Ghostscript vs HiPDF
Ghostscript
ghostscript.com
HiPDF
hipdf.comSide by side
| Figure | Ghostscript | HiPDF |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $3.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 14 |
| Spec score · PDF Converter Software | 8.2 (#11) | 9.2 (#2) |
| Founded | 1989 | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Novato, California, USA | Wondershare lists global offices including Vancouver, Tokyo, Changsha, Shenzhen, Beijing, Hangzhou, and Lhasa, but the opened About page does not identify a headquarters. |
| OCR | Ghostscript provides an OCR device that can turn printed or scanned material into searchable PDF text documents. | HiPDF offers OCR that turns scanned PDFs into editable Word, Excel, PowerPoint and EPUB files. |
| Support | Commercial customers can access Artifex support options; the AGPL release has no warranty or guaranteed support. | The pricing page says expert support is available through live chat and email responses within 24 hours. |
| What it does | Ghostscript is a PostScript and PDF interpreter and rendering engine with conversion capabilities for PDF, PostScript, PCL, and XPS. | HiPDF is an AI-powered online service for creating, editing, converting, organizing and protecting PDF documents. |
Plans
Ghostscript
- AGPL LicenseFree
- OEM Distribution LicensePriced on request
- Subscription LicensePriced on request
HiPDF
- Basic$39.95 a year
- Advanced$69.95 a year
- AI monthly$3.99 a month
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Basic 7-Day Access$0.95, paid once
- 7-Day Basic Access$0.99, paid once
- Advanced 7-Day Access$1.95, paid once
- 7-Day Advanced Access$1.99, paid once
- AI Monthly Plan$3.99 a month
In their own words
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.
HiPDF
HiPDF is an online PDF converter and document toolkit from Wondershare, a company founded in 2003 and based in Shenzhen, China. It converts files to PDF and PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, images, HTML, and text, among other listed formats. OCR can turn scanned PDFs into editable Word documents, and batch conversion is supported. The site also lists tools to edit, merge, compress, split, rearrange, protect, unlock, redact, sign, and share PDFs, and to extract images. AI tools include PDF chat, translation, proofreading, reading, rewriting, explanations, questions, mind maps, and AI detection. The free online converter works without installation for files up to 20 MB; paid plans list a 100 MB maximum. HiPDF says uploaded files are permanently deleted within 60 minutes after processing. Its pricing includes a free plan, Basic at $39.95 a year, and Advanced at $69.95 a year. A 7-day access option costs 0.95 USD once for Basic and 1.95 USD once for Advanced; each automatically renews after 7 days at its listed annual price.