Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to TinyPDF – 3kb pdf library (70x smaller than jsPDF)
I needed to generate invoices in a Node.js app. jsPDF is 229KB. I only needed text, rectangles, lines, and JPEG images. So I wrote tinypdf: <400 lines of TypeScript, zero dependencies, 3.3KB minified+gzipped. What it does: - Text (Helvetica, colors, alignment) - Rectangles and lines - JPEG images - Multiple pages, custom sizes What it doesn't do: - Custom fonts, PNG/SVG, forms, encryption, HTML-to-PDF That's it. The 95% use case for invoices, receipts, reports, tickets, and labels. GitHub: https://github.com/Lulzx/tinypdf npm: npm install tinypdf
TinyPDF is a minimal PDF generation library for Node.js that creates documents with text, rectangles, lines, and JPEG images. Built with TypeScript and zero dependencies, it measures just 3.3KB minified and… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
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BreezePDF lets you edit, sign, merge, compress, redact, OCR, fill forms, extract tables, and use 30+ more PDF tools — all in the browser, no sign-up. Files never leave your computer. I built it because when people search Google for common PDF tasks, many of the tools they find upload documents to a server. I wanted an option that keeps files local instead. I posted an earlier version on HN last spring: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43880962 At the time it only supported a small set of features. Over the last 10 months I rebuilt large parts of it and expanded it to…
2025 · breezepdf.com · its alternatives →
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I built EmbedPDF: an MIT-licensed, open-source PDF viewer that aims to match all of Adobe Acrobat’s paid features… for free. Already working: - Annotations (highlight, sticky notes, free text, ink) - True redaction (content actually removed) - Search, text selection, zoom, rotation - Runs fully in the browser, no server needed - Drop-in SDK for React, Vue, Preact, vanilla JS Why? Acrobat is heavy, closed, and pricey. I wanted something lightweight, hackable, and embeddable anywhere. Demo: https://app.embedpdf.com/ Website: https://www.embedpdf.com/ GitHub:…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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CraftMyPDF▲135Design and generate pixel-perfect PDF documents in minutes
2022 · craftmypdf.com · its alternatives →
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TinyFast▲319I am a developer. I have been building stuff for the last 13 years. One common challenge in all my projects is compressing assets to make them as small as possible. I used to end up using online compressors, but this has a lot of privacy concerns. So, I finally set down for couple of weeks and built this simple app. I can just drag and drop assets in it and it shrinks them. It currently supports around 25 file types. I built a lot of iOS apps but this is the first time building a macOS app, so any feedback is welcome.
2025 · tinyfast.app · its alternatives →
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HelloPDF▲172Generating a PDF from a URL has never been easier
2019 · hellopdf.co · its alternatives →
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TinyJPG▲178Compress JPEG images with perfect quality and file size
2014 · tinyjpg.com · its alternatives →
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After posting tinypdf here, someone opened an issue asking for Word/OpenOffice support. I understand - sometimes you need an editable document, not a PDF. I didn't want to extend the library itself, so I built tinydocx: <1K lines of TypeScript, zero dependencies, 7.7KB minified+gzipped. The popular docx package is 108KB with 5 dependencies. What's included: - Text formatting (bold/italic/underline/strikethrough, colors, custom fonts) - Headings (H1-H6) - Tables with borders and column widths - Bullet and numbered lists (with nesting) - Images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP) -…
Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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I have always searched for a simple tool which can convert a MD document to a well styled small PDF, just like a GitHub Readme. This was inspired by TinyPDF https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46316968 I also used this project to get familiar with agentic coding, which I had dreaded before. mdpdf supports: - using the included PDF fonts to generate tiny valid PDFs - outputs as A4 or Letter depending on your locale - plenty of common MD syntax: code blocks, inline code, lists, tables, and jpg and png images That's it. It covers probably most of the use cases and can help to…
Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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I created this tool to make it quick and easy to sign PDF contracts, without having to deal with installing additional software and without worrying that my PDFs will get uploaded to a third party. It supports the bare minimum for my most common usecases. It is not intended to be a full-featured PDF editor. Features include filling PDF forms, inserting images and text, and rotating PDFs. Check it out by either picking a PDF of your own - https://photown.github.io/private-pdf/, or with a preloaded sample PDF -…
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Hi HN! I've been working on SimplePDF to solve a problem I encounter weekly: filling out non-editable PDFs [1] --- # About SimplePDF - The documents you load, edit, fill never see the light of my server, everything is processed locally – no remote uploading anything. This includes the PDF generation. - There are no analytics / third party tracking your every move (I do collect usage data, but it's fully anonymous and processed and stored on my server): therefore no annoying cookie banner. You can read more on the Privacy Policy [2] - If someone before you has filled the same document,…
2022 · simplepdf.eu · its alternatives →
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Hi HN, I'm a freelance developer, and I built SnazzyPDF in my spare time to solve a problem I encountered frequently: converting structured data into PDF documents. The existing solutions I found either required manually creating a template or forced you to transform your data into a specific structure. I wanted a tool where you could simply input arbitrary JSON data and get a decent-looking document out. That's why I built SnazzyPDF. * Works with any JSON: No need to restructure your data. SnazzyPDF handles (almost) any JSON data, including deeply nested arrays and objects. * Use REST API…
2024 · snazzypdf.com · its alternatives →
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Tiny Invoice▲17Instant invoices for freelancers who move fast.
2025 · tinyinvoice.xyz · its alternatives →
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Hello HN! It kept surprising me how much of a hassle it is to generate a PDF with decent HTML5 rendering from my SaaS apps. I tried several free libs and APIs but ended up with botched rendering a lot of times. So I set out to simplify this chore by creating an AWS hosted HTML to PDF conversion API that's based on Chrome. This API will allow a dev to just send the HTML to our API and get a PDF in response without having to worry about running and managing Chrome somewhere in their infra. I just finished the first version of my landing page and hosted pdf generation API…
2018 · its alternatives →
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Create and download beautiful invoices, simple and easy
2024 · invoicepdf.dev · its alternatives →
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ToolPDFs▲2557 private document tools that run in your browser
Aug 2026 · toolpdfs.com · its alternatives →
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iCreatePDF▲10100% Local, Privacy-First PDF Converter & Editor
Jul 2026 · icreatepdf.online · its alternatives →
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Hi HN, creator of EmbedPDF here. I recently posted my open-source PDF viewer here, and one thing I really value is that it runs completely offline. I started wondering if we could push that further: could we do full ML layout analysis (detecting tables, headers, columns) directly in the browser? To my surprise, it actually works. The catch: It is far from production-ready. It crashes on most phones, and on older computers, it can be incredibly slow. The why: I believe the future of document processing is local. Many users work with sensitive documents (bank statements, legal contracts) and…
2025 · embedpdf.com · its alternatives →
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Free file compression that never uploads your small files
Feb 2026 · compresspdf.up.railway.app · its alternatives →
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Flexbox-style PDF layout for Workers, Node, Deno, browsers
May 2026 · boxpdf.dev · its alternatives →
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Hi HN! I built SimplePDF 7 years ago, with the vision from day one to help get rid of bureaucracy (I'm from France, I know what I'm talking about) Fast forward to this week where I finally released something I had on my mind for a long time: a repository of the main US forms that are ready to be filled, straight from the browser, as opposed to having to find a PDF tool online (or local). I focused on healthcare, ED, HR, Legal and IRS/Tax for now. On the tech-side, it's SimplePDF all the way down: client-side processing (the data / documents stay in your browser). I hope you find…
Feb 2026 · simplepdf.com · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →