spire-doc

What it is and what it does

Spire.Doc is a Word document processing library that lets you programmatically create, read, modify, and convert Word files in Python without needing Microsoft Word installed. It supports Word 97-03 through Word 2019 formats and runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. The library handles document operations like merging, splitting, comparing, and extracting content, plus it can convert Word documents to PDF, images (PNG, JPEG, BMP, SVG), HTML, RTF, EPUB, XPS, PostScript, and OFD formats.

The package provides a large API surface for text manipulation (find, replace, highlight, extract), table operations (create, modify rows/columns), image handling (insert, replace, extract), headers/footers, watermarks, bookmarks, comments, hyperlinks, and mail merge. It depends only on plum-dispatch for method dispatch. The library is maintained actively and supports current Python versions (3.7+), with platform-specific wheels for different architectures.

Use it for:

• Batch convert Word documents to PDF or images for archival, reporting, or distribution without manual opening
• Programmatically generate Word documents from templates or data sources for invoices, contracts, or reports
• Extract text and images from Word files for indexing, analysis, or migration to other systems
• Merge or split Word documents as part of document workflow automation
• Apply document protection (encryption, editing restrictions) or add watermarks and metadata at scale

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Spire.Doc creates, reads, modifies, and converts Word documents (DOC, DOCX, DOCM, and related formats) to PDF, images, HTML, RTF, EPUB, and other formats without requiring Microsoft Word.

Yes, if your use case requires Word document processing and you can verify the license terms with the vendor. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and supports current Python versions across major platforms. However, the unclear proprietary license and lack of public license documentation mean you must confirm terms before production use, especially for commercial applications.

Install

spire-doc on PyPI

pip install spire-doc

uv add spire-doc

poetry add spire-doc

Installing spire-doc

Before you install

Medium install friction due to platform-specific wheels (Windows, Linux, macOS including ARM64 support). Single runtime dependency on plum-dispatch. Last release 57 days ago with active maintenance status.

License in practice

License treatment is unclear—classified as restricted/proprietary but with no SPDX identifier or raw license text provided. Users should verify licensing terms directly with the vendor before production deployment.

Quickstart

pip install spire-doc

from spire.doc import Document

doc = Document('input.docx')
doc.SaveToFile('output.pdf', 'PDF')

Requires Python 3.7 or later. License terms are not publicly documented in standard form; verify with vendor before use.

Verify before relying

• Whether the unclear license permits commercial use, redistribution, or modification without additional licensing
• Whether the package requires activation or registration beyond pip installation
• Performance characteristics and memory footprint for large documents or batch operations

Package facts

Evidence: spire_doc-14.6.2-py3-none-macosx_10_7_universal.whl; spire_doc-14.6.2-py3-none-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; spire_doc-14.6.2-py3-none-manylinux2014_aarch64.whl; spire_doc-14.6.2-py3-none-manylinux_2_34_x86_64.whl; spire_doc-14.6.2-py3-none-win_amd64.whl

Tags

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