Simple Mode is what powers the Self-Hosted build of BentoPDF (bentopdf-simple). It is functionally identical to the Commercial build that powers bentopdf.com — every PDF tool is present and behaves the same. It just hides the marketing chrome (hero, FAQ, testimonials, footer) that only makes sense on the public bentopdf.com site or on a commercial public-facing deployment.

Simple Mode is not a feature-reduced "lite" version. Every PDF tool — merge, split, edit, sign, OCR, Office conversion, every other tool — works identically in both builds. The only difference is the marketing UI around the tools.

The Commercial build (ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf:latest) is used by bentopdf.com itself and by commercial license holders running public-facing PDF deployments where the full marketing site makes sense.

When enabled, Simple Mode hides the following bentopdf.com-specific marketing UI:

• Navigation bar
• Hero section with marketing content
• Features section
• Security/compliance section
• FAQ section
• Testimonials section
• Support section
• Footer

It also updates the page title to "PDF Tools" and makes the tools section more prominent. No PDF tools are removed or disabled.

Use the pre-built Simple Mode image directly:

Using GitHub Container Registry (Recommended):

# Docker
docker run -p 3000:8080 ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest

# Podman
podman run -p 3000:8080 ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest

Using Docker Hub:

# Docker
docker run -p 3000:8080 bentopdfteam/bentopdf-simple:latest

# Podman
podman run -p 3000:8080 docker.io/bentopdfteam/bentopdf-simple:latest

Or with Docker Compose / Podman Compose:

services:
  bentopdf:
    # Using GitHub Container Registry (Recommended)
    image: ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest
    # Or using Docker Hub
    # image: bentopdfteam/bentopdf-simple:latest
    container_name: bentopdf
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - '3000:8080'

Build the image locally with Simple Mode enabled:

docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml build --build-arg SIMPLE_MODE=true
docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d

Build the image with the SIMPLE_MODE build argument:

docker build --build-arg SIMPLE_MODE=true -t bentopdf-simple .
docker run -p 3000:8080 bentopdf-simple

Use the built-in npm script that handles everything:

npm run serve:simple

This command automatically:

• Sets SIMPLE_MODE=true
• Builds the project with Simple Mode enabled
• Serves the built files on http://localhost:3000

Set the environment variable before building:

export SIMPLE_MODE=true
npm run build
npx serve dist -p 3000

npm run serve:simple

This automatically builds and serves Simple Mode on http://localhost:3000.

# Docker - Pull and run the Simple Mode image
docker pull ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest
docker run -p 3000:8080 ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest

# Podman
podman pull ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest
podman run -p 3000:8080 ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

# Build with simple mode
SIMPLE_MODE=true npm run build

# Serve the built files
npx serve dist -p 3000

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

# Commercial build (the bentopdf.com look)
docker run -p 3000:8080 ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf:latest

# Self-Hosted build (Simple Mode)
docker run -p 3001:8080 ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest

# Podman users: replace 'docker' with 'podman'

• Commercial build: http://localhost:3000
• Self-Hosted build: http://localhost:3001

When Simple Mode is working correctly, you should see:

• ✅ Clean "PDF Tools" header (no marketing hero section)
• ✅ "Select a tool to get started" subtitle
• ✅ Search bar for tools
• ✅ All PDF tool cards organized by category
• ❌ No navigation bar
• ❌ No hero section with "The PDF Toolkit built for privacy"
• ❌ No features, FAQ, testimonials, or footer sections

GitHub Container Registry (Recommended):

• ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest
• ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:v1.0.0 (versioned)

Docker Hub:

• bentopdfteam/bentopdf-simple:latest
• bentopdfteam/bentopdf-simple:v1.0.0 (versioned)

The full marketing site, including hero/FAQ/testimonials/footer. Pull this only if you specifically want the bentopdf.com look — for example, you're running a public-facing PDF deployment under a commercial license.

GitHub Container Registry (Recommended):

• ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf:latest
• ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf:v1.0.0 (versioned)

Docker Hub:

• bentopdfteam/bentopdf:latest
• bentopdfteam/bentopdf:v1.0.0 (versioned)

services:
  bentopdf:
    image: ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest # Recommended
    # image: bentopdfteam/bentopdf-simple:latest     # Alternative: Docker Hub
    container_name: bentopdf
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - '80:8080'
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000

Create ~/.config/containers/systemd/bentopdf-simple.container:

[Unit]
Description=BentoPDF Simple Mode
After=network-online.target

[Container]
Image=ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest
ContainerName=bentopdf-simple
PublishPort=80:8080
AutoUpdate=registry

[Service]
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Enable and start:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now bentopdf-simple

• Pre-built images: Use ghcr.io/alam00000/bentopdf-simple:latest for Simple Mode (recommended)
• Environment variables: SIMPLE_MODE=true only works during build, not runtime
• Build-time optimization: Simple Mode uses dead code elimination for smaller bundles
• Same functionality: All PDF tools work identically in both modes