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Comparison · DevOps
Froxlor vs Stirling-PDF
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Froxlor and Stirling-PDF — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Froxlor vs Stirling-PDF: at a glance
What is Froxlor?
Froxlor's bugfix releases now describe their changes, and most are security fixes.
Froxlor is an open-source server administration panel. After two bugfix tags with nothing but a compare link, 2.3.14 to 2.3.16 carry real notes: 2.3.14 has four security fixes (theme allowlisting, control characters in FTP members, permission checks on MySQL server and cron reads, admin-scoped mail templates), 2.3.15 fixes database, nginx and SSH-key issues, and 2.3.16 adds PHP 8.5 compatibility and honours a hidden-traffic setting in the API.
What is Stirling-PDF?
Stirling PDF's 3.x line ships bulk processing, org-wide signing and fortnightly feature releases
Stirling PDF 3.0 in late September added the PDF Processor for running tools across folders, FTP or S3 sources, optional AI classification and extraction, free OAuth SSO and a free allowance of 1,000 automated PDFs a month. Releases since have arrived about every two weeks: 3.1.0 made group signing (Stirling Sign) default for new users and trialled an embedded Office converter, 3.2.0 replaced the multi-tool with a Page Editor and let password-protected PDFs be used without removing the password, and 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 added viewer and annotation features.
Froxlor vs Stirling-PDF: editorial side-by-side
Froxlor
5.0DEVOPS
Froxlor's bugfix releases now describe their changes, and most are security fixes.
◆ Current state
Froxlor is an open-source server administration panel. After two bugfix tags with nothing but a compare link, 2.3.14 to 2.3.16 carry real notes: 2.3.14 has four security fixes (theme allowlisting, control characters in FTP members, permission checks on MySQL server and cron reads, admin-scoped mail templates), 2.3.15 fixes database, nginx and SSH-key issues, and 2.3.16 adds PHP 8.5 compatibility and honours a hidden-traffic setting in the API.
◆ Where it's heading
Security fixes now arrive in the regular bugfix releases rather than only in separate security releases, and the notes have returned. The issues are mostly authorization scoping inside the admin and customer API, the same class as the 2.3.11 2FA bypass. PHP 8.5 support keeps the panel installable on current distributions.
◆ Prediction
Expect further 2.3.x releases with authorization fixes in the API, given the four in 2.3.14 and another in 2.3.16.
Stirling-PDF
5.0DEVOPS
Stirling PDF's 3.x line ships bulk processing, org-wide signing and fortnightly feature releases
◆ Current state
Stirling PDF 3.0 in late September added the PDF Processor for running tools across folders, FTP or S3 sources, optional AI classification and extraction, free OAuth SSO and a free allowance of 1,000 automated PDFs a month. Releases since have arrived about every two weeks: 3.1.0 made group signing (Stirling Sign) default for new users and trialled an embedded Office converter, 3.2.0 replaced the multi-tool with a Page Editor and let password-protected PDFs be used without removing the password, and 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 added viewer and annotation features.
◆ Where it's heading
The product is moving from a self-hosted toolbox to an automation and workflow platform with metered hosted services attached. Feature releases come quickly, with visible regressions fixed in the next point release.
◆ Prediction
Expect Stirling Office Convert to move toward default and native desktop, as the 3.1.0 notes say is planned, plus continued Processor work.
Alternatives to Froxlor and Stirling-PDF
Other DevOps products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Froxlor or Stirling-PDF.
Argo CD
Argo CD's 3.6 candidates have narrowed to cherry-picked fixes
Betaflight
Betaflight grew a real autopilot: waypoint missions, geofence RTH and MAVLink ground control
Barman
Barman 3.20.1 closes a CVE that let a writable catalog delete unrelated snapshots.
WildFly
WildFly 42 brings virtual threads to Jakarta Concurrency.
Libreswan
Libreswan patches four CVEs on two lines, two of them credited to Claude and Ada Logics.
See all Froxlor alternatives → · See all Stirling-PDF alternatives →
Recent activity from Froxlor and Stirling-PDF
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 9d agoStirling-PDF3.2.2 new annotations and other minor changes and improvements
- 11d agoStirling-PDF3.2.1 Viewer improvements and bug fixes
- 13d agoFroxlorfroxlor bugfix release 2.3.16
- 17d agoStirling-PDF3.2.0 New Multi-tool, better passworded PDFs and lots of improvements
- 27d agoStirling-PDF3.1.0 Stirling Sign, signature improvements, Stirling Office Convert (beta) and text editor upgrades
- 29d agoFroxlorfroxlor bugfix release 2.3.15
- 1mo agoStirling-PDF3.0.2 bug fixes and dependency updates
- 1mo agoStirling-PDF3.0.1 hotfix for windows desktop bugs
- 1mo agoFroxlorfroxlor bugfix release 2.3.14
- 2mo agoFroxlorfroxlor bugfix release 2.3.13
- 2mo agoFroxlorFroxlor bugfix release 2.3.12
- 2mo agoFroxlor2FA bypass, DKIM key exposure and acme.sh argument injection all fixed
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Froxlor and Stirling-PDF?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Froxlor and Stirling-PDF are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Froxlor better than Stirling-PDF?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Froxlor and Stirling-PDF are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other DevOps products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Froxlor?
Top Froxlor alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Froxlor alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/froxlor for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Stirling-PDF?
Top Stirling-PDF alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Stirling-PDF alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/stirling-pdf for the full list with editorial commentary on each.