{"slug": "pdfcraft", "name": "PDFCraft", "category": "editors", "category_name": "Editors and IDEs", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 3, "warners": 0, "score": 2.965, "rising": 3.0, "first": "2026-10-11", "latest": "2026-10-13", "why": "PdfCraft works well enough for me that I cancelled my subscription.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "PdfCraft works well enough for me that I cancelled my subscription.", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["PDFCraft", "PdfCraft", "Pdfcraft"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 801092305, "item_id": 50068269, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50068269", "by": "spwa4", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Pdfcraft is far superior to all those stupid pdf sites", "excerpt": "This works at least as well on the web as Google docs. Obviously that's without the collaboration features, as well as using your local filesystem instead of Google Drive/Azure Cloud storage. But Google Drive was always the worst part of Google Docs by far (imho). And collaboration ... for my personal office needs ... I sometimes try to do this with my wife and kids, but almost never. Pdfcraft is far superior to all ", "context": "", "use_case": "PDF tools", "switched_from": "", "story": "An open-source, clean-room reimplementation of Microsoft Word in pure Rust"}, {"id": 801054432, "item_id": 50065902, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50065902", "by": "captainkrtek", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PdfCraft works well enough for me that I cancelled my subscription.", "excerpt": "I get its imperfect, but I pay for Adobe Acrobat to work on legal documents (infrequent, but frequent enough that I have to pay), and PdfCraft works well enough for me that I cancelled my subscription.", "context": "works on legal documents", "use_case": "working on legal documents", "switched_from": "Adobe Acrobat", "story": "ArtCraft Apps \u2013 open-source Adobe compatible suite written in Rust"}, {"id": 800745424, "item_id": 50046589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046589", "by": "wg0", "date": "2026-10-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Don't underestimate vibe coded apps. Take a look at PDFCraft, VectorCraft, WordCraft.", "excerpt": "And what software developers should do? Basically people are vibe coding their personal apps and anything that's expensive is being vibe coded open in the public. I don't see many software companies staying profitable for long. DHH is the biggest proponent of AI and let me know which of the 37 signals products can't be vibe coded in a month at a $200 plan that are suitable for that organization alone that just has to", "context": "", "use_case": "vibe-coded PDF app", "switched_from": "", "story": "Terence Tao: Math 2.0 [pdf]"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "captainkrtek", "context": "works on legal documents", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50065902", "date": "2026-10-13"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["pdf tools", "working on legal documents", "vibe-coded pdf app"], "compared": [{"slug": "wordcraft", "name": "wordcraft", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50050370", "title": "An open-source, clean-room reimplementation of Microsoft Word in pure Rust", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49958850", "title": "ArtCraft Apps \u2013 open-source Adobe compatible suite written in Rust", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50043026", "title": "Terence Tao: Math 2.0 [pdf]", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 3}}, "quotes": [{"id": 801092305, "item_id": 50068269, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50068269", "by": "spwa4", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Pdfcraft is far superior to all those stupid pdf sites", "excerpt": "This works at least as well on the web as Google docs. Obviously that's without the collaboration features, as well as using your local filesystem instead of Google Drive/Azure Cloud storage. But Google Drive was always the worst part of Google Docs by far (imho). And collaboration ... for my personal office needs ... I sometimes try to do this with my wife and kids, but almost never. Pdfcraft is far superior to all ", "context": "", "use_case": "PDF tools", "switched_from": "", "story": "An open-source, clean-room reimplementation of Microsoft Word in pure Rust"}, {"id": 801054432, "item_id": 50065902, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50065902", "by": "captainkrtek", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PdfCraft works well enough for me that I cancelled my subscription.", "excerpt": "I get its imperfect, but I pay for Adobe Acrobat to work on legal documents (infrequent, but frequent enough that I have to pay), and PdfCraft works well enough for me that I cancelled my subscription.", "context": "works on legal documents", "use_case": "working on legal documents", "switched_from": "Adobe Acrobat", "story": "ArtCraft Apps \u2013 open-source Adobe compatible suite written in Rust"}, {"id": 800745424, "item_id": 50046589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046589", "by": "wg0", "date": "2026-10-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Don't underestimate vibe coded apps. Take a look at PDFCraft, VectorCraft, WordCraft.", "excerpt": "And what software developers should do? Basically people are vibe coding their personal apps and anything that's expensive is being vibe coded open in the public. I don't see many software companies staying profitable for long. DHH is the biggest proponent of AI and let me know which of the 37 signals products can't be vibe coded in a month at a $200 plan that are suitable for that organization alone that just has to", "context": "", "use_case": "vibe-coded PDF app", "switched_from": "", "story": "Terence Tao: Math 2.0 [pdf]"}]}