PDF.js vs Nutrient: The best PDF.js alternative for enterprise web apps

Hulya Masharipov

Updated: August 21, 2025

Need PDF functionality in your web application? This comparison of Nutrient Web SDK and PDF.js covers features, developer experience, and enterprise readiness. Learn why Nutrient is the go-to PDF.js alternative for production applications.

PDF.js vs Nutrient: The best PDF.js alternative for enterprise web apps

TL;DR

The verdict: PDF.js is fine for basic PDF rendering. Nutrient Web SDK is the better choice for production applications that need advanced features, performance, and support.

Key advantages of Nutrient over PDF.js:

Optimized rendering for large and complex documents with a hybrid client-server architecture
Complete annotation toolkit (15+ types vs. limited markup in PDF.js)
Real-time collaboration with instant sync between users
Enterprise-grade security with encryption and access controls
Advanced document workflows: digital signatures, interactive forms, editing, and AI-powered features
Professional support with guaranteed SLAs

Bottom line: Use PDF.js for simple viewing. Choose Nutrient Web SDK for production-grade apps.

Why Nutrient Web SDK is the leading PDF.js alternative

While PDF.js delivers basic, free rendering, it lacks the enterprise capabilities modern apps demand. Nutrient Web SDK goes far beyond by offering:

Performance at scale — Hybrid rendering keeps even massive PDFs responsive without browser crashes.
Compliance and security — Built-in encryption, access controls, and audit trails meet regulatory needs.
Productivity features — Rich annotations, real-time collaboration, forms, signatures, and AI workflows enable end-to-end document handling.
Enterprise readiness — Commercial licensing, professional support, and guaranteed SLAs ensure reliability in production.
Developer experience — TypeScript support, detailed guides, and flexible deployment make integration seamless.

Understanding the need for web-based PDF viewing

Web applications handle PDFs for reports, invoices, legal documents, and collaborative content. The complexity varies by use case:

Basic viewing — Rendering static PDFs in a browser
Interactive documents — Forms, annotations, and digital signatures
Collaboration — Real-time editing and sharing
Security — Encrypted access to sensitive documents
Automation — Data extraction, redaction, and report generation

PDF.js: A lightweight PDF viewer

PDF.js is Mozilla's open source PDF viewer. It parses and renders PDF documents in the browser. While it doesn't generate PDFs, it handles basic display and manipulation on the client side.

Explore the PDF.js demo

Key features of PDF.js

Client-side rendering — Uses HTML5 <canvas> element
PDF parsing — Loads and interprets PDF documents
Browser-native — Works with standard HTML5 canvas
Active maintenance — Regular updates from Mozilla

Use case

PDF.js fits applications that display existing PDFs: e-readers, embedded viewers, and document portals.

Viewing a PDF with PDF.js

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta
      name="viewport"
      content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"
    />
    <title>PDF.js Example</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <canvas id="pdf-canvas"></canvas>

    <script src="/pdf.mjs" type="module"></script>
    <script type="module">
      import { GlobalWorkerOptions } from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/pdfjs-dist@4.5.136/build/pdf.min.mjs';

      GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc =
        'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/pdfjs-dist@4.5.136/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs';

      const url = 'output.pdf'; // Replace with your PDF URL.

      const canvas = document.getElementById('pdf-canvas');
      const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');

      pdfjsLib
        .getDocument(url)
        .promise.then((pdf) => {
          pdf.getPage(1).then((page) => {
            const viewport = page.getViewport({ scale: 1.5 });
            canvas.height = viewport.height;
            canvas.width = viewport.width;

            page.render({
              canvasContext: ctx,
              viewport: viewport,
            });
          });
        })
        .catch((error) => {
          console.error('Error loading PDF:', error);
        });
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

JavaScript PDF Viewer pdf.js

Check out our complete guide to PDF.js for more details on how to use PDF.js in your web application. For developers exploring other JavaScript PDF solutions, our guides on building a React PDF viewer, HTML5 PDF viewers, and JavaScript PDF editors provide comprehensive implementation strategies.

Nutrient Web SDK: An enterprise-grade PDF solution

Nutrient Web SDK is a JavaScript library that powers complete document workflows directly in the browser. Beyond viewing PDFs, it enables collaboration, editing, automation, and compliance in modern web applications.

Comprehensive capabilities

Advanced PDF & Office Viewing — High-fidelity rendering for PDFs, Office files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), and images (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc.).
Annotations & Markup — 15+ annotation types (highlight, ink, text, stamps, redaction) with XFDF/JSON import/export.
Real-Time Collaboration — Shared editing, live annotations, and version control.
Form Handling — Create, fill, validate, and extract data from interactive forms with JavaScript validation.
Digital Signatures — Hand-drawn eSignatures and certificate-based signing (PKCS#7).
Document Editing — Rearrange, crop, rotate, merge, and split PDFs directly in the browser.
Redaction — Audit-safe permanent removal of sensitive data.
Document Conversion — Convert between PDF, Office, and image formats client-side or server-side.
AI Assistant — Add-on module for AI-powered summarization, redaction, translation, comparison, and semantic search.
Security & Compliance — Enterprise encryption, access controls, DRM, and GDPR/HIPAA compliance.
Customizable UI — Fully configurable viewer, toolbars, themes, localization, and responsive design.
Accessibility — WCAG-compliant, with screen reader and keyboard navigation support.
Deployment Flexibility — WebAssembly-only, hybrid client-server, or cloud API deployment.

Use case

Nutrient Web SDK works for applications needing full PDF editing: annotations, forms, and real-time collaboration.

Example of our JavaScript PDF viewer

To demo our JavaScript PDF viewer, upload a PDF, JPG, PNG, or TIFF file by clicking Open Document under the Standalone option (if you don’t see this option, select Choose Example from the dropdown). Once your document is displayed in the viewer, try drawing freehand, adding a note, or applying a crop or an eSignature.

Viewing a PDF with Nutrient Web SDK

Nutrient Web SDK's PDF viewer supports PDF, PDF/A, Office documents (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX), and images (PNG, JPEG, TIFF). Here's how to integrate it:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <script src="https://cdn.cloud.pspdfkit.com/pspdfkit-web@1.6.0/nutrient-viewer.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="nutrient" style="width: 100%; height: 100vh;"></div>
    <script>
        window.NutrientViewer.load({
            container: "#nutrient",
            document: "document.pdf"
          })
          .then(instance => {
            console.log("Nutrient loaded", instance);
          })
          .catch(error => {
            console.error(error.message);
        });
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

nutrient demo

If you prefer a video tutorial, you can watch our step-by-step guide.

Nutrient Document Authoring

Nutrient Web SDK includes Document Authoring for opening, editing, and formatting DOCX documents in the browser.

Key features

DOCX editing — Open, modify, and export DOCX files with rich text, tables, and images
Multi-format export — Save as DOCX or PDF
DocJSON support — Custom workflows and automation
Page-based editing — Similar to desktop word processors
Offline support — Client-side editing without server connection

Advantages

High-fidelity exports — Consistent formatting when saving or printing
Full DOCX support — Advanced formatting and layout tools
Offline editing — No internet connection required
TypeScript support — Easy integration with existing applications
Data control — Full control over storage and security

Getting started with Nutrient Document Authoring

Here's how to initialize Document Authoring:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="editor" class="my-editor"></div>
    <script src="https://document-authoring.cdn.nutrient.io/releases/document-authoring-1.7.1-umd.js"></script>
    <script>
      (async () => {
        const docAuthSystem = await DocAuth.createDocAuthSystem();

        const editor = await docAuthSystem.createEditor(document.getElementById('editor'), {
          document: await docAuthSystem.createDocumentFromPlaintext('Hello world!'),
        });
      })();
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

This creates an in-browser document editor.

Explore the Nutrient Document Authoring demo to see it in action!

Adding annotations with Nutrient Web SDK

Add highlight annotations programmatically to PDFs:

const rects = NutrientViewer.Immutable.List([
  new NutrientViewer.Geometry.Rect({
    left: 10,
    top: 120,
    width: 200,
    height: 10,
  }),
  new NutrientViewer.Geometry.Rect({
    left: 10,
    top: 150,
    width: 200,
    height: 10,
  }),
]);
const annotation = new NutrientViewer.Annotations.HighlightAnnotation({
  pageIndex: 0,
  rects: rects,
  boundingBox: NutrientViewer.Geometry.Rect.union(rects),
});
await instance.create(annotation);

resulting image showing highlight annotation added to PDF

Learn more about how to add highlight annotations to PDFs in JavaScript and explore 8 common PDF annotation types.

Adding watermarks with Nutrient Web SDK

Add watermarks to PDFs using the renderPageCallback option. This overlays user-specific details on each page:

NutrientViewer.load({
  document: document,
  renderPageCallback: function (ctx, pageIndex, pageSize) {
    ctx.beginPath();
    ctx.moveTo(0, 0);
    ctx.lineTo(pageSize.width, pageSize.height);
    ctx.stroke();

    ctx.font = '30px Comic Sans MS';
    ctx.fillStyle = 'red';
    ctx.textAlign = 'center';

    ctx.fillText(
      `Generated for John Doe. Page ${pageIndex + 1}`,
      pageSize.width / 2,
      pageSize.height / 2,
    );
  },
});

The watermark appears only in the browser view—the original document stays unchanged. Customize text, position, and styling as needed.

Inserting digital signatures in a PDF with Nutrient Web SDK

Digitally sign PDF documents using a private key and certificate. This example uses the signDocument method with PKCS#7 signatures:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <title>Nutrient Digital Signature Demo</title>
    <style>
      #viewer {
        width: 100vw;
        height: 100vh;
      }
    </style>
    <script src="https://cdn.cloud.pspdfkit.com/pspdfkit-web@1.6.0/nutrient-viewer.js"></script>
    <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/node-forge@1.0.0/dist/forge.min.js"></script>
  </head>

  <body>
    <div id="viewer"></div>
    <script>
      NutrientViewer.load({
        document: "sample.pdf",
        container: "#viewer",
      })
        .then((instance) => {
          console.log("Nutrient loaded", instance);

          instance
            .signDocument(null, generatePKCS7)
            .then(() => {
              console.log("Document signed successfully.");
            })
            .catch((error) => {
              console.error("The document could not be signed.", error);
            });
        })
        .catch((error) => {
          console.error("Failed to load viewer:", error.message);
        });

      // Generate a PKCS#7 signature
      async function generatePKCS7({ fileContents }) {
        const [certificatePem, privateKeyPem] = await Promise.all([
          fetch("cert.pem").then((r) => r.text()),
          fetch("private-key.pem").then((r) => r.text()),
        ]);

        const certificate = forge.pki.certificateFromPem(certificatePem);
        const privateKey = forge.pki.privateKeyFromPem(privateKeyPem);

        const p7 = forge.pkcs7.createSignedData();
        p7.content = new forge.util.ByteBuffer(fileContents);
        p7.addCertificate(certificate);
        p7.addSigner({
          key: privateKey,
          certificate,
          digestAlgorithm: forge.pki.oids.sha256,
          authenticatedAttributes: [
            { type: forge.pki.oids.contentType, value: forge.pki.oids.data },
            { type: forge.pki.oids.messageDigest },
            { type: forge.pki.oids.signingTime, value: new Date() },
          ],
        });

        p7.sign({ detached: true });
        return stringToArrayBuffer(
          forge.asn1.toDer(p7.toAsn1()).getBytes(),
        );
      }

      // Convert binary string to ArrayBuffer
      function stringToArrayBuffer(binaryString) {
        const buffer = new ArrayBuffer(binaryString.length);
        const view = new Uint8Array(buffer);
        for (let i = 0; i < binaryString.length; i++) {
          view[i] = binaryString.charCodeAt(i);
        }
        return buffer;
      }
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

This signs documents with PKCS#7 certificates for legal and enterprise use.

Sample signed PDF in Adobe Acrobat

Check out our blog post on how to insert a digital signature in a PDF using JavaScript for more details.

Limitations of PDF.js

PDF.js works for basic viewing but lacks features for interactive documents:

Annotations — No support for advanced annotations, page manipulation, redaction, or eSignatures. No pinch-to-zoom on mobile.
Performance — Client-side rendering slows down with large or complex PDFs.
File support — Can't handle MS Office documents, TXT files, or images.
Text selection — Unreliable due to incorrect bounding boxes, causing spacing issues and missing words.
Accessibility — Poor 508/ADA compliance due to inconsistent text extraction.
Security — No access controls or encryption.
Rendering quality — Blurry output and color issues when using <canvas>.
Customization — Limited UI options require extra development.
Updates — Breaking changes in updates require constant monitoring.

PDF.js vs. Nutrient Web SDK: Comprehensive feature and development experience comparison

Development experience comparison

Aspect	Nutrient Web SDK	PDF.js
Documentation quality	Professional docs with examples	Community-maintained
TypeScript support	Full TypeScript definitions	Basic community types
Integration complexity	10 minutes with pre-built components	1 hour for basic functionality
Update stability	Backward compatible updates	Breaking changes common
Support quality	Dedicated technical team with SLA	Community forums only

Feature comparison matrix

Feature	Nutrient Web SDK ✅	PDF.js ⚠️
Render/view PDFs	Yes	Yes
Search text	Yes	Yes
Select/copy text	Yes	Inconsistent selection and spacing issues
Advanced annotations and editing	Yes	No
Draw lines and mark up	Yes	Yes
Content editing (modify text and pages)	Yes	No
eSignatures and digital signatures	Yes	No
Instant synchronization and comments	Yes	No
Redaction (remove sensitive data)	Yes	No
Measurement tools	Yes	No
Document conversion (PDF to Word, Excel, images, etc.)	Yes	No
PDF generation	Yes	No
Office file support (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)	Yes	No
Image documents (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc.)	Yes	No
PDF/A conversion (archiving standard)	Yes	No
Page thumbnails	Yes	Yes
Rotate pages	Yes	Yes, but downloads don’t retain rotation
Open/print/download PDFs	Yes	Yes
High-quality rendering	Crystal-clear text and accurate color reproduction	Blurry text/images on `<canvas>`
Performance optimization	Hybrid rendering (client-server) for large files	Slow with complex PDFs
Security and encryption	Enterprise-grade access control and encryption	Minimal security features
Compliance (508/ADA accessibility standards)	Yes	No, struggles with accurate text extraction
UI customization	Extensive, developer-friendly tools	Limited, requires additional coding
Stability and updates	Stable updates without breaking functionality	Open source updates may break custom implementations

Pricing and licensing

PDF.js and Nutrient Web SDK have different pricing models for different needs.

PDF.js licensing and cost

PDF.js licensing:

✅ Open source library available under the Apache License 2.0(opens in a new tab) and free to use.

⚠️ No dedicated customer support. Reliant on community contributions.

⚠️ Limited built-in functionality; annotations, form handling, and security features require additional development.

📌 Bottom line: PDF.js works for lightweight applications but needs extra development for advanced features.

Nutrient Web SDK licensing and cost

Nutrient Web SDK licensing follows a commercial subscription model, with structured pricing based on the number of users and the specific components you require.

Commercial license with structured pricing based on users and components
Includes enterprise-level features like real-time collaboration, annotations, and digital signatures
Dedicated technical support and frequent updates

Bottom line: Nutrient Web SDK is ideal for businesses that need advanced features, enterprise security, and professional support.

How licensing works

Licensing provides access to enterprise-level features such as:

Performance and scalability — optimized rendering for large and complex documents
Collaboration — real-time annotations and co-editing
Compliance — digital signatures, forms, and enterprise security controls

Dedicated technical support, documentation, and frequent updates are included in the subscription.

AI Assistant add-on licensing

If you are interested in AI-powered document features, Nutrient offers an AI Assistant as an add-on product.

Subscription-based licensing — depends on user count, required components, and document volume
Frontend SDK requirement — a valid Web SDK license is needed before enabling the AI Assistant
Separate activation key — managed independently from the core SDK license

The AI Assistant brings advanced capabilities such as:

Intelligent summarization of complex documents
Automated redaction for sensitive data
Context-aware smart actions for workflow automation

Check out the AI Assistant licensing page for more details.

Nutrient Web SDK is designed for organizations that need advanced document functionality, enterprise-grade security, and reliable support. Its licensing is flexible and scalable with the option to add AI-powered features when your workflows demand them.

FAQ

Why is PDF.js so slow with large documents?

PDF.js renders everything on the client side using HTML5 canvas, which becomes a performance bottleneck with complex or large documents. The single-threaded rendering approach means your browser's main thread gets blocked, causing lag and potential crashes. Nutrient Web SDK's hybrid architecture offloads heavy processing to optimized server components while maintaining smooth client-side interaction.

Can PDF.js handle enterprise security requirements?

PDF.js lacks enterprise security features like encryption, access controls, digital rights management, or audit trails. It's designed for basic PDF viewing, not secure document workflows. Nutrient Web SDK provides comprehensive security including document encryption, user permissions, and secure sharing.

What happens when PDF.js updates break my custom implementation?

PDF.js is an open source library with frequent updates that can introduce breaking changes, requiring constant monitoring and code maintenance. Nutrient Web SDK follows enterprise release cycles with backward compatibility guarantees and migration guides, ensuring your implementation remains stable across updates.

How do I add annotations and form filling to PDF.js?

PDF.js doesn't include built-in annotation or form filling capabilities. You'd need to build these features from scratch or integrate multiple third-party libraries, significantly increasing development time and complexity. Nutrient Web SDK includes 15+ annotation types, advanced form handling, and digital signatures out of the box.

Can I get professional support for PDF.js integration issues?

PDF.js relies on community support through forums and GitHub issues, with no guaranteed response times or SLA. Nutrient Web SDK customers receive dedicated technical support with guaranteed response times, direct access to engineering teams, and professional services for complex integrations.

Is PDF.js suitable for mobile applications?

PDF.js struggles with mobile performance due to its canvas-based rendering approach. Touch interactions, pinch-to-zoom, and scrolling are often laggy or unresponsive. Nutrient Web SDK is optimized for mobile devices with smooth touch interactions, responsive rendering, and mobile-specific UI patterns.

Choosing the right tool for your needs

Need more than basic PDF rendering? Nutrient Web SDK handles annotations, editing, digital signatures, and enterprise security in one package.

Try Nutrient Web SDK today. Request a free trial or talk to our experts.

Explore related topics

PDF.js JavaScript Web

Why Nutrient Web SDK is the leading PDF.js alternative

Understanding the need for web-based PDF viewing

PDF.js: A lightweight PDF viewer

Key features of PDF.js

Use case

Viewing a PDF with PDF.js

Nutrient Web SDK: An enterprise-grade PDF solution

Comprehensive capabilities

Use case

Example of our JavaScript PDF viewer

Viewing a PDF with Nutrient Web SDK

Nutrient Document Authoring

Key features

Advantages

Getting started with Nutrient Document Authoring

Adding annotations with Nutrient Web SDK

Adding watermarks with Nutrient Web SDK

Inserting digital signatures in a PDF with Nutrient Web SDK

Limitations of PDF.js

PDF.js vs. Nutrient Web SDK: Comprehensive feature and development experience comparison

Development experience comparison

Feature comparison matrix

Pricing and licensing

PDF.js licensing and cost

Nutrient Web SDK licensing and cost

How licensing works

AI Assistant add-on licensing

FAQ

Choosing the right tool for your needs

Explore related topics

Related SDK articles

Complete guide to PDF.js

How to build an HTML5 image viewer

How to build an HTML5 PDF viewer