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 | Cuelark Render | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 50 credits/month (1 credit per 5 MB), 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 | No paid plans yet |
| Engine | Chromium-based conversion | Chromium (Cloudflare Browser Rendering) |
| Headers/footers, encryption, watermark | Yes | Not yet (use CSS for headers; protect PDFs with tools.cuelark.com/protect-pdf) |
| Async, webhooks, S3 upload | Yes on paid plans | No, 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.
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.