The pdflayer API was built to provide a simple, fast and cost-effective REST API for developers and businesses to automate the process of converting HTML or HTTP URLs to high quality PDF documents. Integrating the pdflayer REST API into your application using any programming language (e.g. PHP, Python, Ruby, jQuery.ajax, Java, etc.) will enable you to generate thousands of PDF documents on the fly, making use of a full-featured suite of document configuration and customization options.

You can sign up for your free API Access Key here »

The pdflayer API is a product built and maintained by apilayer, an Austrian technology company aiming to help developers, startups and larger companies automate and outsource complex processes by serving them with dedicated and handy programming interfaces.

Our goal is to offer quick and simple access to our software with the objective of speeding up development of your applications and easing the burden on your back-end.

Yes. Using the API's document_url parameter the API can be requested to generate a PDF document from a standard HTTP URL. Using the document_html parameter you can request the API to convert raw HTML code to a PDF document. Please note that converting raw HTML code is only available via HTTP POST.

You can learn more by taking a look at the pdflayer API documentation.

The pdflayer API and its functionalities are primarily configured to be used via HTTP POST. For customers looking to make API requests via HTTP GET the pdflayer API is also capable of handling GET API requests using its straightforward URL structure.

However, some API functionalities are not supported using HTTP GET. Throughout this documentation you will occasionally come across "HTTP POST only" tags, indicating that the respective API feature or parameter is only supported via HTTP POST.

You can learn more by taking a look at the pdflayer API documentation.

Every registered user is assigned a personal Access Key, a unique "password" that can be used to access and query the pdflayer API. If you are logged in, you can find it in your Account Dashboard and in all interactive links contained in the API's Documentation.

In your Account Dashboard you can reset your Access Key at any given time.

In order to make an API Request, you are required to attach your Access Key to a valid API endpoint URL, e.g: http://api.pdflayer.com/api/convert?access_key=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

A key factor to this API's pricing model is the number of monthly API Requests offered for each individual Subscription Plan. Requesting the API to generate one PDF will increment your monthly request volume by 1 API request. Any PDF documents generated by the pdflayer API are stored using a powerful CDN, making it possible to access existing PDF documents within just a few milliseconds. Accessing an already generated PDF will not count towards your monthly API usage.

Users will be automatically notified via e-mail and on their Account Dashboard once at least 75%, 90%, and 100% of their monthly API Request allowance has been reached. After reaching 100% of the allowance, API access will be disabled.

The pdflayer API's system status is being closely monitored around the clock. Since every effort is made to ensure the highest possible level of consistency, we are happy to announce that our API's uptime is at around 99.9%. At the current stage we are not offering any public statistics, but we will be happy to provide you with recent uptime reports - ask us »

The Free Plan is set out to be a "trial version" without a time limit, offering a volume of 100 monthly API requests.

Paid Subscription Plans feature significantly higher API request volumes, ensure secure datastreams via 256-bit HTTPS encryption and include unlimited and prioritised technical support.

In order to test the API and to get an idea of the product, you can simply sign up for the Free Plan.

As soon as you or your application requires more than 100 API requests per month, you would be well-advised to sign up for one of the premium subscription plans, starting at only $9.99 per month, or at 20% discount - if you decide to pay anually.

Payments can be made via Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Diner's Club). You can change your payment method at any given time in the Payment section of your Account Dashboard.

Yes. If you choose annual billing, the total price of your subscription plan will be up to 20% lower than the total amount you would pay with a monthly payment frequency.

There are two ways to change your payment frequency:

Change it manually
1. Downgrade your subscription to the Free Plan. (don't worry, your current Subscription Plan will remain active until the end of the current billing period)
2. Once the current billing period has ended, hence, once you are subscribed to the Free Plan, upgrade back to your preferred Subscription Plan - you will be asked to choose a new payment frequency.

Have us do it for you
Contact the pdflayer customer support at [email protected].

No additional fees will apply.