Documents & Productivity · head-to-head
apilayer pdflayer vs Rendex
pdflayer, part of the apilayer family of micro-APIs, renders a target URL or raw HTML/CSS/JS into a downloadable PDF via a single GET or POST call authenticated with an access_key query parameter. It shares apilayer.com's account and billing infrastructure with sibling products like weatherstack and currencylayer, and supports options like headers, footers, watermarks, and page numbering.
Rendex runs headless Chromium across a global edge network to turn live URLs, raw HTML, or Markdown into pixel-perfect PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF output, including full-page scroll-stitched captures. It also supports templated batch jobs across many URLs at once and HMAC-signed webhook callbacks, on a metered free tier with paid plans billed per rendering call.
| apilayer pdflayer | Rendex | |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication | API Key | API Key |
| Pricing | freemium | freemium |
| Formats | JSON, PDF, HTML | HTML, Markdown, URL, PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF, JSON |
| CORS | yes | yes |
| HTTPS | Yes | Yes |
Rendex supports 8 response formats, while apilayer pdflayer offers fewer — pick Rendex for more integration flexibility.