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LightningPDF vs PDFShift - HTML to PDF API Comparison

Compare LightningPDF and PDFShift for converting HTML to PDF. Pricing, features, performance, and use case recommendations.

By LightningPDF Team ·

LightningPDF vs PDFShift: Which HTML-to-PDF API Wins?

Both LightningPDF and PDFShift offer simple REST APIs for converting HTML to PDF, but they differ significantly in features, pricing, and architecture. This guide helps you choose the right tool for your project.

Overview

PDFShift is a focused HTML-to-PDF conversion service built on headless Chrome. It does one thing well: convert any HTML (URL or raw HTML) to a PDF with minimal configuration.

LightningPDF is a complete PDF generation platform with dual rendering engines, a visual template designer, a template marketplace, and batch processing capabilities.

Pricing Breakdown

PDFShift

  • Free: 50 conversions/month
  • Micro: $9/month for 500 conversions
  • Small: $29/month for 2,500 conversions
  • Medium: $79/month for 10,000 conversions
  • Large: $199/month for 50,000 conversions

Effective cost: $0.004-$0.018 per conversion

LightningPDF

  • Free: 50 documents/month
  • Starter: $9/month for 2,000 documents
  • Pro: $29/month for 10,000 documents
  • Business: $99/month for 50,000 documents
  • Enterprise: $249/month for 150,000 documents

Effective cost: $0.002-$0.005 per document

Analysis: LightningPDF is 2-4x cheaper at every paid tier and includes advanced features (templates, batch API, dual engine) that PDFShift doesn't offer.

Feature Comparison

PDFShift Features

  • HTML-to-PDF conversion (URL or raw HTML)
  • Custom CSS injection
  • JavaScript execution control
  • Custom headers/footers
  • Watermarks
  • Page size/margins customization
  • Webhook support for async generation
  • PDF encryption and password protection

LightningPDF Features

  • Everything PDFShift has, plus:
  • Dual engine: Native Go fast path (<100ms) + Chromium engine
  • Template designer: Visual editor for building PDF templates
  • Template marketplace: Pre-built templates (invoices, receipts, reports)
  • Batch API: Generate 100+ PDFs in one request
  • Variable interpolation: Pass JSON data to populate templates
  • Self-hostable: Run on your infrastructure (open core)
  • Credit-based billing system

Winner: LightningPDF offers significantly more features, especially for teams building PDF workflows at scale.

Performance Comparison

PDFShift

  • Based on headless Chrome
  • Typical generation: 1-3 seconds per document
  • Single rendering engine
  • No fast path for simple documents

LightningPDF

  • Dual engine architecture:
    • Native engine: <100ms for invoices, receipts, simple layouts
    • Chromium engine: 1-3 seconds for complex web content
  • Automatically detects which engine to use
  • 10-30x faster for common transactional documents

Winner: LightningPDF for applications generating high volumes of simple documents (invoices, shipping labels, receipts).

API Comparison

Both APIs are REST-based and simple to integrate:

PDFShift Example

curl https://api.pdfshift.io/v3/convert/pdf \
  -u "api:YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"source": "https://example.com", "landscape": false}' \
  -o document.pdf

LightningPDF Example

curl https://lightningpdf.dev/api/v1/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"html": "<html>...</html>", "format": "A4"}' \
  -o document.pdf

Both support:

  • Synchronous and asynchronous generation
  • Webhooks for completion notifications
  • Custom headers, footers, margins
  • Multiple page formats

Use Case Recommendations

Choose PDFShift if you:

  • Only need basic HTML-to-PDF conversion
  • Don't need templates or batch processing
  • Generate <10,000 documents/month
  • Want the absolute lowest per-document cost
  • Prefer a simple, focused API with no extras

Choose LightningPDF if you:

  • Generate invoices, receipts, or reports at scale
  • Want a visual template designer
  • Need batch processing (100+ PDFs per request)
  • Want sub-100ms generation for simple documents
  • Need to self-host for compliance/data residency
  • Want a template marketplace with pre-built layouts
  • Value advanced features over lowest possible cost

Template Designer Advantage

Here's where LightningPDF really shines:

PDFShift approach: Hand-code HTML, test, iterate, deploy

<html>
  <body>
    <h1>Invoice #{{invoice_number}}</h1>
    <table><!-- 50 lines of HTML --></table>
  </body>
</html>

LightningPDF approach: Use visual designer or marketplace template

  1. Browse template marketplace
  2. Select "Professional Invoice" template
  3. Customize colors/logo in designer
  4. Generate via API with JSON data

This saves hours of development time per template and makes PDF generation accessible to non-developers.

Batch Processing

PDFShift: No native batch support. You'd make 100 individual API calls to generate 100 PDFs.

LightningPDF: Single batch API call generates 1-1000 PDFs:

curl https://lightningpdf.dev/api/v1/batch \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "template_id": "invoice-v2",
    "data": [
      {"invoice_number": "INV-001", "amount": 100},
      {"invoice_number": "INV-002", "amount": 200}
    ]
  }'

Returns a ZIP archive with all PDFs. Perfect for monthly invoice runs or bulk report generation.

Self-Hosting

PDFShift: Cloud-only SaaS. No self-hosting option.

LightningPDF: Open core model. You can:

  • Run LightningPDF on your own infrastructure
  • Keep sensitive data in your VPC
  • Meet data residency requirements (EU, healthcare, finance)
  • Customize the rendering pipeline
  • Pay $0 in API fees (self-hosted is free for unlimited documents)

This is critical for enterprises with strict compliance requirements.

Migration Path

Switching from PDFShift to LightningPDF takes <1 hour:

  1. Create free account: Get 50 docs/month at lightningpdf.dev
  2. Update API endpoint: api.pdfshift.io → lightningpdf.dev/api/v1/generate
  3. Change auth header: Basic auth → Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
  4. Adjust request body: Minimal changes (source → html, similar options)
  5. Test with free tier
  6. Upgrade when ready

Most customers migrate successfully in one afternoon.

Real-World Performance

Example: SaaS app generating 10,000 invoices/month

With PDFShift

  • Cost: $79/month (Medium plan)
  • Generation time: 2s/invoice × 10,000 = 5.5 hours total
  • Features: Basic HTML-to-PDF only

With LightningPDF

  • Cost: $29/month (Pro plan) - but includes templates + batch + fast path
  • Generation time: 0.08s/invoice × 10,000 = 13 minutes total (25x faster)
  • Features: Template designer, marketplace, batch API, self-hosting option

The faster generation time means you can generate invoices synchronously in your web request instead of queuing background jobs.

Conclusion

PDFShift is a solid, focused HTML-to-PDF API that does one thing well. It's perfect for simple use cases with modest volumes.

LightningPDF is a complete PDF generation platform designed for modern SaaS applications. The template designer, marketplace, batch API, and dual-engine architecture make it the better choice for teams building PDF workflows at scale.

Bottom line: If you only need basic HTML-to-PDF conversion and want the cheapest possible cost, choose PDFShift. If you want speed, templates, batch processing, and room to grow, choose LightningPDF.

Try LightningPDF free - 50 documents/month, no credit card required.

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