDF Editor](https://listme.name/software/foxit-pdf-editor), score 88.5
- [Smallpdf](https://listme.name/software/smallpdf), score 86.0
- [Sejda](https://listme.name/software/sejda), score 85.0
- [PDF Expert](https://listme.name/software/pdf-expert), score 84.5
- [iLovePDF](https://listme.name/software/ilovepdf), score 81.5
- [PDFgear](https://listme.name/software/pdfgear), score 80.5