Compare
Apryse (PDFTron) vs. Nutrient (PSPDFKit)
When developer velocity, AI, and security decide the deal, modern teams pick Nutrient. Below you’ll find the 2025 head‑to‑head: what’s equal, where Apryse holds niche edges, and why Nutrient delivers compounding ROI.
At a glance
Nutrient | Apryse | |
|---|---|---|
Nutrient builds forward — With an AI-native, JSON-first platform that’s cloud-ready by default and built for developers who need to move fast without accumulating tech debt. | Apryse, by contrast, builds around — Relying on a legacy foundation extended through acquisitions, wrappers, and XML-based tooling that slows innovation and adds complexity. | |
Core architecture | Unified, modern codebase, continuously improved since 2011. | Legacy core from 1998, layered with complexity from multiple acquisitions. |
Data format | JSON-first | XFDF/XML-based |
Deployment | Deploy your way | No native cloud product |
Generative AI capabilities | Built-in AI | Unavailable |
Trusted by industry leaders
Scott Gilmore
Flight Deck Solutions Offering Manager
“Using Pilotbrief and Nutrient allows this all to be done electronically, saving not only paper but also precious time.”
IBM Cognitive Applications
Peace of mind with enterprise-grade security and privacy
Protect your customers and organization with a PDF SDK that’s built on PDFium, the same secure PDF engine that's battle-tested in Chromium and maintained by Google. With SOC 2-compliant processes and a flawless 10-year track record of zero security vulnerabilities or exposures, Nutrient is the PDF SDK that organizations trust — from enterprises to government agencies and startups.
Nutrient | Apryse | |
|---|---|---|
PDF engine | Optimized and well-maintained fork of PDFium (open source, peer‑reviewed) | Proprietary, closed source |
Known CVEs | 0 | |
SOC 2 Type 2 | ||
Independent pen testing | Annual |
Jonathan Metzman
Software engineer on the Open Source Security Team
“Because PDFium has large stakeholders such as Chromium, downstream users benefit from the significant effort Chromium makes in securing PDFium.”
Build secure software on a battle-tested PDF engine
The Nutrient core SDK and user interface sit on top of an optimized fork of PDFium — the same PDF engine used in Chromium, Android, and countless other applications by 2 billion users to open trillions of PDFs every year.
PDFium PDF engine | Apryse | |
|---|---|---|
Contributors | Google, Microsoft, Dropbox, Nutrient | Apryse |
Active users | Billions | < 0.1 percent of PDFium footprint |
Code commits (12 months) | 1,892 | Undisclosed |
Commercial dependencies | 0 | 2 |
Open source dependencies | 12 | 50+ |
Steve Cangiano
Director of Product Management
“We found the tool set to be very deep, and it allowed us to take total control of the data moving between our application and Nutrient. The quality of the product is extremely high, and we know it will handle just about anything we throw at it.”
CMiC
Nutrient | Apryse | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
PDF viewing and rendering | Best-in-class performance and fidelity | Reliable | DRAW |
Multi-tab and side-by-side view | Available, not optimized | Built in with shared resources — optimized, but only critical for high-tab-volume use cases | APRYSE |
UI customization | Basic; new API coming soon | Modular + open source fork — flexible, but demands ongoing maintenance and upgrade costs | DRAW |
Real-time collaboration | Built in, seamless across SDKs | Requires manual server setup | nutrient |
Annotation status workflows | Coming Q4 2025 | Standard support — useful for sequential reviews, but Nutrient leads in real-time collaboration | APRYSE |
Annotation attachments | Supported, fewer layout options | Rearranging and tab opening | DRAW |
PDF content editing | Faster, smoother UX across platforms | More feature-rich but laggy UX | nutrient |
DOCX document authoring | JSON-based, AI-enhanced, lightweight | XML-based, collaborative modes | DRAW |
Spreadsheet editing | Not yet | Viewer available, not editing | APRYSE |
Measurement tools | Parity confirmed | Parity confirmed | DRAW |
Pattern-based redaction | Advanced rules/templates via GdPicture | Available | nutrient |
AI redaction | Unique: natural-language driven | Not available | nutrient |
Table extraction (including OCR) | Robust OCR + layout logic | Good with digital documents only | nutrient |
Table detection (bounding boxes) | Not supported | Supported — visual-only; Nutrient prioritizes full table extraction over detection | APRYSE |
Form field detection (AI-based) | Not supported | Claimed AI, unconfirmed — only for born-digital documents, limited use in real-world workflows | APRYSE |
AI data extraction | GenAI, multi-format, prompt-based | Not available | nutrient |
Text comparison | Interactive diff + AI summary + jump-to | No sidebar, limited interactivity | nutrient |
AI-powered comparison | Unique in market | Not available | nutrient |
XFA support (legacy forms) | Not supported | Supported — legacy-only format with limited tool compatibility; best to migrate | APRYSE |
Rich media (audio/video annotation) | Not supported | Supported — niche use case for multimedia workflows, not needed in most B2B stacks | APRYSE |
Annotation format (Instant JSON) | Human-readable, AI-friendly | XFDF/XML-based | nutrient |
Generative AI Assistant | Native gen AI across viewers: chat, redact, translate, compare | No gen AI capability | nutrient |
Jeanette Thomas
CTO
“We don’t think any other tools have the breadth and the ease of use that Nutrient has. We certainly have evaluated other companies over the years. And every time we do that, we’ve come back to Nutrient.”
Govenda
Why teams choose Nutrient
AI-first platform — Built-in AI for document assistance, data extraction, redaction, and text comparison
Built-in security — Open-core engine designed with zero known CVEs
Responsive support — Global, follow-the-sun SLAs to keep your teams moving
Flexible pricing — Only pay for the components you need, nothing more
Deployment your way — Client-side, cloud, containerized, or fully self-hosted