PDFxStream Pricing and Licensing FAQ

Can I evaluate PDFxStream without purchasing it?​

Yes, just download & install PDFxStream into your project, and start using it.

Absent a purchased license or subscription, PDFxStream will work without limitation, except you may only open up to 50 PDF documents within the first hour of a program's runtime. This is often completely sufficient for initial integration work and testing, and is even enough for some projects' production workloads.

Once you are satisfied with PDFxStream's quality and performance, you can then subscribe and buy licenses as required for your deployment strategy.

What if I want to test PDFxStream over a larger number of documents?​

We're very happy to provide you with a trial license file so you can test PDFxStream without its evaluation limitations; just submit a request.

What licensing options are available for PDFxStream?​

There are five different PDFxStream licensing scenarios:

1. Free usage, where PDFxStream is used entirely in its evaluation mode.
2. Per-server subscriptions, where one PDFxStream subscription is purchased for each machine to which PDFxStream is deployed. Read more.
3. Cloud region subscriptions, where one PDFxStream subscription is purchased for each public cloud region to which PDFxStream is deployed. Read more.
4. Site and global licenses, which allow you to deploy PDFxStream in an unlimited fashion. These options can provide significant savings for larger PDFxStream deployments. Read more.
5. OEM/partner licenses, which allow you to redistribute PDFxStream as part of your product or solution. Read more.

What is included in a PDFxStream subscription?​

1. The ability to use the software in the subscription's context (one server, anywhere in a cloud region, etc). This is granted and controlled by a "license file" (named pdfxstream.license by default) that must be deployed alongside the PDFxStream library.
2. Access to technical support: when you run into a problem with PDFxStream, either while developing with it or a production issue, we'll have your back. Whether that means explaining how PDFs and PDFxStream work in detail within the context of your problem, identifying corrupted documents or bugs within PDFxStream, or simply pointing out the right method call to use, we'll do everything possible to resolve whatever issues you encounter.
3. Access to all new PDFxStream releases, patches, and bug fixes, with no upgrade fees.

What is a "server"?​

When you purchase a "single server" subscription, you can deploy PDFxStream to any single computing environment (the "server"). Oftentimes, this is an actual, distinct piece of hardware (maybe a rackmount server in your office), but might otherwise be a fixed piece of cloud infrastructure (e.g. a single EC2 node or Digital Ocean droplet). The salient point is that a "server" is a single computing environment, not any kind of cluster or scalable pool of computing (such as Kubernetes clusters, lambda or other scalable serverless infrastructure, etc).

Whatever the specific computing infrastructure, the basic rule is: you need a subscription for each server to which you deploy PDFxStream.

Here's a common licensing scenario:

A web application is deployed to 'dev', a user-acceptance testing environment, and a production cluster consisting of two machines. This deployment would require four PDFxStream licenses.

How does PDFxStream cloud licensing work?​

Per-server licensing is often not a good option if you are deploying PDFxStream to the cloud: cloud-native architectures usually call for on-demand, scalable computing environments, via infrastructure where counting "servers" often just doesn't make sense.

For that reason, we offer Cloud Region licenses, which allow you to deploy to any number, kind, and configuration of compute resources within a single cloud region (e.g. AWS' us-west-1, Azure's UK South, etc.). If you deploy to more than one region (perhaps to support multiple markets or for disaster recovery), then you will need one PDFxStream Cloud Region subscription for each region.

Here's a common licensing scenario:

An application is deployed to a fleet of EC2 nodes along with a collection of Lambda API functions in two AWS regions. Regardless of how many EC2 nodes are required, or what throughput the Lambda functions are set to support, this deployment would require just two PDFxStream Cloud Region subscriptions.

What is a "perpetual license"?​

When a PDFxStream subscription is terminated or is allowed to lapse, then your access to PDFxStream goes away as well.

If your team would prefer to continue using PDFxStream after your subscription ends (perhaps when an application it is integrated into is transitioning to a "legacy" status, and needs no further upgrades or support), you can opt to make the associated licenses perpetual for a one-time fee. With a perpetual license, you can use PDFxStream as long as you need it, with no recurring cost or subscription maintenance.

Note that that perpetual status has nothing to do with support services, or access to new releases, bugfixes, etc., which remain tied to your licenses' subscription status.

What happens if I allow our PDFxStream subscription to lapse?​

First, we'll do our best to get in touch and make sure that the lapse isn't unintentional. We understand that things happen: credit cards expiring, internal bureaucracy, and weird team dynamics can sometimes leave a subscription dangling when no one intended it.

Once a subscription does lapse, and we've verified that you are terminating your subscription, the license files associated with the subscription will become invalid. At this point, PDFxStream will function as it does when no purchased license file is present at all, i.e. with evaluation-level limitations.

Do you work with any resellers?​

Yes, if your organization retains a software reseller as a matter of practice or policy, we'll be happy to work with them to settle your PDFxStream purchase. Please note that we don't "authorize" any particular resellers, and we do not provide any reseller discounts beyond those we offer ourselves.

Do you offer any discounts?​

Yes!

• Our cloud region subscriptions provide you with unlimited usage (within a single region), and usually represent a huge discount compared to purchasing licenses on a per-server basis
• Similarly, for customers with needs that warrant them, our "Global" and OEM/partner options will always yield better, lower pricing than per-server licensing.

Can I resell PDFxStream to consulting clients or as part of a packaged solution?​

Yes! We love working with consulting and solutions firms. Once you identify PDFxStream as a solution to your clients' PDFxStream data extraction challenges, you can purchase PDFxStream subscriptions on their behalf, which you can then deliver and maintain alongside your broader solution.

When ordering PDFxStream, please let us know that you are planning on reselling the subscriptions to your client, so we can key the license file(s) in their name.

Can I get a quote for my procurement department?​

Yes! Head over to our purchasing page, and fill in and submit the RFQ form there. We'll reply in no time with a quote that you can save, print, and forward to colleagues.

Will you accept our purchase order?​

Yes, though we will extend net 30 terms only to certain organizations, which we determine on a case-by-case basis. In general, if your organization is a large corporation, non-profit, or governmental entity, and your PDFxStream order is $5,000 or larger, then we will accept your purchase order and extend net 30 terms. Otherwise, we will accept your purchase order, but require prepayment of the first subscription term.

What will you do if we are displeased with PDFxStream after purchasing it?​

We guarantee that you will be happy with your purchase of PDFxStream. If you aren't, let us know within 30 days of the start of your subscription term. If we can't resolve the problem, we'll be happy to issue you a refund.