PDF Clown vs Wicked PDF

Struggling to choose between PDF Clown and Wicked PDF? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

PDF Clown is a Office & Productivity solution with tags like pdf, java, opensource.

It boasts features such as Reading/writing/modifying PDF documents, Text extraction, Document manipulation (splitting, merging, stamping), Form filling, Digital signatures, Barcode generation, Image handling, Font handling and pros including Open source, Active development, Good documentation, Pure Java implementation, LGPL license allows free commercial use.

On the other hand, Wicked PDF is a Development product tagged with ruby, rails, html, pdf, open-source.

Its standout features include Generates PDF files from HTML templates, Integrates with Ruby on Rails applications, Uses wkhtmltopdf utility for HTML to PDF conversion, Open source Ruby library, and it shines with pros like Easy PDF generation from HTML, No need to write PDF generation code from scratch, Good for dynamic PDF reports in Ruby/Rails apps, Free and open source.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

PDF Clown

PDF Clown

PDF Clown is an open-source Java library for manipulating and enhancing PDF documents. It provides an API for creating, editing, and transforming PDFs programmatically.

Categories:
Office & Productivity Pdf Tools
pdf java opensource

PDF Clown Features

  1. Reading/writing/modifying PDF documents
  2. Text extraction
  3. Document manipulation (splitting, merging, stamping)
  4. Form filling
  5. Digital signatures
  6. Barcode generation
  7. Image handling
  8. Font handling

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Open source

Active development

Good documentation

Pure Java implementation

LGPL license allows free commercial use

Cons

Limited adoption compared to other PDF libraries

Steep learning curve

Not beginner friendly

Wicked PDF

Wicked PDF

Wicked PDF is an open source Ruby library that allows generating PDF files from HTML templates. It uses the wkhtmltopdf utility to convert HTML to PDF, making PDF creation easy for Ruby on Rails applications.

Categories:
Development Pdf Generation
ruby rails html pdf open-source

Wicked PDF Features

  1. Generates PDF files from HTML templates
  2. Integrates with Ruby on Rails applications
  3. Uses wkhtmltopdf utility for HTML to PDF conversion
  4. Open source Ruby library

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Easy PDF generation from HTML

No need to write PDF generation code from scratch

Good for dynamic PDF reports in Ruby/Rails apps

Free and open source

Cons

Limited control over PDF styling

Dependent on wkhtmltopdf which can have rendering issues

Not as full-featured as paid PDF libraries

Requires setting up and integrating wkhtmltopdf