# PDFMonkey alternative: html-pdf.com PDFMonkey alternative that takes your own HTML instead of dashboard templates. Compare pricing, MCP servers, and how to migrate a Liquid template. **Quick answer.** With html-pdf.com you render the HTML in your own code and send it in one request. The PDF comes back in the response, with no template to set up and no polling. ```bash curl -X POST https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $HTML_PDF_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"html": "

Invoice 042

Billed to Acme

"}' \ -o invoice.pdf ``` PDFMonkey and html-pdf.com both produce PDFs from HTML, but they start from different places. PDFMonkey is template-first. You design a template in its dashboard with Liquid, then send JSON data to fill it. html-pdf.com is HTML-first. Your app (or your AI agent) builds the final HTML and sends it, and the PDF comes back in the same request. Which fits depends on who owns the templates. ## PDFMonkey vs html-pdf.com at a glance This table shows the main differences side by side. | | PDFMonkey | html-pdf.com | |---|---|---| | Input | Template ID + JSON `payload` | Final HTML, or a public URL | | Templating | Liquid templates, edited in PDFMonkey's dashboard | None; use your own (Jinja, Blade, ERB, React, ...) | | Generation | Asynchronous (poll or webhook), plus a sync endpoint | Synchronous; PDF bytes in the response | | Pricing model | Monthly plans with a document quota | One-time credit packs, no subscription | | Billing unit | Per document | Per PDF page | | Free tier | 20 documents/month | 100 credits once, after email confirmation | | Webhooks | Yes | No | | Image output | Yes | No, PDF only | | Document storage | Hosted, retention by plan (1 day to unlimited) | Not stored; optional 24-hour link | | MCP for AI agents | Official open-source MCP server (run locally via npm or Docker) | Remote MCP server at `https://html-pdf.com/mcp`, nothing to install | *Prices checked October 2026 on [PDFMonkey's pricing page](https://pdfmonkey.io/pricing). Free €0 (20 documents/month), Starter €5 (300), Pro €15 (3,000), Pro+ €60 (5,000), Premium €300 (60,000). Extra documents cost €0.008 down to €0.005 depending on plan, or €5 per 1,000-document Boost Pack.* ## Templates in the dashboard vs HTML in your code This section helps you decide where your templates should live. With PDFMonkey, a designer or non-developer can edit the invoice layout in the browser while the backend only sends data. That separation is the main reason to choose it, and no-code tools such as Zapier and Bubble connect to it. With html-pdf.com, the template lives in your repository next to the rest of your views. You render it with whatever you already use, review changes in pull requests, and preview it in a normal browser. It also suits AI agents well. An agent writes the HTML and calls one tool, with no template to create first. ## How the prices compare Here is how the two pricing models work out in practice. PDFMonkey counts documents per month, and each plan's quota resets monthly. html-pdf.com counts pages, with prepaid credits that never expire ($10 for 1,000, $25 for 3,000, $50 for 7,000, $100 for 15,000 and $250 for 50,000). For multi-page documents at a steady monthly volume, per-document pricing will usually cost less. For one-page documents, irregular volume, or projects that only need PDFs a few months a year, prepaid page credits avoid paying for an unused plan. ## When PDFMonkey is the better choice PDFMonkey wins in these cases. - **Non-developers own the templates** and need to edit them without a deploy. - **You work in no-code tools** and want ready-made integrations. - **You need webhooks**, hosted document storage with share links, or image output. - **Your documents are long** and per-document billing is cheaper than per-page. ## When html-pdf.com is the better choice html-pdf.com wins in these cases. - **Your app already renders HTML.** Send it as is. There is no template to keep in sync in another system. - **You want the file in the response.** No polling, no webhook endpoint to run. - **AI agents generate the documents.** Agents connect to `https://html-pdf.com/mcp` with a URL and a key and call `html_to_pdf` or `url_to_pdf`. Clients that support OAuth just ask you to log in, so there is no key to copy. - **You want to convert web pages.** Send `{"url": "https://..."}` for any public page. - **You don't want documents stored.** We don't keep your HTML, and a PDF is kept for 24 hours only if you ask for `"response": "url"`. ## Migrating a PDFMonkey template This section shows how to move a Liquid template from PDFMonkey into your own code. **Before (PDFMonkey):** a Liquid template in the dashboard, filled with a payload. ```html

Invoice {{ invoice.number }}

Billed to {{ customer.name }}

{% for line in lines %}
{{ line.label }}{{ line.amount }}
{% endfor %} ``` ```bash curl https://api.pdfmonkey.io/api/v1/documents \ -X POST \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $PDFMONKEY_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"document": {"document_template_id": "YOUR-TEMPLATE-ID", "status": "pending", "payload": {"invoice": {"number": "042"}, "customer": {"name": "Acme"}, "lines": [{"label": "Design", "amount": "$120.00"}]}}}' # then poll the document until it succeeds, and fetch download_url ``` **After (html-pdf.com):** move the template into your code and render it there. The Liquid markup carries over almost unchanged to Liquid-compatible engines (Shopify's `liquid` gem in Ruby, `liquidjs` in Node, Jinja in Python with small syntax changes). Here is the Node version. ```js import { Liquid } from "liquidjs"; const engine = new Liquid(); const html = await engine.parseAndRender(templateSource, { invoice: { number: "042" }, customer: { name: "Acme" }, lines: [{ label: "Design", amount: "$120.00" }], }); const res = await fetch("https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf", { method: "POST", headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.HTML_PDF_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json", }, body: JSON.stringify({ html, format: "A4", margin: "15mm", css: templateCss }), }); if (!res.ok) throw new Error((await res.json()).error.message); const pdf = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer()); ``` ### Concept mapping | PDFMonkey | html-pdf.com | |---|---| | Template HTML + CSS | `html` + optional `css` | | `payload` | Data you render into HTML before calling | | `status: "pending"` + polling / webhook | Synchronous response | | `download_url` | PDF bytes, or `"response": "url"` for a 24-hour link | | Template page settings (size, margins) | `format`, `landscape`, `margin` per request | | Header and footer | `header_html` / `footer_html` with `pageNumber`, `totalPages` | ## Try it free You can get a key with one request. ```bash curl -X POST https://html-pdf.com/v1/signup -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"email": "you@example.com"}' ``` You get an API key right away, and 100 free credits once you open the link we email you to confirm your address. Or sign in at https://html-pdf.com/login. Guides: [HTML to PDF in Node.js](https://html-pdf.com/html-to-pdf-nodejs) · [Python](https://html-pdf.com/html-to-pdf-python) · [API docs](https://html-pdf.com/docs). ## FAQ ### What is a good alternative to PDFMonkey? html-pdf.com is an HTML to PDF API where you send your own final HTML or a URL and get the PDF back in the same request. It uses prepaid per-page credits that never expire instead of a monthly plan. ### Can I reuse my PDFMonkey Liquid templates? Yes. Render them in your own code with a Liquid engine such as `liquidjs` in Node or the `liquid` gem in Ruby, then send the resulting HTML to `POST https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf`. ### Does html-pdf.com store my documents? No. Your HTML is not stored, and a PDF is only kept for 24 hours if you ask for a download link with `"response": "url"`. ### How much does html-pdf.com cost compared to PDFMonkey? html-pdf.com charges 1 credit per PDF page, with packs from $10 for 1,000 credits to $250 for 50,000. You get 100 free credits once you confirm your email, with no card required.