DocAPI vs PDFShift vs PDF.co: Which PDF API Should You Choose?

Choosing a PDF API shouldn't take a week of research. But with so many options, it's hard to know which one actually fits your needs.

I built DocAPI, so yes — I'm biased. But I'll give you an honest breakdown of how we compare to PDFShift and PDF.co, including where they might be better choices.

Quick Comparison

Pricing Breakdown

DocAPI

Simple, predictable. No credit systems. No per-page charges.

PDFShift

Credit-based. One conversion = one credit, but large PDFs can consume multiple credits.

PDF.co

No free tier. More expensive, but includes advanced features like OCR and PDF manipulation.

When to Choose DocAPI

You should pick DocAPI if:

• You need simple HTML/URL to PDF conversion
• You want straightforward pricing without credit math
• You're building invoices, reports, or receipts
• You need screenshots too
• You want a generous free tier to test with

Our focus: Do one thing well. Fast, reliable HTML to PDF.

const response = await fetch("https://api.docapi.co/v1/pdf", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "x-api-key": "your-key",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    html: "<h1>Invoice #1234</h1><p>Amount: $99</p>",
  }),
});
 
const pdf = await response.arrayBuffer();

When to Choose PDFShift

You should pick PDFShift if:

• You want the cheapest paid tier ($9/mo)
• You're already using it and it works
• You need S3 storage integration
• European data residency matters to you

PDFShift strengths:

• Been around since 2018, battle-tested
• Good documentation
• Webhook support for async processing

Downsides:

• Credit system can be confusing for large documents
• Free tier is only 50/month

When to Choose PDF.co

You should pick PDF.co if:

• You need advanced PDF manipulation (merge, split, compress)
• You need OCR (text extraction from images)
• You're filling PDF forms programmatically
• You need barcode/QR code generation in PDFs
• Budget isn't a constraint

PDF.co strengths:

• Feature-rich — it's a full PDF toolkit
• Handles complex enterprise use cases
• Good for document workflows

Downsides:

• No free tier
• Starting at $50/mo is steep for simple use cases
• Can be overkill if you just need HTML to PDF
• More complex API with many endpoints

Feature Deep Dive

HTML to PDF Quality

All three use Chromium-based rendering, so output quality is similar. The differences:

For basic HTML to PDF, you won't notice a difference.

Speed

Based on converting a simple HTML invoice:

Speed matters for user-facing generation. All are acceptable, but DocAPI edges out slightly.

API Simplicity

DocAPI — 3 endpoints:

• POST /v1/pdf
• POST /v1/screenshot
• GET /v1/usage

PDFShift — 2 main endpoints:

• POST /v3/convert/pdf
• POST /v3/convert/screenshot

PDF.co — 50+ endpoints covering every PDF operation imaginable.

If you just need HTML to PDF, DocAPI and PDFShift are simpler. If you need a full document toolkit, PDF.co wins.

Code Comparison

DocAPI

const response = await fetch("https://api.docapi.co/v1/pdf", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "x-api-key": "your-key",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ html: "<h1>Hello</h1>" }),
});

PDFShift

const response = await fetch("https://api.pdfshift.io/v3/convert/pdf", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: "Basic " + btoa("api:your-key"),
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ source: "<h1>Hello</h1>" }),
});

PDF.co

const response = await fetch("https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/convert/from/html", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "x-api-key": "your-key",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ html: "<h1>Hello</h1>", name: "output.pdf" }),
});

All straightforward. PDFShift uses Basic auth, others use API key headers.

Honest Downsides of DocAPI

We're new. That means:

• Smaller track record — PDFShift has been around since 2018
• Fewer advanced features — no merge, split, or OCR yet
• Smaller community — less Stack Overflow answers about us

If you need enterprise SLAs, compliance certifications, or advanced PDF manipulation, we're not there yet.

Migration Guide

From PDFShift to DocAPI

// PDFShift
const response = await fetch("https://api.pdfshift.io/v3/convert/pdf", {
  headers: { Authorization: "Basic " + btoa("api:key") },
  body: JSON.stringify({ source: html }),
});
 
// DocAPI — just change the URL and header
const response = await fetch("https://api.docapi.co/v1/pdf", {
  headers: { "x-api-key": "your-key" },
  body: JSON.stringify({ html: html }),
});

5-minute migration.

From PDF.co to DocAPI

If you're only using HTML to PDF:

// PDF.co
{ html: '<h1>Hello</h1>', name: 'output.pdf' }
 
// DocAPI
{ html: '<h1>Hello</h1>' }

If you're using merge, split, or OCR — stay with PDF.co. We don't have those yet.

Decision Framework

Do you need OCR, merge, split, or form filling? ├── Yes → PDF.co └── No ├── Is budget super tight ($9/mo)? │ └── Yes → PDFShift Starter └── No ├── Want simplest API + generous free tier? │ └── DocAPI └── Already using something that works? └── Stay with it

Try Before You Decide

All three have free tiers or trials:

• DocAPI: 100 free conversions/month — docapi.co
• PDFShift: 50 free conversions/month — pdfshift.io
• PDF.co: Free trial with limited credits — pdf.co

Test with your actual HTML. See which one handles your edge cases best.

Conclusion

There's no universally "best" PDF API. It depends on what you're building:

We built DocAPI because we wanted something simple that just works. If that's what you need, give us a try.

If you need more, the other options are solid too.

Questions?

Tweet at us or email [email protected]. Happy to help you evaluate.