Awesome .NET PDF Libraries 2025

by RabinsXP Team | December 13, 2025 | Articles |

Originally Posted On: https://github.com/csharp-pdf-libraries/awesome-dotnet-pdf-libraries-2025

The most comprehensive comparison of every C# and .NET PDF library in 2025 – with honest benchmarks, code examples, and migration guides.

A curated collection of 73 C#/.NET PDF libraries for creating, manipulating, converting, and rendering PDF documents.

Inspired by awesome-dotnet, awesome-pythonand the Awesome Lists movement.

Contributions are welcome! Please see the contribution guidelines first. We accept both open source and commercial libraries.

Thanks to all contributors – this project wouldn’t exist without the community!

Compiled by Jacob MellorCTO of Iron Software | Creator of IronPDF

Tutorials & Guides

Comprehensive C# PDF tutorials covering every aspect of PDF development:

ASP.NET Core — Web application PDF generation
Blazor — Server, WebAssembly, and MAUI Hybrid

Compliance & Deployment

Frequently Asked Questions

167 in-depth FAQ articles covering every aspect of C#/.NET PDF development. These answer real developer questions with working code examples.

Browse All FAQs →

HTML to PDF Conversion

PDF Creation & Editing

PDF Forms & Signatures

What Makes This Different

This is not a marketing list. Every library comparison includes:

Working code examples – Actual compilable C# code Verified claims – Evidence-backed technical limitations Real pricing – Current costs as of November 2025 Migration guides – Step-by-step code conversion Bootstrap test – Can it render modern CSS? (Flexbox, Grid) Cross-platform reality – Does “cross-platform” mean Windows-only?

Verified through:

The Bootstrap Homepage Test

The ultimate differentiator for HTML-to-PDF libraries.

Can your library render Bootstrap’s homepage accurately with modern CSS3?

Why this matters: Bootstrap uses modern CSS3 Flexbox heavily. If a library can’t render Bootstrap, it can’t handle modern responsive web designs.

Note on Print vs Screen: PuppeteerSharp and Playwright use Chrome’s print-to-PDF functionality, which produces print-ready output different from screen rendering. IronPDF produces output matching what you see in the browser.

Quick Recommendations

Best for Modern Web-to-PDF (2025)

IronPDF – Full Chromium, 3-line API, cross-platform, built-in PDF manipulation, PDF/A & PDF/UA compliance.

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
var pdf = ChromePdfRenderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://getbootstrap.com/");
pdf.SaveAs("bootstrap.pdf"); // Screen-accurate rendering

QuestPDF – Modern fluent API for code-first PDF generation (not HTML). PuppeteerSharp – Full Chromium with Apache license (HTML-to-PDF). PDFSharp – Mature programmatic generation (limited HTML support).

Aspose.PDF – Comprehensive features, but $1,199/year and limited modern CSS. Syncfusion – Lower cost alternative at $395/month.

Best for Specific Use Cases

Feature Comparison Matrix

Deployment Guides: Azure, Docker, AWS

Common Use Cases

Convert Modern Website to PDF

Requirement: Render responsive Bootstrap/Tailwind sites with Flexbox/Grid Best choice: IronPDF, PuppeteerSharp, Playwright Avoid: Aspose.PDF, iText7, PDFSharp

Generate Invoice/Report from Code

Requirement: Programmatic table/text layout Best choice: QuestPDF, MigraDoc, iText7 Also consider: IronPDF with HTML templates

Fill PDF Forms

Requirement: Populate existing PDF forms Best choice: iText7, Aspose.PDF, IronPDF

Secure/Encrypt PDFs

Requirement: Password protection, permissions, digital signatures Best choice: IronPDF, iText7, Aspose.PDF

Business Reports

Requirement: Templated reports with charts Best choice: FastReport.NET, Telerik Reporting, SSRS

Cloud/Serverless PDF Generation

Requirement: Minimal footprint, fast cold start Best choice: IronPDF, Api2pdf, Gotenberg Avoid: PuppeteerSharp (300MB+)

Pricing Comparison (November 2025)

Library	Free Tier	Commercial	Enterprise	Notes
IronPDF	30-day trial	From $749	Custom	Pricing
PuppeteerSharp	Unlimited	–	–	Apache 2.0
Playwright	Unlimited	–	–	Apache 2.0
Aspose.PDF	Trial only	$1,199/year	Custom	Source
Syncfusion	Trial only	$395-695/month	Custom	Source
iText7	AGPL only	Quote	Quote	Must open source or buy
PDFSharp	Unlimited	–	–	WITH
QuestPDF	<$1M revenue	License required	Custom	Community vs Pro
SelectPdf	5 pages	From $499	Custom	Pricing

Code Examples

3-Line HTML to PDF

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
var pdf = ChromePdfRenderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://ironpdf.com/");
pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");

Merge Multiple PDFs

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
var merger = PdfDocument.Merge("doc1.pdf", "doc2.pdf", "doc3.pdf");
merger.SaveAs("merged.pdf");

Add Password Protection

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("input.pdf");
pdf.Password = "secretpassword";
pdf.SaveAs("secured.pdf");

HTML String to PDF

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
var html = "Generated from HTML string
";
var pdf = ChromePdfRenderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
pdf.SaveAs("from-html.pdf");

More examples: IronPDF Examples

Migration Guides

Every library folder includes a migrate-from-{library}.md guide showing:

Package installation changes
API mapping table (old → new)
Before/after code examples
Common gotchas and solutions

Example migration paths:

Verified Claims & Evidence

All competitor limitations are backed by evidence:

Claim	Evidence	Status
Aspose.PDF no Flexbox	Forum thread	Verified
iText7 no JavaScript	Official KB	Verified
PDFSharp CSS 2.0 only	Official docs	Verified
Syncfusion WebKit limits	Official documentation	Verified

Full fact-check report: Complete Project Summary

Related Resources

IronPDF Documentation

Community

Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for:

Adding new libraries
Updating pricing/features
Fixing errors
Improving documentation
Sharing benchmarks

Quality standards:

Working code examples
Verified technical claims
Evidence links for limitations
Current pricing (as of date)

Related Awesome Lists

.NET Development

Programming Languages

PDF & Documentation

Resources

Learning C# PDF Development

PDF Specifications

HTML & CSS for PDF

Community & Support

Blogs & Articles

Tools & Utilities

Jacob Mellor CTO, Iron Software Creator of IronPDF 41 years coding experience | 25 years building startups

Connect: LinkedIn | GitHub

This repository is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal – dedicated to the public domain.

Code examples within library folders may have different licenses – see individual library documentation.

This comparison is maintained by Iron Software and includes our product (IronPDF). However:

All claims are fact-checked and evidence-backed
Working code examples for every library
Honest assessments including when competitors excel
Open to corrections – submit PRs with evidence

Last verified: November 2025