Pixelixe is a hosted image automation platform with a white-label editor you embed by iframe. Polotno SDK is a design editor you build into your app as components, with rendering you can run on your own servers. Both put an editor in front of your users, so the question is how much of that editor you want to own and operate.
Pick the one that matches how much editor you want to own
Pick Pixelixe if…
- You want a branded editor live with little front-end work: you configure logo, colors, fonts, language, templates and tools in your account, then load one iframe.
- Your app doesn't use React: an iframe drops into any web page, while customizing Polotno's editor needs React.
- Your users make static images and PDFs: PNG, JPEG, PDF and HTML cover the job.
- You want the editor and automation in one subscription: every plan from Automate up includes the white-label editor, spreadsheet generation and the image APIs.
Pick Polotno SDK if…
- The editor needs behavior of its own: you compose React components and add your own panels and controls.
- Editing or rendering must run on your servers: every Polotno license includes self-hosted editing and rendering, and Pixelixe describes its editor as a hosted service.
- You need video or animation: Polotno has a timeline with trim, split, audio tracks, and animation, and exports MP4 and GIF.
- Your files go to a printer: Polotno outputs CMYK with bleed, crop marks, PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-4.
How Pixelixe and Polotno differ
1. Iframe or components
Pixelixe hosts the editor, and you load it in an iframe with your API key. From your account you set the logo, colors, fonts, language, templates and which tools appear, and developers can add custom CSS. Users can start from a blank document, a template, an uploaded image or a saved document. Pixelixe calls this "the middle path": a white-label editor plus template automation, with no editor maintenance on your roadmap.
Polotno ships in your bundle as React components, with guides for Next.js, Vue, Angular, Svelte and plain JavaScript. You add, replace or remove panels and controls, connect your own asset libraries, and drive the editor from your code. That takes more front-end work than an iframe.
If your users edit branded templates, the iframe gets you there with less code. If the editor needs custom panels or product-specific behavior, you want components.
2. Where it runs
Pixelixe runs the editor and the renderer. Its comparison with Polotno calls the iframe "a different architecture, not a self-hosted substitute". Its Enterprise tier mentions OEM deployments, with terms you agree with its sales team.
Polotno renders through the Cloud Render API, on your own servers, or in the browser. The quickest route is Cloud Render: you send the JSON and get the file back in seconds, with no servers to run. Self-hosting stays an option when your data has to stay on your side.
If a hosted service passes your security review, you have less to operate with Pixelixe. If customer designs have to stay on your infrastructure, including restricted networks, you need the self-hosted route.
3. Where designs live
Pixelixe saves edited documents in your Pixelixe storage, and a webhook tells your backend when a user saves. You can also keep the editable HTML on your own server and reopen it in the editor, which needs CORS headers on your side. A PNG or JPEG export is a finished image, so keep the document ID or the HTML if users will edit again.
Polotno designs are JSON you store in your own database. Your code can read and change them between sessions, and the same file drives the editor, batch jobs and rendering.
4. Automation
Pixelixe pairs the editor with template automation. Its APIs change named elements in a saved template and build new editable layouts from JSON. Design Sets render several formats from one request. Spreadsheet generation and workflows for Zapier, Make, n8n and Airtable serve teams that write no code.
Polotno automation is code you write, on the same JSON the editor uses. Your code sets values, then renders on your side or through Cloud Render, and magic resize moves and scales elements to fit a new size. Polotno ships no spreadsheet tool or no-code connectors.
5. Media and print
Pixelixe covers static work. Its docs list PNG, JPEG, PDF and HTML, and the editor has a PDF mode. We found no video or animation in its docs or API spec, and no mention of CMYK or PDF/X.
Polotno's video editing means a timeline with trim, split, audio tracks, and animation, short of a full non-linear video suite.
Banners, social images and PDF documents work in both. Video, PPTX and PDF/X files for a printer point to Polotno.
6. Pricing model
Pixelixe sells subscription plans with a 10-day trial and no credit card. Create is for manual work in its Studio and has no API or embed. Automate, Scale and Enterprise share one stack, including the white-label editor, and differ by monthly automated documents, AI actions and custom fonts.
Feature comparison
| Polotno SDK | Pixelixe | |
|---|---|---|
| Editor delivery | React components in your bundle | Hosted editor in an iframe |
| Front-end work | You compose the editor | Configure in your account, load one iframe |
| Customization | Your own panels, controls and logic | Branding, tool visibility, custom CSS |
| Non-React apps | Guides for Vue, Angular, Svelte and plain JavaScript, and customizing needs React | Any web page that can load an iframe |
| Hosting | Your servers, with optional Cloud Render | Pixelixe's hosted service |
| Design data | Reaches Polotno servers only with Cloud Render or AI features | Through Pixelixe's hosted editor and renderer |
| Design storage | JSON in your own systems | Pixelixe storage, or editable HTML on your server |
| No-code automation | None, you write the code | Spreadsheets, Zapier, Make, n8n, Airtable |
| Output | PNG, JPEG, PDF, PPTX, GIF, MP4, plus SVG and HTML outside Cloud Render | PNG, JPEG, PDF, HTML |
| Video and animation | Timeline, audio tracks, animation | None found in its docs |
| CMYK, bleed, crop marks, PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-4, spot colors, overprint | PDF export, with no CMYK or PDF/X in its docs | |
| Pricing model | Fixed license fee by custom quote, no per-render fee when self-hosted under fair use, Cloud Render billed per use | Subscription tiers by monthly volume |
When Pixelixe is the right call
Pixelixe fits a SaaS product or marketplace that wants customers editing branded templates soon, with no front-end engineers assigned to an editor. One subscription covers the embedded editor, template rendering and spreadsheet generation, and the iframe works in any stack. If your output is images and PDFs and a hosted service passes your security review, Polotno would ask you to build more than you need.
Polotno SDK fits when the editor is a core part of your product and you want to own how it behaves, where it runs and how your designs are stored. You can start a 30-day free trial with no credit card, or request a quote.
FAQ
Do I need React to use Polotno?
Customizing the editor needs React, so a non-React team builds it as a separate bundle that its main app loads.
Can I move saved Pixelixe designs to Polotno?
Polotno has no importer for Pixelixe documents, which Pixelixe keeps by document ID or as editable HTML. Plan a conversion step in your own code, or rebuild your templates in the editor.
