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Show HN: I built a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat PDF viewer

Hacker News (score: 82)
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Found: August 14, 2025
ID: 857

Description

API/SDK
Show HN: I built a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat PDF viewer 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: https://github.com/embedpdf/embed-pdf-viewer

Feedback, bug reports, and feature requests welcome!

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