Open Source PDFtk AlternativesPDF Editors and other similar apps like PDFtk

The best open source alternative to PDFtk is PDFsam. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to PDFtk and 13 is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to PDFtk are PDFTK Builder, pdftl, PDF4QT and PDF-Shuffler.

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Alternatives list

  1. PDFsam icon

    PDFsam

     228 likes

    Free and open source desktop application to split, merge, extract pages, rotate and mix PDF files.

    148 PDFsam alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    PDFsam screenshot 1
     
  2. PDFTK Builder icon

    PDFTK Builder

     64 likes

    PDFTK Builder is a free graphical interface to for PDFtk, making it much easier to use. It is a easy to use tool to collate (merge), split, encrypt, decrypt, stamp and rotate (only 90°, 180° or 270°) pdf documents.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    PDFTK Builder screenshot 1
     
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    3
    PDFTK Builder vs PDFtk Comments
    yogeshwarb404
    Positive
    0

    @chitoesque PDFtk Server, the program which PDFtk Builder is based on, is open-source under GPLv2. Other variants of PDFtk are not.

    raztus
    Positive
    1

    Builds on the exact same library as PDFtk

    chitoesque
    Negative
    -1

    Only the interface is open source. The more essential component, the core, pdftk, is not. Misleading.

    • PDFTK Builder is Free and Open SourcePDFtk is Freemium and Open Source
    • PDFTK Builder is LightweightPDFtk is not according to our users
  4. pdftl icon

    pdftl

     2 likes

    pdftl: A modern Python-based successor to pdftk. A CLI tool for PDF manipulation, merging, and geometry (crop/chop) powered by pikepdf and qpdf.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  5. PDF4QT icon

    PDF4QT

     8 likes

    Open-source PDF viewer and editor using Qt framework, featuring hardware-accelerated rendering, encryption, multithreading, text-to-speech, annotation tools, form filling, high-res monitor support, document compression, audio book conversion, and signature validation.

    106 PDF4QT alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    PDF4QT screenshot 1
     
  6. PDF-Shuffler icon

    PDF-Shuffler

     34 likes

    Merge, split, rotate, crop and rearrange pdf documents and their pages using an interactive and intuitive graphical interface.

    92 PDF-Shuffler alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    PDF-Shuffler screenshot 1
     
  7. QPDF icon

    QPDF

     15 likes

    It could have been called something like pdf-to-pdf. It also provides many useful capabilities to developers of PDF-producing software or for people who just want to look at the innards of a PDF file to learn more about how they work.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
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    3
    QPDF vs PDFtk Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    The app "unlocks/save as" all password-protected PDF by passing to it the password

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Has the no nonsense simple features that are needed.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    -2

    Missing basic function: rotate pages

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • QPDF is Free and Open SourcePDFtk is Freemium and Open Source
  9. PDFEncrypt icon

    PDFEncrypt

     5 likes

    PDFEncrypt is a free, open-source Windows application that encrypts any PDF file using industry-standard encryption algorithms.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    The main PDFEncrypt interface. It's easy to use.
     
  10. PDF Merge tool icon

    PDF Merge tool

     1 like

    PDF Merge Tool is a simple, fast and easy tool for merging PDF files. It runs on the .NET framework v2 and uses the PDFSharp library.

    83 PDF Merge tool alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    PDF Merge tool screenshot 1
     
  11. FormulatePro icon

    FormulatePro

     3 likes

    FormulatePro helps you open and write on PDF documents. You can fill out any PDF form document, drop in graphics, scribble with the mouse or a tablet, save and print.

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    FormulatePro screenshot 1
     
  12. S

    Stapler

     Like

    Stapler is a pure Python alternative to PDFtk, a tool for manipulating PDF documents from the command line. Like pdftk, stapler is a command-line tool.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  13. Alfred PDF Tools icon

    Alfred PDF Tools

     Like

    Optimize, encrypt and manipulate PDF files.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  14. E

    endesive

     Like

    en-crypt, de-crypt, si-gn, ve-rify - smime, pdf, xades and plain files in pure python.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
     
12 of 13 PDFtk alternatives