How to Generate PDFs in Node.js (2026 Guide)

The PDF generation landscape in Node.js

Generating PDFs programmatically is one of those tasks that sounds simple but quickly becomes a rabbit hole. Here's an honest comparison of every major approach available in Node.js today.

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Option 1: Puppeteer (DIY headless Chrome)

The most powerful option — and the most complex to maintain.

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer'

const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
  args: ['--no-sandbox', '--disable-setuid-sandbox'],
})
const page = await browser.newPage()
await page.setContent('<h1>Invoice</h1><p>Total: $249</p>')
const pdf = await page.pdf({ format: 'A4' })
await browser.close()

Pros: Full control, pixel-perfect output, supports any CSS. Cons: Chromium binary (~300MB), memory leaks in long-running processes, cold start latency, complex deployment (especially serverless), needs a browser pool for production, OS-level dependencies.

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Option 2: wkhtmltopdf

A native binary that uses WebKit to render HTML to PDF.

import { exec } from 'child_process'

exec('wkhtmltopdf input.html output.pdf', (err) => {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log('Done')
})

Pros: Fast, lightweight, no Node.js dependencies. Cons: Outdated WebKit engine (poor CSS Grid/Flexbox support), binary installation required, harder to use in Docker/serverless, no JavaScript execution.

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Option 3: PDFKit (programmatic PDF generation)

Build PDFs from scratch using a drawing API — no HTML rendering.

import PDFDocument from 'pdfkit'
import fs from 'fs'

const doc = new PDFDocument()
doc.pipe(fs.createWriteStream('output.pdf'))
doc.fontSize(24).text('Invoice', { align: 'center' })
doc.fontSize(12).text('Total: $249')
doc.end()

Pros: Pure Node.js, no system dependencies, good for simple documents. Cons: Can't use HTML or CSS — you draw everything manually. Complex layouts require significant code. Can't reuse existing HTML templates.

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Option 4: HTMLPDF.dev API (recommended)

Skip the infrastructure entirely. One HTTP request, one PDF.

const response = await fetch('https://api.htmlpdf.dev/api/pdf', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    html: '<h1>Invoice</h1><p>Total: $249</p>',
    format: 'A4',
    margin: { top: '1in', bottom: '1in', left: '1in', right: '1in' },
  }),
})

const pdf = await response.arrayBuffer()
fs.writeFileSync('invoice.pdf', Buffer.from(pdf))

Pros: No installation, no Chromium binary, no memory management, works identically in serverless/edge/Docker, latest Chrome rendering engine, full CSS support. Cons: Requires internet access, costs money above the free tier.

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Which should you choose?

For most teams, the API approach wins on total cost of ownership — you avoid maintaining Chromium infrastructure and the operational complexity that comes with it.

Try HTMLPDF.dev free →