PDFShift vs ForgeKit
Last verified: Feb 1, 2026
TL;DR: PDFShift is budget-friendly for PDF-only use cases. ForgeKit consolidates PDF with screenshots and other utilities under one credit system.
Compare output with ForgeKit
Feature comparison
| Feature | ForgeKit | PDFShift |
|---|---|---|
| Managed infrastructure | true | true |
| Avg response time | 1800ms | 3500ms |
| JavaScript rendering | true | true |
| PDF generation | true | true |
| MCP / agent support | true | false |
| Free tier | true | true |
| Rate limit (req/min) | 60 | 10 |
| SDK languages | REST, MCP, OpenAPI | REST |
PDFShift strengths
- Simple HTML/URL to PDF
- Affordable entry tier
PDFShift weaknesses
- PDF-only
- Low free tier limits
- No screenshot or OG
When to choose each
Choose PDFShift if: simple html/url to pdf.
Choose ForgeKit if: you want managed utility APIs with MCP support.
Pricing at scale
| Volume | ForgeKit | PDFShift |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 requests/mo | $19 (Starter) | Free |
| 10,000 requests/mo | $49 (Build) | Starter |
| 100,000 requests/mo | $99 (Scale) | Enterprise |
Migration guide
// PDFShift approach
const result = await captureWithPDFShift({
url: "https://example.com",
format: "png",
});// ForgeKit — one REST call
const res = await fetch("https://useforgekit.dev/api/v1/screenshot", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"Authorization": "Bearer fk_live_...",
"Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({ url: "https://example.com", width: 1280 }),
});
const { jobId } = await res.json();Sign up free — 250 credits included.