Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

DocSpring VS PDFGate

Compare DocSpring VS PDFGate and see what are their differences

DocSpring logo DocSpring

PDF filling API that makes it easy to fill out PDF forms and convert HTML to PDFs

PDFGate logo PDFGate

Generate, process, and sign documents with a single API.
  • DocSpring PDF Template Editor
    PDF Template Editor //
    2025-02-26
  • DocSpring HTML Template Preview
    HTML Template Preview //
    2025-02-26
  • DocSpring HTML Template Editor
    HTML Template Editor //
    2025-02-26
  • DocSpring Auto-generated Web Form
    Auto-generated Web Form //
    2025-02-26
  • DocSpring E-Signatures
    E-Signatures //
    2025-02-26
  • DocSpring View Submissions
    View Submissions //
    2025-02-26
  • DocSpring View API Request Logs
    View API Request Logs //
    2025-02-26
  • DocSpring Postman Collection
    Postman Collection //
    2025-02-26

We provide a PDF filling and generation API:

  • Upload your PDF to our visual template editor to set up form fields and data types
  • Post JSON to fill out existing PDF forms with data
  • Generate editable PDF forms, or overlay static data on top of fields
  • Create HTML/CSS templates with Liquid fields, then post JSON to generate PDFs
  • Use our merge API to combine multiple PDFs into a single document

PDF generation doesn't need to be complicated or take weeks of engineering time. Use our battle-tested service to start filling out PDFs in minutes.

  • PDFGate PDFGate home page
    PDFGate home page //
    2025-07-03

PDFGate is a developer-first platform for generating PDFs, sending documents for signature, and managing document workflows. Convert HTML to PDFs, create fillable documents, and automate processing tasks like data extraction, watermarking, and encryption โ€” all through a simple and scalable API.

DocSpring

$ Details
freemium $49.0 / Monthly (Starter - 50 PDFs / mo)
Release Date
2017 October
Startup details
Country
United States
State
Delaware
City
Newark
Founder(s)
Nathan Broadbent
Employees
1 - 9

DocSpring features and specs

  • Automated PDF Generation
    DocSpring allows users to automate the generation of PDFs by filling out templates with data. This can significantly reduce the time and effort needed to create documents.
  • API Integration
    DocSpring offers a robust API, which allows developers to integrate PDF generation into their own applications easily, enhancing productivity and workflow automation.
  • Flexible Templates
    The platform supports flexible and customizable templates, enabling businesses to maintain brand consistency while meeting specific document formatting requirements.
  • Secure Data Handling
    DocSpring is SOC 2 Type II compliant. We ensure data security through encryption and secure storage options, making it suitable for handling sensitive information.
  • Ease of Use
    The user interface is designed to be intuitive, making it easy for businesses to create and manage PDF templates without requiring extensive technical knowledge.

PDFGate features and specs

  • Accessibility
    PDFGate allows users to access and convert PDF documents from anywhere with an internet connection, making it convenient for remote work and collaborations.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform is designed with an intuitive interface, making it easy for users of all technical levels to navigate and use the service effectively.
  • Multiple Format Support
    PDFGate supports the conversion of PDF files to a variety of formats, offering flexibility in how users use and share their documents.

Possible disadvantages of PDFGate

  • Subscription Cost
    Access to some features of PDFGate might require a paid subscription, which could be a downside for users seeking a free service.
  • Internet Dependency
    The service requires an internet connection to access its functionalities, which can be a limitation in areas with unreliable internet.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Uploading documents to an online platform might raise privacy issues for sensitive documents, as users must trust the service with their data.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DocSpring and PDFGate)
PDF Tools
60 60%
40% 40
Document Automation
100 100%
0% 0
HTML To PDF
49 49%
51% 51
PDF Conversion API
52 52%
48% 48

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing DocSpring and PDFGate.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

DocSpring's answer

Ruby on Rails, React, AWS

What makes your product unique?

DocSpring's answer

DocSpring is built specifically for developers who need reliable, secure PDF generation in production. We combine PDF form filling and HTML-to-PDF in a single API, with a visual template editor, typed fields, and validation to catch issues early. Our product has a lot of power features and is built to handle very advanced forms. Our infrastructure is SOC 2 Type II compliant, battle-tested, privacy focused, and optimized for high-volume workloads, so you can ship PDF features quickly and then stop thinking about them.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

DocSpring's answer

DocSpring is designed for teams who need a powerful tool with all the features you need for complex forms and business logic. DocSpring supports structured JSON, typed fields, and array iterations, and many other advanced features, so your templates stay aligned with your real data model. You get powerful validation, a visual editor, strong observability, and an API that fits into modern engineering workflows, so you spend less time fighting PDFs and more time shipping product.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

DocSpring's answer

DocSpring is built for engineering and product teams who manage complex documents in production: things like financial applications, insurance forms, healthcare and legal documents, HR and payroll workflows, and government-style forms.

What's the story behind your product?

DocSpring's answer

I used to work at a payroll company (Gusto). We had built a similar in-house tool for filling out tax forms. I then built the first version of DocSpring (formerly named FormAPI) while I was living in Thailand. I built it to automate the filling out of visa application and visa extension forms, but realized that it could also be used for tax forms, real estate contracts, and any other kind of fillable PDF form.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

DocSpring's answer

  • SaaS services serving customers in the real estate, insurance, finance, and legal industries, among many others.

User comments

Share your experience with using DocSpring and PDFGate. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DocSpring should be more popular than PDFGate. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DocSpring mentions (5)

  • Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (February 2025)
    I'm still working on DocSpring [1], originally launched on Hacker News in October 2017 under the name "FormAPI." It's a PDF generation API with a template editor UI for setting up fields on PDF forms. It makes it easy to turn complex tax and immigration forms into simple type-safe APIs with strong validations. I've been having a lot of fun with AI agents lately. Have tried a lot of them - Cline, Roo Code,... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) โ€“ A better way to create PDFs
    For programmatic filling of PDFs, have a look at DocSpring: https://docspring.com. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • So you want to modify the text of a PDF by hand
    Great post. I've spend a lot of time reading through the PDF specification over the last ~5 years while building DocSpring [1], and I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface. Qpdf is a great tool. One of my other favorites is RUPS [2], which really lets you dig into the structure of a PDF. [1] https://docspring.com [2] https://github.com/itext/i7j-rups. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Workflow for automating document creation from a "database"
    Hi /u/pepeday, Iโ€™m the founder of a software product that I built to solve this problem. The service is called DocSpring: https://docspring.com We provide a platform that you can use to set up PDF templates, and automatically generate PDFs by filling in those templates with data from your database. Please feel free to send me a message and Iโ€™d be happy to speak with you and help you figure out a solution. I can... Source: over 4 years ago
  • How do you fill copies of the same PDF certificates with Excel data?
    - https://docspring.com/ (super advanced features, a bit bloated). Source: almost 5 years ago

PDFGate mentions (1)

  • PDFGate
    Hey there, Iโ€™m the founder of [PDFGate](https://pdfgate.com), an API that converts HTML into PDFs with support for fillable forms, encryption, and digital signatures. Like many here, Iโ€™ve run into the same frustration: most HTML to PDF tools are either missing core features or feel outdated. I spent months working with PDF internals to build something that developers can rely on for production. You can try it... - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing DocSpring and PDFGate, you can also consider the following products

DocRaptor - As the only API powered by the Prince HTML-to-PDF engine, DocRaptor provides the best support for complex PDFs with powerful support for headers, page breaks, page numbers, flexbox, watermarks, accessible PDFs, and much more

PDFShift - Convert any HTML documents to high-fidelity PDF using a single POST request

Doczilla - Effortlessly create stunning PDFs and screenshots. Seamlessly store them in your own AWS or Google Cloud Storage bucket, putting the control and creativity right at your fingertips.

PDFCrowd - Pdfcrowd is a Web/HTML to PDF online service. Convert HTML to PDF online in the browser or in your PHP, Python, Ruby, .NET, Java apps via the REST API.

wkhtmltopdf - wkhtmltopdf is an open source (LGPL) command line tools to render HTML into PDF and various image...

pdflayer - Free, powerful HTML to PDF API supporting both URL and raw HTML conversion. Unlimited document size, lightning-fast and compatible PHP, Python, Ruby, etc.