PDFShift alternative: Cuelark Render vs PDFShift

PDFShift is the more complete paid HTML-to-PDF service (headers and footers, encryption, watermarks, S3 delivery, async). Cuelark Render is a simpler free option for occasional PDFs that also makes charts, OG images and screenshots.

PDFShift compared with Cuelark Render
Feature	PDFShift	Cuelark Render
Free tier	50 credits/month (1 credit per 5 MB of generated data), 15 MB max file, 30 s timeout	10 PDF or screenshot renders/day per IP without a key; free keys with 100/month coming
Paid plans	From $9/month for 500 credits up to $999/month for 1M credits (or $9,990/year). Every paid plan includes all features	No paid plans yet
Engine	Chromium-based conversion	Chromium (Cloudflare Browser Rendering)
Headers/footers, encryption, watermark, S3, async	Listed among paid-plan features ("Every paid plan includes all features")	Not yet (use CSS for headers; protect PDFs with tools.cuelark.com/protect-pdf). Synchronous only
Charts, OG images, screenshots	No	Yes, same API
MCP server	Not on the pricing page	Yes

PDFShift facts are from their pricing page, checked November 10, 2026. Prices change, so check there before you buy. PDFShift is a trademark of its owner; Cuelark is not affiliated with it.

A real example from the same API

This PNG is rendered by /v1/chart from the JSON below. It works with JavaScript off. Open the HTML to PDF API to try your own data.

{
  "type": "bar",
  "title": "Signups by day",
  "labels": [
    "Mon",
    "Tue",
    "Wed",
    "Thu",
    "Fri"
  ],
  "datasets": [
    {
      "label": "Signups",
      "data": [
        12,
        19,
        8,
        15,
        22
      ]
    }
  ]
}

When PDFShift is the better choice

You make thousands of PDFs a month and need a paid SLA-backed plan.
You need built-in headers and footers, encryption, watermarks or S3 delivery.
You need async jobs and webhooks for very large documents.

When Cuelark Render is the better choice

You need a handful of PDFs a day for free.
You also want chart images, OG cards and screenshots from one place.
You want AI assistants to make PDFs through MCP.

Frequently asked questions

How many free PDFs can I make?

Cuelark allows 10 PDF or screenshot renders per day per IP without a key. PDFShift's free plan is 50 credits per month, with 1 credit per 5 MB of output, a 15 MB cap and a 30-second timeout.

Does Cuelark have headers, footers or S3 upload?

Not as built-in PDFShift features. You can style headers in CSS, or protect a finished PDF with the tools.cuelark.com/protect-pdf page. PDFShift is the better choice for encryption, watermarks, S3 delivery and async jobs.

Is this a drop-in PDFShift replacement?

No. The request shape is different, and Cuelark is a simpler free API. Use PDFShift when you already depend on its extras or volume.

Can the same key or MCP server also make charts?

Yes. Charts and social cards do not use browser time, and screenshots share the same API and MCP server.