FoxyUtils Online PDF Tools vs Ghostscript

FoxyUtils Online PDF Tools is a browser-based service for working with PDF files, without a software download. Its tools can merge, split, convert, edit, rotate, compress, protect, unlock, and measure PDFs. Listed conversions include PDF to Word, Excel, JPG, and ePUB, as well as Word, JPG, and ePUB to PDF. OCR is available, including for PDF-to-Word or PDF-to-Excel conversion on Premium plans. The free plan costs nothing, requires a registered account, has a 50MB limit, and allows two operations per hour. Paid options include Monthly at $5.99 a month and Annual at $2.99 a month billed $35.88 every 12 months; Lifetime costs $99, paid once. Premium features include no watermark, workflows, Dropbox and Google Drive connections, and no ads. FoxyUtils says uploads are removed after the requested action or within an hour of inactivity, while registration details are retained forever. Its privacy policy cautions that it cannot warrant the security of transmitted information.

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.