ZenPDF

ZenPDF is an open-source PDF tools web app with a Next.js frontend, Convex backend, and Python worker.

Live app

• https://thezenpdf.vercel.app

Preview

Tool scope (27)

• Merge PDF, Split PDF, Compress PDF
• PDF to Word, PDF to PowerPoint, PDF to Excel
• Word to PDF, PowerPoint to PDF, Excel to PDF
• Edit PDF, PDF to JPG, JPG to PDF
• Sign PDF, Watermark, Rotate PDF, HTML to PDF
• Unlock PDF, Protect PDF, Organize PDF
• PDF to PDF/A, Repair PDF, Page numbers
• Scan to PDF, OCR PDF, Compare PDF, Redact PDF, Crop PDF

Repository layout

• apps/web: Next.js app (UI, API routes, Convex client)
• apps/worker: background worker for PDF processing
• docs: product, architecture, feature internals, and operations

Quick start (local)

1. Copy environment files:
   • apps/web/.env.example -> apps/web/.env.local
   • apps/worker/.env.example -> apps/worker/.env
2. Ensure ZENPDF_WORKER_TOKEN matches in both env files.
3. Start Convex (terminal 1, long-running):
   • cd apps/web && npx convex dev
4. Start web app (terminal 2, long-running):
   • cd apps/web && npm install && npm run dev
5. Start worker (terminal 3, long-running):
   • cd apps/worker && python -m pip install -r requirements.txt && python main.py
6. Open http://localhost:3000.

Core docs

• Product scope: docs/PRD.md
• System design: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• Per-feature internal logic: docs/FEATURE_LOGIC.md
• Security, deploy, monitoring, self-host ops: docs/OPERATIONS.md
• Contributor workflow: CONTRIBUTING.md

License

• ZenPDF is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0).
• See LICENSE for full terms.

Attribution

• Copyright (c) 2026 Rohan Patnaik.
• Forks and redistributions must preserve copyright and license notices.
• Hosted modified versions must provide corresponding source code to users under AGPL.
• See NOTICE for attribution details.