BentoPDF

BentoPDF is a powerful, privacy-first, client-side PDF toolkit that is self hostable and allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser. No server-side processing is required, ensuring your files remain secure and private.

BentoPDF is dual-licensed:

• AGPL-3.0 for open-source projects where you share your full source code publicly
• Commercial License for proprietary/closed-source applications - Get Lifetime License for $49 (a one-time lifetime purchase, includes all feature updates forever)

For more details, see our Licensing Page

• Privacy First: All processing happens in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server, guaranteeing 100% privacy.
• No Limits: Manipulate as many files as you want, as often you want. There are no restrictions or upload limits.
• High Performance: Built with modern web technologies, BentoPDF is fast and efficient, handling even large PDF files with ease.
• Completely Free: BentoPDF is a free and open-source tool for everyone.

BentoPDF offers a comprehensive suite of tools to handle all your PDF needs.

You can run BentoPDF locally for development or personal use.

• Node.js (v18 or higher recommended)
• npm (or yarn/pnpm)
• Docker & Docker Compose (for containerized setup)

You can run BentoPDF directly from Docker Hub or GitHub Container Registry without cloning the repository:

You can also watch the video on how to set it up 👉 BentoPDF Docker Setup

Using Docker Hub:

docker run -p 3000:8080 bentopdf/bentopdf:latest

Using GitHub Container Registry:

docker run -p 3000:8080 ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf:latest

Open your browser at: http://localhost:3000

This is the fastest way to try BentoPDF without setting up a development environment.

Since BentoPDF is fully client-side, all processing happens in the user's browser and no server-side processing is required. This means you can host BentoPDF as simple static files on any web server or hosting platform.

Download from Releases (Recommended):

The easiest way to self-host is to download the pre-built distribution file from our GitHub releases. Each release includes a dist-{version}.zip file that contains all necessary files for self-hosting.

1. Go to BentoPDF Releases
2. Download the latest dist-{version}.zip file
3. Extract the zip file
4. Serve the extracted folder with your preferred web server

Navigate to the extracted Folder:

# Navigate to the extracted folder
cd dist-1.7.3  # Replace with your version

Serve with Python:

# For Python 3
python -m http.server 8000

The website can be accessible at: http://[::1]:8000/

Serve with Node.js:

# Install a simple server
npx serve .

# Or if you have serve installed globally
npm install -g serve
serve .

The website can be accessible at: http://localhost:3000/

Serve with other tools:

You can also use other static file servers like:

• Go: go run main.go with a simple Go server
• PHP: php -S localhost:8000
• Ruby: ruby -run -e httpd . -p 8000

The website can be accessible at:

• Go: http://localhost:8080/ (default) or as specified
• PHP: http://localhost:8000/
• Ruby: http://localhost:8000/ (default port can be changed)

Simply serve the extracted folder using any static file server, and BentoPDF will work completely client-side without any server-side dependencies.

Build from Source (Advanced):

If you prefer to build from source:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf.git
cd bentopdf

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

# Package the distribution for hosting (optional)
npm run package

# Serve the dist folder
npx serve dist

The website can be accessible at: http://localhost:3000/

The npm run package command creates a dist-{version}.zip file that you can use for self-hosting.

For a more robust setup with auto-restart capabilities:

1. Download the repo and create a docker-compose.yml file or use the one given in repo:

services:
  bentopdf:
    image: bentopdf/bentopdf:latest
    container_name: bentopdf
    ports:
      - '3000:8080'
    restart: unless-stopped

2. Start the application:

docker-compose up -d

The application will be available at http://localhost:3000.

For organizations that want a clean, distraction-free interface focused solely on PDF tools, BentoPDF supports a Simple Mode that hides all branding and marketing content.

What Simple Mode does:

• Hides navigation, hero section, features, FAQ, testimonials, and footer
• Shows only the essential PDF tools
• Updates page title to "PDF Tools"
• Perfect for internal company tools and educational institutions

For more details, see SIMPLE_MODE.md.

BentoPDF runs as a non-root user using nginx-unprivileged for enhanced security:

• Non-Root Execution: Container runs with minimal privileges using nginx-unprivileged
• Port 8080: Uses high port number to avoid requiring root privileges
• Security Best Practices: Follows Principle of Least Privilege

docker build -t bentopdf .
docker run -p 8080:8080 bentopdf

For detailed security configuration, see SECURITY.md.

BentoPDF supports semantic versioning with multiple Docker tags available on both Docker Hub and GitHub Container Registry:

Docker Hub:

• Latest: bentopdf/bentopdf:latest
• Specific Version: bentopdf/bentopdf:1.0.0
• Version with Prefix: bentopdf/bentopdf:v1.0.0

GitHub Container Registry:

• Latest: ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf:latest
• Specific Version: ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf:1.0.0
• Version with Prefix: ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf:v1.0.0

# Release a patch version (0.0.1 → 0.0.2)
npm run release

# Release a minor version (0.0.1 → 0.1.0)
npm run release:minor

# Release a major version (0.0.1 → 1.0.0)
npm run release:major

For detailed release instructions, see RELEASE.md.

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf.git
   cd bentopdf

2. Install Dependencies:

   npm install

3. Run the Development Server:

   npm run dev

   The application will be available at http://localhost:5173.

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf.git
   cd bentopdf

2. Run with Docker Compose:

   docker-compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d

   The application will be available at http://localhost:3000.

   Note: After making any local changes to the code, rebuild the Docker image using:

   docker-compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up --build -d

   This ensures your latest changes are applied inside the container.

BentoPDF was originally built using HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript. As the project grew, it was migrated to a modern stack for better maintainability and scalability:

• Vite: A fast build tool for modern web development.
• TypeScript: For type safety and an improved developer experience.
• Tailwind CSS: For rapid and consistent UI development.

Note: Some parts of the codebase still use legacy structures from the original implementation. Contributors should expect gradual updates as testing and refactoring continue.

• HTML to PDF: Convert HTML files or web pages into PDF documents.
• Markdown to PDF: Enhanced support for converting .md files to PDF.
• Convert to PDF/A: Convert PDFs to the PDF/A archival format.
• Edit PDF Content: Directly edit text and other content within your PDF.
• PDF to Office: Converts PDF files into editable Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats.
• Office to PDF: Converts Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents into optimized PDFs.

Contributions and discussions on the roadmap are welcome! Join the conversation via Discord.

We welcome contributions from the community! Here's how you can get started:

1. Fork the repository and create your branch from main.
2. Follow the Getting Started steps to set up your local environment.
3. Make your changes and commit them with a clear message.
4. Open a Pull Request and describe the changes you've made.

Have an idea for a new tool or an improvement? Open an issue to discuss it first.

BentoPDF wouldn't be possible without the amazing open-source tools and libraries that power it. We'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the creators and maintainers of:

• PDFLib.js – For enabling powerful client-side PDF manipulation.
• PDF.js – For the robust PDF rendering engine in the browser.
• PDFKit – For creating and editing PDFs with ease.
• EmbedPDF – For seamless PDF editing in pure JS.
• Cropper.js – For intuitive image cropping functionality.
• Vite – For lightning-fast development and build tooling.
• Tailwind CSS – For rapid, flexible, and beautiful UI styling.
• qpdf and qpdf-wasm– A powerful command-line tool and library for inspecting, repairing, and transforming PDF file ported to wasm
• cpdf – For content preserving pdf operations.

Your work inspires and empowers developers everywhere. Thank you for making open-source amazing!