Bold Reports: the modern DevExpress Reports alternative
Design, embed, and deliver pixel-perfect reports faster with a reporting platform built for SaaS, enterprise, and .NET applications. No per-developer licensing.
No credit card required. 30-day trial. Migration guidance available.
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What DevExpress makes you pay or build for, Bold Reports includes
Four differences that show up fastest once you look past the feature list and into how each platform is licensed, secured, and deployed.
No licence per developer
Team size is not a line item. Report access is licensed in bands with an allowance included per edition, rather than per named user.
Your existing RDL and RDLC already run
Native RDL in the SSRS schema, so layouts, parameters, expressions, and grouping logic carry over instead of being rebuilt.
Enterprise identity out of the box
SSO through Active Directory, Azure AD, Okta, and any provider supporting OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, or SAML, alongside Windows Authentication.
Runs where other tools are ruled out
Kubernetes, air-gapped infrastructure, and fully offline data centres, operating with no outbound internet connectivity.
Why teams evaluate DevExpress Reporting alternatives
Three things surface repeatedly in evaluations. None is a defect. Each is a documented characteristic of how DevExpress Reporting is packaged, and each changes either your cost or your migration scope.
Cost scales on two axes
Components are licensed per developer, with no floating licences. The Report and Dashboard Server is licensed separately by Client Access Licence, "the right to have an account in the Report and Dashboard Server", with 15 included.
UI customization can require a second subscription
DevExpress states that its Reporting subscription "includes pre-built Preview and Designer controls with limited API-based customizations", and that "adding additional DevExpress UI controls to a project/app requires a subscription that includes relevant UI controls".
Reports are .repx, not RDL
DevExpress stores report definitions in its own format. A one-way conversion utility exists for bringing RDL and RDLC in, but reports then live as .repx rather than as RDL.
Quoted from the DevExpress Reporting subscription and Report and Dashboard Server pages, reviewed 2026-09-06. DevExpress is a trademark of Developer Express Inc.
Your report estate is the asset, not the renderer
Most .NET teams evaluating a switch are not shopping for a rendering engine. They are protecting years of report definitions.
Bold Reports opens native RDL files, the same report definition format used by SSRS, following the same XML schema, so layouts, parameters, expressions, grouping logic, and export behaviour carry over rather than being rebuilt. RDLC files run on the same path. DevExpress stores reports as .repx instead, which is why a move off it is scoped report by report rather than imported.
Runs where you are required to run it, with the identity you already use
Reporting projects stall on where the software is permitted to run, and on whether it fits the identity stack.
Bold Reports installs on Windows Server, Linux, Docker, or Kubernetes, behind your firewall, inside your VPC, or air-gapped, and operates without outbound internet connectivity, including in fully offline data centres. SSO runs through Active Directory, Azure AD, Okta, or any OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, or SAML provider. Cloud, Managed Private Cloud, and On-Premises differ in who operates the platform and where data resides, not in what the product does.
Embeds into the .NET stack you already ship
Embedded reporting only counts if it renders inside your existing application.
Bold Reports publishes report viewer and report designer components for JavaScript, Angular, React, ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web Forms, and Blazor. One RDL definition drives every one of them, so a report authored for an Angular admin console renders unchanged in a Blazor customer portal, with no per-framework report fork to maintain.
Bold Reports vs DevExpress Reports
A category-by-category look at how the two platforms differ in format, licensing, deployment, and platform coverage.
| Category | DevExpress Reports | Bold Reports |
|---|---|---|
| Report format | .repx, an XML-based DevExpress report definition format | Native RDL and RDLC, the SSRS report definition schema |
| Report designer | Visual Studio Report Designer (2022/2026), JetBrains Rider, and VS Code; End-User Report Designer for WinForms, WPF, Blazor, ASP.NET, Angular, and React | Web-based WYSIWYG designer in the Report Server, plus embeddable designer components |
| Customizing the viewer and designer UI | Shipped Preview and Designer controls allow "limited API-based customizations." For WinForms, UI customization "(code or design-time)" requires a subscription that includes DevExpress WinForms UI controls | Theme Studio, toolbar customization, custom styles, and white-labelling. No separate purchase required |
| Licensing model | Per developer; no floating licences. Report and Dashboard Server licensed separately by Client Access Licence, one per account, 15 included | No per-developer fee. Report access priced by band rather than per seat, with a user allowance included per edition |
| Platform coverage | WinForms, WPF, ASP.NET Web Forms/MVC/Core, Blazor Server and WebAssembly, Angular, React, Vue, HTML/JavaScript, .NET MAUI. .NET 10 and .NET Framework 4.6.2+ | JavaScript, Angular, React, ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web Forms, Blazor |
| Deployment options | Windows, Linux, macOS; Docker; Azure and AWS | Windows Server, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Azure App Service; Azure, AWS, GCP, Digital Ocean. Firewall, VPC, or air-gapped |
| Air-gapped / offline | Not stated on the subscription page reviewed | Operates without outbound internet connectivity, including fully offline and air-gapped data centers |
| Authentication | Report and Dashboard Server: Windows Authentication, Server Authentication, and external identity providers via OpenID Connect or WS-Federation, such as Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD | Active Directory, Azure AD, Okta, and any OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, or SAML provider; Windows Authentication |
| Hosting model | Embeddable components, plus the separately licensed DevExpress Report and Dashboard Server, a web-based ASP.NET MVC application with a built-in designer, scheduling, delivery, and security groups | Embeddable components, plus a Report Server included in Cloud, Managed Private Cloud, or On-Premises editions |
When DevExpress Reporting is the right call
Three situations where we would not recommend switching.
Your reports render on desktop or native mobile
DevExpress covers WinForms, WPF, and .NET MAUI for Android and iOS, plus Vue on the web side. Bold Reports' published viewer and designer components target JavaScript, Angular, React, ASP.NET, and Blazor. If your reporting surface is a Windows desktop application or a native mobile app, that coverage decides it.
You already hold a DevExpress subscription
Reporting is included in the Universal, DXperience, WinForms, WPF, and ASP.NET & Blazor subscriptions. If your team already licenses those for UI controls, reporting arrives at no marginal cost, and no comparison of list prices changes that arithmetic.
Your team authors reports in the IDE
DevExpress ships design-time report designers in Visual Studio, JetBrains Rider, and VS Code. If report definitions live alongside your source code and your developers want them there, that workflow is the more mature one.
When Bold Reports is the better fit
Three situations where switching pays off.
You serve multiple customers from one deployment
Multi-tenant architecture with per-tenant isolation, row-level security, and role-based permissions at both report and data level.
You want authoring, management, and delivery in one platform
The browser designer, scheduling, and centralized administration ship together, not as components plus a separately licensed server.
Your analysts should not need a developer
Enabling browser-based authoring is a permission change, not an integration task.
What a migration actually involves
DevExpress stores reports as .repx and Bold Reports runs native RDL, so a DevExpress migration is a rebuild-and-validate path, not a file import. Scope it report by report.
Inventory
Catalogue every .repx report, its data sources, and its business logic, then group by complexity.
Extract
Pull out SQL queries, calculated fields, and business logic, and prepare them for RDL.
Rebuild in RDL
Recreate each report using tablix, charts, and parameters, matching the original layout.
Validate and deploy
Compare output against the originals, tune performance, then deploy.
There is no .repx conversion utility, so DevExpress reports are recreated by hand. The Bold Reports team assists with that rebuild during onboarding, alongside report validation and deployment guidance. Data sources carry over unchanged, since Bold Reports connects to the same SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Oracle databases, so the work is layout and logic rather than plumbing.
Existing SSRS reports are a different case: RDL and RDLC files import natively on the same schema, with free SSRS migration available for eligible paid customers.
Here's why our customers love us
See how Bold Reports is making an impact in businesses with powerful reporting, as shared by our satisfied customers.
Bold Reports is a user-friendly and powerful reporting tool. The desktop designer and writer for .NET Core make report creation easy, and connecting to databases is seamless. It’s a great solution for generating offers, invoices, and reports in our CRM app.
Muhammed Y
Co-Founder & Full-Stack Developer
We switched from SSRS with little effort. It works great in our WPF and Blazor applications, supports our old reports, and lets developers create new ones easily. The pricing is fair for ISVs, and the support team is fast and helpful. Onboarding was smooth and responsive.
Aaron S
CEO
Bold Reports was easy to integrate and works smoothly. It creates clean, professional-looking reports, and the documentation is clear with plenty of helpful examples. I had no issues during setup and it was a great experience overall.
Domenico D
Funzionario
Bold Reports is easy to use, enabling both teams and business users to modify reports confidently. Setup is quick and smooth. It integrates well with SQL Server, Microsoft Fabric, and other tools, reduces infrastructure complexity, and works reliably for recurring reports.
Brad M
Chief Information Officer
Bold Reports is a user-friendly and powerful reporting tool. The desktop designer and writer for .NET Core make report creation easy, and connecting to databases is seamless. It’s a great solution for generating offers, invoices, and reports in our CRM app.
Muhammed Y
Co-Founder & Full-Stack Developer
We switched from SSRS with little effort. It works great in our WPF and Blazor applications, supports our old reports, and lets developers create new ones easily. The pricing is fair for ISVs, and the support team is fast and helpful. Onboarding was smooth and responsive.
Aaron S
CEO
Bold Reports was easy to integrate and works smoothly. It creates clean, professional-looking reports, and the documentation is clear with plenty of helpful examples. I had no issues during setup and it was a great experience overall.
Domenico D
Funzionario
Bold Reports is easy to use, enabling both teams and business users to modify reports confidently. Setup is quick and smooth. It integrates well with SQL Server, Microsoft Fabric, and other tools, reduces infrastructure complexity, and works reliably for recurring reports.
Brad M
Chief Information Officer
Regional Leader - Fall 2025 EMEA
Momentum Leader - Fall 2025
High Performer - Winter 2025
Best Support - Winter 2025
TrustRadius Tech Cares
Capterra - 4.8/5
G2- 4.1/5
GetApp - 4.8/5
Software Advice - 4.8/5
Common questions
Bold Reports is a web-first alternative. It offers a single browser-based designer across platforms, native RDL and RDLC support, deployment on Windows, Linux, Docker, or Kubernetes including air-gapped environments, and licensing that is not priced per developer.
Common reasons include licensing that scales with developer headcount and, for the Report and Dashboard Server, with account count; deployment requirements such as air-gapped, offline, or Kubernetes environments; and an existing RDL or RDLC estate teams would rather reuse than rebuild.
Yes. DevExpress ships Web Document Viewer and Web Report Designer components alongside its Visual Studio, Rider, and VS Code designers, and an End-User Report Designer for WinForms, WPF, Blazor, ASP.NET, Angular, and React.
Yes. DevExpress licenses its components on a per-developer subscription and does not offer floating licenses. Licenses can be reassigned between developers through the DevExpress account portal.
No. Bold Reports charges no per-developer licence fee. Report access is licensed in bands, with an allowance included per edition, rather than per named user.
Yes. Role-based permissions at both report and data level, row-level security, SSO through Azure AD, Okta, OAuth 2.0, OIDC, or SAML, scheduled delivery, and on-premises or air-gapped deployment. Uptime and compliance specifics depend on plan and deployment model.
JavaScript, Angular, React, ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web Forms, and Blazor, all driven by the same RDL definition.
No. Bold Reports is web-native, so embedding targets a browser-based viewer rather than a desktop control.
Yes. Bold Reports publishes viewer and designer components for JavaScript, Angular, React, ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web Forms, and Blazor, driven by a single RDL definition across all of them.
No. .repx and RDL are different formats, and there is no conversion utility, so reports are recreated by hand with onboarding assistance. Data sources carry over, since Bold Reports connects to the same SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Oracle databases.
Those import natively. Bold Reports follows the same XML schema as SSRS, so RDL and RDLC reports run without manual changes, with no transformation layer or conversion tooling.
Your reports are RDL files following the SSRS schema, the same format SQL Server Reporting Services and Power BI Report Builder open. You keep definitions that other tools can read, rather than exporting from one product to import into another.
Yes. The Bold Reports team assists with recreating DevExpress reports during onboarding, along with report validation and deployment guidance. Free SSRS migration is available for eligible paid customers, since RDL and RDLC import natively.
Cloud, Managed Private Cloud, and On-Premises. The pricing page states the difference is who operates the platform and where data resides, not what the product can do.
Yes. Bold Reports operates without outbound internet connectivity, including in fully offline and air-gapped data centres, with offline licensing for restricted setups.
Yes. Reports run hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly with time-zone aware start times, delivered by email to users, groups, and external recipients, or to a file location, FTP or SFTP server, or Amazon S3 bucket, in PDF, Excel, Word, HTML, PPT, CSV, or XML. Schedules can also be managed through the Bold Reports REST API.
Test it against your own reports
Load your existing RDL files into Bold Reports and see what renders unchanged. Start free, migrate at your own pace, and move to a platform priced for teams rather than per developer.
No credit card required.