PDFShift alternative: render-bolt
HTML and URL to PDF with headers, footers and page numbers, plus screenshots and Markdown, at a lower price per document.
Price for the same volume
| Service | Plan | Per 1,000 | Per month | Included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| render-bolt Starter | Starter | $0.60 | $15 | 25,000 renders |
| render-bolt Growth | Growth | $0.39 | $39 | 100,000 renders |
| PDFShift Startup | Startup | $18.00 | $9 | 500 credits |
| PDFShift Boost | Boost | $9.60 | $24 | 2,500 credits |
PDFShift counts one credit per conversion up to 5 MB; larger files use more credits. From PDFShift's public pages, checked October 2026: pdfshift.io, docs.pdfshift.io, docs.pdfshift.io.
What both do
- Convert a URL or your own HTML
- A4, Letter and custom page sizes, with margins
- Headers and footers with page numbers
- PNG, JPEG and WebP image output
- Hosted file links (PDFShift keeps them 2 days, render-bolt 24 hours)
Where PDFShift is stronger
- Saves output straight to your own S3 bucket, with guides for Google Cloud Storage and R2
- Webhooks, and parallel or asynchronous batches
- Watermarks, and password-protected PDFs with print and copy restrictions
- Stored templates and custom PDF metadata
- A HIPAA mode with a business associate agreement
Choose PDFShift if you need uploads to your own bucket, webhooks, watermarks, encrypted PDFs or a HIPAA agreement.
Where render-bolt fits
- 25,000 renders for $15 a month, or 100,000 for $39
- Markdown extraction for LLMs and full screenshot controls on the same key
- Ad blocking and cookie banner removal for pages you load by URL
- No overage billing: requests stop at your quota with a clear error
Choose render-bolt if you need plain HTML-to-PDF at volume, and screenshots or page text from the same key.
Switching
Send the same page with these options. Every endpoint accepts POST with JSON or GET with query parameters.
| You want | render-bolt option |
|---|---|
| Full-page screenshot | full_page: true |
| Capture one element | selector: "#pricing" |
| Retina / 2x | device_scale_factor: 2 |
| Block ads | block_ads: true |
| Hide cookie banners | block_cookie_banners: true |
| Dark mode | dark_mode: true |
| Wait for an element | wait_for_selector: ".loaded" |
| Extra delay | delay: 1500 |
| Viewport size | viewport: { width: 1440, height: 900 } |
| Return a link instead of the file | response_type: "url" |
| Page to Markdown | POST /v1/extract { url } |
Questions
Is render-bolt a drop-in replacement for PDFShift?
For screenshots, PDFs and page text, yes: the same requests map to the options in the table above. If you need uploads to your own bucket, webhooks, watermarks, encrypted PDFs or a HIPAA agreement. PDFShift is the better fit.
How much cheaper is it than PDFShift?
render-bolt Starter costs $15 for 25,000 renders ($0.60 per 1,000). PDFShift Startup lists $9 for 500 credits ($18.00 per 1,000), checked October 2026.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes. The free plan has 100 renders a month with every feature and needs no card.