Leaving DocRaptor?
We made it painless.
Airpdf is a drop-in alternative to DocRaptor with up to 3× cheaper rendering, no headless Chrome, predictable per-PDF pricing, and a visual editor your designers can use.
Same job. Better economics. Fewer foot-guns.
DocRaptor
- HTML→PDF via headless Chrome
- $15+/mo entry, scales fast with volume
- CSS-in-runtime · debug print stylesheets
- No template editor; ship HTML/CSS yourself
- No customer-owned storage option
- Templates managed via raw HTML uploads
Airpdf
Recommended- Typed JSON tree → react-pdf, no Chrome
- $0 free 50 PDFs · then $0.004–0.015 / PDF
- Predictable layout · no CSS surprises
- Visual drag-drop editor + JSON Schema
- Bring your own S3/R2/Wasabi/MinIO bucket
- Versioned templates · roll back in one click
Slide your monthly volume. See your new bill.
DocRaptor
—
Estimated monthly cost
Airpdf
—
Best plan + overage
You save
—
—
DocRaptor pricing as published 2026-05, extrapolated above their largest listed plan; Airpdf pricing per our tiers. Indicative, excluding taxes.
Your DocRaptor request, translated.
Same shape — payload, response, error codes. The only thing that really changes is the rendering engine underneath.
curl -X POST https://docraptor.com/docs \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"user_credentials": "abc",
"doc": {
"test": false,
"type": "pdf",
"document_content": "<html>…</html>"
}
}' -o invoice.pdfcurl -X POST https://api.airpdf.io/api/v1/render \
-H "Authorization: Bearer airpdf_live_…" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"template": "invoice",
"data": {
"customer": {"name": "Acme Inc."},
"items": [{"label": "Pro plan", "amount": 99}]
}
}' -o invoice.pdf| DocRaptor concept | Airpdf equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|
user_credentials | Authorization: Bearer airpdf_… | Bearer token, prefix airpdf_live_ / airpdf_test_ |
doc.document_content (HTML) | template + data | Templates pre-published in the dashboard, the payload sends just the data |
doc.test = true | airpdf_test_… key | Test renders never count against your live quota |
doc.javascript = true | — | No JS execution needed: the schema is declarative |
doc.prince_options | template style + Page props | Margins, page size, headers and footers are configured per template |
doc.callback_url | webhook on render.succeeded | HMAC-signed delivery, replay protected |
async = true | {"async": true} | Same flag, async via Oban + webhook |
doc.name (filename) | output filename header | Add "filename" to your render request |
Migration checklist.
- 1
Sign up and create your workspace
Free, no credit card. 50 PDFs every month, forever.
- 2
Recreate your top 1–3 templates
Use the visual editor. Most invoices and receipts take 10–15 minutes each, and variables map 1:1 from your existing JSON payloads.
- 3
Generate a test API key
airpdf_test_… renders are free and never count against your quota.
- 4
Swap the endpoint and the auth header
From docraptor.com/docs to api.airpdf.io/api/v1/render. Replace user_credentials with Authorization: Bearer ….
- 5
Diff a few PDFs side by side
Run the same payload on both engines and compare visual output, file size and latency.
- 6
Roll out incrementally
Promote test keys to live, drain DocRaptor traffic behind a feature flag, watch your usage dashboard.
Common migration questions.
Do I need to rewrite all my HTML templates?
You'll rebuild templates in the visual editor, or as a JSON tree — your call. The data payload shape (names, structure, types) usually maps 1:1, so your application code rarely changes.
What about advanced CSS and print stylesheets?
The common print features — margins, page size, page breaks, headers, footers, fonts — all map to template properties. PDF-spec extras such as bookmarks, named destinations and encryption are on the roadmap.
Can I run both in parallel during the cutover?
Yes. Most teams put Airpdf behind a feature flag, generate every PDF on both engines for a week, and diff the outputs before switching over.
What does support look like during migration?
Email support on every paid plan, dedicated Slack on Enterprise. We'll happily jump on a call to map a tricky template.
Will the free tier cover my test phase?
50 free PDFs a month plus unlimited test-key renders means most teams never spend a euro during the cutover.
Stop overpaying for headless Chrome.
50 free PDFs every month, forever. Migration in under an hour.