Rivoli PDF / IronPDF alternative
The IronPDF alternative that doesn't ship a browser
IronPDF bundles Chromium to render HTML, and you pay for it twice: hundreds of megabytes in every deployment, and $999 per developer. Rivoli PDF converts HTML with a managed layout engine and costs $299 once, perpetual.
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.Html;
var converter = new HtmlConverter();
var document = converter.Convert(
"<h1>Monthly Statement</h1><p>Generated without a browser.</p>");
new PdfDocumentRenderer().RenderToFile(document, "statement.pdf");HtmlConverter ships in the optional Rivoli.Pdf.Html package and supports headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, and inline CSS. It is a layout engine, not a browser: predictable output instead of a Chromium sandbox in production.
The output
Real output from the runnable samples in the Rivoli PDF repository.
How we compare
The two capabilities IronPDF can't offer: a browser-free footprint and a perpetual price.
| Capability | Rivoli PDF | IronPDF |
|---|---|---|
| Free for small companies | ||
| Entry price (per developer) | $299 | $999 |
| Royalty-free redistribution included | Add-on | |
| 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 |
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.
IronPDF starts at $999 per developer and gates redistribution behind an add-on. Rivoli PDF includes royalty-free redistribution at $299.
Full details on the product page and in the license terms.
Migrating from IronPDF
Most IronPDF code funnels through ChromePdfRenderer. The Rivoli PDF equivalent is a converter plus a renderer, and the rest of your pipeline gets simpler because there is no browser to manage.
- 01 Replace ChromePdfRenderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html) with new HtmlConverter().Convert(html), then render with PdfDocumentRenderer.
- 02 Delete the Chromium baggage: native runtime packages, Linux dependency installs in your Dockerfile, and sandbox workarounds. The image shrinks by hundreds of megabytes.
- 03 For documents you were templating as HTML strings, consider the document model instead: sections, paragraphs, and tables that serialize to diffable JSON.
- 04 Replace the runtime license key with nothing: Rivoli PDF has no license key plumbing in code.
- 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.