> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.doconda.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Doconda vs Carbone

> Carbone merges a template with JSON data to generate reports; Doconda creates, reviews and edits documents from a sentence or your text.

**Use Carbone** if you have data in JSON and a template (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODT, HTML…) and want to generate many
documents with the same design, in the cloud or self-hosted. **Use Doconda** if you do not want to prepare templates, if
the content is drafted for each document, or if you need to edit or review files that already exist.

## Comparison

| | Carbone | Doconda |
| - | - | - |
| What it is | Report and document engine: template + JSON data → document | API (with Python and TypeScript SDKs and an MCP server) that creates, reviews and edits documents |
| Create | Fills the template with your JSON data | From a sentence (`prompt`) or your Markdown (`content`), with the style described in plain text |
| Edit existing files | Not its model: it generates new documents from templates | Yes: you describe the change in a Word, PowerPoint, Excel or PDF file and the rest stays the same |
| Review and repair | Not its goal | [Review](/en/guides/review) returns the same file fixed plus a report |
| PDF | Yes; in the self-hosted edition PDF conversion requires LibreOffice to be installed | Every file comes with its PDF |
| Formats | Very broad: DOCX, ODT, HTML, XLSX, PPTX… templates; PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODS, HTML and more as output | Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF |
| Templates needed | Yes | No; you can pass a file to copy its design |
| Use from an AI agent | Has an MCP server for AI assistants | Ready-made function-calling tools and an [MCP server](/en/agents/mcp) |
| Hosting | Carbone Cloud, private cloud (AWS Marketplace) or on-premise (also Docker) | Hosted service; documents stored in the EU (Ireland) |
| License and price | Free, self-hostable Community Edition (Carbone Community License, one major version behind Enterprise); Cloud with a free plan of 100 documents/month and paid monthly plans; yearly on-premise licenses | Pay per delivered document from a prepaid balance, no monthly fee; €5 free to start |

## When to choose Carbone

* Your data is structured in JSON and the design is fixed in a template.
* You generate large volumes of repetitive documents (invoices, periodic reports) and want a very low cost per document
  at scale.
* You want to self-host it for free with the Community Edition.
* You need output formats Doconda does not offer, such as ODS or HTML.

## When to choose Doconda

* The document is drafted case by case and there is no template to fill.
* You do not want to design and maintain tagged templates.
* You need to [edit](/en/guides/edit) existing files with an instruction, or [review](/en/guides/review) them and get a
  report of what was fixed and what was not.
* You want the style requested in plain text ("dark blue headings, with a table of contents") and applied to the
  document's styles, so it stays editable.

## Using them together

Carbone for fixed-design documents that come from your data; Doconda for documents drafted or changed from what a person
or an agent asks for. A document generated with Carbone can also be sent to Doconda to [edit it](/en/guides/edit) with an
instruction or [review it](/en/guides/review).

## Sources

* Carbone: [https://carbone.io/](https://carbone.io/)
* Carbone pricing: [https://carbone.io/pricing.html](https://carbone.io/pricing.html)
* Carbone on GitHub (Community Edition license and LibreOffice requirement): [https://github.com/carboneio/carbone](https://github.com/carboneio/carbone)
* Doconda: [Create](/en/guides/create), [Edit](/en/guides/edit), [Review](/en/guides/review), [Style](/en/guides/style), [Pricing](/en/guides/account#pricing)


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