Best PDF Creation Software in 2026
Updated
In short: Carbone is ranked #1 of 45 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of ReportLab and PDF24 Compare PDF. The best-ranked option with a free plan is ReportLab. The lowest first paid tier on this page is PDFMonkey at €5/mo.
PDF creation software can turn data, templates or other inputs into documents for a workflow or product. Compared on API access, bulk PDF generation, data merge and deployment, the entries also specify input sources, maximum pages and fillable form creation. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing offer additional details when weighing access and cost. Carbone, ReportLab and PDF24 Compare PDF are among the options shown. Consider the kinds of documents you need to produce and whether they require integration, batch generation, merged data or fillable forms. The listed criteria help you compare approaches and constraints against the way your PDFs need to be created.
45 PDF creation software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
45ranked
14free plans on this page
€5/molowest paid tier
4 Oct 2026last checked
Input list PDF Creation Software 25 channels on this page · 125 of 200 spec lines stated by the makers
Ch Tool Free planPaid fromData mergeBulk PDF generationAPI accessMaximum pagesInput sourcesFillable form creation Spec sheet Score
01 Carbone Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesPDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODT, ODS, ODP, HTML, Markdown, CSV, TXT, XML, SVG, ODG, IDMLFillable form creationYes 6/8spec lines stated 7.9
02 ReportLab Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesRML/XML, Python objects and variables, CSV, images, existing PDFsFillable form creationYes 6/8spec lines stated 7.9
03 PDF24 Compare PDF Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergenot statedBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessnot statedMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesWord, Excel, images, printable files, scanner, cameraFillable form creationYes 3/8spec lines stated 7.7
04 PDF4me Merge & Split Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesDOCX, HTML, XLSX, PDF, JSON, XML, CSVFillable form creationnot stated 5/8spec lines stated 7.4
05 PDFMonkey Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesHTML, CSS, Liquid, JSON, images, fonts, JavaScriptFillable form creationYes 6/8spec lines stated 7.3
06 Docmosis Free planNoPaid from$49/moData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesDOCX, ODT, JSON, XMLFillable form creationYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.2
07 Anvil PDF Generation APIAnvil Free planYesPaid from$99/moData mergeYesBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesHTML/CSS, Markdown, JSONFillable form creationYes 6/8spec lines stated 6.9
08 CraftMyPDF Free planYesPaid from$29/moData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesJSON data, CSV files, existing PDF documents, HTMLFillable form creationYes 7/8spec lines stated 6.9
09 DocRaptorArtifex Software Inc. Free planYesPaid from$15/moData mergenot statedBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesHTML, XML, web URLFillable form creationYes 5/8spec lines stated 6.9
10 DocuGenerate Free planYesPaid from$19/moData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesDOCX, DOC, ODT, TXT, SQL templates; JSON, XLSX, XLS, ODS, CSV, TSV, and form dataFillable form creationnot stated 6/8spec lines stated 6.9
11 Formstack DocumentsFormstack (Intellistack, LLC) Free planNoPaid from$250/moData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesDOCX, PPTX, PDF, CSV; data from CRMs, form builders, databases, and other business systemsFillable form creationNo 7/8spec lines stated 6.9
12 APITemplate.io Free planYesPaid from$19/moData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesHTML templates, visual templates, raw HTML, URLs, Markdown, JSON dataFillable form creationnot stated 6/8spec lines stated 6.8
13 PDF Generator APIActual Reports OÜ Free planNoPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesJSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, URLFillable form creationYes 6/8spec lines stated 6.8
14 Wondershare PDFelement Free planNoPaid fromnot statedData mergenot statedBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessnot statedMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesnot statedFillable form creationnot stated 1/8spec lines stated 6.8
15 Conga CLM Free planNoPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesCRM data; ERP data; other systems of record; PDF; Microsoft Word; Excel; PowerPoint; HTML emailFillable form creationNo 6/8spec lines stated 6.7
16 Adobe PDF Services APIAdobe Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesHTML, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, text, images, ZIP, URLFillable form creationnot stated 5/8spec lines stated 6.6
17 PDFShiftSASU PDFShift Free planYesPaid from$24/moData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesHTML documents, web pages, URLs, Canvas objects, React, VueJS, ChartJS, D3.jsFillable form creationnot stated 6/8spec lines stated 6.6
18 CIB pdf brewer Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergenot statedBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesMicrosoft Word, Excel, Outlook; PDF filesFillable form creationYes 4/8spec lines stated 6.5
19 CubePDF Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergenot statedBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessnot statedMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesnot statedFillable form creationnot stated 1/8spec lines stated 6.2
20 Formstack Forms Free planNoPaid from$250/moData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesDOCX, PPTX, PDF, CSVFillable form creationnot stated 6/8spec lines stated 6.2
21 Prince Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergenot statedBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesHTML, XHTML, XML, SVG, CSS, JavaScript/ECMAScript, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, WebP, AVIFFillable form creationYes 4/8spec lines stated 6.1
22 WeasyPrint Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergenot statedBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesHTML, CSS, local files, URLs, file objects, HTML strings, raster images, SVGFillable form creationYes 4/8spec lines stated 6.1
23 JUST PDF 6 Free planNoPaid fromnot statedData mergenot statedBulk PDF generationnot statedAPI accessNoMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesnot statedFillable form creationnot stated 2/8spec lines stated 6.0
24 FDFMerge Free planNoPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessNoMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesFDF data, XFDF data, PDF form templates; JPEG and TIFF graphics can be placed in fieldsFillable form creationnot stated 5/8spec lines stated 5.9
25 Foxit Document Generation API Free planYesPaid fromnot statedData mergeYesBulk PDF generationYesAPI accessYesMaximum pagesnot statedInput sourcesDOCX Word templates; structured JSON dataFillable form creationnot stated 5/8spec lines stated 5.9
Is your tool on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which PDF creation software is ranked first on Specifiction?
Carbone is ranked #1 of 45 with a score of 7.9. ReportLab is second and PDF24 Compare PDF third.
How many of these have a free plan?
14 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, PDFMonkey has the lowest first paid tier we found: €5/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, the fullest spec sheet first: how deeply the product is documented, the platforms it runs on, a free tier or trial to test it, and its standing. Paid placements never change a rank.