# Stirling-PDF

> Every PDF tool you search for online, running on your own server

Category: Self hosted apps (https://aiarabicdev.com/self-hosted)
Canonical page: https://aiarabicdev.com/self-hosted/stirling-pdf
Tags: pdf, documents, ocr, privacy, docker

Stirling-PDF bundles dozens of PDF operations in one web app: merge, split, compress, convert, OCR, sign and redact. The core is MIT licensed, some directories are proprietary, and it keeps your documents off random websites.

## Facts

- Licence: MIT core, with proprietary directories
- Language: TypeScript
- Cost: Free core, paid tiers exist
- Self hostable: yes
- Added: 2026-10-25
- Last checked: 2026-10-25

## Links

- Website: https://stirling.com
- Source: https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF

## Stop uploading contracts to strangers

Most people handle PDFs by searching for a free online tool and uploading whatever file they have, including contracts, payslips and ID scans. Stirling-PDF gives you the same set of tools on a server you control, in a browser, for every device on your network.

Operations can be chained into pipelines, and an API lets scripts do the same work, which is handy for batch conversion or OCR.

## What to expect

The full image includes OCR and office conversion tools, which makes it large and gives it a real RAM appetite during conversions. Lighter images exist if you only need the basic tools. There is little state to back up.

The license is mixed: most of the code is MIT, while some directories carry their own proprietary license for paid features. Read the license file before building on it, and keep the instance private, since it handles sensitive documents.

## Reach for it when

- you edit, merge or convert PDFs and do not want to upload them anywhere
- you need OCR on scanned documents
- you want PDF operations available to scripts through an API

## Watch out for

- the license is mixed, with some features under a proprietary license
- the full image is large and conversions use a lot of RAM
- it handles sensitive files, so it should not be exposed publicly

## Get started

Run with Docker:

```sh
docker run -p 8080:8080 docker.stirlingpdf.com/stirlingtools/stirling-pdf
```

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