Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Smallpdf

Stirling PDF is a web application that provides a broad set of tools to manipulate, convert, and optimize PDF documents in a single interface. It’s designed for personal, team, and organizational workflows where PDFs must be processed locally without relying on third‑party online converters.

Key Features

• Merge, split, reorder, rotate, extract pages, and combine multiple PDFs
• Convert between PDF and common formats (e.g., images, Office formats) depending on installed backends
• OCR to make scanned documents searchable/selectable
• Compress/optimize PDFs and images to reduce file size
• Add/remove passwords and set permissions; basic security-related PDF utilities
• Redaction and content removal utilities for sensitive documents
• Add watermarks, headers/footers, and page numbers
• Form and metadata utilities (view/edit metadata; PDF form-related tools depending on version)
• Digital signing features (where supported) and stamp-like operations
• Optional REST API endpoints for automation/integration
• Docker-focused distribution with configurable settings via environment variables

Use Cases

• Internal “PDF toolbox” for HR/finance/legal teams to process documents without external SaaS
• Automating routine conversions (e.g., images/Office → PDF, OCR → searchable PDFs) via API
• Preparing PDFs for sharing by compressing, watermarking, and applying passwords/permissions

Limitations and Considerations

• Some conversion features depend on external tools/binaries included in the container image; available operations can vary by deployment/image/version.

Stirling PDF is a practical all-in-one PDF utility suite with a browser UI and automation options. It fits best when you need a consistent, centrally managed set of PDF tools and want to keep document processing under your control.

Paperless-ngx is a self-hosted document management system (DMS) focused on turning paper and digital files into searchable, organized records. It ingests documents from multiple sources, runs OCR and text extraction, and provides a web UI and API to manage, find, and automate document handling.

Key Features

• Automated ingestion (“consume” folder) plus upload via web UI and REST API
• OCR and text extraction for searchable PDFs/images (typically via Tesseract)
• Full-text search with filters (tags, correspondents, document types, dates, fields)
• Metadata model: correspondents, document types, tags, custom fields, and rules
• Email ingestion (IMAP) to automatically import attachments and assign metadata
• Document workflows: matching rules, automatic tagging, and metadata assignment
• Multi-user support with permissions/roles and an admin interface
• Preview and download originals/archived PDFs; versioned/organized storage
• Integrations via API and container-first deployment (Docker/Compose)

Use Cases

• Personal “paperless” home archive for bills, receipts, manuals, and letters
• Small office record-keeping with consistent naming, tagging, and search
• Automatic import pipeline from scanner + email for invoices and statements

Limitations and Considerations

• OCR quality and language support depend on installed OCR language packs and scan quality
• Accurate auto-classification relies on well-tuned matching rules and consistent inputs

Paperless-ngx is well-suited for users who want reliable OCR-backed search, structured metadata, and automated ingestion to maintain a long-term, searchable archive. Its strong import options and rule-based processing make it practical for both home and small-team document workflows.

CyberChef is a web-based data transformation and analysis tool that lets you build repeatable workflows (“recipes”) to decode, encode, decrypt/encrypt, parse, and extract information from many data formats. It’s widely used in security operations, incident response, and engineering to quickly triage unknown data and automate common transformations.

Key Features

• Drag-and-drop recipe builder with hundreds of operations (e.g., encoding/decoding, cryptography, compression, parsing, data carving)
• Runs fully in the browser for many operations, with optional server deployment for centralized access
• Supports a wide range of formats and inputs (text, files, binary/hex, Base64, JWT, timestamps, URLs, certificates, etc.)
• Recipe export/import and sharable workflows for repeatable investigations and team collaboration
• Built-in search/filtering of operations and step-by-step inspection of intermediate outputs
• Extensible operation set (custom operations possible via code contributions)

Use Cases

• SOC/DFIR triage: quickly decode suspicious strings, beacons, scripts, or artifacts
• Malware/forensics analysis: unpack/transform data (e.g., Base64/hex/gzip/XOR) and extract indicators
• Engineering/IT tasks: convert formats, generate hashes, parse logs, and validate encodings

CyberChef provides a practical “one tool” workspace for data transformations, reducing the need to stitch together many small utilities. Its recipe approach makes investigations more consistent and easier to reproduce and share.

ConvertX is a self-hosted file conversion service that exposes common conversion tasks through a simple web UI and an HTTP API. It is designed to run in containers and leverages well-known command-line converters to handle multiple media and document formats.

Key Features

• Web interface for uploading files and running conversions
• HTTP API for programmatic conversions (useful for automation and integrations)
• Supports multiple conversion domains (documents, images, audio/video) by orchestrating external converters
• Container-first deployment (Docker) for reproducible runtimes and dependencies
• Job-based processing model suitable for background conversions

Use Cases

• Team “conversion hub” to standardize media/document conversions across devices
• Backend service for apps that need on-demand transcoding or document conversion
• Batch converting files (e.g., office docs to PDF, media to common playback formats)

Limitations and Considerations

• Supported formats and quality depend on the underlying converter tools available in the image (e.g., FFmpeg); some edge formats may not be supported.
• CPU-intensive conversions (especially video) may require resource limits and tuning for stable performance.

ConvertX fits environments that want a lightweight, containerized conversion endpoint with both a human-friendly UI and an API for integration. It is most useful when you need consistent conversions without relying on third-party SaaS tools.

OmniTools is a self-hosted web application that groups a wide range of small utilities into a single, searchable toolbox. It is designed for quick, offline-friendly use in the browser, covering common developer and “daily work” tasks like encoding/decoding, formatting, and data conversion.

Key Features

• Collection of browser-based utilities consolidated into one web UI
• Encoding/decoding helpers (e.g., common web-safe transforms)
• Text/data transformation and formatting tools aimed at developer workflows
• Simple navigation and quick access to tools from a single landing page
• Runs as a single deployable web app (commonly via container)

Use Cases

• Quickly format/transform text, JSON-like payloads, or snippets while debugging
• Decode/encode values (URLs/Base64-like) when troubleshooting integrations
• Provide an internal “toolbox” page for teams to avoid using random online tools

Limitations and Considerations

• Feature set depends on the included tools; it is not a full IDE or automation platform
• Some tools may overlap with specialized, dedicated utilities that offer deeper options

OmniTools is useful when you want a private, always-available set of small utilities in one place. It fits well as a lightweight internal service for engineers and technical teams who frequently need quick conversions and encoders without relying on third-party web tools.

Papra is a document management system focused on turning scanned paperwork into a searchable, well-organized archive. It provides a web interface to upload/import documents, extract text with OCR, and find files quickly using metadata and search.

Key Features

• Upload and manage documents in a web UI (designed for personal/household paperwork)
• OCR text extraction to make scanned PDFs/images searchable
• Full-text search across extracted content
• Metadata organization (e.g., titles/dates) and tagging/labels for browsing
• Document preview and structured library views for quick retrieval
• Docker-based deployment for straightforward installation and updates

Use Cases

• Digitize and archive household paperwork (invoices, letters, contracts) with fast search
• Store and search scanned records (receipts, warranties, medical/insurance documents)
• Maintain a personal “paperless” archive with tags and OCR for retrieval

Limitations and Considerations

• Feature set is oriented toward individual/personal workflows; advanced enterprise DMS features (complex workflows, retention policies, e-signature) may be limited.

Papra is a practical choice if you want a lightweight DMS centered on scanning + OCR + search rather than heavy enterprise document workflows. It fits well for building a private, searchable archive of everyday documents.

Papermerge is a document management system (DMS) designed for building a “paperless” archive from scanned documents and PDFs. It focuses on automated OCR and search so you can quickly find documents by their content, then organize them with folders, tags, and metadata.

Key Features

• OCR processing for PDFs/images and extraction of searchable text
• Full-text search across your document library
• Folder-based organization with tags for flexible classification
• Document import/upload workflow optimized for scanned paperwork
• Multi-user support with access controls for shared instances
• Web UI for browsing, previewing, and managing documents

Use Cases

• Home “paperless” archiving for bills, receipts, manuals, and letters
• Small team document repository with searchable scans and tagging
• Back-office digitization of incoming mail with OCR-based retrieval

Limitations and Considerations

• OCR quality depends on scan quality/language models and may require tuning

Papermerge is a practical choice if your primary need is OCR-driven search and straightforward organization of scanned documents. It fits individuals and small organizations aiming to replace manual filing with searchable digital archives.

PdfDing is a self-hosted web application for managing a personal library of PDF documents. It focuses on quick capturing/importing (including via a browser extension), organizing with metadata and tags, and finding documents later via search.

Key Features

• Upload and store PDFs in a web-based library
• Browser extension workflow to send/store PDFs to your instance
• Tagging and document metadata for organization
• Full-text search across stored PDFs (OCR is not the main focus)
• In-browser PDF viewing/reading
• User authentication and multi-user support (instance-dependent)

Use Cases

• Maintain a personal “paperless” archive (manuals, receipts, articles)
• Build a searchable research library of downloaded papers
• Collect and organize PDFs captured from the web via a browser extension

Limitations and Considerations

• Feature set is focused on PDF library management (not a full DMS/workflow suite)

PdfDing is a good fit when you primarily need a lightweight, web-based way to capture and manage PDFs, with quick import flows and strong search/tagging to retrieve documents later.