PdfDing Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

PdfDing hosting gives you a self-hosted PDF manager on your own domain, so your library, highlights and comments live on a server you control. Deploy PdfDing 1.13.0 as one pinned container with SQLite, a database volume and a media volume for uploaded PDFs, published over HTTPS in minutes. Create the first account yourself, then close signup when your team is in.

Deploy your PdfDing

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is PdfDing?

PdfDing is a self-hosted PDF manager, viewer and editor built to work across devices. Upstream aims for it to be minimal, fast and easy to set up with Docker, with browser viewing, highlights, comments, signatures, tags and sharing by link or QR code. A self-hosted PdfDing is an alternative to hosted PDF viewers and online editors that keeps each file on a server you run, released under AGPL-3.0.

On xCloud it is PdfDing 1.13.0 from the vendor image, pinned by digest, as one non-root container with SQLite. The pdfding_db volume holds users and PDF metadata, and pdfding_media holds the uploaded documents. xCloud generates the secret key and serves the app over HTTPS. Signup is open until you disable it, and OIDC is not configured.

From Sign-Up to a Live PdfDing In Just 3 Easy Steps

A PDF library needs the app, a database, an uploads volume, a secret key, a domain and a certificate before the first file opens. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick PdfDing from the OneClick catalog. Choose your domain and target server; the install form has no application fields.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We start mrmn/pdfding:v1.13.0, pinned by digest, with SQLite, mount pdfding_db for the database and pdfding_media for uploaded PDFs, generate the secret key and publish it over HTTPS.
Step 03
Create An Account And Upload
Open your HTTPS URL and create the first PdfDing account, then upload a PDF and try a highlight or comment. When everyone has registered, disable public signup from the account controls.

PDF Annotation And Highlights: PdfDing On Your Own Server

PdfDing runs here as the full self-hosted PDF app, with your documents on volumes you control.

Viewer With Reading Position
Open PDFs in the browser on any device and pick up where you left off, with a reading progress bar for each document.
Annotations, Highlights And Drawings
Add text, highlights and drawings to a PDF, and manage highlights and comments in their own sections where you can export them.
Signatures
Add a signature to a PDF and reuse it on all your devices, without sending the document to a third-party signing site.
Workspaces, Collections And Tags
Organise PDFs into workspaces and collections, with multi-level tags, stars and archiving, and bulk actions for many files at once.
Sharing By Link Or QR Code
Share a PDF or a whole collection externally by link or QR code, with optional access control on the shared item.
Accounts With 2FA
Built-in accounts support two-factor login with TOTP and WebAuthn. OIDC single sign-on exists upstream but is left out of this template.

Everything You Need To Run Your PDF Library 24/7

Managed hosting for PdfDing, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

PdfDing 1.13.0 deployed instantly
Image pinned by digest
Secret key generated for you
Runs as a non-root user
Free SSL certificate
Database and PDFs on persistent volumes
Server backups and snapshots
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With PdfDing

Keep a private library of reference PDFs
Upload papers, manuals and contracts to your own server and find them again with tags, collections and archiving.
Read and mark up documents with a team
Highlight passages, leave comments and export them, so reviewers share notes on a document they all open from one URL.
Share a PDF without emailing a file
Send a link or QR code to a PDF or collection, with optional access control, instead of attaching copies.
Sign a document without a third-party service
Add a saved signature to a PDF in the browser on the device you are using.

PdfDing vs Alternatives

Hosted PDF viewers: As a self-hosted alternative to hosted PDF viewers, PdfDing keeps uploaded files on volumes on your own server rather than with an online service.
Paperless-ngx: Paperless-ngx has its own OneClick page. In a PdfDing vs Paperless-ngx comparison, PdfDing is a PDF reader with annotation and signing, while Paperless-ngx is a document archive.
Stirling-PDF: Stirling-PDF is a separate self-hosted PDF tool. PdfDing is about keeping a library to read, annotate and share, so compare the jobs you need done.
BookStack: BookStack has its own OneClick page. It is a wiki for written documentation, whereas PdfDing is for the PDF files themselves.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for PdfDing hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

More headroom if PdfDing shares the server with heavier apps.

59.99per month

16 GB RAM
6 vCPU cores
200 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Billed monthly with no lock-in — delete the server and the unused balance comes back to your account. PdfDing is licensed under AGPL-3.0.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy PdfDing on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

1 server
10 sites

Start free

Starter

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

6–10 servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

11+ servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Own Your PDF Library?

PdfDing on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Your documents stay on your server.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

Hear what people are saying about us

See why agencies, developers, startups, and growing businesses choose xCloud to power their projects.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Can you self-host PdfDing with Docker?

Yes. Upstream is built to be easy to set up with Docker, and this template is PdfDing Docker hosting without the setup: the v1.13.0 image pinned by digest, two volumes, a generated secret key and HTTPS on your own domain.

How much RAM does PdfDing need?

The manifest floor is 512 MB of RAM with one core and 10 GB of disk. The 6 GB plan sits far above that, and the number and size of the PDFs you upload decide how much disk you need over time.

Can I annotate and highlight PDFs in PdfDing?

Yes. Upstream supports adding text, highlights and drawings to a PDF, plus signatures, and lists highlights and comments in sections where you can manage and export them. Test the tools on a synthetic document first.

Does PdfDing support SSO or two-factor login?

Upstream supports OIDC single sign-on and two-factor login with TOTP and WebAuthn. This template omits OIDC so a half-configured identity provider cannot break startup, but built-in accounts and two-factor login are available, so enable them for your own account.

Can anyone sign up on my PdfDing server?

Yes, until you disable it. Built-in signup is open after install. Create your own account first, then disable public signup from the account controls once everyone who needs access has registered, because later signups would otherwise be possible.

Can I share a PDF from PdfDing?

Yes. Upstream lets you share a PDF or a collection externally by link or QR code, with optional access control. A shared link is served from your own domain, so decide who should receive it.

Is PdfDing open source?

Yes. AGPL-3.0 covers PdfDing, so the app itself costs nothing. What you pay for is the Cloud VPS underneath, which makes this a PdfDing cloud of your own, with your files on volumes you control.

How do I back up PdfDing?

Back up pdfding_db and pdfding_media together. The database holds users and PDF metadata, while the media volume holds the uploaded documents. A restore is complete only when both come from the same backup point, so test it on a spare install.

Backup and restore Docker apps

How do I upgrade PdfDing?

The install stays on its pinned v1.13.0 image until you adopt a newer template version. Back up both volumes first and read the upstream release notes. Catalog updates reach new installs only, and nothing upgrades automatically.

What happens if I change the secret key?

Changing the generated SECRET_KEY can invalidate signed application data and sessions, so leave it as generated and do not edit it in the Environment editor. Keep a copy with your volume backups so a restore signs people in as before.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.