Renderly vs wkhtmltopdf

wkhtmltopdf was the go-to HTML-to-PDF tool for years — but its Qt WebKit engine hasn't received security patches since 2023 and doesn't support modern CSS. Renderly uses the real Chrome rendering engine, managed for you.

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⚠️ wkhtmltopdf is no longer actively maintained. The project's last meaningful release was in 2022 and the underlying Qt WebKit engine receives no security updates. If you're using it in production, consider migrating before it becomes a liability.

Feature comparison

	Renderly API	wkhtmltopdf
Rendering engine	Chromium (latest Chrome)	Qt WebKit — unmaintained since 2023
CSS support	Full CSS3, Grid, Flexbox	Limited — no CSS Grid, no Flexbox
JavaScript	Full V8 execution	Partial / unreliable JS execution
Custom fonts	Yes, via CSS @font-face	Partial — system fonts only reliably
Setup	REST API call	Binary install + command-line flags
Docker image size	None — cloud API	+200 MB for wkhtmltopdf binary
Security patches	Managed by Renderly	No security updates since 2023
CI/CD integration	HTTP call in any pipeline	Binary dependency in build image
Active maintenance	Yes	No — project is abandoned
Cost at 10k PDFs	€49/mo (Pro plan)	Server + maintenance time

Migration example

before — wkhtmltopdf shell command

<span class="cm"># ❌ Before — binary, shell exec, temp files, security flags</span>
wkhtmltopdf --no-stop-slow-scripts --enable-local-file-access \
  --javascript-delay 2000 \
  input.html output.pdf

after — Renderly API

<span class="cm"># ✅ After — one curl call, no binary, no temp files</span>
curl -X POST https://api.renderlyapi.com/v1/pdf/from-html \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer rly_live_…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"html":"<h1>Hello</h1>","format":"A4"}' \
  --output invoice.pdf

Why teams migrate from wkhtmltopdf

🛡️

Security — no more stale WebKit

wkhtmltopdf's embedded WebKit engine has known CVEs with no fixes. Renderly uses the fully-patched Chrome engine.

🎨

Modern CSS support

CSS Grid, Flexbox, custom properties, clip-path — all render correctly. wkhtmltopdf often misrenders or ignores modern CSS.

⚡

JavaScript rendering

wkhtmltopdf has inconsistent JS support. Renderly uses full V8 — your dynamic content and chart libraries render perfectly.

📦

No binary to install

Remove the 200MB wkhtmltopdf binary from your Docker image. Renderly is just an HTTP call.

🔤

Reliable font rendering

Custom web fonts via @font-face work consistently in Renderly. wkhtmltopdf often requires font pre-installation.

🔧

No more --flags hacks

wkhtmltopdf often needs --no-stop-slow-scripts and --enable-local-file-access workarounds. Renderly has none of this.

Migrate in under an hour

Free tier — 50 PDFs/month, no credit card, API key on sign-up.

Start for free →