PDFMonkey vs Windward Core

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.

Windward Core is an embedded document-generation product combining a template Designer with an Engine. Users build templates in Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint with tags and conditional logic, then generate data-rich documents from application data. A template can combine multiple sources, including SQL, JSON, XML, OData, and connections to 147 vendors. The Engine is available for Java, .NET, and REST, allowing calls from other programming languages. It supports outputs such as DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, PDF, HTML, direct printing, PostScript, bitmap, CSV, RTF, and TXT, plus batch personalization and API access. Engines can run on existing or dedicated servers; Docker and Kubernetes materials are provided for Manager. The Designer is a Windows Microsoft Office add-in and requires Microsoft Office for Windows. The Java RESTful Engine runs in Apache Tomcat environments, including Windows and Linux. Windward Core is now Fluent by Apryse. Pricing is available on request, with a free 30-day trial.