PDFCreator vs PDFMonkey
PDFCreator
pdfforge.org
PDFMonkey
pdfmonkey.ioSide by side
| Figure | PDFCreator | PDFMonkey |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | €5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 4 | 12 |
| Spec score · PDF Creation Software | 7.4 (#26) | 8.4 (#7) |
| Integrations | The product offers a COM interface, C# scripts, FTP uploads, and email actions; its Terminal Server edition is designed for Citrix and Windows RDS. | Official integrations and connectors include Zapier, Make, n8n, Workato, Bubble, Glide and InvoiceBerry. |
| Security | The Free edition includes 128-bit AES encryption; Professional includes 256-bit AES encryption, digital signatures, and user restrictions. | PDFMonkey states that connections use HTTPS/TLS, payload data is encrypted at rest, generated files are private S3 objects, and download URLs expire after one hour. |
| Support | Business editions include priority support, while the support site also provides a user guide, knowledge base, and community forum. | Support is provided through in-app chat and [email protected], with typical replies within a few hours during Central European business hours. |
Plans
PDFCreator
- PDFCreator FreeFree
- PDFCreator ProfessionalPrice not published
- PDFCreator ServerPrice not published
- PDFCreator Terminal ServerPrice not published
PDFMonkey
- 30-day TrialFree
- 30-day TrialFree
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Starter€5 a month
- Starter€5 a month
- Pro€15 a month
- Pro€15 a month
- Pro+€60 a month
- Pro+€60 a month
In their own words
PDFCreator
PDFCreator converts printable documents to PDF and other formats, including PDF/A, PDF/X, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, and TXT. Its Free edition installs as a virtual printer, creating PDFs from programs with a print option; batch conversion is also supported. Users can merge documents, rearrange pages, add watermarks, and save files automatically. Automated actions include adding cover pages, sending files by email, FTP uploads, and custom scripts. Integration options include a COM interface, C# scripts, FTP, and email actions. Free includes 128-bit AES encryption; Professional adds 256-bit AES encryption, digital signatures, and user restrictions. PDFCreator Server runs as a Windows service and processes jobs through shared virtual printers and queues, while Terminal Server is designed for Citrix and Windows RDS. The open-source code can be downloaded and modified under the stated license terms. Free is for personal use; commercial use requires a business edition. Paid editions have a 30-day trial without a credit card. Starting with version 6.0, the software supports only 64-bit operating systems, and Free does not include an MSI installer.
PDFMonkey
PDFMonkey is a cloud document-generation API that turns templates and dynamic data into files. Templates can be built in a visual drag-and-drop editor or written in HTML, CSS, and Liquid; JSON data can be sent through the REST API to generate documents. Its Chrome-based renderer supports JavaScript, external fonts, images, charts, and other web technologies. Outputs include PDF, PNG, WebP, and JPG, and bulk generation from datasets is supported. Connectors include Zapier, Make, n8n, Workato, Bubble, Glide, and InvoiceBerry; developer tools include Ruby and Node.js SDKs and webhooks. API traffic uses HTTPS/TLS, dynamic data is stored in encrypted database columns, and generated files are kept in private S3 buckets with one-hour presigned URLs. PDFMonkey states that it has no formal SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification. The free plan allows 20 documents per month with one-day retention and a 30-second generation limit, and excludes external images, fonts, CSS, and JavaScript. Paid plans start at €5/mo.