Ghostscript vs MuPDF

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.

MuPDF is an embeddable SDK for developers working with PDFs and other document formats in desktop, cloud/server, or embedded projects. It supports viewing, editing, extracting, signing, rendering, redacting, annotating, splitting, merging, compressing, and converting documents. Listed inputs include PDF, ePUB, image formats, SVG, CBZ, and XPS; outputs include PDF, text, HTML, PostScript, print formats, PNG, SVG, and PNM/PAM. Developer bindings include MuPDF Core, PyMuPDF, MuPDF.js, and MuPDF.NET. The open-source release is AGPL-licensed, and embedding it in a product may require a commercial license. For server-based use of the open-source software, the licensing terms require disclosure of application source code to users interacting with it. Commercial licenses provide an alternative without AGPL code disclosure and include technical support and free upgrades. The Commercial plan is listed at $299 a month and includes one licensed domain and one preview domain for testing; a 14-day trial is also listed. Open-source users can seek community help through Discord and the bug tracker.