OCRmyPDF vs Stirling PDF
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted document management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Stirling PDF
Powerful locally hosted web-based PDF toolkit
| Feature | OCRmyPDF | Stirling PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Document Management | Document Management |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 34,851 | ★ 92,839 |
| First released | 2015 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Adobe Acrobat | Adobe Acrobat, Smallpdf |
What are OCRmyPDF and Stirling PDF?
OCRmyPDF
OCRmyPDF is an open-source tool that adds a searchable text layer to scanned PDF files so they can be searched and copied. It is widely used as the OCR engine behind paperless document workflows.
- Searchable OCR text layer
- Preserves original PDF quality
- Batch processing
- Many language packs
Stirling PDF
Stirling PDF is a self-hosted web application that provides a comprehensive set of PDF manipulation tools. It can merge, split, convert, compress, OCR, and edit PDFs entirely on your own server.
- Dozens of PDF tools
- OCR support
- Convert to and from PDF
- Runs entirely locally
OCRmyPDF vs Stirling PDF: key differences
OCRmyPDF is written in Python, while Stirling PDF is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MPL-2.0 for OCRmyPDF versus MIT for Stirling PDF. OCRmyPDF is the more established project (first released 2015), while Stirling PDF arrived in 2023. Stirling PDF has the considerably larger community, at 92,839 GitHub stars versus 34,851.
Why pick each one
Choose OCRmyPDF if…
- Excellent OCR results
- Composes well with other tools
Watch out for
- Command-line focused
- Not a full DMS by itself
Choose Stirling PDF if…
- Keeps documents private
- Huge range of features
Watch out for
- Not a full document archive
- Java memory footprint
Frequently asked questions
Is OCRmyPDF or Stirling PDF better?
Neither is universally better. Stirling PDF has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OCRmyPDF and Stirling PDF free and open-source?
Yes. OCRmyPDF is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Stirling PDF under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OCRmyPDF and Stirling PDF with Docker?
OCRmyPDF: yes. Stirling PDF: yes.