Where Doppio's free tier stops
Doppio Doppio's free tier is usable, but it stops at 400 documents per month and only 1 HTML template. It still includes PDF generation, screenshot API access, render logs, and EU-hosted infrastructure, with no credit card required. The blocker is not time-limitation, it is volume and template count: once you need more than 400 outputs in a month, or more than one reusable template, the free plan ends and you have to move to a paid tier or another tool.
Switch table
| Doppio | PDF-API.io | PDFBolt | APITemplate.io | Doczilla | PDFMonkey | PhantomJsCloud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| documents per month | 400 | 100 | 100 | 50 | 250 | 20 | About 500 pages per day |
| templates included | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| rate limit | Unknown | Unknown | 20 requests per minute | Unknown | 30 requests per minute | Unknown | Unknown |
| concurrent requests | Unknown | Unknown | 1 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| retention | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 1 day | Unknown |
| output formats on free tier | PDF and screenshot | Images or PDFs | PDF and screenshot | HTML, PDF, JPEG, PNG, plaintext, JSON | |||
| Card required | - | No | No | No | No | No | Unknown |
| First paid tier | - | Basic $18/month | Basic $19/month | PDF Basic $19/month | Pro €4.99/mo | Starter €5/month | Small $10/month |
The alternatives
PDF-API.io
FTV 57 / 100PDF-API.io gives you a free PDF workflow with 1 user, 1 template, API and Zapier integration, and up to 100 PDFs per month. It is built around PDF generation rather than screenshots, and it supports both a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG editor and an HTML/CSS editor. If your main job is producing PDFs from templates and wiring that into automation tools, the free plan covers the core loop without a card. It is lighter than Doppio on monthly output, but stronger if you want editor-led template management and Zapier connectivity in the free tier.
- Beats Doppio: Template-building options and Zapier integration
- Falls short: Monthly document volume and screenshot support
- Who should switch: Switch here if you mainly generate PDFs from templates and care more about editor workflow than output count.
PDFBolt
FTV 55 / 100PDFBolt's free tier includes 100 PDF documents per month, 20 requests per minute, 1 concurrent request, PDF files up to 2 MB, 1 reusable template, and 1 AI template generation, plus full customization options. It is centered on HTML, URL, and template-based PDF rendering with direct, sync, and async endpoints. The free plan is more restrictive on volume than Doppio, but it gives you request-rate and concurrency controls that are useful when you need to shape traffic or test load behavior. No credit card is required.
- Beats Doppio: Rate limiting and concurrency controls
- Falls short: Monthly document volume
- Who should switch: Switch here if you need tighter API controls and can live with a lower free document cap.
APITemplate.io
FTV 58 / 100APITemplate.io's free tier includes 50 images or PDFs per month, 3 templates, and a broad set of integrations and editors: REST API, Zapier, Integromat, n8n, Airtable, a visual PDF editor, and an HTML editor. It also supports direct URL generation and includes stock image libraries and 100+ fonts. The free allowance is much smaller than Doppio's, but it is broader for teams that want multiple workflow integrations and richer template tooling on day one. No credit card is required.
- Beats Doppio: Template count and workflow integrations
- Falls short: Monthly output volume
- Who should switch: Switch here if integration breadth matters more than getting the highest free document count.
Doczilla
FTV 56 / 100Doczilla's free tier gives you 250 requests per month, a 30 requests per minute rate limit, queuing support, AWS/GCP signed URLs, templates access, and Handlebars templating support. It is built for PDF and screenshot generation from HTML, templates, and web pages, with support for queued or direct responses. Compared with Doppio, it is lower on monthly request count, but it is better if you want queueing and cloud-signed URL workflows in the free tier. No credit card is needed.
- Beats Doppio: Queuing support and signed URL workflows
- Falls short: Monthly request volume
- Who should switch: Switch here if your workflow depends on queued renders or cloud storage handoff rather than raw output volume.
PDFMonkey
FTV 46 / 100PDFMonkey's free plan includes 20 documents per month, 1 day of document retention, no external images, fonts, CSS, or JavaScript, 1 team member, fillable PDF forms, password protection, and a 30-second maximum generation duration. It is a stricter free tier than Doppio on volume and asset loading, but it is better if you need form fields or document protection without paying. The plan is perpetual and does not require a credit card. It suits simple, controlled document generation more than flexible screenshot or web-page rendering.
- Beats Doppio: Fillable forms and password protection
- Falls short: Monthly document volume and asset flexibility
- Who should switch: Switch here if document security or form filling matters more than rendering dynamic web assets.
PhantomJsCloud
FTV 54 / 100PhantomJsCloud's free tier gives you about 500 pages per day, a free account signup, and browser-based rendering and automation across HTML, PDF, JPEG, PNG, plaintext, JSON, and automation results. It supports JavaScript execution, navigation, clicking, typing, script injection, proxy selection, and resource modification through HTTP. That makes it the broadest browser-automation option in this set, with much more daily headroom than Doppio's monthly cap. The tradeoff is abuse restrictions on the free tier. No credit card is called out.
- Beats Doppio: Daily render headroom and browser automation breadth
- Falls short: Template workflow simplicity
- Who should switch: Switch here if you need browser automation, daily volume, or multiple output formats from one service.
Two quick picks
Doczilla
Doczilla is the closest drop-in for Doppio because it also covers PDF and screenshot generation from HTML and web pages, with templates, queued or direct responses, and signed URL support. The main switch is smaller free volume, not a different product shape.
PhantomJsCloud
PhantomJsCloud gives the most free headroom because its quota is about 500 pages per day, which is far above Doppio's 400 documents per month in practical throughput. It also spans more output formats and browser automation features.
Frequently asked questions
Which alternative has the highest free output volume?
PhantomJsCloud, with about 500 pages per day on the free tier. That is the largest free throughput in this set, although it is framed as a daily quota and comes with abuse restrictions.
Which alternative is closest if I already use HTML-to-PDF and screenshot rendering?
Doczilla is the closest fit because it covers PDF and screenshot generation from HTML and web pages, and it also has templates and queued or direct responses.
Which alternative is best if I need more templates for free?
APITemplate.io offers 3 templates on the free tier, which is more than Doppio's 1 template.
Do these alternatives require a credit card on the free tier?
PDF-API.io, PDFBolt, APITemplate.io, Doczilla, and PDFMonkey explicitly say no credit card is required. For PhantomJsCloud, the credit-card requirement is unknown from the provided information.
Bottom line
For most builders leaving Doppio because the free tier runs out on document count or template count, Doczilla is the best first alternative. It keeps the same basic job to be done, PDF and screenshot generation from web content, while adding queueing, signed URL support, and the same no-card entry point. If your main problem is simply that Doppio's 400-document ceiling is too tight, PhantomJsCloud is the better choice for raw free headroom.
Read the full listing for Doppio. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more alternatives on /alternatives, or head-to-head comparisons on /compare.