DocSpring vs PDFMonkey

Working with Liquid templates

PDFMonkey and DocSpring both support HTML/CSS templates with Liquid, so they can look similar for invoices and reports. PDFMonkey also offers a visual builder. DocSpring adds a separate workflow for filling existing PDF forms and collecting data or signatures against those fields.

If you only need HTML-generated PDFs, compare the editor, template filters, output handling, and plan limits. If your application also receives fixed PDF forms from customers, that workflow is not available in PDFMonkey.

Feature comparison

Follow the feature links for details in DocSpring's documentation. Sources for each PDFMonkey cell are listed at the end of the page.

Scroll the table sideways to see both products.

"Not published" means the vendor's public materials do not say either way, usually because it is handled on request. A dedicated integration is different from connecting an API through a generic HTTP action. Plan requirements and product boundaries are noted in the cells.

Generate an invoice and save it before the link expires

Use the same customer and line-item data in both services. In addition to checking the PDF, test how your application obtains and stores the finished file.

A Liquid template to try in DocSpring

This invoice uses DocSpring's currency filter. Define customer_name and items in the template schema, then send the test request.

<h1>Invoice for {{ customer_name | escape }}</h1>
<table>
  <tr><th>Description</th><th>Amount (USD)</th></tr>
  {% for item in items %}
    <tr>
      <td>{{ item.description | escape }}</td>
      <td>{{ item.amount | currency }}</td>
    </tr>
  {% endfor %}
</table>

curl --fail-with-body \
  "https://sync.api.docspring.com/api/v1/templates/${DOCSPRING_TEMPLATE_ID}/submissions" \
  --user "${DOCSPRING_TEST_TOKEN_ID}:${DOCSPRING_TEST_TOKEN_SECRET}" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "test": true,
    "data": {
      "customer_name": "Mira Patel",
      "items": [
        { "description": "Annual inspection", "amount": 120 },
        { "description": "Replacement filter", "amount": 35 }
      ]
    }
  }'

Set the environment variables to your template ID and test API credentials. Accounts in our EU region send requests to sync.api-eu.docspring.com instead. The response includes a download URL for a watermarked PDF. See the request and response guide.

Test a delayed download as well as immediate generation. Your customer should not receive an expired link simply because an email was opened the next day.

Very cheap per document, with retention that scales with the plan

For 3,000 invoices a month, PDFMonkey's Pro plan is 15 euros with 7 days of retention. DocSpring's Business plan is $249 per month for 5,000 PDFs, with retention you set per template and delivery to your own S3 bucket. If you only render HTML in the EU, PDFMonkey is much cheaper. If you also fill PDFs, need US hosting, or need SOC 2, PDFMonkey is not an option at any price.

Moving PDFMonkey templates to DocSpring

Copy the HTML, CSS, fonts, and representative JSON payload. Review Liquid filters and extensions rather than assuming the templates are identical. Currency, dates, barcode helpers, and asset URLs are useful places to start.

Create a DocSpring schema for the input data and compare short, empty, and multi-page outputs. A visual-builder template needs to be recreated as HTML/CSS or a fixed PDF; it cannot be pasted into a Liquid editor.

Replace document IDs, webhook event handling, and download logic with DocSpring submissions. Preserve your existing PDF archive before changing retention settings or closing the old account.

Discuss your documents with us.

Questions about PDFMonkey alternatives

Will my Liquid template work without changes?

Most markup and basic loops transfer, but each service has its own filters and rendering settings. Check the values and the output, especially custom filters, fonts, and headers or footers.

Does PDFMonkey only have an HTML editor?

No. Its current documentation includes a visual builder as well as code templates. DocSpring offers HTML/CSS editing and an editor for mapping fields onto existing PDFs, which is a different kind of visual editing.

Can PDFMonkey fill a PDF form I already have?

No. Its documentation says importing existing PDF or Word files is not supported. DocSpring lets you upload the PDF, drag fields onto it, and fill it from JSON.