COMPARISON.md

Comparison with mpdf, tcpdf, dompdf, FPDF

A feature-by-feature comparison of dskripchenko/php-pdf against the four most-used PHP PDF libraries on Packagist. Performance numbers are in BENCHMARKS.md.

Licensing

Library	License	OEM / proprietary bundle
dskripchenko/php-pdf	MIT	✅ no friction
mpdf/mpdf	GPL-2.0-only	❌ requires GPL bundle or commercial license
tecnickcom/tcpdf	LGPL-2.1+	⚠️ static-linking nuances
dompdf/dompdf	LGPL-2.1	⚠️ same as tcpdf
setasign/fpdf	re-licensable	✅ but FPDI and other extras are proprietary

MIT is the most permissive PHP license. Use the library anywhere, including closed-source products, without modifying its source or publishing your own.

Engineering baseline

Item	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
PHP minimum	8.2	7.4	7.1	7.1	4+
Strict types throughout	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Readonly classes, enums	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Single file vs modular	modular	modular	single (~30k LOC)	modular	modular
External binary dependencies	✅ none	✅ none	✅ none	✅ none	✅ none

Input

Feature	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
Low-level imperative API	✅	⚠️	✅	⚠️	✅
Fluent builders (Document → Section)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
HTML/CSS input	✅	✅	⚠️ basic	✅	❌
Inline style attributes	✅	✅	⚠️	✅	❌
<style> blocks / external CSS	❌	✅	⚠️	✅	❌
Float layout	❌	✅	⚠️	✅	❌

For complex HTML or CSS (Flexbox, multi-column, @media, floats), dompdf and mpdf go further. For business documents (paragraphs, tables, lists, inline styling, headings), php-pdf is on par with better performance.

Reading & merging existing PDFs

Capability	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
Read / parse existing PDFs	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Merge / append & reorder pages	✅	❌	⚠️ FPDI	❌	⚠️ FPDI
Import a page as a template (FPDI-style)	✅	❌	⚠️ FPDI	❌	⚠️ FPDI
Carry annotations & bookmarks on merge	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
License of the merge capability	MIT	—	proprietary (FPDI)	—	proprietary (FPDI)

Reading and merging existing PDFs — the job FPDI does for FPDF/TCPDF — is built in and MIT-licensed, with no proprietary add-on.

Typography

Feature	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
14 standard fonts	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
TTF embedding with subsetting	✅	✅	✅	✅	⚠️ (tFPDF)
Kerning	✅	✅	✅	⚠️	❌
GSUB ligatures (basic)	✅	partial	⚠️	❌	❌
ToUnicode CMap (searchable CJK/Cyrillic)	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Variable fonts (fvar/gvar/MVAR/HVAR)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bidi (UAX#9, X1–X10 explicit)	✅	partial	partial	❌	❌
Arabic shaping	✅	✅	✅	⚠️	❌
Indic shaping (Devanagari, Bengali, Gujarati)	✅	partial	❌	❌	❌
Vertical writing mode	✅	❌	⚠️	❌	❌
Knuth–Plass line breaking	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Hyphenation / soft hyphen	✅	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌
Multi-column layout	✅	✅	⚠️	⚠️ partial	❌

Tables, lists, headers

Feature	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
Tables with rowspan / colspan	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Border collapse, double borders	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Border radius	✅	✅	⚠️	✅	❌
Repeated table header on overflow	✅	✅	✅	⚠️	❌
Headers / footers / watermarks	✅	✅	✅	⚠️	⚠️
Footnotes	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
Section breaks (per-section page setup)	✅	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌

Barcodes

Format	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
Code 128 (A/B/C, GS1-128)	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Code 39	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Code 93	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Code 11	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Codabar / NW-7	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
ITF / ITF-14	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
MSI Plessey	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Pharmacode (Laetus)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
EAN-13 / EAN-8	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
EAN-2 / EAN-5 add-ons	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
UPC-A / UPC-E	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
QR Code (Numeric/Alphanum/Byte/Kanji)	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
QR ECI	✅	❌	⚠️	❌	❌
QR Structured Append	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
QR FNC1 (GS1 + AIM)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Data Matrix ECC 200 (all sizes)	✅	partial	✅	❌	❌
Data Matrix 144×144	✅	❌	⚠️	❌	❌
PDF417 (Byte/Text/Numeric, Macro, GS1)	✅	partial	✅	❌	❌
Aztec Compact + Full	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Aztec Structured Append + FLG/ECI	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌

Charts and math

Feature	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
Bar / Line / Pie chart	✅	❌	⚠️ (TCPDF Graph extension)	❌	❌
Area / Donut / Scatter chart	✅	❌	⚠️ ext	❌	❌
Grouped / Stacked bar	✅	❌	⚠️ ext	❌	❌
Math (LaTeX subset)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
SVG (paths, gradients, transforms)	✅	✅	⚠️ basic	⚠️	❌

Interactive features

Feature	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
AcroForm widgets	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
AcroForm appearance streams (NeedAppearances)	✅	⚠️	✅	❌	❌
Per-field JavaScript actions	✅	⚠️	✅	❌	❌
Markup annotations (12 kinds)	✅	⚠️	✅	❌	❌
Hyperlinks (URI / Dest / Named / JS / Launch)	✅	✅	✅	✅	⚠️
Document-level actions (Will/Did)	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Optional Content Groups (layers)	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌

Security

Feature	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
RC4-128 encryption	✅	✅	✅	⚠️	❌
AES-128 (V4 R4)	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
AES-256 V5 R5 (Adobe Supplement)	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
AES-256 V5 R6 (PDF 2.0)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Encrypted strings + streams + Catalog	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
PKCS#7 detached signing	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Public-key encryption (/PubSec)	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌

Conformance and accessibility

Feature	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
PDF/A-1b	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
PDF/A-1a (accessibility variant)	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌	❌
PDF/A-2u	✅	✅	⚠️	❌	❌
PDF/X-1a / X-3 / X-4	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌	❌
Tagged PDF (H1–H6, Table, L)	✅	partial	⚠️	❌	❌
Custom RoleMap	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
/Lang, /MarkInfo, ViewerPreferences	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Page labels (Roman, alpha, prefix)	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌	❌

Output features

Feature	php-pdf	mpdf	tcpdf	dompdf	FPDF
XRef streams (PDF 1.5+)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Object Streams (PDF 1.5+)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Balanced Page Tree	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Stream output (toStream)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Embedded files / attachments	✅	⚠️	✅	❌	❌
Form XObjects (/Do reusable streams)	✅	✅	✅	❌	⚠️
Patterns (tiling + axial + radial)	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌	❌
Multi-stop gradients (stitching fns)	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌	❌

When to choose each

Choose dskripchenko/php-pdf when

• You ship a closed-source / OEM product and need MIT.
• You generate business documents (invoices, reports, contracts, forms, certificates) where typography, barcodes, AcroForms, signing, or PDF/A matter.
• You want the broadest barcode coverage in pure PHP.
• You target PHP 8.2+ and want modern, type-safe code.
• You need PDF 2.0 features (AES-256 R6).
• You care about output size and per-render latency.

Choose mpdf/mpdf when

• You already have it in your stack and migration cost isn't justified.
• Your project is GPL-compatible.
• You need richer CSS coverage (Flexbox, @media, complex selectors).
• You prefer mpdf's documentation and Stack Overflow corpus.

Choose tecnickcom/tcpdf when

• You're maintaining a legacy enterprise PHP application that already uses it.
• You specifically need public-key encryption (/Filter /PubSec).
• You're comfortable with a single 30k-line file and PHP 7.1+ idioms.

Choose dompdf/dompdf when

• You need to render arbitrary HTML/CSS with float layout — content intended for browsers, not business documents.
• Performance and memory aren't critical (it builds the full DOM in memory before layout).

Choose setasign/fpdf when

• You generate simple invoices or receipts with manual positioning.
• You want the smallest possible dependency footprint.
• You don't need UTF-8, HTML, tables, charts, encryption, or signing.