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Tech riderRev. 19 Sept 2026

pdf-cli

Ch 176.6of 37 PDF Compression Software
  1. 1Runs onLinux, Mac, Windows
  2. 2CostsNot stated by the maker
  3. 3Batch compressionYes
  4. 4Offline desktop appNo
  5. 5Supported platformsLinux, Mac, Windows
4 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: github.com
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The pdf-cli homepage

Overview

pdf-cli is ranked #17 of 37 in PDF compression software on Specifiction. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.

Compared on PDF compression software

Batch compression
Yesgithub.com
Offline desktop app
Nogithub.com
Supported platforms
Linux, macOS, Windowsgithub.com

Facts

Purpose
pdf-cli is a command-line tool for everyday PDF operations, including merging, splitting, compressing, encrypting, and manipulating PDFs.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Single binary
The project describes pdf-cli as a fast single binary with no external dependencies and parallel processing for large operations.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
PDF operations
Commands include extracting and reordering pages, rotating files, editing metadata, adding watermarks, and creating PDFs from images.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
OCR
Text extraction supports OCR for scanned PDFs using native Tesseract when installed or a built-in WASM fallback.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Automation
The CLI supports batch processing, JSON/CSV/TSV output, and stdin/stdout pipelines.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Password handling
Encrypted PDFs can be handled with an interactive prompt, a password file, or the PDF_CLI_PASSWORD environment variable; the --password flag requires an insecure-use opt-in.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Platforms
Prebuilt binaries are listed for Linux amd64 and arm64, macOS amd64 and arm64, and Windows amd64.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Installation
The README recommends installation with Go 1.25 or later and also documents prebuilt releases and building from source.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Integrations
The README lists pdfcpu, ledongthuc/pdf, gogosseract, progressbar, cobra, and yaml.v3 as project dependencies.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
PDF/A limits
The project says its PDF/A validation and optimization are basic and do not provide full ISO 19005 compliance; color-profile validation is unsupported.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
License
The project is licensed under the MIT License.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Intended users
The README describes the tool as suitable for automation and batch processing, and says it works without a GUI.github.com · 4 Oct 2026

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Sources