PDF API review
A focused cloud API for generating templated PDFs from HTML, CSS, and JSON.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
PDF API is a managed cloud service for developers who need to generate documents from HTML and CSS. Its REST API accepts reusable templates and JSON data, making it suitable for invoices, receipts, contracts, financial reports, shipping labels, and tickets. The service is hosted in the European Union and supports web and API access, with SDKs and developer guides for Node.js, Python, PHP, and Go.
Pricing is structured around monthly PDF allowances. The Free plan includes 500 PDFs per month with no overage allowed and community support. The Starter plan provides 2,000 PDFs per month, overage billing, a hard cap, and standard email support; it is available at €15 per month or €190 per year. Pro raises the allowance to 20,000 PDFs per month and adds priority email support, with monthly and annual billing options. Scale includes 100,000 PDFs per month, no hard cap, and premium SLA and onboarding, making it the clearest fit for higher-volume production workloads.
The strongest fit is straightforward document generation rather than a broad PDF operations suite. Chromium-based rendering supports modern CSS, while Handlebars-style variables, loops, and conditionals help teams maintain reusable document templates. Temporary presigned URLs and automatic document wiping after URL expiry or DELETE add control around generated files. PDF API should suit teams that want an API-first HTML-to-PDF workflow with a free entry point and familiar language support. Teams seeking OCR, extraction, merge or split tools, or compression should choose a product built around those PDF manipulation tasks instead.
PDF API pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free plan includes 500 PDFs per month
- Reusable templates support JSON, loops, and conditionals
- SDKs and guides cover Node.js, Python, PHP, and Go
- Where it doesn't
- Focused on generation rather than PDF editing workflows
- Free plan does not allow overage
- Higher-volume use requires paid plans
PDF API fact sheet, pricing and score →
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