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Foxit PDF SDK vs Ghostscript

Foxit PDF SDK

developers.foxit.com

Ghostscript

ghostscript.com

Side by side

FigureFoxit PDF SDKGhostscript
Price from—Free
Free plan—Yes
Free trialYes—
Open source——
WebYes—
WindowsYesYes
macOSYesYes
LinuxYesYes
iOSYes—
AndroidYes—
API—Yes
Self-hostedYesYes
Plans published13
Spec score · PDF SDKs8.1 (#9)8.2 (#8)
Founded20011989
HeadquartersFremont, California, USANovato, California, USA
SupportFoxit sales engineers offer technical answers and help customers build a proof of concept and scope a license.Commercial customers can access Artifex support options; the AGPL release has no warranty or guaranteed support.

Plans

Foxit PDF SDK

  • Production licensePriced on request

Foxit PDF SDK pricing →

Ghostscript

  • AGPL LicenseFree
  • OEM Distribution LicensePriced on request
  • Subscription LicensePriced on request

Ghostscript pricing →

In their own words

Foxit PDF SDK

Foxit PDF SDK has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.

Visit developers.foxit.com

Ghostscript

Ghostscript is a PostScript and PDF interpreter and rendering engine from Artifex, with conversion support for PDF, PostScript, PCL and XPS. It can convert among those formats, produce PDF/A output, and compress PDFs with adjustable settings. Its OCR device can turn printed or scanned material into searchable PDF text. Other image and print capabilities include raster and vector output, color management, overprint simulation, N-up imposition, screening and trapping.

Ghostscript runs as a standalone command-line application or can be integrated into an application as an SDK. The gsapi interface has Python, C# and Java bindings, with demos and sample applications. The maker lists uses including cloud document conversion, archiving, previews, e-invoicing, pre-press, printing and document management. It supports Windows, macOS, Unix and Unix-like systems, VMS and embedded systems. The AGPL license is free, with source code disclosure requirements and no support. Artifex says a commercial license is required for distribution in a closed-source product or SaaS deployment under its licensing guidance; commercial plans have no listed price. Conversion may not preserve extra metadata such as embedded files or document outlines.

Visit ghostscript.com