PDFMonkey Alternatives: How PDFMonkey Compares
If you’re shopping for a PDF generation tool, this page covers what PDFMonkey does and doesn’t do, and which tool to look at when we’re not the one you need.
Last checked: 26 October 2026. If anything on this page is out of date, about us or about anyone else, tell us and we’ll fix it.
Search for “PDFMonkey alternative” and a lot of what comes up was written by our competitors. Some of those pages describe PDFMonkey as it was a few years ago. So we wrote our own. Every claim about another company comes from that company’s own pages, listed in the sources, and when another tool does the job better, we say so. We’re obviously not neutral, but we did our best to be fair. 🙂
What PDFMonkey is
PDFMonkey is a template-based PDF and image generation API, made by an independent French company founded in 2019. You design a template once, then send JSON data through the API or a no-code tool to get a PDF or an image back.
- Two ways to build templates: Code Templates in HTML, CSS and Liquid, or a visual drag-and-drop Builder that needs no code. Each template uses one or the other. (docs)
- Output: PDF, or WebP, PNG and JPG images, on every plan. (docs)
- API: asynchronous with webhooks, plus a synchronous
/api/v1/documents/syncendpoint. Official Ruby and Node.js SDKs and a CLI. (docs) - Integrations: Zapier, Make, n8n, Workato, Bubble and Glide. (docs)
- PDF extras: password protection (AES-256) on every plan, fillable PDF forms in Code Templates.
- AI agents: an official CLI built to be driven by agents like Claude Code and Cursor, with JSON output and local editing with live preview, plus a local MCP server.
- Plans: Free (20 documents a month), Starter €5 (300), Pro €15 (3,000), Pro+ €60 (5,000), Premium €300 (60,000), excluding VAT. Pay-as-you-go on every paid plan, or Boost Packs at €5 per 1,000. 10% off with yearly billing. (pricing)
- Retention: set per template, up to 1 day on Free and Starter, 7 days on Pro, unlimited on Pro+ and Premium. (docs)
- Data: hosted in the EU (Fly.io and AWS in Paris, Neon in Frankfurt), with a GDPR Data Processing Agreement. We hold no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification. (docs)
When PDFMonkey is not the best fit
Better to find out now than after you’ve built your templates. PDFMonkey probably isn’t for you if:
- You need to convert URLs or arbitrary HTML without a template: there is no URL capture, and HTML goes through a pass-through template.
- Your procurement requires a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report.
- You need data processed outside the EU (US, Asia-Pacific) or written to your own storage bucket.
- You need print production features (CMYK, crop marks) or PDFs validated against accessibility standards (PDF/UA).
- You want templates in Google Docs or Word, or e-signatures in the same tool.
Each comparison below says which tool handles these cases.
The alternatives, and when each one fits
| Tool | Best for | PDFMonkey may fit better if… |
|---|---|---|
| APITemplate.io | Templates and URL, HTML or Markdown to PDF, image generation, four regional endpoints, bring your own storage, SOC 2 Type II | you want unlimited templates, a €5 entry plan, self-serve pay-as-you-go and EU-only hosting |
| CraftMyPDF | A visual editor with more ready-made blocks (100+ barcode types, charts, form fields, page numbers), PDF import, an embeddable white-label editor, regional endpoints, SOC 2 Type II | you prefer HTML, CSS and Liquid, want unlimited templates and lower prices up to around 12,000 documents a month |
| DocRaptor | HTML you already render, converted with the Prince engine: print production (CMYK, crop marks), PDF/UA accessibility, HIPAA, HTML-to-Excel | you want stored templates, image output, no-code integrations, EU hosting and lower prices at every volume |
| DocsAutomator | No-code workflows from Airtable, Notion or Sheets, with Google Docs and Word templates, e-signatures and delivery | you want HTML/CSS layout control, image output, or thousands of documents a month at low cost |
| Gotenberg (self-hosted) | Running conversion yourself: a Docker-based API that converts web pages and office documents to PDF | you’d rather not operate servers, and want templates, a dashboard, integrations and support |
Something you might not know: according to their security pages, APITemplate.io and CraftMyPDF are run by the same company, Alphacloud. (APITemplate.io, CraftMyPDF)
Entry prices at a glance
Monthly billing, from each company’s pricing page. PDFMonkey in euros excluding VAT, others in US dollars. The detailed pages compare several volumes.
| Tool | Free tier | First paid plan | About 3,000 documents a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDFMonkey | 20 documents a month | €5 for 300 | €15 (Pro) |
| APITemplate.io | 50 documents a month | $24 for 3,000 PDFs | $24 (PDF Basic) |
| CraftMyPDF | 50 documents a month | $29 for 1,200 | $49 (Plus) |
| DocRaptor | 5 documents a month, plus watermarked tests | $15 for 125 | $149 (Max) |
| DocsAutomator | Unlimited previews | $29 for 100 | $199 (Scale) |
FAQ
What are the main alternatives to PDFMonkey?
Among hosted services: APITemplate.io and CraftMyPDF (template-based PDF and image APIs), DocRaptor (HTML-to-PDF on the Prince engine) and DocsAutomator (no-code automation with Google Docs and Word templates). If you’d rather run it yourself, Gotenberg is a Docker-based conversion API.
Is PDFMonkey free?
There is a permanent Free plan with 20 documents a month and no watermark, plus a 30-day Pro trial with 300 documents and no credit card. Paid plans start at €5 a month for 300 documents, excluding VAT.
Does PDFMonkey generate images?
Yes. Templates with the Image output type produce WebP, PNG or JPG files through the same API as PDFs, on every plan.
Is PDFMonkey only for developers?
No. PDFMonkey offers a visual drag-and-drop Builder that needs no code, and Code Templates in HTML, CSS and Liquid for full control. Each template uses one of the two.
Where is PDFMonkey hosted, and is it SOC 2 certified?
PDFMonkey is hosted in the EU: Fly.io and AWS in Paris, Neon in Frankfurt. A GDPR Data Processing Agreement is available. PDFMonkey does not hold SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification.
Every competitor fact on these pages was checked on 26 October 2026 against the company’s own website. We keep the source excerpts on file and are happy to share them: just ask.
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