WeasyPrint is a solid open-source Python library for HTML/CSS to PDF. But it's just a library: you still need to build the API, the editor, the preview, and the infrastructure around it. PDF4.dev ships all of this ready to use.
Updated March 2026
This comparison is published by PDF4.dev. We aim for accuracy but acknowledge our perspective.
WeasyPrint is free to install. But building a production-ready PDF platform around it takes weeks of engineering time.
At a $100/hour developer rate, that's $5800-$13200 of engineering time. Plus ongoing dependency management.
WeasyPrint depends on system libraries: Cairo, Pango, GDK-Pixbuf, and their development headers. Installing these varies by OS, breaks between versions, and adds complexity to your CI/CD pipeline and Docker builds.
PDF4.dev uses Chromium via Playwright: one dependency, one install command, consistent rendering everywhere. Docker support is built-in with a multi-stage build.
WeasyPrint also uses a CSS subset. No flexbox gap, limited grid support, no JavaScript. If your templates use modern CSS or need dynamic content (charts, conditionals), you'll hit walls quickly.
WeasyPrint is a good choice if:
But if your goal is “I need to generate PDFs from templates via API” and you don't want to build the platform yourself: PDF4.dev is ready in 5 minutes.
Deploy PDF4.dev and start generating PDFs in 5 minutes instead of building a platform from scratch.