EmbedPDF
Sponsorship

Help build the PDF SDK nobody can take away

EmbedPDF is the Apache-2.0 alternative to closed-source PDF SDKs that cost $15K–$700K a year. Sponsors fund full-time development, steer the roadmap, and get a direct line to the people building it.

See sponsor tiersBook a 30-min call
7companies sponsoring4K+starsApache-2.0, forever
Monthly fundingGoal $30,000
$8,500/ month

raised every month from our sponsors

28% of goalNext: $15,000 · Full-time lead developer
With Love InternetAlignAccrualLayerLefebvreformlHive
Join them →
10 founding seats
Year-long sponsors, recognized permanently.
Why this exists

A letter from the founder

EmbedPDF started as a refusal to rent a black box. The story is short, and every mark on it is drawn with an annotation the viewer ships.

  • Strikeout
  • Highlight
  • Underline
  • Note
  • SignatureB
EmbedPDF · SponsorshipPage 1

I didn't want to pay
$180,000 a year
for a PDF SDK. So I built my own.

When I needed a PDF SDK for my own product, every quote looked the same: tens of thousands of dollars a year, on terms the vendor could change whenever they liked.

And the price wasn't even the worst part. Every option was a black box: closed source you can't inspect, fix or truly own. Your product ends up resting on code you're not allowed to read.

So I started building an open-source alternative. No vendor lock-in. No black boxes. Just great PDF technology developers can trust. Apache-2.0, for everyone, forever.

Sponsorship is how it stays that way. It turns nights and weekends into full-time engineering, and it lets the companies that depend on EmbedPDF steer where it goes next.

Thank you for reading,

Bob SingorSignature

Bob Singor · Founder, EmbedPDF

The status quo

The price of a black box

What commercial PDF SDKs charge per year, before you've written a line of your own code and without the right to read theirs.

Apryse$30K–$700K / yr
Nutrient$25K–$400K / yr
ComPDF$15K–$100K / yr
EmbedPDFApache-2.0
$0, and the code is yours
Typical annual licence ranges for commercial web PDF SDKs.

Conversations we have every week

SaaS founder

“We're on Nutrient and I'm terrified they'll double the price. We couldn't afford it, and our whole business depends on their software.”

Early-stage startup

“They told us $25,000 a year is their minimum. That's our entire tools budget for the year.”

Enterprise CTO

“We need multi-platform support, and we'd much rather invest in open source than pay tens of thousands for a black box.”

Every story is the same: trapped by expensive, closed-source vendors. It's time for an alternative companies can actually own.

Already shipped

Not a pitch deck. A product.

Sponsorship isn't a bet on slides. EmbedPDF already runs in production, and this is what your support builds on.

Try the live demo
Viewer + headless components

One engine, every framework

A drop-in viewer for instant results, or headless building blocks for a UI that is entirely yours.

JSVanilla JSReactVueSvelteAngular
4K+GitHub stars

Developers watching, starring and shipping with it.

Our own PDFium fork

EmbedPDF Runtime: Google's PDF engine, maintained by us and compiled to WebAssembly.

1M+monthly npm downloads

From indie tools to enterprise document platforms.

Apache-2.0, forever

Read it, fork it, ship it. A licence no vendor can take back.

Real PDF work, not a toy viewer

AnnotationsFormsSignaturesRedactionSearchStampsThumbnailsPrinting

PDF Association member

Advancing the future of PDF with the industry.

Funding goal

Where your sponsorship goes

One public monthly goal. Every dollar becomes engineering time on code you can read.

28%funded
Raised each month
$8,500of $30,000 / month

$30,000 a month pays for two senior engineers working full-time. At a big vendor, that output takes a team of five to ten.

  1. Today$8,500 / month pledged
  2. $15,000 / monthFull-time lead developer
  3. $30,000 / monthSenior mobile developer

Your sponsorship funds

  • A full-time lead developer, not nights and weekends
  • A senior mobile developer for native SDKs
  • A faster roadmap that sponsors help steer

Your team gets

  • Multi-platform PDF SDKs you can read and fork
  • A real voice on what gets built next
  • 80–95% less than a commercial licence
Sponsor tiers

Become a founding sponsor

The first 10 companies to commit to a tier for a year are recognized permanently as the founding sponsors who made EmbedPDF possible.

Bronze

Put your name behind open PDF.

$500–1,500/ month
  • Logo on the website and README
  • Monthly roadmap calls
  • Private Discord channel
  • Priority GitHub support
Become a Bronze sponsor
Sweet spot

Silver

A real say in what ships next.

$2,500/ month
  • Everything in Bronze
  • Prominent logo placement
  • Bi-weekly calls with the founder
  • Priority on feature requests
  • Hands-on integration support
Become a Silver sponsor

Gold

The team, building for you.

$5,000+/ month
  • Everything in Silver
  • Weekly direct access to the team
  • Custom feature development
  • Migration consulting
  • Co-marketing
Talk to us about Gold

Individual developer?

Back EmbedPDF from $5 a month on GitHub Sponsors. Every sponsor counts.

Sponsor on GitHub
Already sponsoring
With Love InternetAlignAccrualLayerLefebvreformlHive
Meet our sponsors
FAQ

Questions I'm hearing

Something else on your mind? Email me. I answer every message personally.

Why should we trust this will last?
Look at the track record: 4K+ GitHub stars, more than a million npm downloads a month, and a ready-made viewer plus headless components for five frameworks, running on our own PDFium-based engine. Sponsorship is what turns that momentum into a full-time team.
What happens if EmbedPDF gets acquired?
The code is Apache-2.0 licensed, and that licence can't be taken back. Every release you've used stays yours to run, fork and modify. That's the point of open source: no single company can take it away.
Why $30,000 a month?
Full transparency: it covers a lead developer ($15–18K a month) and a senior mobile developer ($12–15K a month). Two experienced engineers working full-time deliver what normally takes a team of five to ten at a big vendor. We're lean, focused and motivated.
What if we need features you haven't built yet?
That's where active open source shines. Gold sponsors get custom feature development, Silver sponsors influence the roadmap, and because it's Apache-2.0 you can always have your own developers add what you need. Try that with a closed-source SDK.
How do I justify this to my CFO?
Simple ROI: if you're paying $150K+ a year for a PDF SDK, sponsoring at $30K a year saves $120K annually. You also lose the vendor risk, gain code ownership and can customize anything. I'm happy to walk your finance team through the numbers on a call.
Can we try it first?
Absolutely. Open the live demo or browse the code. Use it, test it, deploy it to production, then decide whether to sponsor.
Let's talk

Ready to own your PDF technology?

Let's have a real conversation about breaking free from vendor lock-in. I personally respond to every message.

Email BobBook a 30-min callDiscord
“Let's build technology that nobody can take away.”
BS
Bob Singor
Founder, EmbedPDF