PDF API vs PDFMonkey
PDF API
pdfapi.dev
PDFMonkey
pdfmonkey.ioSide by side
| Figure | PDF API | PDFMonkey |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €15/mo | €5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 12 |
| Spec score · HTML to PDF APIs | 8.1 (#14) | 8.5 (#3) |
| Spec score · PDF API Software | 8.1 (#15) | 8.4 (#10) |
| Compliance | GDPR | PDFMonkey says it is GDPR-aligned and offers DPA documents, but has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification. |
| Data retention | The site says generated PDFs are stored in a secure bucket behind temporary presigned URLs, then wiped when the URL expires (default 24 hours) or the DELETE endpoint is used. | Documents are automatically deleted according to plan retention settings, and users can also delete them manually through the dashboard or API. |
| Deployment | cloud | cloud |
| Key features | 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 | 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 |
| Product | PDF API converts HTML templates and JSON data into PDFs through a REST API. | PDFMonkey is a document generation API that lets users design templates and send dynamic data to generate documents. |
| Rendering | The site says its persistent pool of Chromium instances and Rust backend generate documents in under 300ms. | PDF files are rendered in a Chrome-based browser, supporting HTML, CSS, JavaScript, external fonts, images, charts and other web technologies. |
| Support | Free includes community support, Starter standard email support, Pro priority email support, and Scale premium SLA and onboarding. | Support is provided through in-app chat and [email protected], with typical replies within a few hours during Central European business hours. |
| Support | email, community, docs | docs |
| Webhooks | Webhooks notify users when PDFs are generated or deleted and when quota is approaching its limit; authenticity can be checked with the X-PDF-Signature header. | Webhook delivery uses Svix with retries, signature verification, workspace or template routing, and success or failure events. |
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
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
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.
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.