HTML-to-PDF is slow.
Rynko renders natively.
Puppeteer and wkhtmltopdf boot a headless browser for every document. DocRaptor hosts the same idea. Rynko replaces the whole approach with a native layout engine — PDF and Excel from one template, in 200–500ms, with no browser to run or scale.
Head to head
The self-hosted browser, the hosted HTML printer, and the native document platform.
| Feature | Puppeteer / wkhtmltopdf | DocRaptor | Rynko |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Library / CLI | Hosted HTML→PDF API | Hosted document platform |
| Rendering engine | Headless Chrome / WebKit | Headless Chrome (Prince) | Native Yoga layout engine |
| Generation speed | 3–8s + browser boot | 2–5s | 200–500ms |
| Output formats | PDF (HTML→PDF) | PDF / limited XLS | PDF & Excel from one template |
| Excel from the same template | |||
| Template authoring | Hand-coded HTML/CSS | Hand-coded HTML/CSS | Visual drag-drop designer |
| Template versioning & rollback | |||
| Infrastructure to manage | Run & scale headless Chrome | None (hosted) | None (hosted) |
| Charts, barcodes & form fields built-in | |||
| Official SDKs (Node / Python / Java) | DIY HTTP | A few libraries | Node, Python & Java |
| Webhooks & async jobs | Async callback | Webhooks + async jobs | |
| MCP / AI-agent integration |
Headless Chrome vs Native Engine
A browser per document
is a lot of overhead.
Puppeteer and wkhtmltopdf work by launching a real browser, loading your HTML and CSS, waiting for it to paint, and printing the page to PDF. It works — but every document pays for a browser boot, and every spike in traffic means more Chrome processes to run, cap, and restart.
DocRaptor hosts that same headless-browser approach so you don't have to run it — but you're still bound to HTML-to-PDF and its latency.
Rynko uses a native Yoga flexbox layout engine. JSON template in, PDF or Excel bytes out — 200–500ms, no browser anywhere in the path.
What happens on each request?
Headless Chrome / DocRaptor
Boot browser → load HTML/CSS → wait for paint → print to PDF → tear down (3–8s)
Rynko
POST JSON + template → native Yoga layout → PDF/Excel bytes → signed URL (200–500ms)
One Template, Two Formats
Your users want the spreadsheet too.
HTML-to-PDF tools give you a PDF. The moment finance asks for the same data as an editable Excel file, you're building a second pipeline with ExcelJS or openpyxl and keeping two layouts in sync forever. Rynko generates both from the same template — flip one parameter.
Excel with Puppeteer / DocRaptor
- 1.Render the PDF from HTML
- 2.Build a separate ExcelJS / openpyxl pipeline
- 3.Re-implement the layout in code
- 4.Keep two codebases in sync
- 5.Test and maintain both forever
⏱ A second project
Excel with Rynko
- 1.Design one template
- 2.Call generate with format: "pdf"
- 3.Call generate with format: "excel"
- 4.Native Excel formulas stay live
- 5.Both formats stay in sync automatically
⏱ One parameter
Code-Only vs Visual Designer
Changing a layout shouldn't need a deploy.
With Puppeteer, wkhtmltopdf, or DocRaptor, your document is code — HTML and CSS living in your repo. Nudging a logo or adding a column means an edit, a PR, a CI run, and a deploy, with no real preview until it's live.
Rynko templates live in a visual designer with live preview. Non-engineers can update them, and every publish is a version you can roll back to.
Change the template in the UI; the next API call picks it up. No redeploy.
With Puppeteer / DocRaptor
With Rynko
The Infrastructure Tax
Running a Chrome fleet is a full-time job.
Self-hosting Puppeteer or wkhtmltopdf looks free until production. Then it's memory limits, zombie processes, font installs, CVE patches, and autoscaling for every traffic spike. Rynko is a hosted API — there's simply no browser to operate.
Self-hosting a headless browser
- Run a headless Chrome cluster
- Cap memory and handle crashes
- Autoscale for traffic spikes
- Patch Chrome CVEs
- Install fonts and emoji
- Restart zombie processes
You run the browser fleet
The Rynko path
- Call one hosted API
- No browser to run
- No fonts to install
- Scales automatically
- Signed download URLs built-in
- You ship features, not infra
Zero infrastructure
Built-In, Not Bolted-On
Charts, barcodes, and form fields — included.
With HTML-to-PDF, charts become pre-rendered images, barcodes mean a third-party library, and interactive PDF form fields aren't possible without a separate post-processing step. You assemble the toolkit yourself.
Rynko ships them as first-class components — declared in the template, rendered by the engine, consistent across PDF and Excel.
Design it once; the engine handles the hard parts.
In the box
The Math
$19/mo vs. a Chrome fleet you maintain.
A production headless-browser setup means compute for the browser pool, plus the engineering hours to keep it healthy. Rynko is a hosted API that renders faster, does PDF and Excel, and starts free.
Self-hosted infra
$1,000s/mo
Chrome pool + ops time to keep it up
Cold-start latency
3–8s
Per document, before you even scale
Rynko
Free → $19/mo
200–500ms, fully hosted, PDF + Excel
Start free. Grow for $19. Ship documents, not browser infrastructure.
Free tier includes 50 documents/month, the full visual designer, and API access — enough to replace your first HTML-to-PDF pipeline today. No credit card required.
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