Apache PDFBox vs MuPDF
Apache PDFBox
pdfbox.apache.org
MuPDF
mupdf.comSide by side
| Figure | Apache PDFBox | MuPDF |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $299/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · PDF SDKs | 8.2 (#7) | 8.5 (#4) |
| Purpose | Apache PDFBox is an open-source Java tool for creating and manipulating PDF documents and extracting content from them. | MuPDF is a fast, embeddable SDK for managing PDF and other document formats. |
| Support | Users can ask usage questions on the community mailing list, while confirmed bugs and enhancement requests can be reported through the JIRA issue tracker. | Open-source users can seek community help through Discord and the bug tracker, while commercial license holders can contact technical support by replying to their introductory email. |
Plans
MuPDF
- Commercial$299 a month
- EnterprisePrice not published
- AGPL LicenseFree
- OEM Distribution LicensePriced on request
- Subscription LicensePriced on request
In their own words
Apache PDFBox
Apache PDFBox has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
MuPDF
MuPDF is an embeddable SDK for developers working with PDFs and other document formats in desktop, cloud/server, or embedded projects. It supports viewing, editing, extracting, signing, rendering, redacting, annotating, splitting, merging, compressing, and converting documents. Listed inputs include PDF, ePUB, image formats, SVG, CBZ, and XPS; outputs include PDF, text, HTML, PostScript, print formats, PNG, SVG, and PNM/PAM. Developer bindings include MuPDF Core, PyMuPDF, MuPDF.js, and MuPDF.NET. The open-source release is AGPL-licensed, and embedding it in a product may require a commercial license. For server-based use of the open-source software, the licensing terms require disclosure of application source code to users interacting with it. Commercial licenses provide an alternative without AGPL code disclosure and include technical support and free upgrades. The Commercial plan is listed at $299 a month and includes one licensed domain and one preview domain for testing; a 14-day trial is also listed. Open-source users can seek community help through Discord and the bug tracker.