TEC-IT Alternative for Barcode Generation: BarGen REST API
BarGen is a REST-first alternative to the TEC-IT barcode product family for teams that want to generate barcodes from code instead of installing software.
One HTTP GET request returns a Code 128, EAN, GS1-128, DataMatrix or QR code as SVG, PNG, PDF or EPS.
Pricing is a flat monthly subscription: a free tier with 1,000 API calls per month, Pro at $29/month for 10,000 calls, Business at $79/month for 100,000 calls with a 99.9% uptime SLA.
TEC-IT remains the stronger choice for offline desktop generation, label-printing software and exotic symbologies beyond BarGen's 25 formats.
| BarGen | TEC-IT | |
|---|---|---|
| Product type | REST API (SaaS) | Software family: desktop apps, office add-ins, SDKs, online generator |
| Integration | One HTTPS GET request, any language | Install an application or embed an SDK per platform |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly plans: Free / $29 / $79, Enterprise from $249 | Per-product licences (as of August 2026; see tec-it.com) |
| Free usage | 1,000 API calls/month, programmatic, no credit card | Free online generator for manual use |
| Barcode formats | 25 (1D, 2D, GS1, postal) | 100+ symbologies across the product family |
| GS1 support | GS1-128 and GS1 DataMatrix with built-in Application Identifier validation | Supported in TBarCode products |
| Output formats | SVG, PNG, PDF, EPS | Depends on product |
| Uptime SLA | 99.9% on the Business plan | Not applicable to the free online generator |
| Works offline | No - it is an API | Yes - desktop and SDK products |
TEC-IT is one of the longest-standing names in barcode software. Its portfolio - Barcode Studio, TBarCode SDK, TBarCode Office and the free online generator - is built around software you install: desktop applications, office add-ins and per-platform SDKs, each with its own licence (pricing is per product; see tec-it.com for current terms, valid as of August 2026).
BarGen approaches the same problem from the opposite direction. There is nothing to install and no per-platform licence: your application calls a REST endpoint over HTTPS and receives the barcode image in the response. The same request works from Python, Node.js, PHP, C# or a plain curl command, and scaling from 100 to 100,000 barcodes a month is a plan change, not a licensing project.
If your barcodes are produced by a server, a web shop, an ERP export or a CI pipeline, an API is usually the better fit. If a human designs labels on a Windows desktop, TEC-IT's tooling is genuinely good at that and BarGen does not try to replace it.
When TEC-IT is the better choice
- You design and print labels interactively on a desktop - Barcode Studio and the label tools are built for exactly that.
- You need a symbology outside BarGen's 25 formats; TEC-IT covers well over a hundred.
- Your environment cannot make outbound HTTPS calls (air-gapped production lines), so an offline SDK is mandatory.
Measured performance
Measured on BarGen production infrastructure (August 2026, median of 200 consecutive server-side renders per format): Code 128 in 0.2 ms, EAN-13 in 0.3 ms, GS1-128 in 0.3 ms, DataMatrix in 1.6 ms and a QR code in 7.0 ms.
Try the API in 30 seconds
curl "https://api.bargen.pro/v1/barcode/code128?data=HELLO-BARGEN&format=svg" \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"Get a free API key at bargen.pro/register - 1,000 calls per month, no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
Is BarGen a drop-in replacement for TEC-IT products?
For server-side generation, usually yes: anywhere your code produces a barcode image, a BarGen API call can produce it instead, in SVG, PNG, PDF or EPS. Desktop label design and offline SDK embedding are different use cases, and TEC-IT remains the better tool for those.
Does BarGen validate GS1 Application Identifiers like TEC-IT does?
Yes. GS1-128 and GS1 DataMatrix requests are validated against GS1 AI rules before rendering, so malformed element strings are rejected with a clear error instead of producing an invalid label.
How fast is generation compared to a local SDK?
A local SDK always wins on raw latency because there is no network hop. BarGen's server-side render time is sub-millisecond for 1D codes (0.2-0.3 ms median for Code 128, EAN-13 and GS1-128, measured August 2026), so in practice total response time is dominated by the HTTPS round trip - typically tens of milliseconds from Europe or the US.
Can I try BarGen without paying?
Yes. The free tier includes 1,000 API calls per month with no credit card, and it is a real API plan, not a manual online generator, so you can integrate and test production code with it.
BarGen pricing at a glance
- Free
- $0 - 1,000 calls/month
- Pro
- $29/month - 10,000 calls, GS1
- Business
- $79/month - 100,000 calls, postal codes, 99.9% SLA
- Enterprise
- from $249/month - custom
Other comparisons
Switch to a specialist barcode API
Free tier with 1,000 API calls per month. No credit card required.