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ReportLab
London, United Kingdom
What it is
ReportLab is a Python library for creating PDF documents and graphics, with tools for organizations that generate documents from data. The open-source toolkit is free for commercial use and accepts inputs including RML/XML, Python objects and variables, CSV, images, and existing PDFs. It can create charts and diagrams that update with data for print or web, and documents can be delivered through print, on-demand web creation, or email. Deployments can run in-house or on ReportLab servers. ReportLab PLUS adds an XML markup language for template-based PDF production and commercial support. Its annual licences are intended for server-side use and priced by monthly output volume: listed plans include £1,728 a year for up to 30,000 pages per month and £13,824 a year for 300k–1 Million pages per month, with financial-services pricing double for those tiers. DocEngine is a hosted business offering with multiple inputs, validation tools, access controls, and audit trails. The open-source toolkit is community-supported; PLUS customers receive commercial support.
For and against
For
- Open-source toolkit is free for commercial use
- Accepts CSV, images, existing PDFs, and other inputs
- Supports charts and diagrams for print or web
- Can deploy in-house or on ReportLab servers
Against
- Open-source support is community-based
- PLUS annual licence charges depend on output-page volume
- PLUS standard licences do not permit resale embedding
The verdict
The free toolkit provides a Python-based route to PDF generation, while PLUS adds template markup and commercial support. Review page-volume pricing and licensing limits if considering a PLUS deployment.
Who it suits
ReportLab suits developers and organizations that need to generate PDFs from data and can work with a Python library. Businesses needing template-based production, hosted document workflows, or commercial support can consider PLUS or DocEngine.
Plans and prices
ReportLab open-source
Core PDF generation library; free for commercial use
Read 30 Sep 2026 · docs.reportlab.com
ReportLab PLUS — up to 30,000 pages/month (Non-Financial)
Up to 30,000 PDF output pages/month · server-side use · financial-services pricing is double
Read 30 Sep 2026 · reportlab.com
ReportLab PLUS — 30k–100k pages/month (Non-Financial)
30k–100k PDF output pages/month · server-side use · financial-services pricing is double
Read 30 Sep 2026 · reportlab.com
ReportLab PLUS — up to 30,000 pages/month (Financial)
Up to 30,000 PDF output pages/month · server-side use
Read 30 Sep 2026 · reportlab.com
ReportLab PLUS — 100k–300k pages/month (Non-Financial)
100k–300k PDF output pages/month · server-side use · financial-services pricing is double
Read 30 Sep 2026 · reportlab.com
ReportLab PLUS — 30k–100k pages/month (Financial)
30k–100k PDF output pages/month · server-side use
Read 30 Sep 2026 · reportlab.com
ReportLab PLUS — 100k–300k pages/month (Financial)
100k–300k PDF output pages/month · server-side use
Read 30 Sep 2026 · reportlab.com
ReportLab PLUS — 300k–1 Million pages/month (Non-Financial)
300k–1 Million PDF output pages/month · server-side use · financial-services pricing is double
Read 30 Sep 2026 · reportlab.com
ReportLab PLUS — 300k–1 Million pages/month (Financial)
300k–1 Million PDF output pages/month · server-side use
Read 30 Sep 2026 · reportlab.com
On the record
- Audience
- ReportLab says its document-generation tools serve business and marketing needs and lists financial, digital print, university, travel, and sport sectors.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Commercial evaluation
- A fully functional ReportLab PLUS evaluation download adds a nag line to every generated page until a licence is installed.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Commercial limits
- ReportLab PLUS licence charges are based on output page volume, licences are intended for server-side use, and embedding the software for resale is not permitted under the standard licence.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Commercial product
- ReportLab PLUS provides a commercial XML markup language for producing PDFs from templates and includes commercial support.docs.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Commercial support
- ReportLab PLUS annual licence customers receive same-working-day responses during UK working hours, version upgrades, best-efforts bug fixes, and a non-bug support-hours allowance.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Deployment
- The company says solutions can be deployed in-house or run on its servers using a modular json2pdf approach.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Examples and integrations
- Maker demos show JSON-to-PDF, an AWS Elastic Beanstalk deployment, XLS-to-PDF, and a Flask and ReportLab PLUS combination.docs.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Hosted offering
- DocEngine is a hosted business solution that accepts multiple inputs and provides validation tools, user access controls, and audit trails.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Hosted security
- ReportLab says it does not itself hold security certifications and that its data centres are ISO-27001 compliant; it describes prior penetration testing for specific hosted projects.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Image-fetch security
- In version 5.0, remote image sources are untrusted by default and must be explicitly whitelisted before image fetching.docs.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Input and output
- ReportLab describes acquiring data and content from any source and delivering documents through print, web on-demand creation, or email.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Open-source support
- The open-source toolkit is community-supported, and ReportLab staff do not promise to answer support requests directly.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- PDF and graphics
- ReportLab supports high fidelity charts and diagrams that can update as data changes for print and web.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Purpose
- The ReportLab Toolkit is a Python library for creating PDF documents and graphics.docs.reportlab.com · read 30 Sep 2026
