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Carbone

carbone.io

Free plan Open source WebWindowsmacOSLinuxAPISelf-hosted
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Spec score 9.4 #1 of 46 in PDF Creation Software

What it is

Carbone merges JSON data into document templates to generate files such as PDF, DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX. Templates can use formats including DOCX, ODT, ODS, XLSX, XML, Markdown, and HTML. Its conversion API handles more than 100 formats and supports LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, and Chromium. API access and bulk generation are listed, with Cloud, On-Premise, Private Cloud, and AWS deployment options. The pricing page lists free Cloud and On-Premise plans, plus a free 30-day trial for self-hosted On-Premise use. Cloud Essential costs $29.00 per month; documents are counted for each 1 MB of injected JSON and images, and additional documents beyond a plan allowance are invoiced separately. Carbone says Cloud stores templates for reuse but does not retain submitted JSON or generated documents beyond what rendering and delivery require. It says it has no access to customer templates, data, or generated documents in on-premise deployments. The service also offers an MCP server and an open-source Carbone Skill for connecting AI assistants and generating templates. Its listed platform options include API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows.

Spec sheet

What it does
Carbone merges JSON data with user-designed templates to generate PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODS, HTML and other files.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Purpose
Carbone merges JSON data into document templates and generates files such as PDF, DOCX, XLSX and PPTX.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Audience
Carbone says its customers span finance, healthcare, insurance, legal, public sector, retail, energy, software and telecom.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Integrations
Official connectors cover Airtable, Bubble, Glide, Make, n8n, Ninox, Retool, Zapier, HubSpot, Odoo, Pipedrive, Salesforce, DocuSign and Subnoto.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Security
Carbone says its cloud infrastructure is hosted in France by OVHcloud and that it conducts annual security audits.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Support
The Essential plan includes chat support from 9 AM to 6 PM UTC+2, with asynchronous email responses outside those hours.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Headquarters
Bellevigny, FranceRead 23 Sep 2026 · carbone.io
Founded
2013Read 23 Sep 2026 · carbone.io
AI generation
The Carbone Skill lets AI assistants create Carbone templates from natural-language descriptions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
AI integrations
The integration catalog lists ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, DeepSeek, Gemini, Grok, Llama, Microsoft Copilot and Vibe.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
AI support
Carbone offers an MCP server and open-source Carbone Skill for connecting AI assistants and generating templates.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Cloud data handling
Carbone says Cloud stores templates for reuse but does not store or log submitted JSON data or generated documents beyond what is necessary to render and deliver them.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Company funding
Carbone says it reached break-even in December 2023 without external funding.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Company history
Carbone began in 2013 under Ideolys for the Easilys restaurant product and became independent as CarboneIO SAS in May 2021.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Company legal identity
The legal notice identifies CARBONEIO SAS, registered in La Roche-sur-Yon under number 899 106 785, with headquarters at 130 La Sauvagère, Bellevigny, France.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Company profile
LinkedIn lists CarboneIO as a 2–10 employee information-technology services company headquartered in Nantes and founded in 2021.Read 15 Oct 2026 · fr.linkedin.com
Compliance status
Carbone says it is working toward SOC 2 compliance, expected before the end of 2026.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Deployment platforms
Standalone binaries are available for Linux, macOS and Windows, and Docker images are published as carbone/carbone-ee.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Deterministic output
The same template and data are designed to produce byte-identical output for testing, versioning and audit trails.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Document conversion
Its conversion API handles Office, HTML and Markdown conversion to PDF and supports more than 100 document conversions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Documentation
Documentation includes quickstart, template design, API reference, examples, SDK guides, on-premise installation, configuration, licensing and changelog sections.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Hosting
The pricing page offers Cloud, On-Premise, Private Cloud and AWS deployment options.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
HTTP API
The public API uses https://api.carbone.io with bearer API tokens and supports a carbone-version major-version header.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Infrastructure limitation
The embedded Carbone web server does not provide HTTPS, so deployments must terminate TLS through a reverse proxy.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Licence
The Community Edition is open source under Carbone Community License (CCL), while the Enterprise Edition is closed source; the CCL prohibits offering the community software as a document-generator SaaS.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Limit: analytics
A Capterra review says Carbone has limited advanced analytics despite strong backend integration.Read 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Limit: community
A Capterra reviewer wished for a more active community around extensions and another said community support can be slow.Read 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Limit: documentation
G2’s review summary records eight mentions that documentation is difficult or incomplete for advanced functionality.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: learning curve
G2 reviewers report a steep learning curve and tricky initial setup for advanced template logic.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: missing features
Capterra reviewers mention missing page dropping, inability to sort tables by largest value and inconsistent text formatting.Read 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Maker history
Carbone was created in 2013 under Ideolys and became the independent company CarboneIO SAS in May 2021.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
MCP server
Carbone publishes an official Model Context Protocol server for connecting AI assistants to document generation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Node SDK
The Node package installs as carbone-sdk from npm or Yarn, retries once after ECONNRESET and can target an on-premise URL.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Notable limits
A generated document is counted for each 1 MB of injected JSON and images, and additional documents beyond a plan allowance are invoiced separately.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
PDF controls
PDF conversion includes password encryption, PDF/A archival profiles, PDF/UA accessibility tags, watermarks, print permissions and page selection.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Praise: output flexibility
Trustpilot reviewers describe easy rendering and export of dynamic reports to PDF, Word and PowerPoint and successful handling of complex reports.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Praise: support
G2’s review summary says responsive, capable customer support is the most frequently praised aspect, with 16 mentions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Praise: templating
G2 reviewers repeatedly praise ease of use, flexible templating, integration and reliable document generation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Privacy and GDPR
Carbone states GDPR compliance, uses Stripe for payment data, deletes IP addresses automatically after seven days and retains account data no longer than one month after termination unless legally required.Read 15 Oct 2026 · help.carbone.io
Rating on Capterra
4.8 out of 5 from 14 reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Rating on G2
4.8 out of 5 from 58 reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Rating on GetApp
4.8 out of 5 from 14 reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
Rating on Trustpilot
4.7 out of 5 from 49 reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Release
Version 5.15.5 was released October 13, 2026 and fixed crashes when clients close connections before downloads complete.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Scaling
On-premise deployments support multithreaded vertical scaling, multiple instances behind a load balancer and an optional built-in job balancer.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
SDKs
Official SDK documentation is provided for Node.js, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Go, Java and Rust.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Security hardening
The converter removes macros, follows stated ANSSI and BSI guidance, controls outbound traffic and monitors converter processes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Self-hosted privacy
For on-premise deployments, Carbone says it has no access to customers’ templates, data or generated documents.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Self-hosted trial
The pricing page states that self-hosted On-Premise use includes a free 30-day trial.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Self-hosting
On-premise distribution is a standalone binary or Docker image and embeds the template engine, API server and Studio.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
System requirements
Minimum Docker resources are 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM and 10 GB disk for slim, or 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM and 10 GB disk for full converters.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Template formats
Templates can use formats including DOCX, ODT, ODS, XLSX, XML, Markdown and HTML.Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Template Studio
Carbone Studio provides template design assistance, error detection, tag creation and live report preview.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Universal templates
Templates can be created in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, LibreOffice, HTML or Markdown while preserving the existing data structure.Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io

Plans and prices

Cloud Free Free 0 per month Free plan; document allowance and included templates shown in comparison table Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Free Free €0 per month; €0 billed annually 100 documents/month · 100 templates · 15-day analytics · 1 parallel render Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
On-Premise Community Free €0 per year Community Edition features · unlimited servers and templates Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
On-Premise Free Free 0 per year Free Community Edition; self-hosted Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Amazon Web Services $0.15, paid once Monthly usage-based pricing; first 100 documents $0.15 each, 101–1000 $0.08 each, 1001–10000 $0.03 each, over 10001 $0.008 each Usage-based per document Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Cloud Essential $29 a month 29 per month; 26 per month, billed annually Documents counted per 1 MB of injected data; extra documents invoiced separately Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Essential €29 a month €29 monthly; €26/month billed annually 1,000 documents/month · 500 templates · 30-day analytics · 2 parallel renders Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Cloud Essential Plus $95 a month 95 per month; 85 per month, billed annually Listed in the plan comparison table Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Essential Plus €95 a month €95 monthly; €85/month billed annually 5,000 documents/month · 1,000 templates · 60-day analytics · 5 parallel renders Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Advanced €159 a month €159 monthly; €149/month billed annually 20,000 documents/month · 2,000 templates · 90-day analytics · 10 parallel renders Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Cloud Advanced $159 a month 159 per month; 149 per month, billed annually Documents counted per 1 MB of injected data; extra documents invoiced separately; expert support includes 10 hours per year Read 2 Oct 2026 · carbone.io
Advanced Plus €295 a month €295 monthly; €265/month billed annually 100,000 documents/month · 5,000 templates · 180-day analytics · 50 parallel renders Read 15 Oct 2026 · carbone.io

Every Carbone plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Generates several document types from JSON and templates.
  • Conversion API covers more than 100 formats.
  • Offers Cloud, On-Premise, Private Cloud, and AWS options.
  • Free Cloud and On-Premise plans are listed.

Limits

  • Extra documents beyond plan allowances are invoiced separately.
  • Cloud Essential is $29.00 per month.
  • Documents are counted per 1 MB of injected JSON and images.

Who it suits

Carbone may suit teams that generate documents from structured data and need cloud or self-hosted deployment. Its listed customer sectors include finance, healthcare, insurance, legal, public sector, retail, energy, software, and telecom.

Carbone in depth

Read the full write-up

Overview

Carbone is an API-led document-generation service for teams that need to turn structured data into finished files at scale. It suits software teams with existing templates and data workflows; its mix of conversion tools and deployment choices is a strength, but usage-based document counting makes plan economics worth checking carefully.

It merges JSON into templates to produce formats such as PDF, DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. Cloud, self-hosted and other deployment options make it relevant to both teams integrating a service and organizations that need tighter control over where it runs.

Carbone was created in 2013 under Ideolys and became independent as CarboneIO SAS in May 2021. The company is based in Bellevigny, France, and says its customers span sectors including finance, healthcare, insurance, legal, public administration, retail, energy, software and telecom.

It belongs in the conversation around Document Generation Software, Mail Merge Software, Document Template Management Software and PDF Creation Software.

Key features

Templates, generation and conversion

The core workflow combines JSON data with reusable templates, which is a practical fit for applications that need to create consistent documents from records rather than hand-edit files. Templates can use DOCX, ODT, ODS, XLSX, XML, Markdown and HTML. The conversion API handles more than 100 formats and supports LibreOffice, OnlyOffice and Chromium. Bulk generation, bulk PDF generation, data merging and fillable form creation extend the service beyond a single-file template renderer.

Carbone names PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODT, ODS, ODP, HTML, Markdown, CSV, TXT, XML, SVG, ODG and IDML among input sources. That range will appeal to teams working across office and web document types; organizations with a narrower PDF-only need may not benefit from the breadth.

AI connections and integrations

An MCP server and open-source Carbone Skill connect AI assistants to template generation. The integration directory includes ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Airtable, Bubble, Glide, Make, n8n, Zapier, Odoo and Salesforce, among others. These connections make it easier to consider Carbone in an existing automation stack, though they do not change the underlying need to design templates and provide structured data.

Deployment, data handling and security

Deployment choices include Cloud, On-Premise, Private Cloud and AWS. Carbone says Cloud retains templates for reuse but does not store or log submitted JSON or generated documents beyond what rendering and delivery require. For On-Premise deployments, it says it has no access to customer templates, data or generated documents. Its cloud infrastructure is hosted in France by OVHcloud, and the company conducts annual security audits. It is working toward SOC 2 compliance, expected before the end of 2026.

Pricing

Carbone has free cloud and self-hosted entry points, several paid cloud tiers, enterprise licenses and usage-based AWS pricing. The important cost wrinkle is that a generated document is counted for each 1 MB of injected JSON and images, with documents beyond the plan allowance invoiced separately. That makes payload size and volume central to budgeting, not just the monthly headline price.

Cloud Free: free. A useful way to start without a subscription, but its document allowance and included templates are bounded by the comparison-table limits.

On-Premise Free: free, billed 0 per year, as a self-hosted Community Edition. It gives technical teams a no-cost route to self-hosting, rather than the commercial enterprise license.

Amazon Web Services: usage-based, billed monthly: $0.15 for the first 100 documents, $0.08 for documents 101–1000, $0.03 for 1001–10000, and $0.008 for over 10001. This can suit variable workloads, but costs rise with volume.

Cloud Essential: $29 a month, or 26 per month billed annually. Best suited to a team moving beyond the free allowance; documents are counted per 1 MB of injected data and overages are invoiced separately.

Cloud Essential Plus: $95 a month, or 85 per month billed annually. A higher cloud tier for teams whose needs outgrow Essential.

Cloud Advanced: $159 a month, or 149 per month billed annually. It retains the 1 MB document-counting and separate overage rules, while adding 10 hours of expert support per year.

Cloud Advanced Plus: $295 a month, or 265 per month billed annually.

Cloud Advanced Ultra: $595 a month, or 529 per month billed annually.

On-Premise Fit: $1,500 a year for an enterprise license, with documents counted per 1 MB of injected data.

On-Premise Unlimited: starts at $2,940 a year for an enterprise lifetime license, with unlimited documents shown in the comparison table.

The Essential plan includes chat support from 9 AM to 6 PM UTC+2, with asynchronous email replies outside those hours. Self-hosted On-Premise use includes a free 30-day trial. The free options are sensible for evaluation or community use; organizations with predictable production demand should compare allowances and overages against the annual and unlimited self-hosted choices.

Platforms

Carbone runs across API, Linux, macOS, Windows, web and self-hosted environments. That combination supports application integration and deployment flexibility, rather than locking teams into a browser-only workflow.

Who it's for

Carbone is strongest for developers and operations teams automating repeatable document production from structured data, especially when they need multiple output formats, bulk generation or control over hosting. The template and integration breadth also suits organizations embedding document creation into business workflows. It is less compelling for an individual who only needs occasional PDF conversion, or for a team unwilling to monitor document allowances and payload-driven usage.

Pros and cons

Pro: JSON-to-template generation across office, web and structured formats supports a broad range of document workflows.

Pro: Conversion across more than 100 formats and bulk generation cover more than basic mail merge.

Pro: Cloud, private, AWS and self-hosted deployment give organizations meaningful hosting choices, with distinct data-handling assurances for Cloud and On-Premise.

Con: A document is counted per 1 MB of injected JSON and images, and overages are billed separately, so payload-heavy use can be harder to budget from the base price.

Con: The more complete commercial cloud tiers cost substantially more than the free entry points, while self-hosting requires taking on deployment responsibility.

Con: SOC 2 compliance is still in progress, which may matter to buyers that require completed certification now.

Alternatives

For teams whose main requirement is a PDF-generation library, ReportLab offers an open-source core PDF generation library that is free for commercial use; it is a more focused option than Carbone's template and conversion platform.

PDF24 Compare PDF is a free, no-registration, no-time-limit choice for users who need PDF comparison rather than automated data-driven document generation.

PDF4me Merge & Split is worth considering when the job is specifically PDF merging or splitting through an API; its free tier has limited calls, with a one-time 25.00 USD Pack 500 for 500 API calls.

PDFMonkey is another freemium API-and-web option for template-based document generation, with a free plan capped at 20 documents per month, one-day retention and a 30-second generation limit.

Docmosis is a paid alternative for teams wanting API or self-hosted document generation; its Cloud Professional plan is $49 a month and includes 4,000+ pages monthly, one user and one environment.

Anvil PDF Generation API may fit a small team focused on PDF filling and generation: its free plan starts with two users and UI-only access, with API key access requiring a card or upgrade.

CraftMyPDF is a narrower freemium alternative for modest PDF and image volumes, with 50 per month and three templates on its free plan, plus REST API and automation integrations.

DocRaptor is a freemium API-and-web alternative for teams with a small document requirement; its free plan allows five documents per month.

Verdict

Choose Carbone if your product or business process needs repeatable, data-driven document generation across formats and you value the choice between cloud and self-hosted deployment. Its broad template and conversion capabilities are the reason to pick it; payload-based counting and separately invoiced overages are the reason to model expected usage before committing. For occasional PDF tasks or a narrowly defined conversion job, a more focused alternative is likely the cleaner fit.

Verdict

Carbone combines template-based document generation with conversion and multiple deployment options. Check the document allowance and billing rules for the plan before choosing it.

Where Specifiction places it

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