Comparison
ATick vs other PDF signing libraries
An honest, researched comparison. ATick is one signing engine with the same API in Python, Java, .NET, Node.js and PHP — and it ships the things rivals either dropped, never had, or charge for.
What only ATick gives
| Capability | ATick | Everyone else |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe-valid green-tick appearance | Built-in, current | Only iText had it — now deprecated; no other library ships it |
| One API across 5 languages | Python, Java, .NET, Node.js, PHP | Every rival is single-language / single-platform |
| Windows certificate-store connector | Built-in, in every language | Only IronPDF (.NET) has a one-liner; everyone else is DIY |
| Free AND batteries-included | Yes — AGPL-3.0 (commercial only to resell) | Turnkey rivals (iText, IronPDF, Apryse, SetaPDF) are paid; the free turnkey one (pyHanko) is Python-only |
| Certified no-changes (certify=1) + LTV + encrypted | Built-in combination | Rare or manual to combine elsewhere |
The in-document Adobe green tick was a one-tag feature only in iText 5; iText 7/8 still expose SetAcro6Layers but deprecated it, and no other library implements it. ATick is the only one that ships it as a current feature.
PDF signing in Python
ATick vs pyHanko and endesive (both free, MIT).
| Feature | ATick | pyHanko | endesive |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAdES B-LTA (named levels) | Partial | ||
| Built-in RFC-3161 timestamp | |||
| Built-in LTV / DSS (one call) | OCSP only | ||
| Adobe-valid green-tick appearance | |||
| Windows cert-store connector (built-in) | |||
| PKCS#11 / smart-card / HSM | |||
| Deferred / remote / eSign | |||
| Encrypted output + sign | |||
| Free license | AGPL | MIT | MIT |
PDF signing in Java
ATick vs iText 7 and Apache PDFBox.
| Feature | ATick | iText 7 | PDFBox |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAdES B-LTA (named levels) | Manual | ||
| Built-in RFC-3161 timestamp | Manual | ||
| Built-in LTV / DSS (one call) | Manual | ||
| Adobe-valid green-tick appearance | Deprecated | ||
| Windows cert-store connector (built-in) | |||
| PKCS#11 / smart-card / HSM | DIY | ||
| Deferred / remote / eSign | Manual | ||
| Encrypted output + sign | Limited | ||
| Free license | AGPL | AGPL / Paid | Apache-2.0 |
PDF signing in .NET
ATick vs iText 7, IronPDF and Apryse (PDFTron).
| Feature | ATick | iText 7 | IronPDF | Apryse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAdES B-LTA (named levels) | Assembled | |||
| Built-in RFC-3161 timestamp | ||||
| Built-in LTV / DSS (one call) | ||||
| Adobe-valid green-tick appearance | Deprecated | |||
| Windows cert-store connector (built-in) | DIY | Manual | ||
| PKCS#11 / smart-card / HSM | Custom | |||
| Deferred / remote / eSign | ||||
| Encrypted output + sign | Unclear | |||
| Free license | AGPL | AGPL / Paid | Paid | Paid |
PDF signing in Node.js
ATick vs @signpdf / node-signpdf and pdf-lib — the Node ecosystem has no full PAdES/LTV signer.
| Feature | ATick | @signpdf | pdf-lib |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAdES B-LTA (named levels) | B-B only | ||
| Built-in RFC-3161 timestamp | |||
| Built-in LTV / DSS (one call) | |||
| Adobe-valid green-tick appearance | |||
| Windows cert-store connector (built-in) | |||
| PKCS#11 / smart-card / HSM | |||
| Deferred / remote / eSign | DIY | ||
| Encrypted output + sign | |||
| Free license | AGPL | MIT | MIT |
PDF signing in PHP
ATick vs SetaPDF-Signer (commercial) and TCPDF (free, deprecated).
| Feature | ATick | SetaPDF-Signer | TCPDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAdES B-LTA (named levels) | Compose | ||
| Built-in RFC-3161 timestamp | |||
| Built-in LTV / DSS (one call) | Multi-step | ||
| Adobe-valid green-tick appearance | |||
| Windows cert-store connector (built-in) | |||
| PKCS#11 / smart-card / HSM | Add-on | ||
| Deferred / remote / eSign | |||
| Encrypted output + sign | |||
| Free license | AGPL | Paid | LGPL |
The honest verdict
The rivals are good at what they do: pyHanko (Python) is a free, standards-rigorous library with automatic LTV and timestamping; iText, Apryse and SetaPDF-Signer are powerful, production-grade products. But each is single-language, none ships a current Adobe-valid green tick, and the turnkey ones are paid (or AGPL).
ATick's edge is the combination no one else offers: one API in five languages, a current Adobe-valid green-tick appearance, a built-in Windows certificate-store connector, and a full PAdES-B-LTA / LTV / certify / encrypted pipeline that is free under AGPL-3.0 (a commercial license is only needed to resell it). In Node.js especially, there is no comparable full PAdES/LTV signer at all.
Start with the documentation or read about PAdES & LTV.
Comparison researched against each project's official documentation at the time of writing — check their docs for the latest. ATick is free under AGPL-3.0.