CastPDF vs APITemplate.io

Who should pick which

Choose APITemplate.io if the people who design your documents prefer clicking to coding. It has a visual (WYSIWYG) editor next to an HTML editor, and it lists connectors for Zapier, Make, n8n and Airtable. That makes it easy to start without a developer.

Choose CastPDF if your documents are built in HTML and CSS and some of them run over several pages. Print mode repeats table headers and numbers the pages. When a busy month pushes you past your plan, documents keep coming at a known price instead of waiting for an upgrade. The free plan also gives you 100 live PDFs a month to build on.

Prices side by side

The cheapest monthly plan that includes each volume, from each vendor's public pricing page (checked October 2026, before tax). Where a vendor sells extra documents on a smaller plan, that can cost less than the plan shown; the text below works it out where it matters. CastPDF counts one PDF per document, whatever its page count.

The two tools feature by feature

A cell that says "not stated" means we did not find the fact on APITemplate.io’s pricing page. It is not a claim that the feature is missing.

Visual editor or HTML: who will edit your templates?

This is the biggest real difference between the two, so think about the person, not the tool. Ask who will change the footer or move the logo six months from now.

APITemplate.io gives that person two ways in. A visual editor lets them place and style elements on the page, and an HTML editor is there when they need more control. If your designer or office manager will own the templates, that is a real advantage.

CastPDF has no visual layout tools. You design once in HTML and CSS, with a live preview next to the code, or start from one of six starter templates. After that, someone without code skills can open the Simple mode form, change the sample data and generate a PDF from the dashboard. The layout itself stays in the hands of whoever knows HTML.

HTML has one big upside: anything a web page can show, the document can show. Grid layouts, web fonts and your existing CSS all work, and a developer can keep the template in version control.

The day you reach your plan limit

APITemplate.io lists no overage price. It sends alerts at 80% and 100% of your documents, and you move to a bigger plan by hand. That keeps your bill fixed, but someone has to watch the emails and act before the limit.

CastPDF sends the same 80% and 100% emails, then keeps rendering. Extra PDFs cost $9.00 per 1,000 on Starter, $6.00 on Growth and $3.50 on Pro. A spending cap stops overage at an amount you choose; it starts at twice the plan price. If the cap is reached, the API answers with a clear spending_cap_reached error, and you get an email.

Neither approach is wrong. Fixed plans suit a business with steady, predictable volume. Overage with a cap suits volume that jumps, such as month-end invoicing or a seasonal ticket sale.

Cost at 3,000, 4,000 and 25,000 documents

The price table above shows the cheapest plan that includes each volume. Because CastPDF sells extra documents on top of a plan, a smaller plan plus overage is sometimes the cheaper route. Here is the math at three volumes where it matters.

• 3,000 documents. APITemplate.io’s PDF Basic includes 3,000 for $24, or $19 a month on yearly billing. CastPDF Starter plus 500 extra PDFs comes to $23.50, or $19.50 on yearly billing. That is a near tie, and on yearly billing APITemplate.io is slightly cheaper.
• 4,000 documents. With no listed overage, APITemplate.io needs PDF Standard at $89 ($69 yearly). CastPDF Starter plus 1,500 extra PDFs comes to $32.50.
• 25,000 documents. APITemplate.io’s PDF Enterprise covers 25,000 for $179 ($139 yearly). On CastPDF, Growth plus overage would be $139, so Pro at $129 for 50,000 is the better pick.

Above 25,000 documents a month, APITemplate.io’s listed plans end. CastPDF’s plans go up to 200,000 included PDFs, and overage covers the steps between. Every plan and rate is on the pricing page.

Where CastPDF is stronger

• Documents longer than one page. Print mode repeats a table’s <thead> on every page, keeps rows from splitting, and prints counters like "Page 2 of 7". The guide to page numbers in HTML to PDF shows how.
• Busy months. Rendering continues past the plan limit at a fixed rate, and the spending cap protects your bill.
• Quiet months. Unused PDFs on a paid plan carry over to the next month.
• A larger free plan. 100 live PDFs and 5 templates a month, with test keys that are free, unlimited and watermarked.
• Safe retries. An Idempotency-Key header makes a retried request return the first document instead of making and billing a second one.
• EU processing. Documents are made and stored on servers in Germany, with a Data Processing Agreement.

When APITemplate.io is the better choice

• The person who owns your templates does not write HTML and wants a visual editor. CastPDF cannot offer that today.
• You want a ready-made Zapier, Make, n8n or Airtable connector. CastPDF works from these tools only through a generic HTTP request step.
• You keep a large library of templates on a mid-size plan: APITemplate.io’s Standard plan allows 180, while CastPDF’s Growth plan allows 100.
• You make close to 3,000 documents every month, pay yearly, and want a fixed bill with no overage at all.
• Your templates already work well there. Moving takes time, and if your documents are short, the output will look much the same.

How to move a template from APITemplate.io

If you built your template in APITemplate.io’s HTML editor, you keep most of it. A visually built template needs to be rebuilt in HTML; use one of the starter templates as a base. Either way, the work is in the placeholders.

1. Export the HTML and CSS. Copy the markup and styles of your template into a new CastPDF template, or open the closest starter in the dashboard.
2. Rewrite each placeholder in Liquid. Whatever syntax your current template uses for a field, CastPDF expects Liquid: {{ customer.name }} for a value, with dots for nested fields.
3. Turn repeated rows into a loop. Wrap the table row that repeats in {% for item in items %} and {% endfor %}, and use {% if %} for optional parts. The Liquid reference lists every tag.
4. Format money and dates in the template. Use the money and format_date filters instead of preformatting values in your code.
5. Paste one real payload as sample data. Use a JSON body your app sends today, so the live preview shows a real document and Simple mode has fields to edit.
6. Call the API with a test key. Send template_id and data to POST /v1/pdf. The quickstart has the full request in several languages.

Here is what a delivery note’s line items look like once the placeholders are in Liquid.

<p>Delivery note {{ note.number }} for {{ customer.company }}</p>
<table>
  <thead>
    <tr><th>Article</th><th>Qty</th><th>Price</th></tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    {% for line in lines %}
    <tr>
      <td>{{ line.article }}</td>
      <td>{{ line.qty }}</td>
      <td>{{ line.price | money: "USD" }}</td>
    </tr>
    {% endfor %}
  </tbody>
</table>
{% if note.remarks %}<p>Remarks: {{ note.remarks }}</p>{% endif %}

{
  "template_id": "3f6c2a9e-81b4-4d2f-9a7c-5e0b1d8f4c21",
  "data": {
    "note": { "number": "DN-2207", "remarks": "Leave at loading bay 2" },
    "customer": { "company": "Harbor Tools Ltd" },
    "lines": [
      { "article": "Torque wrench", "qty": 4, "price": 89.5 },
      { "article": "Socket set", "qty": 2, "price": 129 }
    ]
  },
  "filename": "DN-2207.pdf"
}

Run your longest real document through both tools before you switch your live traffic. Then swap the test key for a live key and compare the two outputs page by page.

Sources

Every fact about another product on this page comes from that product's own pages, checked October 2026. CastPDF's prices and limits come from our pricing page.