Premium edition
Evaluating NextPDF Premium
At a glance
Section titled “At a glance”You are deciding whether to buy NextPDF Pro or NextPDF Enterprise. This section is the map for that decision. Each evaluator role gets its own brief, so nobody reads pages written for someone else. Every claim in the briefs links to an authoritative page or a binding document — no claim stands on this hub alone.
The capabilities you evaluate ship in NextPDF Pro and NextPDF Enterprise
(nextpdf/pro, nextpdf/enterprise) and activate with a Pro- or
Enterprise-tier license envelope. A deployment without the matching entitlement does not load that edition’s premium classes.
Compare editions and get a license.
One posture note before you start: these pages describe capability. Independent validators and receiving authorities decide whether a specific file conforms. See Compliance and conformance.
What you’re buying
Section titled “What you’re buying”Two commercial editions on top of an open core — in thirty seconds:
- The core is open source.
nextpdf/coreis Apache-2.0; anyone may use, modify, and redistribute it, commercially included. See Product licensing. - Pro and Enterprise are proprietary. They are governed by the NextPDF Commercial License Agreement — the EULA — not by Apache-2.0.
- Editions are cumulative. Pro includes everything in the core; Enterprise
includes everything in Pro. The engine encodes this ordering in its
NextPDF\Enterprise\Licensing\LicenseEditiontier model. - A license is a signed envelope. It names your edition and entitlements, and activation requires no application code change. See Licensing and activation.
- You buy through our Merchant of Record. It sells, invoices, and handles tax and refunds; PATEON grants your license under the EULA. See Buying and licensing.
- Delivery comes in two channels. ionCube-encoded or signed plaintext source — same license rights, different runtime and compliance trade-offs. See Two delivery channels.
The questions we hear most
Section titled “The questions we hear most”“Will it hold up in production, and what does adoption cost us?” That is the engineering evaluation: architecture fit, the two delivery channels, and the no-code-change upgrade path from Core. Start at Evaluating for engineering leaders.
“How do we buy it, and what are the commercial terms?” Buying is contact-led and runs through our Merchant of Record. The procurement brief walks the purchase path, invoicing, tax, and renewal. Start at Evaluating for procurement.
“What are we agreeing to legally?” Two agreements: a purchase contract with the Merchant of Record, and a license from PATEON under the EULA. The legal brief covers the grant, IP boundaries, and trademark limits. Start at Evaluating for legal.
“What runs where, and what data leaves our environment?” The security brief covers offline operation, source verification, and what a license check transmits. Start at Evaluating for security & compliance.
“Can we try everything before we pay?” Yes. Evaluation runs the full feature set behind a visible watermark, and a paid license removes the watermark with no application code change. See Licensing and activation.
“Does ‘supports standard X’ mean you are certified?” No. Support means implemented capability, documented against the standard. See Compliance and conformance.
Requirements checklist
Section titled “Requirements checklist”Route each stakeholder to the brief that answers their requirements; every brief states what NextPDF can and cannot do for that role.
| Your role | What you need to establish | Your brief |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering leader | Technical fit, integration cost, delivery channel, upgrade path | Engineering leaders |
| Procurement | Purchase path, pricing model, invoicing, renewal and refund terms | Procurement |
| Legal counsel | License grant, IP boundaries, redistribution and trademark limits | Legal |
| Security & compliance | Data boundaries, offline operation, source verification | Security & compliance |
Risk & mitigation
Section titled “Risk & mitigation”- Evaluation output is watermarked by design. Trial builds are clearly marked and not suitable for production delivery. Scope your pilot accordingly. See Trial and evaluation branding.
- The ionCube channel expects periodic connectivity. It verifies the license online — roughly a 7-day check renewing an approximately 14-day lease. Offline past the lease, premium features pause and the engine falls back to the free Core. Fully offline deployments should evaluate the signed-source channel instead.
- Lock-in is bounded. The core stays Apache-2.0, and an ended subscription enters a grace period and then a perpetual-fallback state — you are never locked out of software you have already deployed. See Open core, no lock-in and Licensing and activation.
What to request next
Section titled “What to request next”A typical evaluation runs in three steps: trial → pilot → license.
- Trial. Start the 14-day free trial from your account — one per email, no charge today, and it does not auto-renew — or request an evaluation grant from sales at the license portal. The binding terms are the Trial terms.
- Pilot. Run one real workload through the trial build in your own stack. Hand each stakeholder their brief above, and collect the can/cannot answers against your requirements.
- License. Complete checkout through our Merchant of Record, receive your signed license envelope from PATEON, and activate — with no application code change. See Buying and licensing.