Anvil PDF Generation API vs PDFMonkey
Anvil PDF Generation API
useanvil.com
PDFMonkey
pdfmonkey.ioSide by side
| Figure | Anvil PDF Generation API | PDFMonkey |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $99/mo | €5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 12 |
| Spec score · HTML to PDF APIs | 8.7 (#2) | 8.5 (#3) |
| Spec score · PDF Creation Software | 8.6 (#3) | 8.4 (#7) |
| Spec score · Docs Automation | 8.6 (#4) | 8.5 (#5) |
| Spec score · Document Template Management Software | 8.7 (#5) | 8.4 (#9) |
| Compliance | Anvil states it is SOC 2 Type II, GDPR/DPA, and HIPAA compliant and maintains Business Associate Agreements. | PDFMonkey says it is GDPR-aligned and offers DPA documents, but has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification. |
| Deployment | cloud | cloud |
| Integrations | Zapier | Official integrations and connectors include Zapier, Make, n8n, Workato, Bubble, Glide and InvoiceBerry. |
| 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 | Browser-based PDF template editor · JSON data merge into templates · REST API for document generation · Bulk document generation from datasets · Reusable templates with versioning · Downloadable generated PDF files |
| SDKs | Anvil lists PDF Generation SDKs for C#/.NET, JavaScript, Python, and TypeScript; Go, Java, PHP, and Ruby are marked coming soon. | PDFMonkey publishes official Ruby and Node.js SDKs; the Node package supports Node 20+, Bun, Deno, and edge runtimes. |
| 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. | PDFMonkey states that connections use HTTPS/TLS, payload data is encrypted at rest, generated files are private S3 objects, and download URLs expire after one hour. |
| Support | Standard support is available by email at [email protected], while the pricing page lists priority support for Enterprise. | Support is provided through in-app chat and [email protected], with typical replies within a few hours during Central European business hours. |
| Support | docs | |
| What it does | The API generates PDFs on demand by converting HTML and CSS or Markdown to PDF. | PDFMonkey turns JSON data and reusable templates into PDF or image documents through a web dashboard, REST API, or no-code integrations. |
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
PDFMonkey
- 30-day TrialFree
- 30-day TrialFree
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Starter€5 a month
- Starter€5 a month
- Pro€15 a month
- Pro€15 a month
- Pro+€60 a month
- Pro+€60 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.
PDFMonkey
PDFMonkey is a cloud document-generation API that turns templates and dynamic data into files. Templates can be built in a visual drag-and-drop editor or written in HTML, CSS, and Liquid; JSON data can be sent through the REST API to generate documents. Its Chrome-based renderer supports JavaScript, external fonts, images, charts, and other web technologies. Outputs include PDF, PNG, WebP, and JPG, and bulk generation from datasets is supported. Connectors include Zapier, Make, n8n, Workato, Bubble, Glide, and InvoiceBerry; developer tools include Ruby and Node.js SDKs and webhooks. API traffic uses HTTPS/TLS, dynamic data is stored in encrypted database columns, and generated files are kept in private S3 buckets with one-hour presigned URLs. PDFMonkey states that it has no formal SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification. The free plan allows 20 documents per month with one-day retention and a 30-second generation limit, and excludes external images, fonts, CSS, and JavaScript. Paid plans start at €5/mo.