{"slug": "bentopdf", "name": "BentoPDF", "category": "editors", "category_name": "Editors and IDEs", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 7, "warners": 0, "score": 3.45, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2026-03-28", "latest": "2026-10-26", "why": "isn't BentoPDF open source and does all that and more for free", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 3, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "isn't BentoPDF open source and does all that and more for free", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/alam00000/bentopdf", "official_url": "https://www.bentopdf.com/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["BentoPDF", "Bento PDF"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 803864160, "item_id": 50241510, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50241510", "by": "Latitude7973", "date": "2026-10-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It runs in the browser, is private and no-fuss.", "excerpt": "I'd like to point out Bento PDF: https://www.bentopdf.com/ It runs in the browser, is private and no-fuss. You can also host it locally if you like.", "context": "", "use_case": "Private in-browser PDF tools", "switched_from": "", "story": "PaperPilot \u2013 Zero-Cloud, Pure-Rust PDF Engine with WASM and MCP"}, {"id": 761109248, "item_id": 47569328, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47569328", "by": "tomalbrc", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf", "excerpt": "- BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf - PDFCraft (3.6k stars): https://github.com/PDFCraftTool/pdfcraft - PDFLince (31 stars): https://github.com/GSiesto/pdflince", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor"}, {"id": 761070256, "item_id": 47566891, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47566891", "by": "eahm", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "isn't BentoPDF open source and does all that and more for free", "excerpt": "I don't want to hijack the thread but isn't BentoPDF open source and does all that and more for free? https://www.bentopdf.com", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["private in-browser pdf tools", "in-browser pdf tools", "pdf editing"], "compared": [{"slug": "pdfcraft", "name": "PDFCraft", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47563103", "title": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47555636", "title": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50238739", "title": "PaperPilot \u2013 Zero-Cloud, Pure-Rust PDF Engine with WASM and MCP", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48729230", "title": "Show HN: PDFMergely \u2013 In-browser PDF tools that never upload your files", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"compare": 2, "recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"compare": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 803864160, "item_id": 50241510, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50241510", "by": "Latitude7973", "date": "2026-10-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It runs in the browser, is private and no-fuss.", "excerpt": "I'd like to point out Bento PDF: https://www.bentopdf.com/ It runs in the browser, is private and no-fuss. You can also host it locally if you like.", "context": "", "use_case": "Private in-browser PDF tools", "switched_from": "", "story": "PaperPilot \u2013 Zero-Cloud, Pure-Rust PDF Engine with WASM and MCP"}, {"id": 779722960, "item_id": 48732685, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48732685", "by": "jamessb", "date": "2026-06-30", "stance": "compare", "quote": "there are older tools that do this, such as BentoPDF (which is also open source)", "excerpt": "This one's website (and a dead comment replying to you) suggests that processing the PDF in the browser, rather than uploading to a server, is a point of differentiation. However, there are older tools that do this, such as BentoPDF (which is also open source) [1]. [1]: https://www.bentopdf.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "in-browser PDF tools", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: PDFMergely \u2013 In-browser PDF tools that never upload your files"}, {"id": 761109248, "item_id": 47569328, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47569328", "by": "tomalbrc", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf", "excerpt": "- BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf - PDFCraft (3.6k stars): https://github.com/PDFCraftTool/pdfcraft - PDFLince (31 stars): https://github.com/GSiesto/pdflince", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor"}, {"id": 761084608, "item_id": 47567788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47567788", "by": "pshirshov", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "compare", "quote": "BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf", "excerpt": "> BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf > PDFCraft (3.6k stars): https://github.com/PDFCraftTool/pdfcraft > PDFLince (31 stars): https://github.com/GSiesto/pdflince", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor"}, {"id": 761076672, "item_id": 47567292, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47567292", "by": "pshirshov", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf", "excerpt": "Well, all the agents, including free and even local ones could do this for less money and without AGPL violations. Just tell them what you need to change/merge and they literally do it just fine. Or they could write reusable python/whatever scripts for you. These days $12/month for a vibe-coded PDF editor running locally is a robbery. Also, let me quote: > BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor"}, {"id": 761070256, "item_id": 47566891, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47566891", "by": "eahm", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "isn't BentoPDF open source and does all that and more for free", "excerpt": "I don't want to hijack the thread but isn't BentoPDF open source and does all that and more for free? https://www.bentopdf.com", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor"}, {"id": 760910048, "item_id": 47556878, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47556878", "by": "npilk", "date": "2026-03-28", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Just for competitive reference, note that e.g. BentoPDF has a website as well", "excerpt": "Just for competitive reference, note that e.g. BentoPDF has a website as well, not just a GitHub repo: https://www.bentopdf.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor"}, {"id": 760898144, "item_id": 47556134, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47556134", "by": "maxloh", "date": "2026-03-28", "stance": "compare", "quote": "BentoPDF (12.3k stars)", "excerpt": "Several open-source alternatives already exist. All are powered by pdf-lib, with the first two also utilizing PyMuPDF. - BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf - PDFCraft (3.6k stars): https://github.com/PDFCraftTool/pdfcraft - PDFLince (31 stars): https://github.com/GSiesto/pdflince Since this project likely uses the same stack, I\u2019m not sure what the selling point of a more limiting product is", "context": "", "use_case": "PDF editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor"}]}