Looking for a PDF generator that supports full HTML/CSS — @react-pdf/renderer is too limiting
I built an ABM (Account-Based Marketing) outreach system for my portfolio site. When I reach out to a company, everything is personalized with their branding:
∙ Email → their logo, brand colors, company name in the header
∙ Landing page → mysite.com/landing?company=nike.com shows a custom proposition
∙ CV (PDF) → attached to the email, branded with their colors and logo
The email and landing page look great because I have full HTML/CSS control. But the PDF is the weak link. I’m using @react-pdf/renderer which has its own layout engine (Yoga/Flexbox subset), no CSS support, and limited styling options. The result looks noticeably worse than the rest of the experience.
What I’m looking for: A Node.js-compatible PDF generator that lets me use real HTML/CSS so my PDF can match the quality of my email and landing page. Ideally something that works in a serverless environment (Vercel).
Options I’m aware of:
∙ Puppeteer/Playwright (headless Chrome → PDF) — powerful but heavy for serverless
∙ Prince XML — expensive
∙ Gotenberg — self-hosted, needs Docker
Has anyone found a good solution for generating styled, dynamic PDFs from HTML/CSS in a Next.js/Vercel setup? What’s your go-to?