Stirling PDF: 50+ PDF tools on your own server

Every PDF tool you currently upload confidential documents to, running on hardware you control.

Stirling PDF is a self-hosted PDF application offering more than 50 tools, including merge, split, sign, redact, convert, compress and OCR, all running on infrastructure you control. It is available as a desktop app, in the browser, or as a self-hosted server with a private API, supports more than 40 languages, and includes no-code workflows for chaining operations. The main reason to run it is confidentiality: documents are processed on your own machine instead of being uploaded to a third-party website. It follows an open-core model, so it is free to self-host with some enterprise features reserved for paid tiers.

What you get

  • More than 50 PDF tools in one place, including OCR and redaction
  • Documents processed on your own hardware, never uploaded to a third party
  • Desktop app, browser interface, or a self-hosted server with a private API
  • No-code workflows to chain several operations together
  • More than 40 interface languages

Who this is not for

If you edit a PDF twice a year, a hosted tool is less work. This earns its keep when documents are confidential, when volume is high enough to automate, or when a client contract forbids third-party uploads.

Credit

Created by Stirling Tools· Open-core, free to self-host

ProfitizeOS did not build this and does not host it. You get a link straight to the original.

Free. Two fields, then straight to the resource and setup guide.

Common questions

Is Stirling PDF free?

It is free to self-host and covers the great majority of what people need. It follows an open-core model, so certain enterprise features sit behind paid tiers.

Do my documents leave my machine?

No, when you self-host. That is the main reason to run it: files are processed locally instead of being uploaded to a PDF website.

Can I call it from an automation workflow?

Yes. The self-hosted server exposes a private API, which is how you would drive it from n8n or a similar platform for bulk processing.

Does OCR work out of the box?

The capability is built in, but you need the relevant Tesseract language packs installed. Add the languages you actually process, then re-test.

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