# Free HTML to PDF API

Free HTML to PDF API with 100 free pages and no credit card. Then pay per page with credits that never expire, or self-host for free.

**Quick answer.** Sign up with your email and open the link we send you to get 100 free pages, then send your HTML to `POST https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf` with your key.

```bash
curl https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf -H "Authorization: Bearer $HTML_PDF_KEY" \
  -d '{"html": "<h1>Hello</h1>"}' -o hello.pdf
```

## 100 free pages, no card

This section shows how to get a key and make your first PDF in two commands and one click.

```bash
# 1. Get a key (or use https://html-pdf.com/login)
curl -X POST https://html-pdf.com/v1/signup -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"email": "you@example.com"}'

# 2. Open the link we email you to confirm (adds the 100 free credits)

# 3. Convert
curl https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf -H "Authorization: Bearer $HTML_PDF_KEY" \
  -d '{"html": "<h1>Hello</h1>"}' -o hello.pdf
```

- 100 pages free, one time, no credit card.
- Full API with HTML or URL input, paper sizes, margins, headers and footers with page numbers, and JavaScript rendering.
- Remote MCP server, so Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor can use it too.
- No watermark on free pages.

When the free pages run out, packs start at $10 for 1,000 pages ($0.01/page) and go down to $0.005/page. Unlike monthly plans, purchased credits never expire.

A project that makes 50 PDFs a month can run for years on one small pack.

## How free tiers compare

Here is how the free offer stacks up against other APIs. Most HTML to PDF APIs give a monthly free allowance that resets. These numbers are from their pricing pages in October 2026.

| service | free tier | after that |
|---|---|---|
| html-pdf.com | 100 pages (once) | packs from $10, never expire |
| PDFShift | 50 documents / month | monthly plans from $9 |
| DocRaptor | 5 documents / month | monthly plans from $15 |

A recurring free tier is better if you need a handful of PDFs every month forever. Pay-once credits are better if your usage is bursty or you want to stop worrying about plan limits.

More detail is in [PDFShift alternative](https://html-pdf.com/pdfshift-alternative) and [DocRaptor alternative](https://html-pdf.com/docraptor-alternative).

## Free and open-source options

If you want $0 forever and can run a server, these are the tools worth knowing.

- **[Gotenberg](https://gotenberg.dev)** (MIT). A Docker image with Chromium behind an HTTP API. It's excellent, and it's what powers html-pdf.com. See [self-host Gotenberg with Docker](https://html-pdf.com/self-host-gotenberg-docker).
- **Puppeteer / Playwright.** Script headless Chrome yourself. See [Puppeteer HTML to PDF](https://html-pdf.com/puppeteer-html-to-pdf).
- **Chrome's CLI.** Use `chrome --headless --print-to-pdf` for quick one-offs. See [headless Chrome print to PDF](https://html-pdf.com/headless-chrome-print-to-pdf).
- **WeasyPrint** (BSD). Python with no browser. It has good print CSS support but no JavaScript.
- **wkhtmltopdf.** Archived and based on an old WebKit, so avoid it for new projects. See [wkhtmltopdf alternative](https://html-pdf.com/wkhtmltopdf-alternative).

The cost of "free" is the server. You pay in memory for Chromium (1-2 GB), security hardening for untrusted HTML, updates, and scaling.

If that's not worth your time, 100 free pages and a few dollars of never-expiring credits usually is.

[Get a free API key](https://html-pdf.com/login) · [Pricing](https://html-pdf.com/pricing) · [API reference](https://html-pdf.com/docs)

## FAQ

### Is there a free HTML to PDF API?

Yes. html-pdf.com gives you 100 free pages once, with no credit card and no watermark. You can sign up at [https://html-pdf.com/login](https://html-pdf.com/login) or with one curl call to `/v1/signup`.

### Do credits expire?

Purchased credits never expire. Packs go from $10 for 1,000 pages to $250 for 50,000 pages ($0.01 to $0.005 per page), and failed renders cost nothing.

### How is usage counted?

One credit equals one PDF page. A 3-page invoice uses 3 credits.

### What is the best free self-hosted option?

[Gotenberg](https://gotenberg.dev) is a solid choice if you can run Docker and give Chromium 1-2 GB of memory. See [self-host Gotenberg with Docker](https://html-pdf.com/self-host-gotenberg-docker).