Migrate from wkhtmltopdf to PDFgen
wkhtmltopdf is archived and renders modern CSS poorly. Move to a maintained, hosted API where current HTML/CSS just works.
wkhtmltopdf is effectively end-of-life: the project is archived, it ships an ancient WebKit, and modern CSS — flexbox, grid, web fonts — often renders incorrectly. Keeping an unmaintained binary in production is a growing liability.
PDFgen renders with an up-to-date engine behind a hosted API, so modern HTML and CSS just work — and you can let AI build the template. There’s no binary to install, pin or patch.
What is wkhtmltopdf?
wkhtmltopdf is a long-popular open-source command-line tool that renders HTML to PDF using an old WebKit. Its development has been archived, so it no longer receives updates or security fixes and struggles with modern CSS.
Why teams choose PDFgen
Maintained & modern
An actively maintained, up-to-date rendering engine handles modern CSS (flexbox, grid, web fonts) that an archived WebKit gets wrong.
No headless browser to run
Rendering is fully hosted. There is no Chrome to launch, scale, patch or monitor — a single REST call returns the PDF binary or a hosted, expiring link.
AI builds the template
Describe a document in plain English — or upload a sample to start from — and PDFgen generates a reusable template. You skip the blank-page problem instead of hand-coding HTML.
PDFgen vs wkhtmltopdf at a glance
| PDFgen | wkhtmltopdf | |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance status | Actively maintained | Archived / end-of-life |
| CSS support | Modern (flexbox, grid, web fonts) | Aged WebKit — modern CSS breaks |
| Setup | Hosted API | Install & pin a binary |
| Security updates | Handled | No longer shipped |
| Templating | Handlebars + AI templates | DIY in your own code |
Comparison reflects each product's general approach and may change — check the latest wkhtmltopdf docs for specifics.
Migrating from wkhtmltopdf
Most migrations are a small change: replace your wkhtmltopdf rendering step with a single POST to /api/v1/generate and keep your existing HTML. See the language guides for copy-paste examples in your stack.
Frequently asked questions
- What’s a good wkhtmltopdf alternative?
- A maintained, hosted renderer like PDFgen: send your HTML to one API and get a PDF back, with modern CSS support and no unmaintained binary to run.
- Why move off wkhtmltopdf?
- The project is archived, so it gets no updates or security fixes, and its old WebKit mis-renders modern CSS. That’s increasing risk for production documents.
- Will my existing HTML still work?
- Often better — send the same HTML and modern CSS renders correctly. Use engine "legacy" for raw HTML, or add Handlebars tokens for dynamic data.