Comparison
A better alternative to Puppeteer & Playwright
Stop managing headless browsers in production. Compare the real cost of DIY PDF generation versus a managed HTML to PDF API built for scale.
The hidden cost of Puppeteer in production
Puppeteer seems free. You install it via npm, write a few lines of code, and you have PDFs. But the moment you deploy to production, the hidden costs pile up:
- Chromium binaries add 150+ MB to your Docker image
- Memory leaks force you to restart browsers periodically
- Cold starts of 2-5 seconds per request kill user experience
- Security patches for Chromium become your responsibility
- Font management is a nightmare on Alpine Linux containers
These aren't edge cases. They're daily realities for teams running Puppeteer or Playwright at scale. One engineering day per month spent on PDF infrastructure easily exceeds the cost of a managed API.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Puppeteer / Playwright | PDF API |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Hours (Docker, fonts, deps) | Minutes (HTTP request) |
| Rendering speed | 2-5s cold start | < 300ms |
| Memory usage | 200-500 MB per instance | Zero (managed) |
| Maintenance | Ongoing (updates, patches) | None |
| Scaling | Manual (queues, workers) | Automatic |
| GDPR compliance | Your responsibility | EU-hosted, built-in |
| CSS support | Full (Chromium) | Full (Chromium) |
Why teams are switching
10x Faster Rendering
Hot browser pools eliminate cold starts. Your PDFs render in milliseconds, not seconds. Perfect for user-facing features like invoice downloads.
Zero Maintenance
No Chromium updates, no font packages, no memory leak debugging. We handle the infrastructure so you ship features instead of fixing browsers.
GDPR by Design
EU-hosted infrastructure with zero data retention. Pass security reviews effortlessly and close enterprise deals that require strict data compliance.
Migration is effortless
If you're already using Puppeteer, your HTML templates work as-is. PDF API uses the same Chromium engine, so your CSS, fonts, and layouts render identically. The only change is replacing local browser automation with a single HTTP request:
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.setContent(html);
const pdf = await page.pdf();
await browser.close();
// After: PDF API
const res = await fetch("https://api.pdfapi.dev/v1/render", {...});
const { url } = await res.json();
Ready to simplify your PDF stack?
Join the teams that replaced Puppeteer with PDF API. 500 free PDFs per month, no credit card required.