PDFPipe is an HTML-to-PDF API. You send a POST request to https://api.pdfpipe.xyz/v1/pdf with a JSON body containing an HTML string or a URL, and receive an application/pdf file in the response. It handles browser rendering in a managed cloud environment, so you do not need to install or maintain any PDF software on your servers.

How do I use the PDFPipe API?

1. Sign up at pdfpipe.xyz to get an API key (format: pp_live_…). 2. POST to https://api.pdfpipe.xyz/v1/pdf with Authorization: Bearer pp_live_your_key and Content-Type: application/json. 3. Set the request body to {"html": " Hello "} or {"url": "https://example.com"} plus an optional "options" object for format, margins, etc. 4. The response body is the raw PDF file. Full reference at https://pdfpipe.xyz/docs.

What programming languages does PDFPipe support?

PDFPipe works with any language that can make an HTTP request. Official SDKs are available for Node.js (npm install pdfpipe-node) and Python (pip install pdfpipe-python). The API also works directly in Go, Java, PHP, Ruby, Rust, C#, Kotlin, Elixir, and others via standard HTTP clients. Framework-specific guides are available at https://pdfpipe.xyz/guides.

What PDF options are available?

Pass an "options" object in the request body. Key options: format (A4, A3, A5, Letter, Legal, Tabloid, default A4), landscape (true/false), margin (CSS length or object with top/bottom/left/right), print_background (true/false), scale (0.1 to 2.0), page_ranges (e.g. "1-3, 5"), header_html, footer_html, inject_css, wait_until (load, domcontentloaded, networkidle0, networkidle2), wait_ms, timeout_ms (1000 to 60000, default 30000), pdf_a (true/false for PDF/A-1b). Full reference at https://pdfpipe.xyz/docs#options.

How much does PDFPipe cost?

Hobby: free, 500 documents per month, no credit card required. Starter: $19/month, 3,000 documents. Growth: $49/month, 15,000 documents. Scale: $149/month, 50,000 documents. Enterprise: custom volume and SLA. Flat pricing: one document counts as one document with no credit conversion.

What is the PDFPipe API endpoint?

The main render endpoint is POST https://api.pdfpipe.xyz/v1/pdf. Additional endpoints: POST /v1/pdf/batch (batch rendering up to 100 items), POST /v1/pdf/merge (merge PDFs), GET /v1/me (check key and usage), GET /v1/documents (list stored PDFs), POST /v1/demo (playground, no key required). Full endpoint list at https://pdfpipe.xyz/docs#endpoints.

Can I not just run Puppeteer or wkhtmltopdf myself?

You can, but running a browser in production means managing memory limits, system font availability, concurrency queues, version pinning, and on-call incidents when it crashes. PDFPipe handles the rendering infrastructure so your team ships product code instead. The API also includes SSRF protection so untrusted HTML cannot reach internal services.

Does PDFPipe support AI agents via MCP?

Yes. Install pdfpipe-mcp-server (npm install pdfpipe-mcp-server), set PDFPIPE_API_KEY, and point any MCP-compatible agent at it. The pdfpipe_generate_pdf tool becomes available for the agent to generate PDFs in a single tool call. Details at https://pdfpipe.xyz/mcp.

HTML to PDF API

Convert HTML to PDF with one API call

Post an HTML string or a URL and get back a real PDF: vector text, your fonts, your CSS, and page breaks that land where they should. No Chromium to bundle, no print pipeline to babysit, no servers to keep warm.

Send HTML, get a PDF

The whole integration is one request. Authenticate with a bearer token, send your markup, and stream the PDF straight to your user or storage.

bash

curl -X POST https://api.pdfpipe.xyz/v1/pdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PDFPIPE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"html":"<h1>Invoice 1024</h1>","options":{"format":"A4"}}' \
  --output invoice.pdf

Why an API beats a local renderer

Nothing to install

No headless Chrome, no wkhtmltopdf binary, no 200 MB of dependencies in your image or function bundle.

Production grade

Rendering runs on infrastructure built for it, with isolation against malicious HTML when template data comes from your users.

Predictable cost

You pay per document, not per server you keep running just in case traffic spikes.

It handles the hard parts

Waits for web fonts and images before drawing, so output matches your design.
Honors break-inside: avoid so tables and cards do not split across pages.
Supports headers, footers, page numbers, page size, margins, and scale.
Accepts a raw HTML string, a public URL, or a saved template plus JSON data.

Frequently asked

Is this a PDF API or a PDF as a service?

Both. PDFPipe is a hosted PDF API (also called PDF as a service): you call one HTTPS endpoint and never run a renderer yourself. There is nothing to deploy or scale on your side.

Can it work as a PDF converter API?

Yes. It converts HTML or a URL into PDF. Point it at a rendered page URL, or send the HTML directly, and it returns the converted PDF.

How do I generate or create a PDF from my backend?

Send a POST to /v1/pdf with your HTML and options from any language that can make an HTTP request. The response body is the PDF. There is no SDK requirement, though Node and Python SDKs exist.

What is the free tier?

500 documents a month at no cost and no card required, so you can ship to production before paying anything.

Which PDF API do you need?

These pages cover related search intents. Pick the one that matches what you are building.

PDF Generation API

Focused on generating documents programmatically at volume: batch, webhooks, and SDKs.

PDF Rendering API

The rendering engine details: how modern CSS, web fonts, and page breaks are drawn.

Document Generation API

Automating data-driven documents from reusable templates in a SaaS product.

500 free documents a month, flat pricing after that, and a live playground you can try without signing up.

Try it live, no signup →Get your API key →