Stay on PDFMonkey
Stay on PDFMonkey for Vue/Liquid, Zapier/Make/n8n, JS at render, or PNG/WebP/JPG.
Compare
Leafwright vs PDFMonkey: same-engine studio + HTML/URL API vs a template graph
Ship PDFs, not Chromium.
PDFMonkey is a Chrome-based template API: dashboard templates (Liquid v4 or a Vue Builder), JSON in, PDF out. It does not expose a raw HTML endpoint. Leafwright is a same-engine document studio plus HTML/URL/Handlebars API plus MCP: POST HTML, a public URL, or Handlebars JSON; Chromium runs on Leafwright, not in your Vercel function. Both have a visual editor.
Switch to Leafwright
Switch for first-class HTML/URL, studio on that same engine, MCP for agents, or serverless without bundling Chrome.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Leafwright | PDFMonkey |
|---|---|---|
| Template | Handlebars plus first-class HTML and URL sources. | Template required — Liquid v4 or Vue Builder. HTML via a {{htmlContent}} workaround. SplitDifferent builder surface, not a missing studio. |
| Engine | Hosted Chromium (version not published). | Chrome v5 = Chrome 133 with public version pins. Trade-offNo public Chrome pin. |
| Studio | Same-engine studio: AI draft, brand kit, canvas, a11y/print checks, human publish, then POST /api/v1/templates/{id}/render. Same engine, also a workspace. | Vue Builder, Code Templates, @pdfmonkey/cli. SplitLeafwright wins the same-engine studio; PDFMonkey wins Vue Builder and CLI. |
| MCP | leafwright.co/mcp and @leafwright/mcp. | Not stated on pdfmonkey.io. Leafwright |
| Serverless | Chromium stays on Leafwright — your function makes one API call. | Hosted REST API; not positioned as Chromium offload. Leafwright |
| Free tier | Hobby: 100 PDFs + 8 AI drafts, $0, no card, hard-capped. | Free: 20/mo plus a 30-day 300-document trial. |
| Max pages | 200 pages; HTML 250 KB, CSS 120 KB. | Time caps 30s–5 min; page cap not stated. Trade-offHard caps on Leafwright. |
| Webhooks | Signed success and failure webhooks; signed URL or S3/GCS delivery. | Svix webhooks; 1-hour signed S3 URL. SplitLess webhook depth; bring-your-own storage is a win. |
| Self-host | Hosted SaaS. | Hosted SaaS. Tie |
| Limits | HTML source rejects script, iframe, form, and external assets. | Paid plans: JS at render, external assets, AcroForms, PNG/WebP/JPG, Zapier/Make/n8n. |
Pricing
Leafwright
USD · as of September 2026
- Hobby$0·100 PDFs + 8 AI drafts
- Indie$19·3,000 PDFs
- Pro$79·15,000 PDFs
- Business$299·80,000 PDFs
- 1 credit renders a PDF of up to 50 pages; max 200 pages per PDF.
- PDF overage pricing is not published on leafwright.co.
PDFMonkey
EUR · as of September 2026 (EUR ex-VAT, March 2026 pricing page)
- Free€0·20/mo
- Trial—·300 docs / 30 days
- Starter€5·300/mo
- Pro€15·3,000/mo
- Pro+€60·5,000/mo · PAYG €0.006
- Premium€300·60,000/mo · PAYG €0.005
- PAYG: pricing FAQ says Pro+ and Premium only; docs (2026-08-20) mark PAYG on all paid plans — verify on pdfmonkey.io before you buy.
- No FX conversion — prices quoted in EUR as published.
Questions, answered.
Do both products have visual template builders?
Yes. Both ship a builder, but the first-class surface differs: Leafwright centers HTML, URL, Handlebars, and MCP on the same Chromium engine. PDFMonkey centers Liquid v4, Vue Builder, and iPaaS connectors (Zapier, Make, n8n).
Can I POST raw HTML to each API?
Leafwright accepts source.type=html as a first-class render source. PDFMonkey does not expose a raw HTML endpoint; teams typically use a {{htmlContent}} workaround inside a Liquid or Vue template.
Does PDFMonkey have an MCP server for AI agents?
As of 2026-09-01, MCP is not stated on pdfmonkey.io. Leafwright publishes a remote MCP server at leafwright.co/mcp and a local package: npx -y @leafwright/mcp.
Try Leafwright free
Hobby: 100 PDFs and 8 AI drafts per month. No credit card.