BarTender vs gLabels

BarTender creates, manages, and prints labels, barcodes, RFID tags, and other product identifiers. Its design tools support more than 100 linear and 2D barcode symbologies and standards, RFID encoding, and a library of more than 400 label templates. The on-premises product can print from local workstations, browsers, and mobile devices, with more than 11,000 printer drivers. The Automation edition adds REST APIs, File Drop, no-code builders, and more than 70 trigger actions. Listed connectors include SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and Workday, alongside REST APIs and custom integrations for more than 20 enterprise platforms. On-premises security features include role-based permissions, document encryption, license server redundancy, and printer failover options. BarTender can operate without an internet connection and supports 21 CFR Part 11-compliant audit trails and electronic signatures. The on-premises operating-system requirements are 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 and Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, or 2025. Starter costs $199 a year; a 30-day Enterprise Edition trial supports up to three printers.

gLabels is a desktop GUI program for laying out and printing labels and business cards on peel-off sheets for laser or ink-jet printers. Designs can combine text, images, lines, shapes, and barcodes. Its document merge uses records from an external data source, such as a CSV file, to create a different label for each record. Example uses include address labels, name tags, price tags, and CD/DVD labels. gLabels is free, with a plan listed at free, and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

The project describes gLabels-qt as development work toward gLabels 4, the next major release. There are currently no official releases of version 4 or self-hosted binary snapshots; users are encouraged to build the code themselves. Listed additions include a Qt6 rewrite, an activity-based interface, user-defined variables, continuous-roll support, and new product templates. The legacy 3.x version has not been supported since 2018. gLabels-qt is licensed under the GNU GPL version 3 or, optionally, a later version, and is distributed without warranty.