Rivoli PDF / C# PDF library
A C# PDF library you can read in one screen
Five lines from using statement to finished PDF. Rivoli PDF gives C# developers a fluent, strongly typed document model that serializes to JSON, tracks changes, and renders the same bytes on every platform.
Install and generate
No system libraries, no headless browser, no per-platform setup. Rivoli.Pdf 0.1.0 targets .NET 8 and .NET 10.
using Rivoli.Pdf;
using Rivoli.Pdf.Builders;
var doc = Document.Create("Invoice INV-2026-0420", "Northwind Studios");
doc.AddSection()
.H1("Invoice INV-2026-0420")
.AddTable(t => t
.Header("Description", "Qty", "Amount")
.Row("Senior engineering consulting", "42", "$7,770.00")
.Row("Cloud infrastructure setup", "1", "$2,400.00"));
doc.SavePdf("invoice.pdf");Fluent helpers for the common path, a full document object model when you need control, and a low-level writer underneath. Mix all three freely.
The output
Real output from the runnable samples in the Rivoli PDF repository.
How we compare
How the C# PDF options stack up.
| Capability | Rivoli PDF | IronPDF | Aspose.PDF | Syncfusion | iText | QuestPDF | PDFsharp | Apryse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free for small companies | Conditional | AGPL only | ||||||
| Entry price (per developer) | $299 | $999 | ~$1,679 | ~$2,495/yr | Quote | ~$999/yr | Free | $150K+/yr |
| Royalty-free redistribution included | Add-on | Add-on | Quote | |||||
| Fully managed (no native deps) | ||||||||
| Deterministic output | ||||||||
| PDF/A-first | ||||||||
| JSON document model + change tracking | ||||||||
| Round-trip fidelity harness | ||||||||
| Cross-language roadmap | 5 planned | Multi | Multi | Multi | Java/.NET | Multi |
Competitor prices are researched approximations (June 2026); several vendors are now quote-gated, so some figures are historical or third-party. Rivoli PDF is pre-1.0: document creation is feature-complete, while full parsing of arbitrary PDFs and rasterized rendering are partial and on the near-term roadmap.
Pricing
Free for individuals and for organisations under US$1M in annual gross revenue. One perpetual per-developer license for everyone else.
Full library, no watermark, no page limits. For individuals and organisations under US$1M in annual gross revenue.
Buy once, use forever. Royalty-free redistribution included, and the early-access rate locks in for life.
Full details on the product page and in the license terms.
Adopting Rivoli PDF
Whether you're on iText, PDFsharp, or hand-rolled HTML pipelines, the path in is short.
- 01 Add the package: dotnet add package Rivoli.Pdf (the document model ships in Rivoli.Pdf.Core, pulled in automatically).
- 02 Describe documents as a tree of sections, paragraphs, and tables instead of pages and coordinates; the layout engine places content for A4 or Letter without changes.
- 03 Move save-time concerns (encryption, PDF/A, tagging) to PdfSaveOptions on PdfDocumentRenderer.
- 04 Add a determinism check to CI: render twice, compare hashes. It catches template regressions for free.
- 05 Before migrating reading-heavy workflows (filling existing forms, rendering pages to images), check current support in the docs gallery: Rivoli PDF is pre-1.0 and strongest at authoring.
The full migration guide, with concept mappings and before/after code, lives in the documentation.
Start free. Pay only when you're big.
Install the package today. When your company crosses the US$1M line, the Founder rate locks in for life.