WeasyPrint vs Puppeteer(2026)
WeasyPrint is better for teams that need excellent css support. Puppeteer is the stronger choice if free and open source. WeasyPrint is open-source (from $0) and Puppeteer is open-source (from $0).
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
By Bikram Nath
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WeasyPrint
WeasyPrint is a Python library that converts HTML and CSS documents to PDF — using a CSS Paged Media spec implementation for precise control over headers, footers, and page breaks.
Starting at $0
Visit WeasyPrintPuppeteer
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 PuppeteerHow Do WeasyPrint and Puppeteer Compare on Features?
| Feature | WeasyPrint | Puppeteer |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | open-source |
| Starting price | $0 | $0 |
| HTML + CSS to PDF | ✓ | — |
| CSS Paged Media support | ✓ | — |
| Headers/footers | ✓ | — |
| Python library + CLI | ✓ | — |
| Unicode | ✓ | — |
| Image support | ✓ | — |
| Open source (BSD) | ✓ | — |
| HTML to PDF | — | ✓ |
| Screenshot capture | — | ✓ |
| Full Chrome control | — | ✓ |
| Headless mode | — | ✓ |
| PDF format options (margin, paper size) | — | ✓ |
| Network interception | — | ✓ |
| CDP protocol | — | ✓ |
WeasyPrint Pros and Cons vs Puppeteer
WeasyPrint
Puppeteer
Should You Use WeasyPrint or Puppeteer?
For most teams, WeasyPrint is the better default: it offers excellent css support and is open-source (from $0). Choose Puppeteer instead if free and open source matters more than python only. There is no universal winner — the right pick depends on your budget, team size, and whether you value excellent css support or free and open source more.
Choose WeasyPrint if…
- •Excellent CSS support
- •Python-native
- •Open source
Choose Puppeteer if…
- •Free and open source
- •Pixel-perfect output
- •Full Chrome rendering