HTML2PDFAPI vs Puppeteer: Build vs Buy [2026]

Should you build your own PDF generation system with Puppeteer, or use a managed API? This guide reveals the hidden costs of DIY PDF generation and helps you make the right decision.

The Hidden Costs of Building with Puppeteer

Development Time

2-6 months of senior engineering time to build a production-ready system

Infrastructure

Headless Chrome is memory-hungry. Expect $500-2000+/month in server costs at scale

Maintenance

Chrome updates, security patches, memory leak debugging, scaling issues

Opportunity Cost

Your engineers could be building features instead of PDF infrastructure

Quick Comparison

Factor	HTML2PDFAPI	Puppeteer (DIY)
Setup Time	5 minutes	2-6 months
Infrastructure Management	None required	Complex
Scaling	Automatic	Manual configuration
Chrome Updates	Managed	Your responsibility
Security Patches	Automatic	Manual updates
Memory Management	Optimized	Frequent leaks
Cost (High Volume)	Predictable	Variable infra costs
Customization	API options	Full control
Offline Use	Requires internet	Works offline
S3 Integration	Built-in	Manual setup

Real Cost Comparison

HTML2PDFAPI

Setup: 5 minutes
Monthly cost: $17-147/month
Engineering time: 0 hours/month
Infrastructure: $0 (included)
Total: $17-147/month

Puppeteer (Self-Hosted)

Setup: 2-6 months dev time
Monthly cost: $0 (open source)
Engineering time: 10-40 hours/month
Infrastructure: $500-2000+/month
Total: $2,500-10,000+/month

*Engineering time valued at $150/hour. Infrastructure costs increase with volume.

Common Puppeteer Problems We Solve

Memory Leaks

Puppeteer processes often leak memory over time. We've optimized browser lifecycle management to prevent this.

Chrome Updates

Chrome updates can break your PDF rendering. We test every Chrome update before deploying.

Scaling

Headless Chrome is resource-intensive. We handle auto-scaling across multiple nodes.

Font Rendering

Fonts often render differently in headless mode. We ensure consistent rendering across all systems.

When to Choose HTML2PDFAPI

You want to ship PDF features fast
You don't want to manage infrastructure
You need predictable costs
Your team should focus on core product features
You need built-in S3 integration

When to Build with Puppeteer

You need complete control over the rendering pipeline
You have strict data residency requirements (consider our self-hosting option)
You have dedicated DevOps capacity for maintenance
You need offline PDF generation

Best of Both Worlds: Self-Hosting

Need the control of Puppeteer without the maintenance burden? Our core rendering engine is open source. Self-host on your infrastructure while we handle the complexity.

View on GitHub

Other Comparisons

vs wkhtmltopdf • vs DocRaptor • vs PDFShift • vs pdfcrowd • vs Prince XML • vs ScreenshotOne

See Use Cases

Invoice Generation • Report Generation • Certificate Generation

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