Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

pdflayer VS PDFBolt

Compare pdflayer VS PDFBolt and see what are their differences

pdflayer logo pdflayer

Free, powerful HTML to PDF API supporting both URL and raw HTML conversion. Unlimited document size, lightning-fast and compatible PHP, Python, Ruby, etc.

PDFBolt logo PDFBolt

PDFBolt is a fast, secure, and developer-friendly HTML to PDF API. Instantly convert HTML or URLs into pixel-perfect PDFs with seamless integration and full GDPR compliance.
  • pdflayer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-23
  • PDFBolt PDFBolt Landing Page Showcasing API Features, Client Reviews, and More.
    PDFBolt Landing Page Showcasing API Features, Client Reviews, and More. //
    2025-02-25
  • PDFBolt Comprehensive Documentation – Fast & Easy Integration
    Comprehensive Documentation – Fast & Easy Integration //
    2025-01-28
  • PDFBolt PDFBolt Dashboard – Track Your API Usage in Real-Time
    PDFBolt Dashboard – Track Your API Usage in Real-Time //
    2025-01-28
  • PDFBolt Conversion Logs – Track API Usage & Monitor Requests
    Conversion Logs – Track API Usage & Monitor Requests //
    2025-01-28
  • PDFBolt API Key Management – Control & Secure Your Integrations
    API Key Management – Control & Secure Your Integrations //
    2025-01-28
  • PDFBolt Account Settings – Manage Privacy, Notifications & Overage
    Account Settings – Manage Privacy, Notifications & Overage //
    2025-01-28

Typing SVG

PDFBolt is a powerful HTML to PDF API that allows developers and businesses to generate high-quality PDFs effortlessly. Forget about third-party libraries – our developer-friendly API delivers pixel-perfect PDFs in seconds, ensuring complete privacy and GDPR compliance.

📌 Why Choose PDFBolt?

  • Fast & Reliable – Generate PDFs instantly with our Chrome-powered rendering engine.
  • GDPR-Compliant & Privacy-Focused – No sensitive data collected, secure file handling, and redacted parameters.
  • Easy to Integrate – Simple API with sync & async options.
  • Free Plan Available (500 PDFs/month) – No credit card required.

📌 Key Features

  • Convert HTML and URLs into professional PDFs.
  • Customize headers, footers, margins, and page formatting.
  • Supports webhooks, asynchronous processing, and direct S3 uploads.
  • Admin Dashboard – Track usage, manage API keys, and monitor detailed logs in real-time.
  • Comprehensive docs, step-by-step tutorials, and customer support to assist with integration and troubleshooting.

📌 Who Is PDFBolt For?

  • Developers – Easily integrate PDF generation into web apps, CRMs, and SaaS platforms.
  • Businesses – Automate invoices, contracts, reports, and more.
  • Startups – Reduce development time with a ready-to-use API.
  • Legal & Finance teams – Generate legally compliant PDFs on demand.

How to Get Started?

1️⃣ Sign Up – Register and get your API key.
2️⃣ Check the Docs – Review API endpoints, parameters, and request examples.

3️⃣ Make Your First API Call – Convert HTML or URL to PDF in seconds.

PDFBolt – No Setup, No Mess, Just PDFs with Zero Stress! ✨

PDFBolt

$ Details
freemium $15.0 / Monthly (Basic - 4 000 documents / month)
Platforms
REST API Webhooks SaaS Cloud Platforms Cross Platform
Release Date
2025 January
Startup details
Country
Poland
Founder(s)
Michał Szymanowski, Milena Szymanowska
Employees
1 - 9

pdflayer features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    pdflayer offers a simple and user-friendly API, making it easy for developers to integrate PDF generation into their applications.
  • High-Quality PDFs
    The service is capable of generating high-quality PDFs that maintain the integrity of the original content.
  • Customizable
    pdflayer provides a range of customization options, including custom headers, footers, and watermarking.
  • Multiple Formats
    It supports HTML to PDF conversion, which is useful for applications that need to convert web content into PDF documents.
  • Free Tier
    Offers a free plan with a limited number of conversions, which is great for small projects or initial testing.
  • Security
    pdflayer uses HTTPS encryption to ensure the security of your data during transfer.

Possible disadvantages of pdflayer

  • Cost
    While there is a free tier, the more advanced features and higher usage plans can become relatively expensive.
  • Learning Curve for Customization
    Although the basic features are easy to use, customizing the output PDFs to a high degree may require a bit of a learning curve.
  • Rate Limits
    The free tier and lower-cost plans have rate limits, which might not be sufficient for high-volume applications.
  • Limited Offline Capabilities
    As a cloud service, pdflayer requires internet connectivity for PDF generation, which might not be suitable for offline-first applications.
  • Dependency on External Service
    Relying on an external service means that any downtime or issues with pdflayer's servers can directly affect your application's ability to generate PDFs.
  • Feature Limitations
    Compared to other, more mature PDF libraries, pdflayer might lack some advanced features that power users may require.

PDFBolt features and specs

  • Fast PDF Generation
    Convert HTML to pixel-perfect PDFs in seconds.
  • GDPR Compliance & Data Security
    GDPR compliance with redactable parameters and the option to upload PDFs directly to your own S3 bucket for maximum privacy and security.
  • Easy API Integration
    Simple REST API with comprehensive documentation, and support for easy integration.
  • Customizable PDF Layout
    Modify headers, footers, margins, and page formatting.
  • Asynchronous Processing
    Optimize performance for large-scale PDF generation.
  • Webhooks Support
    Automate PDF delivery with webhook callbacks.
  • Detailed Requests Logs
    Monitor API consumption in the admin dashboard.

Analysis of pdflayer

Overall verdict

  • Pdflayer is a good option for businesses and developers looking for a reliable PDF conversion API. It stands out for its ease of use and versatility, especially if you require customizable output PDFs. However, the 'goodness' of the service might depend on specific needs such as pricing, features, and the level of required customization.

Why this product is good

  • Pdflayer is a service that provides an API for converting HTML and URLs to PDF documents. It's known for its ease of integration, reliability, and scalability. It offers a straightforward REST API which supports a wide array of customization options for generating PDFs. It caters to users who need automated PDF generation integrated directly into their applications or workflows.

Recommended for

  • Developers needing a flexible PDF generation API
  • Businesses seeking to automate document generation
  • Organizations requiring integration of PDF conversion into web applications
  • Users looking for a scalable and reliable PDF generation service

pdflayer videos

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PDFBolt videos

Convert HTML to PDF in 3 Simple Steps with PDFBolt API

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to pdflayer and PDFBolt)
PDF Tools
88 88%
12% 12
HTML To PDF
86 86%
14% 14
PDF Conversion API
83 83%
17% 17
PDF Creator
100 100%
0% 0

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing pdflayer and PDFBolt.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

PDFBolt's answer:

  • Kotlin
  • Spring
  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis
  • React
  • Firebase
  • Playwright

What makes your product unique?

PDFBolt's answer:

🚀 PDFBolt combines speed, security, and ease of use in one platform. It offers a developer-friendly API with sync and async options, pixel-perfect PDF generation powered by Chrome, and GDPR-compliant privacy features like direct upload to your own S3 bucket.

How would you describe your primary audience?

PDFBolt's answer:

Our primary audience includes:
Developers looking for a fast and reliable API to automate document workflows.
SaaS companies needing dynamic report generation or invoice automation.
Businesses in finance, legal, or eCommerce seeking GDPR-compliant solutions for generating PDFs like contracts, invoices, and receipts.
Anyone who needs a simple, secure, and scalable solution for generating high-quality PDFs.

What's the story behind your product?

PDFBolt's answer:

✨ PDFBolt was created to solve the frustration developers face with slow and complicated HTML to PDF solutions. Our mission is to provide a simple, fast, and secure API that helps businesses automate their workflows, enhance productivity, and scale efficiently. We built PDFBolt to make pixel-perfect PDF generation as straightforward as possible, without compromising on quality or privacy.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

PDFBolt's answer:

⚡ PDFBolt stands out with 500 free conversions per month to get started. Unlike many competitors, it offers both synchronous and asynchronous API calls, customizable document formatting, and seamless webhook integration for automation, all while prioritizing security and scalability.

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PDFBolt seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

pdflayer mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of pdflayer yet. Tracking of pdflayer recommendations started around Mar 2021.

PDFBolt mentions (1)

  • Open source and self hostable/private file converter
    I can recommend https://pdfbolt.com. It is unfortunately not self-hosted but built with privacy in mind. I'm the founder. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing pdflayer and PDFBolt, you can also consider the following products

PDFShift - Convert any HTML documents to high-fidelity PDF using a single POST request

DocRaptor - As the only API powered by the Prince HTML-to-PDF engine, DocRaptor provides the best support for complex PDFs with powerful support for headers, page breaks, page numbers, flexbox, watermarks, accessible PDFs, and much more

PDFCrowd - Pdfcrowd is a Web/HTML to PDF online service. Convert HTML to PDF online in the browser or in your PHP, Python, Ruby, .NET, Java apps via the REST API.

PDFGate - Convert HTML to pixel-perfect PDFs — fast, reliable, and API-first.

HTML PDF API - Easily generate PDF documents from HTML code with our powerful API

Doczilla - Effortlessly create stunning PDFs and screenshots. Seamlessly store them in your own AWS or Google Cloud Storage bucket, putting the control and creativity right at your fingertips.