License & Deployment Mix: 11 tools – 7 OSS, 0 SaaS. (OSS and SaaS counts can overlap when an open-source tool also offers a vendor-hosted edition.)

What Is Report Generation?

A report generation tool produces formatted output documents (PDF, HTML, XLSX, ODS) from structured data and templates. Unlike BI dashboards (interactive, browser-based, exploratory), report generators create static, distributable documents – invoices, compliance reports, SLA summaries, billing statements, and operational digests that are emailed, printed, or archived.

Key characteristics:

• Template-driven – a designer creates a layout template; data fills it at generation time
• Batch / scheduled – reports run on a schedule or in response to events, not interactively
• Multi-format output – same data and template can produce PDF, HTML, XLSX, or ODS
• Pixel-precise layout – headers, footers, page breaks, tables, charts, and images placed with precision
• Data aggregation – grouping, subtotals, cross-tabs, and summaries built into the template engine
• Distribution – output delivered via email, S3, file share, or web portal

The information on these pages was researched by a combination of human review and large language models. To suggest an addition or correction, please contact us. Prepared by Rhodium Systems Inc., author of the ResorsIT platform — a unified IT operations management platform for IT teams and MSPs that integrates a curated suite of open-source, commercial, and SaaS applications into a single system with shared identity, single sign-on, access control, and a common audit trail. Use this catalogue only as a starting point for your own research, and review any tool carefully against your own requirements before relying on it. Catalogue data version 2026.197.

Comparison

Third-party report generators are evaluated for complex layouts, customer deployments, and business document generation where non-developers own the templates.

SSO / OIDC Comparison

OIDC is the preferred SSO protocol; the notes below assume Authentik as the IdP.

* = requires commercial/enterprise edition or server product N/A = embedded library (host app handles auth)

Best SSO: Stimulsoft Server (OAuth2/OIDC + LDAP); JasperReports commercial (Spring Security). All others rely on reverse-proxy auth, host application auth, or have no SSO.

API Comparison

Best API: jsreport (REST + OData, built-in scheduler); Carbone (simple REST, stateless); JasperReports Server (comprehensive REST with scheduling); Stimulsoft Server (REST with scheduling and OIDC).

Template Approach

Most accessible: Carbone (office files as templates; no IDE; non-developers can design).

Best web visual designer: ReportBro (AGPL, free, WYSIWYG in browser) and Stimulsoft (commercial, richest web designer with 30+ charts and 50+ barcodes).

Most flexible: jsreport (HTML/CSS; any JS charting library; web-based studio).

Most powerful layout: JasperReports and Crystal Reports (pixel-precise, cross-tabs, sub-reports, barcodes).

Output Format Comparison

* = via LibreOffice conversion -- = not supported

Best format coverage: FastReport commercial and Stimulsoft (25+ formats including ODS, ODT, ODP). BIRT and JasperReports also strong. Carbone supports ODS/ODT/ODP natively since templates are office files.

Feature Matrix

Template / API-Driven Tools

* Carbone uses nested data instead of sub- reports; charts preserved from template files; template designed in any office app (no web designer needed).

Visual Report Builders

* ReportBro uses nested data sections; Seal Report uses SQL GROUP BY for cross-tab ** FastReport commercial only (not in MIT Open Source edition) *** Seal Report web portal is for report execution, not design; designer is desktop only

Deployment Comparison

* = platform runtime supports ARM64

Licensing Comparison

Most permissive: Seal Report (MIT, full features), Carbone (Apache 2.0), and BIRT (EPL-2.0) – no copyleft.

Best free tier: Seal Report (MIT, full features + web portal + scheduler); BIRT (full features, EPL); JasperReports library (LGPLv3); jsreport core (LGPL, web studio); ReportBro (AGPL, full web designer).

ActivePieces Integration

ActivePieces (MIT) is a workflow automation platform. None of the report generation tools have a native ActivePieces piece (pre-built connector). Integration uses the HTTP piece (generic REST client) or webhook triggers.

Integration Pattern

All API-capable report tools follow the same ActivePieces integration pattern:

1. Trigger – schedule, webhook, or event from another piece (e.g., Baserow row created, form submitted)
2. Data step – HTTP piece fetches data from source systems (Baserow, PostgreSQL API, Resource Manager)
3. Render step – HTTP piece calls the report tool’s REST API with template + data; receives the generated document (PDF, XLSX)
4. Distribute step – email piece sends the document as attachment; or file storage piece uploads to S3 / shared drive

Per-Tool Integration

Best Fits for ActivePieces

Carbone and jsreport are the best fits for ActivePieces workflows because:

• Stateless REST APIs with simple auth (API key)
• JSON-in, document-out (single HTTP call)
• No server-side session management
• Self-hosted, network-local (no external API calls)

ReportBro is also a good fit with the same stateless JSON-in, PDF-out pattern.

Example: Invoice Generation Flow

Trigger: Baserow webhook (new invoice row) → HTTP: fetch customer data from Baserow API → HTTP: fetch line items from Baserow API → HTTP: POST to Carbone /render with invoice.docx template + JSON data → Email: send generated PDF to customer → HTTP: update Baserow row (status=Sent)

Example: Scheduled Compliance Report

Trigger: schedule (monthly, 1st at 08:00) → HTTP: query metrics from InfluxDB API → HTTP: query incidents from OTOBO API → HTTP: POST to jsreport /api/report with compliance template + aggregated data → File: upload PDF to S3 archive → Slack: notify compliance channel

PDF Piece

ActivePieces ships a built-in PDF piece that can merge PDFs. This complements report generation tools: generate individual reports via Carbone or jsreport, then merge them into a combined document using the PDF piece.

Suitability Summary

Recommended for Visual Report Design

• ReportBro – best open-source web-based visual designer; AGPL-3.0; Python/Java; JSON report definitions; barcodes; lightweight
• Stimulsoft – best commercial web designer; 30+ charts, 50+ barcodes, cross-tabs, gauges; OIDC on server; multi-platform (.NET, Java, JS, PHP, Python); $999+/dev/yr

Recommended for Complex Layouts

• JasperReports – most powerful open-source report engine; sub-reports, cross-tabs, charts, barcodes; pixel-precise layouts; LGPLv3 library; best for complex multi-page reports that exceed Carbone’s capabilities

Customer Integration Targets

• Stimulsoft – multi-platform customers needing a visual designer with OIDC
• Seal Report – .NET customers wanting a free (MIT) self-service report portal with scheduling and email delivery
• FastReport – .NET/Java customers needing embedded report engine with label printing (ZPL); commercial web designer
• Telerik Reporting – .NET customers only
• Crystal Reports – SAP customers with legacy reports; migration path recommended

Not Recommended

• BIRT – development stalled; smaller community; use JasperReports instead for Java- based report generation
• Crystal Reports – legacy; Windows-only designer; SAP lock-in; declining investment
• FastReport Open Source – MIT but too limited (no designer, no charts, no Office exports); commercial edition needed for useful features

Deployment Recommendation

For most deployments:

1. Carbone for business document generation (invoices, contracts, statements) – templates in office files, API-driven, stateless
2. ReportBro for visual report design when business users need drag-and-drop layout – web designer, Python server, JSON definitions
3. A code-driven pipeline (e.g. Typst/Jinja2) for operational reports (SLA, capacity, billing summaries) – code-driven, automation-integrated
4. JasperReports for complex paginated reports requiring cross-tabs, sub-reports, and pixel precision – when Carbone/ReportBro and Typst are insufficient

Tools

11 tools.

Carbone

Carbone is a template-based document generation engine that uses office documents as templates – DOCX, XLSX, ODS, ODT, PPTX, ODP, and HTML files with placeholder tags that get filled with JSON data at generation time.

License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: none

Website · Source

Eclipse BIRT

Eclipse BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools) is an open-source report generation platform originally created by Actuate Corporation (now OpenText) and donated to the Eclipse Foundation.

License: EPL-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: library · Deploy: native, package · SSO: none

Website · Source

FastReport

FastReport is a family of report generation products spanning .NET, Java, and Delphi platforms. The product has its roots in Delphi (FastReport VCL, first released in 1998) and has expanded to .NET and Java over the years.

License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: library · Deploy: native, package · SSO: none

Website · Source

iReport

iReport was the original open-source visual designer for JasperReports JRXML templates, built on the NetBeans platform; it reached end-of-life in 2015 and was succeeded by Jaspersoft Studio.

License: GPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: library · Deploy: native, package · SSO: none

Website · Source

JasperReports

JasperReports is the most widely used open-source report generation library, with over 20 years of development history.

License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: library · Deploy: native, package · SSO: none

Website · Source

jsreport

jsreport is a Node.js-based report generation platform that renders reports from HTML/CSS templates (Handlebars, EJS, Pug, or custom engines) into PDF, XLSX, DOCX, PPTX, HTML, and other formats.

License: LGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: none

Website · Source

ReportBro

ReportBro is an open-source report generation tool with a web-based visual drag-and-drop designer that runs entirely in the browser.

License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: none

Website · Source

SAP Crystal Reports

SAP Crystal Reports is the original enterprise report generator, with roots going back to 1991 (Crystal Services → Seagate Software → Crystal Decisions → Business Objects → SAP).

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: desktop · Deploy: native · SSO: SAML

Website

Seal Report

Seal Report is an open-source report generation tool with both a desktop designer (Windows) and a web-based report portal (Seal Web Interface).

License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none

Website · Source

Stimulsoft

Stimulsoft is a commercial report generation platform notable for its web-based visual report designer that works across all supported platforms (.NET, Java, JS, PHP, Python).

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: library · Deploy: native, package · SSO: none

Website

Telerik Reporting

Telerik Reporting is a commercial .NET report generation platform from Progress Software, with a visual designer, an embeddable rendering engine, and an optional Report Server for scheduling and distribution.

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: library · Deploy: native, package · SSO: none

Website