Puppeteer vs Gotenberg(2026)
Puppeteer is better for teams that need free and open source. Gotenberg is the stronger choice if self-hosted (no vendor lock-in). Puppeteer is open-source (from $0) and Gotenberg is open-source (from $0).
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
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Puppeteer
Puppeteer is Google's Node.js library to control Chrome/Chromium — widely used to generate pixel-perfect PDFs from HTML by launching a headless browser with page.pdf().
Starting at $0
Visit PuppeteerGotenberg
Gotenberg is a Docker-powered PDF microservice that wraps Chromium and LibreOffice — converting HTML, Word, Excel, and other formats to PDF via a simple REST API.
Starting at $0
Visit GotenbergHow Do Puppeteer and Gotenberg Compare on Features?
| Feature | Puppeteer | Gotenberg |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | open-source |
| Starting price | $0 | $0 |
| HTML to PDF | ✓ | — |
| Screenshot capture | ✓ | — |
| Full Chrome control | ✓ | — |
| Headless mode | ✓ | — |
| PDF format options (margin, paper size) | ✓ | — |
| Network interception | ✓ | — |
| CDP protocol | ✓ | — |
| HTML to PDF (Chromium) | — | ✓ |
| Office files to PDF (LibreOffice) | — | ✓ |
| URL to PDF | — | ✓ |
| PDF merge/split | — | ✓ |
| Webhook callback | — | ✓ |
| Docker-based | — | ✓ |
| REST API | — | ✓ |
Puppeteer Pros and Cons vs Gotenberg
Puppeteer
Gotenberg
Should You Use Puppeteer or Gotenberg?
Choose Puppeteer if…
- •Free and open source
- •Pixel-perfect output
- •Full Chrome rendering
Choose Gotenberg if…
- •Self-hosted (no vendor lock-in)
- •Supports Office files
- •Docker simple deployment