- Home
- HTML to PDF APIs
- PDF API
PDF API
PDF API
What it is
PDF API converts HTML templates and JSON data into PDFs through a REST API. Developers can submit raw HTML or use reusable dashboard templates with Handlebars-style variables, loops and conditionals. Page size, orientation, margins, headers and footers are configurable, and Chromium rendering supports modern CSS such as Flexbox, Grid and custom properties. Listed document uses include invoices, receipts, contracts, financial reports, shipping labels and tickets. The cloud service provides webhooks for PDF generation and deletion and for approaching quota limits; the X-PDF-Signature header can be used to check authenticity. Generated files are held behind temporary download URLs, then removed when the URL expires—by default after 24 hours—or when the DELETE endpoint is used. The maker describes the service as EU-hosted and GDPR compliant, and says its persistent Chromium pool and Rust backend generate documents in under 300ms. Sandbox requests do not count toward monthly quota, though resulting PDFs are watermarked and purged after one hour. A free plan includes 500 PDFs per month; paid plans start at €15/mo. Guides cover Node.js, Python, PHP and Go, and the REST API works with any HTTP client.
For and against
For
- Converts HTML and JSON data into PDFs via REST API
- Supports reusable templates and modern CSS
- Sandbox requests do not count against monthly quota
- Offers guides for Node.js, Python, PHP and Go
Against
- Free plan is limited to 500 PDFs per month
- Free plan limit is 10 requests per minute
- Sandbox PDFs are watermarked and purged after one hour
The verdict
PDF API provides a template-based PDF generation service with a free tier and paid plans starting at €15/mo. Review the monthly quotas, rate limits and sandbox behavior to determine whether they fit your document workload.
Who it suits
PDF API suits developers and teams generating documents such as invoices, reports or contracts from applications. Its templates and JSON data support repeatable document generation.
Plans and prices
Starter
2,000 PDFs/month · overage 3€ per 1k · hard cap 57€ max · standard email support
Read 7 Oct 2026 · pdfapi.dev
Pro
20,000 PDFs/month · overage 2€ per 1k · hard cap 297€ max · priority email support
Read 7 Oct 2026 · pdfapi.dev
Scale
100,000 PDFs/month · overage 0.80€ per 1k · no hard cap (unlimited) · premium SLA & onboarding
Read 7 Oct 2026 · pdfapi.dev
Free
500 PDFs/month · no overage · community support
Read 7 Oct 2026 · pdfapi.dev
On the record
- Compliance
- GDPRpdfapi.dev · read 22 Sep 2026
- CSS support
- The service uses Chromium and supports modern CSS including Flexbox, Grid, and custom properties.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Data location and compliance
- The maker describes the service as EU-hosted and GDPR compliant.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Data retention
- The site says generated PDFs are stored in a secure bucket behind temporary presigned URLs, then wiped when the URL expires (default 24 hours) or the DELETE endpoint is used.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- cloudpdfapi.dev · read 22 Sep 2026
- Intended users
- The site describes the service as built for developers and targets teams generating invoices, reports, contracts, and other documents from applications.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Key features
- HTML and CSS to PDF rendering · Raw HTML or saved-template rendering · JSON data injection with Handlebars-style variables · Configurable page size, orientation, margins, headers, and footers · Temporary, time-limited PDF download URLs · Reusable templates stored in the dashboard · Sandbox mode for testing and CI/CD · Webhooks for PDF generation, deletion, and quota eventspdfapi.dev · read 22 Sep 2026
- Language guides
- The maker provides integration guides for Node.js, Python, PHP, and Go, and says the REST API works with any HTTP client.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Product
- PDF API converts HTML templates and JSON data into PDFs through a REST API.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Rate limits
- The documented per-minute limits are 10 requests for Free, 60 for Starter, 300 for Pro, and 1,000 for Scale; concurrency limits are 2, 5, 20, and 50 respectively.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Rendering
- The site says its persistent pool of Chromium instances and Rust backend generate documents in under 300ms.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Sandbox
- Sandbox requests do not count against the monthly quota; sandbox PDFs are watermarked and automatically purged after one hour.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Support
- Free includes community support, Starter standard email support, Pro priority email support, and Scale premium SLA and onboarding.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Support
- email, community, docspdfapi.dev · read 22 Sep 2026
- Templates
- Reusable dashboard templates support Handlebars-style variables, loops, conditionals, and JSON data.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Use cases
- The site lists invoices and receipts, contracts and NDAs, financial reports, shipping labels, and tickets as document use cases.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
- Webhooks
- Webhooks notify users when PDFs are generated or deleted and when quota is approaching its limit; authenticity can be checked with the X-PDF-Signature header.pdfapi.dev · read 7 Oct 2026
