How to Convert HTML to PDF Using NodeJs 3 Best Libraries in 2025

Overview of top HTML to PDF Conversion Libraries for NodeJS

The advent of browserless services revolutionized HTML to PDF conversions a few years ago, allowing developers to create pixel-perfect PDFs directly from HTML content—provided printing best practices are followed (see our article on printer friendly best practices). Unlike standard PDF generation libraries (explore top PDF Generation Libraries for Node), HTML to PDF libraries use browser engines, enabling precise rendering of complex CSS layouts and JavaScript-driven interfaces into PDFs.

We'll discuss three primary libraries:

• Playwright

• Puppeteer

• html-pdf

Playwright

Playwright, maintained by Microsoft, is a modern browser automation library supporting Chromium, WebKit, and Firefox. Its popularity has skyrocketed, growing by 100% in recent months as shown by npmtrends.

Install Playwright via npm:

npm

Convert HTML to PDF using URL:

const { chromium } = require('playwright');

(async () => {
  const browser = await chromium.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://your-url.com');
  await page.pdf({
    path: 'report.pdf',
    format: 'A4',
    margin: { top: '1in', bottom: '1in' },
    displayHeaderFooter: true,
    headerTemplate: '<div style="font-size:10px;">Header Content</div>',
    footerTemplate: '<div style="font-size:10px;">Page <span class="pageNumber"></span> of <span class="totalPages"></span></div>'
  });
  await browser.close();
})();

Convert Pure HTML Content to PDF:

const { chromium } = require('playwright');

(async () => {
  const browser = await chromium.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.setContent('<h1>Hello PDF!</h1><p>Generated from pure HTML.</p>');
  await page.pdf({ path: 'html-content.pdf', format: 'Letter' });
  await browser.close();
})();

Playwright’s detailed documentation and rapid community growth make it ideal for production environments. For further details, explore our full guide on converting HTML to PDF using Playwright in NodeJs.

Puppeteer

Puppeteer, developed by Google, leverages headless Chrome for accurate server-side HTML rendering to PDF.

Install Puppeteer via npm:

npm

Convert HTML to PDF using URL:

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://your-url.com');
  await page.pdf({
    path: 'report.pdf',
    format: 'A4',
    printBackground: true,
    displayHeaderFooter: true,
    headerTemplate: '<span style="font-size:10px">Report Header</span>',
    footerTemplate: '<span style="font-size:10px">Page <span class="pageNumber"></span> / <span class="totalPages"></span></span>'
  });
  await browser.close();
})();

Convert Pure HTML Content to PDF:

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.setContent('<h2>Pure HTML to PDF</h2><p>Quick conversion.</p>');
  await page.pdf({ path: 'html-content.pdf', format: 'A4' });
  await browser.close();
})();

Puppeteer is reliable and strongly supported by Google's ecosystem. For deeper insights, check our comprehensive [guide to Puppeteer for HTML to PDF conversion].

html-pdf

html-pdf leverages PhantomJS to convert HTML to PDF. Unfortunately, the project hasn't seen updates for over four years, stagnating significantly compared to modern tools. PhantomJS's WebKit engine also struggles with modern CSS and JavaScript and is depracted, so it's not recommended to use.

Install html-pdf via npm:

npm

Quick conversion example:

const pdf = require('html-pdf');

const html = '<h1>Simple HTML to PDF</h1><p>Effortless conversion.</p>';
pdf.create(html, {
  format: 'Letter',
  header: { height: '15mm', contents: '<span style="font-size:9px">Header content</span>' },
  footer: { height: '15mm', contents: '<span style="font-size:9px">Footer - Page {{page}}/{{pages}}</span>' }
}).toFile('./simple-report.pdf', (err, res) => {
  if (err) return console.log(err);
  console.log(res);
});

Ideal for basic scenarios, but unsuitable for complex or modern applications.

Comparison Table

Alternative: Convert HTML to PDF at Scale Using pdforge

Managing HTML to PDF conversion at scale poses challenges, particularly with serverless architectures (see our detailed article) and frequent template updates. pdforge simplifies these challenges by providing a robust PDF Generation API for direct HTML to PDF conversion:

fetch('https://api.pdforge.com/v1/html-to-pdf/sync', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ html: '<h1>Invoice</h1><p>Customer details here</p>' })
})
.then(res => res.blob())
.then(blob => {
  // handle generated PDF
});

pdforge also includes a powerful AI Agent that generates PDF templates instantly and a modern no-code editor for quick design fine-tuning. Its intuitive platform allows non-developers to manage templates efficiently. Here's a quick demo on how it works:

You can create your account, experience our no-code builder and create your first layout template without any upfront payment clicking here.

Conclusion

For precise HTML/CSS rendering and in-house projects, Playwright is highly recommended due to its impressive documentation and growth.

Choose third-party pdf generation APIs, like pdforge, if you don't want to waste time maintaining pdfs layouts and their infrastructure or if you want to leverage an AI-first platform that designs the PDF templates for you so you don't have to keep track of best practices to generate PDFs at scale.