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, 100 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. Business: $299/month, 100,000 documents. Enterprise: custom volume set in contract. No overage: at the limit the API returns HTTP 402. 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, 10 to 250 items per call depending on plan), 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.

Python PDF API

Generate PDFs in Python with one request

No WeasyPrint install, no wkhtmltopdf binary, no system libraries to chase down in a Docker image. From Flask, FastAPI, or Django, a single request turns HTML into a PDF with real fonts and proper page breaks.

FastAPI or any Python backend

Use httpx or requests. The response content is the PDF. The same call drops into a Flask route or a Django view.

Python

import httpx, os

async def render(html: str) -> bytes:
    async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
        r = await client.post(
            "https://api.pdfpipe.xyz/v1/pdf",
            headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['PDFPIPE_API_KEY']}"},
            json={"html": html, "options": {"format": "A4"}},
        )
        r.raise_for_status()
        return r.content  # the PDF bytes

Why a Python PDF API

No native libraries: WeasyPrint and wkhtmltopdf pull in system dependencies that break in slim containers. An API has none.
Modern CSS: Flexbox, grid, and web fonts render correctly, which library renderers often miss.
Async friendly: Works naturally with httpx and async frameworks like FastAPI.

Fits common Python stacks

Flask PDF generation from a route with requests.
FastAPI PDF generation with async httpx.
Django generate PDF from a view, no extra system packages.
Optional Python SDK with render, merge, batch, and templates.

Frequently asked

How do I generate a PDF in Python?

POST your HTML to /v1/pdf with a bearer token using httpx or requests. The response content is the PDF. No WeasyPrint or wkhtmltopdf needed.

Does it work with Flask, FastAPI, and Django?

Yes. It is a plain HTTP call, so it drops into a Flask route, a FastAPI async endpoint, or a Django view without extra system libraries.

Is there a Python SDK?

Yes. The official Python SDK covers render, merge, batch, and templates, though a direct request works too.

Why not WeasyPrint?

WeasyPrint is great but installs system dependencies and misses some modern CSS and JavaScript-rendered content. An API uses a browser engine and has nothing to install.

Related guides and APIs

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

PDF in Python guideA focused walkthrough with requests and httpx.PDF in FastAPI guideAn async-native FastAPI example end to end.Node.js PDF generator APIThe equivalent for JavaScript and Node backends.

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

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