Vendor breakdown at your volume
Each vendor's cheapest matching plan (or pure usage cost for Api2Pdf) is selected automatically, including PDFMonkey's boost-pack path when it beats the next tier. Rates are published figures as of Aug 2026 — confirm with each vendor before committing to a contract.
| Vendor | Billing shape | Plan selected | Cost / mo (USD) |
|---|
Document plans, credits, boost packs and pure pay-as-you-go — four different bills for the same PDF
DocRaptor is the classic SaaS bucket: a flat monthly fee (Basic $15 for 125 documents up to Silver $1,000 for 40,000 documents) with overage priced at that plan's own per-document rate, which runs from roughly 12¢ down to 2.5¢ as you move up tiers. PDFShift bills in credits rather than documents — one credit covers up to 5 MB of generated output, so a small invoice and a large image-heavy report can cost very different numbers of credits even at the same document count; its ten published tiers run from $9 for 500 credits up to $999 for 1,000,000 credits, with the marginal overage rate dropping from 4¢ to 0.1¢ per credit at the top end. PDFMonkey prices in EUR with document plans from free (20 docs) up to Premium (60,000 docs at €300), but its most distinctive feature is stackable €5 boost packs of 1,000 documents that can sit on top of any plan — often cheaper than jumping a full tier when you are only moderately over your allowance, which is why this calculator checks that path directly. Api2Pdf throws out plans altogether: a $1 monthly minimum plus roughly $0.001 per MB of bandwidth and $0.0002 per second of render time, so cost scales continuously with how large and slow your documents actually are rather than jumping between fixed buckets. That is why Api2Pdf tends to win at low-to-moderate volume with typical documents, while a flat per-document or per-credit tier can win once volume is very high and documents are large or slow to render — this calculator finds that crossover for your numbers automatically. Pair this with the Document AI / OCR Cost Calculator for the reverse direction (extracting data from documents), the E-Signature API Cost Calculator for signing the PDFs you generate, and the Object Storage Cost Calculator for storing the output files.
How this calculator works
DocRaptor's cost checks every published tier (Basic through Silver) and picks the cheapest: base price plus your documents over that tier's allowance times that tier's own per-document overage rate. PDFShift first converts your documents into credits (one credit per document, rounded up in 5 MB blocks based on your average file size) then runs the same best-tier check across its ten published plans. PDFMonkey converts its EUR tiers to USD at roughly 1.08 and checks both the published plans (Free through Premium, where only Pro+ and Premium allow overage) and a synthetic "Pro + Boost Packs" path — Pro's base fee plus €5 per 1,000 extra documents beyond Pro's 300-document allowance — taking whichever is cheaper. Api2Pdf has no tiers at all: $1 base plus your monthly documents times average file size times $0.001/MB, plus your monthly documents times average render time times roughly $0.0002/second. The four totals are compared directly and the cheapest is highlighted; the note explains whether you are in the low-volume range where pure pay-as-you-go usually wins or the high-volume, heavy-document range where a flat tier can win instead. Figures are Aug 2026 published rates; confirm current pricing and any volume discounts directly with each vendor before committing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between document plans and Api2Pdf's pay-as-you-go pricing?
DocRaptor and PDFMonkey sell a fixed document bucket per month with overage on top. Api2Pdf has no bucket — a $1 base plus metered bandwidth and compute time per document, so the bill scales with document size and render time, not just count.
How does PDFShift's credit system work?
One credit covers up to 5 MB of generated output. A document under 5 MB costs one credit regardless of exact size; crossing each 5 MB boundary consumes an extra credit, so heavier documents cost more even at the same document count.
When do PDFMonkey boost packs beat upgrading tiers?
Boost packs (1,000 docs for €5, roughly €0.005/doc) can be stacked on the €15 Pro plan. When you are only moderately over Pro's 3,000-document allowance, staying on Pro plus boosts is often cheaper than jumping to the €60 Pro+ tier.
Does document size affect price on every PDF API?
No. DocRaptor and PDFMonkey charge per document regardless of size. PDFShift charges by 5 MB credit blocks. Api2Pdf is the only one where both file size and render time feed directly into the bill as separate metered costs.
Which is cheapest — low volume or high volume?
Api2Pdf usually wins at low-to-moderate volume since its only fixed cost is $1/month. At very high, steady volume with large or slow documents, a flat per-document or per-credit tier's discounted overage rate can undercut Api2Pdf's continuously scaling usage bill.
Do these APIs charge for failed conversions?
Generally no — the norm is billing only successful, returned documents, not errored requests. Confirm current policy with each vendor; DocRaptor explicitly offers free watermarked test documents for development.