# i-librarian-free vs Stirling-PDF

> Two self-hosted [Document Management projects](https://selfhost.directory/document-management), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | i-librarian-free | Stirling-PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 50/100 | 87/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #28 of 46 in Document Management | #1 of 46 in Document Management |
| GitHub stars | 356 | 95 252 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +2 339 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 2 | 25 ✓ |
| Latest release | 5.11.3 · 2 Dec 2025 | v3.2.2 · 24 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Other |
| Main language | PHP | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Stirling-PDF scores 87/100 against 50/100 for i-librarian-free, so it is the safer default.

Stirling-PDF ships more often: 25 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for i-librarian-free.

If you want the quickest setup, Stirling-PDF is easier to run; i-librarian-free needs more configuration.

Stirling-PDF is growing faster right now (+2 339 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [i-librarian-free](https://selfhost.directory/project/i-librarian-free) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/i-librarian-free.md)
- [Stirling-PDF](https://selfhost.directory/project/stirling-pdf) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/stirling-pdf.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/i-librarian-free-vs-stirling-pdf