Formfeed vs PDF API
Formfeed
formfeed.devPDF API
pdfapi.devSide by side
| Figure | Formfeed | PDF API |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €19/mo | €15/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 8 |
| Spec score · HTML to PDF APIs | 8.1 (#11) | 8.1 (#14) |
| Compliance | The maker says a data processing agreement is included with every paid plan; SOC 2 and ISO 27001 are on its roadmap, not current claims. | GDPR |
| Intended users | The homepage presents Formfeed for developers generating consistent documents from backends, no-code automations or AI agents. | The site describes the service as built for developers and targets teams generating invoices, reports, contracts, and other documents from applications. |
| Product | Formfeed turns JSON into PDFs and images using templates, and also supports tagged Word and PowerPoint files. | PDF API converts HTML templates and JSON data into PDFs through a REST API. |
| Support | The pricing page lists Community support for Free, Email for Starter, Email with a 1-business-day response for Pro, and Priority with a 4-hour response for Business. | Free includes community support, Starter standard email support, Pro priority email support, and Scale premium SLA and onboarding. |
| Templates | HTML templates can use Jinja2, Liquid or Handlebars, and image templates can be designed on a canvas. | Reusable dashboard templates support Handlebars-style variables, loops, conditionals, and JSON data. |
Plans
Formfeed
- FreeFree
- Starter€19 a month
- Pro€59 a month
- Business€179 a month
- Enterprise · CustomPriced on request
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.