PDFParse

Judgement

What it is

Building block

What it does

A TypeScript module for Node.js and browsers that extracts text, images and tables from PDFs and renders page screenshots.

Adopt it when

A JavaScript app needs PDF text or table extraction without native dependencies.

Watch out

Takes over a popular package name with a v2 API that differs from v1, and is maintained by one person.

Ready for

Usable

Runs as

Library

Built with

TypeScript and PDF.js

How established

Young: started 14 months ago, latest release v2.4.5.

What the license allows

You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.

Judged on 2026-11-03 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Follow it down: PDFParse → TypeScript → Go → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

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