DocSpring vs PDF API
DocSpring
docspring.comPDF API
pdfapi.devSide by side
| Figure | DocSpring | PDF API |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $49/mo | €15/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 8 |
| Spec score · HTML to PDF APIs | 8.3 (#7) | 8.1 (#14) |
| Spec score · PDF API Software | 8.3 (#12) | 8.1 (#15) |
| Compliance | DocSpring says it completed a SOC 2 Type II audit and is GDPR and HIPAA compliant; BAAs are available on request, and a BAA is required before submitting protected health information. | GDPR |
| Deployment | cloud, self hosted | cloud |
| Intended users | The company identifies SaaS developers, agricultural software developers, and financial and legal businesses processing forms as users of DocSpring. | The site describes the service as built for developers and targets teams generating invoices, reports, contracts, and other documents from applications. |
| Key features | Fill PDF templates with JSON data through a REST API · Generate PDFs from HTML, CSS, and Liquid templates · Visual drag-and-drop PDF template editor · Batch generation of up to 50 PDFs per request · Synchronous and asynchronous PDF processing with webhooks · Combine PDFs from submissions, templates, uploaded files, and URLs · Automatically generated web forms and embedded forms · Electronic signatures with data requests and audit trails | 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 events |
| Product | DocSpring is a PDF automation API for developers to fill forms, generate documents, and collect e-signatures. | PDF API converts HTML templates and JSON data into PDFs through a REST API. |
| Support | Support is handled by DocSpring's engineers, and the company says fixes are usually deployed within days. | Free includes community support, Starter standard email support, Pro priority email support, and Scale premium SLA and onboarding. |
| Support | email, chat | email, community, docs |
Plans
PDF API
- FreeFree
- Starter€15 a month
- Starter€190 a year
- Pro€82 a month
- Pro€990 a year
- Scale€249 a month
- Scale€2,990 a year
- FreeFree
In their own words
PDF API
PDF API converts HTML templates and JSON data into PDFs through a cloud REST API. Developers can submit raw HTML or reuse dashboard templates with Handlebars-style variables, loops, and conditionals. Page size, orientation, margins, headers, and footers are configurable, while Chromium rendering supports modern CSS including Flexbox, Grid, and custom properties. Listed uses include invoices, receipts, contracts, financial reports, shipping labels, and tickets. The maker says a persistent Chromium pool and Rust backend generate documents in under 300ms. Webhooks report generation, deletion, and approaching quota limits, with authenticity checked through the X-PDF-Signature header. Generated files use temporary URLs and are removed when a URL expires, by default after 24 hours, or when deleted. Sandbox requests do not count toward quota, but sandbox files are watermarked and purged after one hour. The service is EU-hosted and GDPR compliant. Plans include Free at free for 500 PDFs monthly and paid plans from €15/mo.