Forget AGPL audits — go HTML-to-PDF.

Name: IronPDF
Brand: Iron Software
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.87 (307 reviews)

Render any HTML template pixel-perfectly with IronPDF. Say goodbye to iText's licensing traps, boilerplate API, and the $45,000/year price tag.

See Full Comparison Try IronPDF Free

Why IronPDF?

Get more PDF power with less complexity

True HTML Rendering

iText: No browser engine — pdfHTML add-on uses a custom CSS parser. No JavaScript execution. React, Vue, and SPA-rendered content fail entirely.

IronPDF uses an embedded Chromium engine delivering pixel-perfect HTML5, CSS3, Flexbox, Grid, and JS rendering.

Result: Ship PDFs straight from your existing web templates.

Read & Edit Existing PDFs

iText: 11 separate NuGet components to install, manage, and version independently. HTML-to-PDF, OCR, and optimization are all separate paid add-ons.

IronPDF provides full read/write access - open, edit, fill forms, merge, split, stamp, and extract text from any PDF.

Result: No second library needed for incoming documents.

No AGPL Licensing Risk

iText: Dual-licensed under AGPLv3. Any commercial or SaaS app using iText must open-source its entire codebase or pay for a commercial license. iText embeds hidden fingerprints in every PDF to detect violations.

IronPDF: Standard commercial license. No copyleft obligations, no source disclosure requirements, no enforcement risk.

Result: Ship confidently. No legal review needed.

Perpetual License — No Annual Fees

iText: Commercial licenses average $45,000/year (Vendr data, 6 deals). No pricing published - contact sales required. Perpetual licenses were eliminated in April 2020 excluding OEM. You rent, never own.

PM >Install-Package IronPdf

Install-Package IronPdf

IronPDF licenses are perpetual from $999. Buy once, use forever. Optional annual update subscription - never forced to renew.

Result: Predictable costs, no renewal pressure, no annual lock-in.

Easy Entry & Quick Setup

iText: Verbose, low-level API requiring heavy boilerplate - PdfWriter - PdfDocument - Document chains before any output. Steep learning curve compounded by fragmented documentation across 11 product pages.

PM >Install-Package IronPdf

Install-Package IronPdf

IronPDF: 5-min NuGet install. Simple, familiar APIs - create, merge, watermark, sign, and secure PDFs fast.

Result: 70% faster to implement vs. learning a new layout language.

Support From Humans

iText: Ticket-based support with 3 named contacts per subscription. No live chat. Response times vary by contract tier.

IronPDF: engineer support, not bots. Live chat, email, phone and screen-sharing. First response under 1 minute median, 24/7. Public Slack channel for direct access.

Result: Resolve issues fast when time matters.

Let's Get Straight to the Point

You’re looking for a PDF library. Here’s ours compared to iText

using iText.Html2pdf;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using iText.Licensing.Base;
var licensePath = @"C:\Users\kalin\Downloads\63c48a206e99f47874f6f9acec08752346e30f72077b491f276f2f585ec253ca.json";
FileInfo licenseFile = new FileInfo(licensePath);
LicenseKey.LoadLicenseFile(licenseFile);
HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
string htmlSource = await client.GetStringAsync("https://vercel.com/");
// (Optional) still remove calc(...) if needed
htmlSource = Regex.Replace(htmlSource, @"calc$[^$]+\)", "0px");
using (FileStream pdfDest = File.Open("itext-output1.pdf",
FileMode.Create))
{
/*ConverterProperties converterProperties = new
ConverterProperties();
converterProperties.SetBaseUri(@"https://vercel.com/");*/
HtmlConverter.ConvertToPdf(htmlSource, pdfDest);
}

using IronPdf;
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://notion.com/");
pdf.SaveAs("ironpdf-output.pdf");

See the difference?

iText can handle outdated, simple HTML; IronPDF accurately converts modern, dynamic websites to PDFs.

Feature Comparison: iText vs IronPDF

See exactly where IronPDF and iText differ across 20+ capabilities.

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Feature Category
PDF Creation & Conversion
HTML/CSS to PDF	Requires separate pdfHTML add-on. Custom CSS parser - no JavaScript execution.	Embedded Chromium - HTML5, CSS3, Flexbox, Grid.
JavaScript Execution	No JS engine. React, Vue, and SPA-generated content fail entirely.	Dynamic charts, SPAs, and interactive content.
Programmatic Generation	Comprehensive PDF object model. Heavy boilerplate required.	HTML, templates, images, or blank docs.
Merge, Split & Rearrange	Supported. Verbose API and multiple packages required.	One-line merge, split, append, prepend.
Rendering Engine	pdfHTML add-on only. No browser engine.	Modern Chromium - no external deps.
Editing & Manipulation
Headers, Footers & Pages	Supported via low-level content stream API.	HTML templates with auto page numbers.
Watermarks & Stamps	No high-level stamper API	HTML/CSS + text/image stampers.
Reading & Extraction
Read / Edit Existing PDFs	Comprehensive read/write/edit capability. Core strength of iText.	Open, read, edit, fill forms on any PDF.
Text Extraction	Text extraction with layout analysis supported.	Layout-aware extraction + IronOCR.
PDF -> Image Rendering	Requires separate pdfRender add-on	PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF with DPI control.
OCR for Scanned PDFs	Tesseract + ONNX ML engine. Separate package and license required.	127+ language OCR integration.
Security & Compliance
Digital Signatures	PAdES, LTV, HSM, cloud KMS, EU eIDAS LOTL, post-quantum (v9.5). Best-in-class.	X509/PFX + HSM USB token signing.
PDF/A & PDF/UA	Full range with automated validation. Strong compliance suite.	Full range. VeraPDF validated.
Encryption	ISO/TS 32003 & 32004. Advanced security standard compliance.	Password protection, permissions, RC4 supported.
Platform & Deployment
Cross-Platform	.NET 6/8/9, .NET MAUI AOT (v9.2+), GraalVM Native Image.	x64, x86, ARM, .NET 5-10, Core, Standard, Framework.
Cloud & Docker	Supported. No official step-by-step cloud guides.	Official guides for all major platforms.
Licensing & Support
License Model	Perpetual licenses eliminated April 2020. +$45K/yr avg. No pricing on website. AGPL for open-source use - requires full source disclosure.	Buy once, use forever. No annual renewal.
NuGet Package Count	Core + pdfHTML + pdfOCR + pdfSweep + pdfCalligraph + pdfOptimizer + pdfXFA + more.	Everything included. No add-ons needed.
Developer Support	3 named contacts per subscription. No live chat. No published SLA.	Email, live chat, phone. SLA included.
Documentation	Knowledge Base split across 11 product pages. Mixed developer feedback.	Code examples, videos - all centralized.
Pricing Transparency	Contact sales required. Volume-based, undisclosed.	All tiers published. No sales call needed.
Free Trial	30-day commercial trial available	30 days (full features)
Money-Back Guarantee	No	30 days

Why Developers Switch from iText

Developers who switched from iText to IronPDF — and what drove them to make the move.

We were using iText under AGPL and got a compliance notice from Apryse. The back-licensing cost was enormous. Switched to IronPDF — transparent pricing, no legal risk, and the API took us a day to migrate.

Developer
Enterprise SaaS Platform

IronPDF

Standard commercial license. No AGPL, no copyleft, no enforcement risk. Own it forever from $999.

iText required 7 separate NuGet packages just to get HTML-to-PDF and OCR working. IronPDF is one install and everything is there. We cut our PDF pipeline setup from two weeks to an afternoon.

Software Architect
Document Automation Platform

IronPDF

1 NuGet package. HTML-to-PDF, OCR, signing, and editing all included. No add-ons, no assembly management, no version conflicts.

iText's pdfHTML can't run JavaScript — our React-generated reports came out completely blank. IronPDF's Chromium engine renders them perfectly, first try.

CTO
Financial Reporting Platform

IronPDF

Embedded Chromium renders any HTML/CSS/JS template pixel-perfectly. React, Vue, SPAs — all supported natively.

Trusted by millions of engineers worldwide

Build A Package Tailored To You

As our partner, we can tailor licenses, support, and benefits to fit your business model.

Explore Licensing Talk to Sales

License Type
Single Developer License
1 Developer	Custom quote required	$999 perpetual
1 Dev + OEM/SaaS	Custom quote required	$3,498 ($1,499 Plus + $1,999 OEM)
Team Licenses
Up to 10 Developers	Contact sales	$2,999 perpetual
10 Devs + OEM/SaaS	Not available as standard offering	$4,998 ($2,999 + $1,999 OEM)
Enterprise Options
Unlimited Developers	Up to ~$210,000/yr	$5,999 perpetual
Unlimited + OEM/SaaS	Not available as standard offering	$7,998 ($5,999 + $1,999 OEM)
Support & Maintenance
First Year Support	Included in subscription	Full support included (free)
Priority Support	Varies by contract tier	Included
Support Response Time	Ticket-based	<1 min median (24/7)
License Upgrade Fees	Annual renewal required	None
Product Updates	Stop paying = lose all access	Optional renewal
NuGet Packages	11 separate components	1 package - everything included
Trial & Evaluation
Free Trial	30-day commercial trial available	30 days (full features)
Money-Back Guarantee	Not available	30 days
5-Year Total Cost (est.)	~$225,000+	~$999-$7,998

Please note: iText is a registered trademark of its respective owner. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by iText. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. Comparisons are for informational purposes only and reflect publicly available information at the time of writing.

Transitioning to IronPDF

If you're currently using Nutrient, PSPDFKit, Aspose, or iText, we'll help you move to Iron Software with trade-in pricing, onboarding help, and support that shortens the switch.

Explore Migration Plan