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WeasyPrint VS wkhtmltopdf

Compare WeasyPrint VS wkhtmltopdf and see what are their differences

WeasyPrint logo WeasyPrint

WeasyPrint is a visual rendering engine for HTML and CSS that can export to PDF.

wkhtmltopdf logo wkhtmltopdf

wkhtmltopdf is an open source (LGPL) command line tools to render HTML into PDF and various image...
  • WeasyPrint Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09
  • wkhtmltopdf Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-21

WeasyPrint features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    WeasyPrint is designed to be simple and user-friendly, making it easy for developers to generate PDF documents from HTML and CSS without complex configurations.
  • CSS Support
    It supports modern CSS standards, allowing developers to style their documents in a way that closely mirrors how they would style web pages.
  • Quality Output
    WeasyPrint produces high-quality PDFs with precise layout and text rendering, suitable for professional use.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source tool, WeasyPrint is free to use and has a community that contributes to its continuous development and improvement.
  • Python Integration
    WeasyPrint is written in Python and integrates seamlessly with Python applications, making it suitable for Python developers.

Possible disadvantages of WeasyPrint

  • Performance
    WeasyPrint can be slower compared to some other PDF generation tools, particularly with large or complex documents.
  • Limited JavaScript Support
    It lacks full JavaScript execution support, meaning dynamic content generation via JavaScript is not possible.
  • Dependencies
    WeasyPrint requires several system dependencies, which might complicate installation and deployment.
  • Feature Gaps
    Certain advanced PDF features, such as forms or annotations, may not be fully supported by WeasyPrint.
  • Community and Support
    While active, the community is smaller compared to some commercial solutions, which may affect the availability of support resources.

wkhtmltopdf features and specs

  • HTML to PDF Conversion
    wkhtmltopdf allows for the conversion of HTML and CSS content into PDF documents, making it easier to generate reports, invoices, and other necessary documentation from web content.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source tool, wkhtmltopdf is free to use, modify, and distribute, making it accessible to developers with varying budgets.
  • Cross-Platform
    wkhtmltopdf is available on multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, offering flexibility for developers working in different environments.
  • High Quality PDFs
    It utilizes the WebKit rendering engine, which ensures that the PDFs generated maintain high fidelity to the original HTML content.
  • Command Line Interface
    The tool provides a robust command-line interface that allows for scripting and automation, which can greatly enhance productivity.
  • Supports Complex Layouts
    wkhtmltopdf can handle complex layouts including CSS, JavaScript, and media queries, making it suitable for intricate designs.

Possible disadvantages of wkhtmltopdf

  • Large Files
    Generated PDF files can be quite large, especially if the HTML content includes heavy use of images and other media.
  • Resource Intensive
    wkhtmltopdf can be resource-intensive, requiring significant CPU and memory, which might be a concern for high-volume or real-time generation needs.
  • Limited Support for New Web Standards
    As an older tool, it sometimes struggles to keep up with the latest web standards and features, which may lead to partial rendering of more modern web content.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The tool has many options and configurations, which can be overwhelming for beginners or those not familiar with command-line operations.
  • Dependency on System Libraries
    Installation and operation can be complex due to dependencies on specific system libraries, which can complicate deployment and maintenance.
  • Lack of Official Support
    Being an open-source project, it lacks professional support, which means that users may need to rely on community forums and resources for troubleshooting.

WeasyPrint videos

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wkhtmltopdf videos

✔️ Como instalar wkhtmltopdf ubuntu (compatible con cualquier odoo 11) Facil y rapido 2018

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to WeasyPrint and wkhtmltopdf)
HTML To PDF
33 33%
67% 67
PDF Tools
35 35%
65% 65
PDF Conversion API
32 32%
68% 68
PDF Creator
32 32%
68% 68

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

wkhtmltopdf might be a bit more popular than WeasyPrint. We know about 36 links to it since March 2021 and only 30 links to WeasyPrint. 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.

WeasyPrint mentions (30)

  • Converting Plotly charts into images in parallel
    To create our PDF reports, we use a combination of Weasyprint, Jinja, and Plotly charts. To render a report as a PDF, we first have to render all graphs as images. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs
    Is there a reason you didn't consider something like Weasyprint? https://weasyprint.org I've gone through a number of systems to convert CV's, business cards, and other docs and it hasn't let me down yet. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • CSS for Printing to Paper
    You don't _have_ to use a browser. I had very good results with Weasyprint [0]. And there's also PrinceXML [1] if you're willing to pay. [0]: https://weasyprint.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Show HN: A new open-source library to design PDF using React
    Thanks for your answer! I imagined you would be using PrinceXML behind the scenes since that is probably the gold standard in HTML+CSS rendering. The only open source alternative I know of is WeasyPrint at https://weasyprint.org/. I'm not sure how well it fares against PrinceXML, though. And thanks for the pointer to Taffy - I didn't know it before! - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Htmldocs: Typeset and Generate PDFs with HTML/CSS
    Some people might be interested in https://weasyprint.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

wkhtmltopdf mentions (36)

  • PDF Generation, Bloat and Optimization
    WKHTMLTOPDF (LGPLv3; portable) tends to be faster and generate smaller PDFs. It can also run concurrently and generate PDFs in the background without using a ColdFusion thread or impacting the Java heap memory. Download. - Source: dev.to / 24 days ago
  • Hack WKHTMLTOPDF PDF to enable Adobe Acrobat Field Editing
    I recently integrated the auto-generation of survey results into a downloadable PDF using ColdFusion and WKHTMLTOPDF 0.12.6. Our client provided a pre-generated PDF cover page with some editable fields that we prepended to the PDF using PDFtk. Unfortunately, all auto-generated bookmarks became unusable after cover page is prepended. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Embed a Full HTML Document Inline Using Shadow DOM
    We use ColdFusion/CFML to generate valid HTML documents for PDF generation using jsoup & WKHTMLTOPDF. If the generated HTML content is simply outputted onto an existing webpage, the webpage becomes invalid (due to double DOCTYPE "inception") and the website's global CSS styles will polluting the preview. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Htmldocs: Typeset and Generate PDFs with HTML/CSS
    Wkhtmltopdf[1] uses the QT WebKit renderer. I used it as part of my job hut work-flow with pandoc to get pdf resumes from markdown. It got me a job, so there's that. [1] https://wkhtmltopdf.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • HexaPDF: Versatile PDF creation and manipulation library in Ruby
    I've been using WkhtmlToPdf all this while, so this seems a better option to try since it's pure Ruby. https://wkhtmltopdf.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing WeasyPrint and wkhtmltopdf, you can also consider the following products

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

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

Prince XML - Convert HTML documents to PDF. Beautiful printing with CSS.

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.

WEB To PDF - *Save your favorite web content to PDF and view it anytime, anywhere*

Web2PDF - Easily convert web pages to a PDF using this web-based online tool.