Anvil PDF Generation API vs PDF.co
Anvil PDF Generation API
useanvil.comPDF.co
pdf.coSide by side
| Figure | Anvil PDF Generation API | PDF.co |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $99/mo | $8.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 11 |
| Spec score · HTML to PDF APIs | 8.7 (#2) | 8.4 (#6) |
| Compliance | Anvil states it is SOC 2 Type II, GDPR/DPA, and HIPAA compliant and maintains Business Associate Agreements. | The security documentation states SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and AWS-hosted processing in SOC 1, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified data centers. |
| Integrations | Zapier | Official integrations include Make, Zapier, n8n, SharePoint, Airtable, Salesforce, Power Automate, UiPath, Blue Prism, Bubble and others. |
| Key features | Generate PDFs from HTML and CSS · Generate PDFs from Markdown, including tables and images · Set PDF page dimensions and margins · Add page headers, footers, and page numbers · Use custom TTF fonts · Generate dynamic, variable-length documents · Create PDFs with fillable form fields · Fill reusable PDF templates with supplied data | PDF compression with low, medium, high, and aggressive presets · Advanced image, font, resolution, and quality controls for compression · Asynchronous processing with job-status checking for long-running documents · PDF conversion to and from formats including HTML, Excel, CSV, XML, JSON, and images · Document and PDF data extraction, including OCR and structured parsing · PDF editing, encryption, decryption, and form filling · PDF merging and splitting · Workflow integrations through Zapier, Make, n8n, and other platforms |
| Security | Anvil says it encrypts signed documents with a 2048 RSA private key stored in a secure Hardware Security Module, which its developers cannot access. | PDF.co says it uses SSL/TLS and encryption at rest, and offers user-controlled AES encryption and decryption. |
| Support | Standard support is available by email at [email protected], while the pricing page lists priority support for Enterprise. | The company says customers can contact engineers who built the product and describes its customer service as developer-friendly. |
| What it does | The API generates PDFs on demand by converting HTML and CSS or Markdown to PDF. | PDF.co is a low-code REST API platform for converting, editing, extracting, generating and automating PDF workflows. |
Plans
Anvil PDF Generation API
- FreeFree
- AI Pack$99 a month
- Product Pack$425 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- PDF fill / generation over API$0.10, paid once
PDF.co
- Basic$8.99 a month
- Personal$22.49 a month
- Business 1$44.99 a month
- Business 2$89.99 a month
- Business 3$270 a month
- Basic$8.99 a month
- Personal$22.49 a month
- Business 1$44.99 a month
- Business 2$89.99 a month
- Business 3$270 a month
In their own words
Anvil PDF Generation API
Anvil PDF Generation API creates PDFs on demand from HTML and CSS or Markdown. For HTML, it supports full CSS, custom TTF fonts, page dimensions and margins, headers and footers, page numbers, and fillable forms. Markdown conversion applies a default theme, and callers can provide CSS of their own. The API can also generate variable-length documents and merge data into PDFs. Anvil lists SDKs for C#/.NET, JavaScript, Python, and TypeScript; Go, Java, PHP, and Ruby are marked as coming soon. A Zapier integration can automate paperwork workflows, including filling a PDF or starting or pre-filling a Workflow. It is a cloud service with API and web access, email support, and listed SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance. Test mode is free and unlimited on every plan, though test documents are watermarked and use demo signatures. API PDF fill or generation costs $0.10 per use; enabling metered usage with a valid credit card provides 2,500 starter credits. The Free plan is free and UI-only; API key access requires a credit card or upgrade. Custom fonts must be TTF; OTF and WOFF are not supported.