Before we dive into the details, here’s the TL;DR: Reportgen.io is
purpose-built for dynamic PDF generation with multiple templating engines,
pay-per-use pricing, and a developer-centric dashboard, while Html2pdf.app
shines as a lightweight, credit-based service for straight-forward
raw-HTML-to-PDF jobs. If you need highly-customized, data-driven documents,
Reportgen.io is likely the better fit; if you just want to turn single pages
into PDFs on a tight budget, Html2pdf.app may suffice.
🔍 Overview
- Reportgen.io: An API that lets you feed templated HTML (EJS, Handlebars, GoTempl, or raw) plus JSON data and returns a PDF, either synchronously or via an async job queue. It offers a generous free tier (150 PDFs/month) and simple $0.0025 per-report, pay-as-you-go billing.
- Html2pdf.app: A credit-based service that converts raw HTML or a public URL into a PDF. It supports synchronous calls and an asynchronous callback mode, with 100 free credits/month (1 MB max per file) and paid plans starting at $9 for 1 000 credits.
📊 Feature Comparison
| Feature | Reportgen.io | Html2pdf.app |
|---|---|---|
| Templating Engines | EJS, Handlebars, GoTempl, Raw HTML | Raw HTML only |
| Sync & Async | Both, no concurrency ceiling | Both; parallel jobs limited by plan |
| Built-in Storage/CDN | Cloudflare R2 for 1-year retention | ❌ File is streamed back; you store it yourself |
| Dashboard UI | Full usage analytics & logs | Simple credit counter + usage chart |
| Dynamic Data Insertion | JSON payload populates templates | ❌ Not supported (no templating) |
| Styling Support | Any modern CSS + JS (e.g., Tailwind, Chart.js) | Modern CSS & JS via browser engine |
| Code Samples | cURL, JS/TS, Python, Go | cURL, PHP, Node, Python, Ruby, Java, Go |
| Free Tier | 150 PDFs/month | 100 credits/month (1 MB/file) |
| Pricing | $0.0025 per PDF (pay-per-use) | From $9/mo (1 000 credits) |
| Encryption | AES-256 optional | AES-128 optional |
🧑💻 Developer Experience
Reportgen.io feels like a developer tool: multiple templating engines,
signed URLs, verbose error payloads, and an observability-first dashboard with
per-job logs.
Html2pdf.app keeps things minimal. You post HTML, poll (or await a callback)
and get a PDF. A lightweight dashboard shows remaining credits, and a new chart
on the Credits tab helps you track usage at a glance.
🎨 Customization & Integration
- Reportgen.io lets you mix Tailwind, Chart.js, or any client-side library inside your templates, so invoices, dashboards, or contracts can be fully branded.
- Html2pdf.app renders modern CSS & JS thanks to a headless browser engine, but without a server-side templating step you must generate your HTML string yourself.
⚙️ Performance, Scalability & Security
- Reportgen.io processes unlimited PDFs async out-of-the-box and scales horizontally; PDFs up to 189 MB have been reported in production.
- Html2pdf.app allows “unlimited PDF size” on paid plans, but each 5 MB chunk costs 1 credit, so a 15 MB document burns 3 credits.
- Both services offer encrypted PDFs. Reportgen.io supports AES-256, while Html2pdf.app documents note AES-128.
💰 Pricing Breakdown
| Free Tier | Pay-as-you-go / Subscription | |
|---|---|---|
| Reportgen.io | 150 PDFs/mo | $0.0025 per PDF, no minimum |
| Html2pdf.app | 100 credits (1 MB cap) | Startup: $9/mo → 1 000 credits; larger plans scale up with more parallel jobs |
Tip: Html2pdf.app’s credit model means very large files may exhaust your
quota quickly, whereas Reportgen.io’s flat rate is size-agnostic.
🧠 Who Should Use What?
-
Choose Reportgen.io if you need…
- Dynamic PDFs powered by templating and JSON data.
- Pay-per-document pricing without monthly lock-ins.
- A dashboard with logs, usage analytics, and signed download URLs.
-
Choose Html2pdf.app if you need…
- Quick, no-frills conversion of single-page raw HTML.
- A low-cost entry point (100 free credits) for small files.
- Language-agnostic code snippets in six major languages out-of-the-box.
✅ Conclusion
Both APIs turn HTML into PDFs, but Reportgen.io excels when documents are
dynamic, large, or part of a mission-critical workflow, while Html2pdf.app
remains attractive for lightweight, occasional jobs that fit neatly into its
credit-based model. Match the tool to the complexity of your output and the
predictability of your volume.
Ready to build?
Your PDFs deserve better. Let’s build them right. 🔥
