A DocRaptor & PDFShift alternative built for predictable HTML→PDF
If you're generating PDFs from HTML in your app and have run into broken fonts, confusing per-MB credits, or print-engine pricing you don't need — here's an honest comparison.
At a glance
| SayPDF | DocRaptor | PDFShift | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rendering engine | Chromium (real browser) | Prince XML | Chromium |
| Entry price | $9/mo for 1,000 renders | $15/mo for 125 docs | From $9/mo (credits) |
| Pricing model | Flat, forecastable | Per-document tiers | 1 credit / 5 MB output |
| Free tier | Yes | Watermarked test | 50 conversions/mo |
| Send raw HTML string | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CJK / emoji fonts out of the box | Yes | Depends on fonts | Often needs work |
| Stream PDF bytes back inline | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Competitor prices/figures captured June 2026 from public pricing pages and may change — verify current pricing on their sites.
Being fair: DocRaptor's Prince XML engine is genuinely excellent for
print-publishing typography — running headers, footnotes, precise page control. If that's
your core need and budget isn't a concern, it's a strong choice. SayPDF is for teams who
want correct, modern-browser rendering and pricing they can forecast.
Why teams move
- Fonts that render — including CJK. The most common HTML→PDF complaint is mangled fonts and ignored web fonts. We wait for web fonts and ship CJK + emoji coverage on the render servers.
- Pricing you can forecast. No "1 credit per 5 MB of output" math where a few image-heavy PDFs blow your budget — and no enterprise print-engine premium for features you don't use.
- Made for code. Send a
htmlstring or aurl, get the bytes back. No writing temp files to upload.
The same request, on SayPDF
curl -X POST "https://api.saypdf.com/api/v1/convert?output=inline" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-o out.pdf \
-d '{ "typeConvert": "html_to_pdf",
"source": { "html": "<h1>Hello</h1>" },
"options": { "format": "Letter", "margin": "20mm" },
"output": "inline" }'
Verify it yourself
Don't take our word for it — the honest test is your own document. Grab a free key, send your hardest invoice/report HTML (the one with custom fonts, CJK, long tables) to SayPDF and to your current provider, and compare the PDFs side by side.