Stop uploading private PDFs: host your own editor with BentoPDF
Free PDF editors process your files on someone else's servers. If you handle contracts, IDs or case files, that is a problem a two-minute install solves.
Short answer
BentoPDF is an open source PDF editor you can host on your own server, or even run locally, to merge, split, compress and sign documents without them leaving your infrastructure. It installs with a single Docker container and needs no database, so it is one of the fastest installs in the catalog.
- Last verified
- June 18, 2026
Antes de empezar necesitas
- Docker installed on a VPS or on your own machine
There is an almost universal and fairly bad habit: when someone needs to merge two PDFs, they search Google, open the first result and upload the file. That file is usually a contract, an ID document or a bank statement.
BentoPDF solves the same problem without that part.
Installation in one command
docker run -d --name bentopdf --restart unless-stopped \
-p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 bentopdf/bentopdf:latest
No database, no mandatory environment variables, no volumes to back up. It is probably the simplest installation in the whole catalog.
If you are going to share it with your team
Put a reverse proxy with HTTPS in front of it and, above all, an authentication layer. BentoPDF does not come with user accounts: anyone who reaches the URL can use it. A basic auth on the proxy is enough for internal use.
What it does well
Merging several documents into one, splitting by pages or ranges, rotating, compressing to reduce file size, converting images to PDF and extracting individual pages. That is the set of tasks that covers 90% of what people search for online when they say "I need to edit a PDF".
What it does not do
Reliably edit the existing text inside a PDF. No free tool does this well, for that matter: PDFs are not designed for it. If you need to change a paragraph, fix the original document and export it again.
It also does not handle electronic signatures with certified legal validity. That requires specialized services with their own certificates and audit trail.
Common mistakes
Exposing it without authentication. A document processor open on the internet ends up being used by third parties, consuming your resources.
Expecting it to edit text. That is the expectation that causes the most disappointment, and it is not the tool's fault.
Frequently asked questions
Why not use the free PDF editors on the internet?
Because your file gets uploaded to a server you do not control and retention policies vary widely between services. For a brochure it does not matter; for a contract with a client's data, it does.
Do I need a server or can I run it on my computer?
Both work. If you are the only one using it, running it on your own machine with Docker is the most private option: the file never leaves the computer.
Does it replace Adobe Acrobat?
For the common tasks (merge, split, rotate, compress, convert) yes. For advanced content editing, complex forms or legally certified signatures, no.
How much does it use?
Very little at rest. The peak comes when processing large files. With 1 GB of RAM it works for personal use.
