PaperAPI lets you render PDFs with a free, Docker-based wkhtmltopdf API.
PaperAPI is an open-source service that turns raw HTML into high-fidelity PDFs. Run it locally or on your own infrastructure, then send simple HTTP requests to render invoices, reports, or any HTML document.
POST raw HTML or templates to the PaperAPI /v1/generate endpoint.
PaperAPI runs wkhtmltopdf in Docker with consistent fonts and settings.
Get a binary PDF response you can store, email, or stream to users.
API example
curl http://localhost:8086/v1/generate \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
--data '{
"html": "<html><body><h1>Hello PaperAPI</h1></body></html>",
"options": {
"pageSize": "A4",
"orientation": "portrait"
}
}' \
--output invoice.pdf
This lightweight site is a quick guide to running the open-source PaperAPI service on
your own infrastructure. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the value you set for App__ApiKeys__0 in your .env file.
Why PaperAPI
PaperAPI is the simplest way to ship PDFs with wkhtmltopdf without managing binaries on every server. It is designed for teams who want a reliable renderer they can run themselves.
Run a single container with all fonts, dependencies, and wkhtmltopdf wired up.
Same configuration across environments means consistent PDF rendering.
Generate PDFs with a single POST request using JSON payloads.
Self-hosting in 3 commands
Clone the repository, configure your environment, start the Docker container, and you are ready to render HTML to PDF on your own infrastructure.
git clone https://github.com/hajiparvaneh/paper-api cd paper-api cp .env.example .env # edit .env and set App__ApiKeys__0 (and other required values) docker compose up -d
Works on local machines, VPS providers, or Kubernetes clusters.
Inspect the code, customize settings, and keep control of your stack.
No license fees or subscriptions—just infrastructure costs.
PaperAPI is self-hosted
This light version of the site only introduces the Docker-based PaperAPI project and how to run it yourself. There is no hosted PDF generation or managed service here.