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PDFGate vs DocRaptor
Chrome rendering and a full document workflow vs Prince-powered print layout.
Last reviewed: October 3, 2026
Chrome rendering for modern web pages
PDFGate renders with Chrome, so JavaScript frameworks and chart libraries work as they do in the browser. DocRaptor uses Prince, which excels at print layout with CSS Paged Media.
More than HTML to PDF
PDFGate adds PDF processing and e-signatures to the same API and account. DocRaptor focuses on generating PDF and Excel documents.
More documents per plan
PDFGate's first three plans include 500 to 10,000 conversions a month, compared with 125 to 1,250 documents on DocRaptor's first three paid plans.
Which one should you choose?
PDFGate's HTML to PDF API and DocRaptor both convert HTML to PDF through a REST API, but they are built on different engines and cover different parts of the document workflow. DocRaptor uses the Prince engine and focuses on advanced print layout. PDFGate renders with Chrome and adds PDF processing and e-signatures to the same API.
Choose PDFGate if
- Your pages rely on modern JavaScript, such as React, Vue, or chart libraries.
- You need to process PDFs after generation: compress, watermark, protect, flatten, or extract form data.
- You want to send documents for e-signature from the same API and account.
- You convert third-party URLs and need to click through cookie banners or pop-ups.
- You need higher volumes at a lower price per document.
- You want EU hosting, no-code integrations, or an MCP server for AI agents.
Choose DocRaptor if
- You need advanced print layout from CSS Paged Media, such as footnotes, page floats, or different left and right pages.
- You need PDF/UA or PDF/A output.
- You need asynchronous generation with a callback URL.
- You need Excel (XLS or XLSX) output alongside PDF.
- You need SOC 2 or HIPAA compliance, or a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
- You only generate a few documents each month and want a free plan.
Comparing more options? See our roundup of the Best HTML to PDF APIs in 2026, where we compare more tools side by side.
Chrome vs Prince
PDFGate renders pages with Chrome, the same engine your users browse with. If a page looks right in Chrome, it looks the same in the PDF, including pages built with modern JavaScript frameworks and chart libraries.
DocRaptor is built on Prince, a commercial engine designed for print. Prince implements much of the CSS Paged Media specification, which makes it strong for books, reports, and documents with complex print layouts. DocRaptor notes that it does not support the entire JavaScript ES6 specification, so heavily scripted pages may need extra work.
In practice: choose Chrome rendering when you convert existing web pages or JavaScript-driven templates, and Prince when the document is designed specifically for print with paged-media CSS.
Feature comparison
"Not listed" means we did not find the feature on DocRaptor's website when we reviewed it. For everything PDFGate offers, see the HTML to PDF API page.
HTML to PDF rendering
| Feature | PDFGate | DocRaptor |
|---|---|---|
| Rendering engine | Chrome | Prince |
| Convert a URL or raw HTML | Both | Both |
| Modern JavaScript | Full support (Chrome) | Supported, but not the entire ES6 specification |
| Headers, footers, and page numbers | Header and footer templates | CSS Paged Media |
| Advanced print layout (footnotes, page floats, left and right pages) | Limited to Chrome print CSS | Yes |
| Click through cookie banners and pop-ups | Click selectors and selector chains | Not listed |
| Pages behind HTTP authentication | Basic authentication and custom HTTP headers | HTTP authentication |
| Fillable PDF form fields | From HTML inputs, including signature fields | PDF forms |
| Password protection and permissions | Protect PDF endpoint | Generation options |
| Tagged PDFs and PDF/A or PDF/UA | Tagged PDFs by default; no PDF/A or PDF/UA | Yes |
| Excel output | PDF only | XLS and XLSX |
Beyond generation
| Feature | PDFGate | DocRaptor |
|---|---|---|
| E-signatures | Envelopes, recipients, and audit trail | Not listed |
| Compress, watermark, and flatten existing PDFs | Compress, watermark, and flatten endpoints | Not listed |
| Extract form data from PDFs | Extract form data endpoint | Not listed |
Platform and developer experience
| Feature | PDFGate | DocRaptor |
|---|---|---|
| Asynchronous generation with callback | Synchronous requests | Async with callback URL |
| Maximum processing time | Page load timeout up to 15 minutes | 60 seconds, or 600 seconds with async |
| Document storage and download links | Stored up to 2 years, with pre-signed URLs | Hosted documents, $0.01 per document per month |
| Free test mode | Sandbox environment and API keys, watermarked output | Test documents, watermarked |
| SDKs | Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, C# | Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, C#, Ruby |
| No-code integrations | Zapier, Pabbly Connect, Integrately, viaSocket | Zapier through webhooks |
| MCP server for AI agents | Yes | Not listed |
Trust and compliance
| Feature | PDFGate | DocRaptor |
|---|---|---|
| Uptime | 99.9% uptime target | 99.99% uptime guarantee |
| Compliance | GDPR, with a Data Processing Agreement | SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR |
| Hosting | AWS in the EU (Frankfurt) | Not listed |
Pricing
Monthly prices for the first three paid plans. Cost per document is the monthly price divided by the included documents, calculated by us.
PDFGate
| Plan | Price / month | Documents / month | Cost per document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | $9 | 500 | $0.018 |
| Starter | $20 | 3,000 | $0.0067 |
| Basic | $50 | 10,000 | $0.005 |
DocRaptor
| Plan | Price / month | Documents / month | Cost per document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $15 | 125 | $0.12 |
| Professional | $29 | 325 | $0.0892 |
| Premium | $75 | 1,250 | $0.06 |
- DocRaptor also offers a free plan with 5 documents per month and no overage.
- DocRaptor charges overage at $0.025 to $0.12 per extra document, depending on the plan.
- PDFGate has no free plan; every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.
- PDFGate counts conversions across all PDF endpoints, including generation, compression, and watermarking. Failed requests and sandbox requests are not counted.
Migrating from DocRaptor to PDFGate
Both APIs accept a JSON POST request and return the PDF in the response, so most integrations move over by renaming a few fields.
| DocRaptor | PDFGate |
|---|---|
POST https://api.docraptor.com/docs | POST https://api.pdfgate.com/generate/pdf |
API key as the Basic auth username | Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY |
document_content | html |
document_url | url |
test: true | Send requests to https://api-sandbox.pdfgate.com with a sandbox API key |
prince_options.media | emulateMediaType |
prince_options.http_user and http_password | authentication.username and authentication.password |
CSS @page size and margin | pageSizeType, width, height, and margin |
CSS running headers and footers | header and footer |
hosted: true | jsonResponse: true (returns a download URL) |
prince_options passwords and permissions | Protect PDF endpoint |
- PDFGate sets the page size and margins from the API parameters, so CSS @page size rules are not applied. Move those values to pageSizeType or width and height, and margin.
- JavaScript always runs in Chrome; there is no flag to enable it. Use waitForSelector or waitForNetworkIdle when the page renders content after load.
- PDFGate does not offer asynchronous generation. Requests are synchronous, with a page load timeout of up to 15 minutes.
DocRaptor request
1curl -X POST https://api.docraptor.com/docs \2 -u "YOUR_DOCRAPTOR_API_KEY:" \3 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \4 -d '{5 "type": "pdf",6 "document_url": "https://example.com/invoice/42",7 "prince_options": { "media": "screen" }8 }' \9 -o output.pdfPDFGate request
1curl -X POST https://api.pdfgate.com/generate/pdf \2 -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \3 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \4 -d '{5 "url": "https://example.com/invoice/42",6 "pageSizeType": "a4",7 "emulateMediaType": "screen"8 }' \9 -o output.pdfInformation about DocRaptor comes from its public website and was last reviewed on October 3, 2026. Features and prices may have changed since then.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if your documents are built as web pages or JavaScript-driven templates, or if you also need PDF processing and e-signatures. If you depend on Prince features such as footnotes, page floats, or PDF/UA output, DocRaptor remains the better fit.
The rendering engine. PDFGate uses Chrome, so the PDF matches what you see in the browser and modern JavaScript runs fully. DocRaptor uses Prince, which is designed for print layout with CSS Paged Media.
On published prices, PDFGate includes more documents per plan. Its first three plans include 500, 3,000, and 10,000 conversions for $9, $20, and $50 per month, while DocRaptor's first three paid plans include 125, 325, and 1,250 documents for $15, $29, and $75 per month.
No. PDFGate generates PDFs synchronously and returns the file, or a download URL with jsonResponse, in the same request. The page load timeout can be set up to 15 minutes.
Usually, yes. Rename the request fields as shown in the migration table and move page size and margins from CSS @page rules to the API parameters. Layouts that rely on Prince-specific CSS, such as footnotes or page floats, need to be adapted.
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