Carbone vs Docxtemplater
Carbone
carbone.ioDocxtemplater
docxtemplater.comSide by side
| Figure | Carbone | Docxtemplater |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | €41.67/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 18 | 6 |
| Spec score · Document Template Management Software | 9.4 (#1) | 9.1 (#2) |
| Spec score · Docs Automation | 9.4 (#2) | 9.1 (#3) |
| 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. | The maker identifies the company as Coding Puffin SAS, with VAT FR60890806888 and a registered address in Massy, France. |
| Headquarters | Bellevigny, France | Massy, France |
| Integrations | Official connectors cover Airtable, Bubble, Glide, Make, n8n, Ninox, Retool, Zapier, HubSpot, Odoo, Pipedrive, Salesforce, DocuSign and Subnoto. | Code integration is done with JavaScript, and examples are provided for Node.js, browser, React, Angular, Vue and Next.js. |
| Purpose | Carbone merges JSON data into document templates and generates files such as PDF, DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. | Docxtemplater generates Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OpenDocument files from templates populated with JSON data. |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.8 out of 5 from 14 reviews. | 5.0 out of 5 from 1 review. |
| Rating on GetApp | 4.8 out of 5 from 14 reviews. | 5.0 out of 5 from 1 review. |
| Security | Carbone says its cloud infrastructure is hosted in France by OVHcloud and that it conducts annual security audits. | The library performs no outbound network requests during document generation and processes data locally without transmitting it to third parties. |
| Self-hosting | On-premise distribution is a standalone binary or Docker image and embeds the template engine, API server and Studio. | The software processes locally, supports on-premise deployment through an Appliance license and offers an Enterprise Docker deployment. |
| Support | The Essential plan includes chat support from 9 AM to 6 PM UTC+2, with asynchronous email responses outside those hours. | Paid plans include email support, with stated average response times under 48 hours for PRO and under 24 hours for Enterprise. |
| 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. | The technical specification lists Node.js 20 or 22, Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge, and operation on Linux, Windows and macOS. |
| What it does | Carbone merges JSON data with user-designed templates to generate PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODS, HTML and other files. | Docxtemplater is a JavaScript library that fills Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OpenDocument templates with JSON or JavaScript data. |
Plans
Carbone
- Cloud FreeFree
- FreeFree
- On-Premise CommunityFree
- On-Premise FreeFree
- Amazon Web Services$0.15, paid once
- Cloud Essential$29 a month
- Essential€29 a month
- Cloud Essential Plus$95 a month
- Essential Plus€95 a month
- Advanced€159 a month
Docxtemplater
- Open sourceFree
- One module€500 a year
- PRO€1,250 a year
- ENTERPRISE€3,000 a year
- Premium€9,000 a year
- Perpetual ENTERPRISE feature set€12,250, paid once
In their own words
Carbone
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.
Docxtemplater
Docxtemplater is a JavaScript library that generates Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OpenDocument files by filling templates with JSON data. Users add tags such as {user} to a Word or PowerPoint template, and the engine replaces them with supplied values. The core library is open source under MIT/GPLv3 and includes basic templating; advanced features are available through paid modules sold individually, in a four-module PRO pack, or through ENTERPRISE. The library is tested with active Node.js versions 12 through 24 and common browsers. Its Docker API accepts a template and JSON data over HTTP and produces DOCX, PPTX, or XLSX files. The ENTERPRISE Docker image supports use from several programming languages, while code integration uses JavaScript with examples for common frameworks. Generation runs locally without outbound network requests; on-premise deployment and air-gapped environments are supported with the APPLIANCE license. Developers configure the library, while office users can create templates with their existing document skills. Paid plans start at €500 a year. Rendering DOCX page layout and page breaks is outside its scope.