Open-Source PDF Tools: Stirling PDF vs BentoPDF (Self-Host + Privacy)
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Tired of uploading sensitive PDFs to online tools like iLovePDF/Smallpdf? In this video, I show two powerful open-source alternatives you can use with better privacy:
✅ BentoPDF (privacy-first, browser/client-side style workflow)
✅ Stirling PDF (feature-packed self-hosted PDF web app)
You’ll see real demos like merge, split, compress, convert, rotate, reorder pages, and I’ll also show a quick Docker / Docker Compose setup so you can run these tools on your own PC or server in the next video if you comment about docker installation.
YouTube Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:22 iLovePDF (why people use it)
01:12 Smallpdf (common limitations)
01:26 PDF24 Tools (quick mention)
01:43 Stirling PDF (demo)
02:32 BentoPDF (demo)
04:10 Bonus Android App + Outro
If you want a Part 2 (OCR + best compression settings), comment: “PART 2”.
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