Choosing a Document Generation Library for .NET 8

iTextSharp — Not Compatible with .NET 8

iTextSharp (the original .NET port of iText) hasn't been updated since 2018. It targets .NET Framework only:

error NU1202: Package iTextSharp 5.5.13 is not compatible with net8.0

The migration path is iText 7, which has a different API and requires either AGPL compliance (open-source your entire application) or commercial licensing. Pricing is not published — third-party data suggests $15,000–$210,000/year.

wkhtmltopdf Wrappers — DLL Loading Failures on .NET 8

C# wrappers around wkhtmltopdf (DinkToPdf, Rotativa, NReco.PdfGenerator) fail with platform-specific errors that are unique to .NET 8's deployment model:

DinkToPdf — native library not found:

System.DllNotFoundException: Unable to load DLL 'libwkhtmltox'

Rotativa.AspNetCore — requires manual binary path configuration that conflicts with .NET 8's container-first deployment:

// This pattern requires deploying wkhtmltopdf binaries alongside your app
// and breaks in Docker containers without explicit path configuration
RotativaConfiguration.Setup(env.WebRootPath, "wkhtmltopdf");

// This pattern requires deploying wkhtmltopdf binaries alongside your app
// and breaks in Docker containers without explicit path configuration
RotativaConfiguration.Setup(env.WebRootPath, "wkhtmltopdf");

' This pattern requires deploying wkhtmltopdf binaries alongside your app
' and breaks in Docker containers without explicit path configuration
RotativaConfiguration.Setup(env.WebRootPath, "wkhtmltopdf")

TuesPechkin / NReco — architecture mismatch:

System.BadImageFormatException: Could not load file or assembly

These errors reflect a deeper problem: wkhtmltopdf was archived in July 2024 with unpatched CVEs. The native binary architecture predates .NET 8's platform detection improvements. There is no fix — only migration to a different library.

PdfSharp — System.Drawing.Common Failures on Linux

PdfSharp depends on System.Drawing.Common, which Microsoft deprecated for non-Windows platforms in .NET 6. In .NET 8, this produces runtime failures when deploying to Linux or Docker:

using PdfSharp.Pdf;
using PdfSharp.Drawing;

var document = new PdfDocument();
// PlatformNotSupportedException on Linux:
// System.Drawing.Common is not supported on this platform

using PdfSharp.Pdf;
using PdfSharp.Drawing;

var document = new PdfDocument();
// PlatformNotSupportedException on Linux:
// System.Drawing.Common is not supported on this platform

Imports PdfSharp.Pdf
Imports PdfSharp.Drawing

Dim document As New PdfDocument()
' PlatformNotSupportedException on Linux:
' System.Drawing.Common is not supported on this platform

PdfSharp 6.x has been working to remove this dependency, but cross-platform support remains incomplete as of early 2026. For Windows-only deployments, PdfSharp works with .NET 8. For Linux, Docker, or cloud deployments, it's unreliable.

IronPDF — Full .NET 8 Support, Cross-Platform

IronPDF targets net8.0 natively with embedded Chromium rendering. No System.Drawing.Common dependency, no native binary management, no platform-specific configuration.

Minimal API integration (the primary .NET 8 pattern):

using IronPdf;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
var app = builder.Build();

app.MapGet("/invoice/{id}/pdf", async (int id, InvoiceService service) =>
{
    var invoice = await service.GetInvoiceAsync(id);
    var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

    var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(invoice.ToHtml());

    return Results.File(pdf.BinaryData, "application/pdf", $"invoice-{id}.pdf");
});

app.Run();

using IronPdf;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
var app = builder.Build();

app.MapGet("/invoice/{id}/pdf", async (int id, InvoiceService service) =>
{
    var invoice = await service.GetInvoiceAsync(id);
    var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

    var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(invoice.ToHtml());

    return Results.File(pdf.BinaryData, "application/pdf", $"invoice-{id}.pdf");
});

app.Run();

Imports IronPdf

Dim builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args)
Dim app = builder.Build()

app.MapGet("/invoice/{id}/pdf", Async Function(id As Integer, service As InvoiceService) 
    Dim invoice = Await service.GetInvoiceAsync(id)
    Dim renderer = New ChromePdfRenderer()

    Dim pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(invoice.ToHtml())

    Return Results.File(pdf.BinaryData, "application/pdf", $"invoice-{id}.pdf")
End Function)

app.Run()

For teams using the controller pattern, the same code works inside a controller action — RenderHtmlAsPdf returns a PdfDocument you can convert to bytes with .BinaryData.

Licensing: Perpetual license starting at $749 (Lite — 1 developer, 1 project). Professional: $1,499 (10 developers). Enterprise: $2,999 (unlimited). Published at ironpdf.com.

QuestPDF — .NET 8 Compatible, No HTML

QuestPDF works with .NET 8 without platform dependencies. Its fluent C# API builds documents programmatically — no HTML parser, no CSS engine, no browser engine:

using QuestPDF.Fluent;
using QuestPDF.Infrastructure;

QuestPDF.Settings.License = LicenseType.Community; // Free under $1M revenue

Document.Create(container =>
{
    container.Page(page =>
    {
        page.Size(PageSizes.A4);
        page.Margin(2, Unit.Centimetre);
        page.Content().Column(col =>
        {
            col.Item().Text("Q4 Report").FontSize(24).Bold();
            col.Item().Table(table =>
            {
                table.ColumnsDefinition(c => { c.RelativeColumn(2); c.RelativeColumn(1); c.RelativeColumn(1); });
                table.Header(h =>
                {
                    h.Cell().Text("Metric").Bold();
                    h.Cell().Text("Value").Bold();
                    h.Cell().Text("Change").Bold();
                });
                table.Cell().Text("Revenue"); table.Cell().Text("$1.2M"); table.Cell().Text("+12%");
                table.Cell().Text("Users"); table.Cell().Text("45,230"); table.Cell().Text("+23%");
            });
        });
    });
}).GeneratePdf("report.pdf");

using QuestPDF.Fluent;
using QuestPDF.Infrastructure;

QuestPDF.Settings.License = LicenseType.Community; // Free under $1M revenue

Document.Create(container =>
{
    container.Page(page =>
    {
        page.Size(PageSizes.A4);
        page.Margin(2, Unit.Centimetre);
        page.Content().Column(col =>
        {
            col.Item().Text("Q4 Report").FontSize(24).Bold();
            col.Item().Table(table =>
            {
                table.ColumnsDefinition(c => { c.RelativeColumn(2); c.RelativeColumn(1); c.RelativeColumn(1); });
                table.Header(h =>
                {
                    h.Cell().Text("Metric").Bold();
                    h.Cell().Text("Value").Bold();
                    h.Cell().Text("Change").Bold();
                });
                table.Cell().Text("Revenue"); table.Cell().Text("$1.2M"); table.Cell().Text("+12%");
                table.Cell().Text("Users"); table.Cell().Text("45,230"); table.Cell().Text("+23%");
            });
        });
    });
}).GeneratePdf("report.pdf");

Imports QuestPDF.Fluent
Imports QuestPDF.Infrastructure

QuestPDF.Settings.License = LicenseType.Community ' Free under $1M revenue

Document.Create(Sub(container)
    container.Page(Sub(page)
        page.Size(PageSizes.A4)
        page.Margin(2, Unit.Centimetre)
        page.Content().Column(Sub(col)
            col.Item().Text("Q4 Report").FontSize(24).Bold()
            col.Item().Table(Sub(table)
                table.ColumnsDefinition(Sub(c)
                    c.RelativeColumn(2)
                    c.RelativeColumn(1)
                    c.RelativeColumn(1)
                End Sub)
                table.Header(Sub(h)
                    h.Cell().Text("Metric").Bold()
                    h.Cell().Text("Value").Bold()
                    h.Cell().Text("Change").Bold()
                End Sub)
                table.Cell().Text("Revenue")
                table.Cell().Text("$1.2M")
                table.Cell().Text("+12%")
                table.Cell().Text("Users")
                table.Cell().Text("45,230")
                table.Cell().Text("+23%")
            End Sub)
        End Sub)
    End Sub)
End Sub).GeneratePdf("report.pdf")

QuestPDF doesn't convert HTML. If your workflow uses HTML templates (Razor views, dashboard exports, web content archiving), you need a different library. The Community License covers businesses under $1M annual revenue; above that, commercial licensing is required.

iText 7 — .NET 8 Compatible, AGPL Licensed

iText 7 (the successor to iTextSharp) supports .NET 8. The pdfHTML add-on provides HTML-to-PDF conversion with a custom parser — not a browser engine, so modern CSS features (Flexbox, Grid) don't render correctly.

Licensing: AGPL for open source use, commercial licensing (subscription, pricing not published) for proprietary applications. iText transitioned to subscription-based commercial licensing in 2024.

Standard Debian Image (Recommended)

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0 AS build
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["MyApp.csproj", "."]
RUN dotnet restore
COPY . .
RUN dotnet publish -c Release -o /app/publish

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0
WORKDIR /app

# IronPDF works without additional apt-get installs
# Chromium dependencies are handled internally

COPY --from=build /app/publish .

ENV DOTNET_RUNNING_IN_CONTAINER=true
EXPOSE 8080
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "MyApp.dll"]

Alpine Image (Smaller Footprint)

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0-alpine AS build
WORKDIR /src
COPY ["MyApp.csproj", "."]
RUN dotnet restore
COPY . .
RUN dotnet publish -c Release -o /app/publish

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0-alpine
WORKDIR /app

# Alpine requires explicit Chromium dependencies
RUN apk add --no-cache chromium nss freetype harfbuzz ca-certificates ttf-freefont

COPY --from=build /app/publish .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "MyApp.dll"]

The Debian image requires zero additional packages. The Alpine image is smaller but needs explicit Chromium library installation. For most deployments, the standard Debian image is simpler and more reliable.

From iTextSharp to IronPDF

// Before (iTextSharp — doesn't compile against net8.0)
using iTextSharp.text;
using iTextSharp.text.pdf;

var doc = new Document();
PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, new FileStream("output.pdf", FileMode.Create));
doc.Open();
doc.Add(new Paragraph("Hello World"));
doc.Close();

// After (IronPDF — targets net8.0)
using IronPdf;

var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<p>Hello World</p>");
pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");

// Before (iTextSharp — doesn't compile against net8.0)
using iTextSharp.text;
using iTextSharp.text.pdf;

var doc = new Document();
PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, new FileStream("output.pdf", FileMode.Create));
doc.Open();
doc.Add(new Paragraph("Hello World"));
doc.Close();

// After (IronPDF — targets net8.0)
using IronPdf;

var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<p>Hello World</p>");
pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");

Imports iTextSharp.text
Imports iTextSharp.text.pdf
Imports IronPdf
Imports System.IO

' Before (iTextSharp — doesn't compile against net8.0)
Dim doc As New Document()
PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, New FileStream("output.pdf", FileMode.Create))
doc.Open()
doc.Add(New Paragraph("Hello World"))
doc.Close()

' After (IronPDF — targets net8.0)
Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
Dim pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<p>Hello World</p>")
pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf")

From wkhtmltopdf Wrappers to IronPDF

// Before (DinkToPdf — DllNotFoundException on .NET 8)
var converter = new SynchronizedConverter(new PdfTools());
var doc = new HtmlToPdfDocument
{
    Objects = { new ObjectSettings { HtmlContent = html } }
};
var bytes = converter.Convert(doc);

// After (IronPDF — native .NET 8 support)
using IronPdf;

var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
var bytes = pdf.BinaryData;

// Before (DinkToPdf — DllNotFoundException on .NET 8)
var converter = new SynchronizedConverter(new PdfTools());
var doc = new HtmlToPdfDocument
{
    Objects = { new ObjectSettings { HtmlContent = html } }
};
var bytes = converter.Convert(doc);

// After (IronPDF — native .NET 8 support)
using IronPdf;

var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
var bytes = pdf.BinaryData;

Imports IronPdf

' Before (DinkToPdf — DllNotFoundException on .NET 8)
Dim converter = New SynchronizedConverter(New PdfTools())
Dim doc = New HtmlToPdfDocument With {
    .Objects = {New ObjectSettings With {.HtmlContent = html}}
}
Dim bytes = converter.Convert(doc)

' After (IronPDF — native .NET 8 support)
Dim renderer = New ChromePdfRenderer()
Dim pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html)
bytes = pdf.BinaryData

The API surface is simpler in both cases. The primary migration cost is testing your existing HTML templates against the new renderer to verify output matches expectations.