# Stirling PDF 6 Hacker News commenters recommended Stirling PDF and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Free, self-hosted, open-source PDF toolkit praised for accurate OCR that keeps formatting and easy redaction. Caveat: a commenter is wary of its new pricing and licensing. ## Why people recommend it - Accurate OCR that keeps formatting (2 comments): "is a free self-hosted PDF tool that can do very accurate OCR while keeping the formatting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47824186)) "where you can do very accurate OCR while keep the formatting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47824192)) - Free and open source (2 comments): "is a free self-hosted PDF tool that can do very accurate OCR while keeping the formatting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47824186)) "Open source and has been in development for a couple of years, at least" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46684830)) - Self-hosted on your own server (2 comments): "is a free self-hosted PDF tool that can do very accurate OCR while keeping the formatting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47824186)) "I self host Stirling-PDF for complicated tasks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46766979)) ## What people warn about - Wary of new pricing and licensing (1 comments): "Bit nervous about their new pricing/licensing model but so far all the major stuff I use is in the OSS side." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46701608)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Pdfwithlove](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pdfwithlove.md): 10 recommend - [qpdf](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qpdf.md): 8 recommend - [PaperPilot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/paperpilot.md): 8 recommend - [MinerU](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mineru.md): 6 recommend - [Marker by Datalab](https://hackerapproved.com/p/marker.md): 6 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Stirling PDF", https://hackerapproved.com/p/stirling-pdf/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).