Last updated: June 08, 2026 · Updated quarterly to reflect current pricing and features.

Tutorial · HTML-to-Document API

PDFCrowd API Tutorial (2026): Setup, Examples, and a Simpler Alternative

June 08, 2026 5 min read HTML-to-Document API

This tutorial covers how to get started with the PDFCrowd API — authentication, key parameters, and code examples. We also show why developers often end up choosing a simpler alternative.

Getting started with the PDFCrowd API

PDFCrowd (HTML to PDF and image conversion API) provides a REST API for pdf-first, image secondary. Here's how to set it up and make your first API call.

Authentication

Most PDFCrowd API requests require authentication via API key. You'll find your key in the PDFCrowd dashboard after signing up.

Making your first request

# PDFCrowd — example request curl -X POST https://api.pdfcrowd.com/v1/render \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_PDFCROWD_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"url": "https://example.com", "width": 1200, "height": 630}'

Key parameters

width / height — output image dimensions
format — PNG, JPEG, or WebP
html — HTML string to render

Limitations to be aware of

No native n8n or Make.com node. No built-in batch endpoint.

A simpler alternative for HTML rendering

If you're using PDFCrowd specifically for HTML-to-image rendering and find the setup complex, RenderPix offers a simpler API with native n8n support:

# One API call. That's all. curl -X POST https://renderpix.dev/v1/render \ -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "html": "<div style=\"width:1200px;height:630px;background:#0f0f0f;color:#fff;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;font-size:48px\">Hello, RenderPix</div>", "width": 1200, "height": 630, "format": "png" }' --output card.png

Feature	PDFCrowd	RenderPix
Starting price	$9/mo	$9/mo
Free tier	limited	100 renders/mo
Raw HTML input	✓	✓ Full HTML/CSS
n8n native node	✗	✓ Native node
Batch rendering	✗	✓ Built-in
Template variables	✗	✓ {key} syntax
Async callback	✗	✓
PNG / JPEG / WebP	✓	✓
Primary use case	PDF-first, image secondary	HTML image generation