Compare PuppeteerSharp vs IronPDF

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Originally Posted On: https://ironsoftware.com/suite/blog/comparison/compare-puppeteersharp-vs-ironpdf/

PuppeteerSharp vs IronPDF: Technical Comparison Guide

When .NET developers assess PDF generation tools, PuppeteerSharp and IronPDF offer distinct approaches to the same challenge. PuppeteerSharp introduces browser automation to C# as a version of Google’s Puppeteer, while IronPDF is a dedicated PDF generation library. This technical comparison evaluates both solutions based on the criteria that are crucial for developers and architects planning PDF generation strategies for .NET applications in the future.

Understanding PuppeteerSharp

PuppeteerSharp is a .NET adaptation of Google’s Puppeteer, bringing browser automation capabilities to C#. It generates PDFs using Chrome’s built-in print-to-PDF feature, similar to pressing Ctrl+P in a browser. This produces print-ready output optimized for paper, which differs from screen rendering.

This distinction is important: PuppeteerSharp’s PDF output is equivalent to Chrome’s print dialog, not a screen capture. Layouts may reflow, backgrounds may be omitted by default, and output is paginated for printing rather than matching the browser viewport.

PuppeteerSharp excels at modern CSS3 support because it uses the Chromium engine for rendering. The library also enables rich browser interaction for web scraping, automated testing, and browser automation tasks beyond PDF generation.

However, PuppeteerSharp has significant deployment considerations. A 300MB+ Chromium binary must be downloaded before first use. Under heavy load, the library experiences memory accumulation that requires manual browser recycling. The architecture demands complex async patterns with browser lifecycle management.

Accessibility Limitation: PuppeteerSharp cannot produce PDF/A (archival) or PDF/UA (accessibility) compliant documents. For Section 508, EU accessibility directives, or long-term archival requirements, dedicated PDF solutions become necessary.

Understanding IronPDF

IronPDF is purpose-built for PDF generation, offering a leaner footprint and complete PDF manipulation without browser automation overhead. The library provides a bundled Chromium rendering engine, automatic memory management, and extends beyond generation to include editing, merging, splitting, and digital signatures.

IronPDF’s architecture eliminates the separate Chromium download requirement, simplifies deployment through a single NuGet package, and provides both synchronous and asynchronous API patterns for different application needs.

The Browser Automation Problem

PuppeteerSharp was designed for web testing and scraping, not document generation. This creates fundamental issues when using it primarily for PDFs:

Aspect PuppeteerSharp IronPDF
Primary Purpose Browser automation PDF generation
Chromium Dependency 300MB+ separate download Built-in optimized engine
API Complexity Async browser/page lifecycle Synchronous one-liners
Initialization BrowserFetcher.DownloadAsync() + LaunchAsync new ChromePdfRenderer()
Memory Management Manual browser recycling required Automatic
Memory Under Load 500MB+ with leaks ~50MB stable
Cold Start 45+ seconds ~20 seconds
PDF/A Support Not available Supported
PDF/UA Accessibility Not available Supported
PDF Editing Not available Merge, split, stamp, edit
Digital Signatures Not available Supported
Thread Safety Limited Supported

Memory and Performance Metrics

The architectural differences between PuppeteerSharp and IronPDF translate to measurable production metrics:

Feature PuppeteerSharp IronPDF
Deployment Size 300MB+ Compact NuGet Package
PDF Manipulation Limited Extensive Features
Memory Usage 500MB+ 50MB
PDF Generation Time 45s 20s
Thread Safety ⚠ Limited ✅ Yes

PuppeteerSharp’s memory accumulation under sustained load represents a significant production concern. The library requires explicit browser recycling to prevent memory leaks:

  1. // PuppeteerSharp - Memory grows with each operation
  2. // Requires explicit browser recycling every N operations
  3. for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
  4. {
  5. var page = await browser.NewPageAsync();
  6. await page.SetContentAsync($"<h1>Document {i}</h1>");
  7. await page.PdfAsync($"doc_{i}.pdf");
  8. await page.CloseAsync(); // Memory still accumulates!
  9. }
  10. // Must periodically: await browser.CloseAsync(); and re-launch

IronPDF maintains stable memory through automatic management:

  1. // IronPDF - Stable memory, reuse renderer
  2. var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
  3. for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
  4. {
  5. var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf($"<h1>Document {i}</h1>");
  6. pdf.SaveAs($"doc_{i}.pdf");
  7. // Memory managed automatically
  8. }

Platform Support Comparison

The libraries differ in their .NET version compatibility:

Library .NET Framework 4.7.2 .NET Core 3.1 .NET 6-8 .NET 10
IronPDF ✅ Full ✅ Full ✅ Full ✅ Full
PuppeteerSharp ⚠ Limited ✅ Full ✅ Full ❌ Pending

IronPDF’s complete support across .NET platforms ensures developers can use it in various environments without compatibility issues, providing flexibility for modern .NET applications targeting future deployment timelines.

HTML to PDF Conversion

The most common PDF generation scenario involves converting HTML content. The code patterns reveal fundamental API differences.

PuppeteerSharp HTML-to-PDF Implementation

PuppeteerSharp requires async patterns with browser lifecycle management:

  1. // NuGet: Install-Package PuppeteerSharp
  2. using PuppeteerSharp;
  3. using System.Threading.Tasks;
  5. class Program
  6. {
  7. static async Task Main(string[] args)
  8. {
  9. var browserFetcher = new BrowserFetcher();
  10. await browserFetcher.DownloadAsync();
  12. await using var browser = await Puppeteer.LaunchAsync(new LaunchOptions
  13. {
  14. Headless = true
  15. });
  17. await using var page = await browser.NewPageAsync();
  18. await page.SetContentAsync("<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is a PDF document.</p>");
  19. await page.PdfAsync("output.pdf");
  20. }
  21. }

This pattern requires:

  • Downloading Chromium binaries (~300MB) on first use
  • Launching a browser instance
  • Creating page contexts
  • Managing browser cleanup through await using patterns
  • Handling potential memory accumulation over time

IronPDF HTML-to-PDF Implementation

IronPDF provides a streamlined synchronous API:

  1. // NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
  2. using IronPdf;
  4. class Program
  5. {
  6. static void Main(string[] args)
  7. {
  8. var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
  9. var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is a PDF document.</p>");
  10. pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");
  11. }
  12. }

The IronPDF approach eliminates browser lifecycle management entirely. The ChromePdfRenderer class encapsulates the rendering engine, and RenderHtmlAsPdf handles the conversion in a single method call. No BrowserFetcher.DownloadAsync() is required—the rendering engine is bundled automatically.

URL to PDF Conversion

Converting live web pages to PDF requires navigation and page loading handling.

PuppeteerSharp URL Conversion

  1. // NuGet: Install-Package PuppeteerSharp
  2. using PuppeteerSharp;
  3. using System.Threading.Tasks;
  5. class Program
  6. {
  7. static async Task Main(string[] args)
  8. {
  9. var browserFetcher = new BrowserFetcher();
  10. await browserFetcher.DownloadAsync();
  12. await using var browser = await Puppeteer.LaunchAsync(new LaunchOptions
  13. {
  14. Headless = true
  15. });
  17. await using var page = await browser.NewPageAsync();
  18. await page.GoToAsync("https://www.example.com");
  19. await page.PdfAsync("webpage.pdf");
  20. }
  21. }

PuppeteerSharp’s URL conversion follows the same async browser lifecycle pattern, using GoToAsync for navigation before PDF generation.

IronPDF URL Conversion

  1. // NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
  2. using IronPdf;
  4. class Program
  5. {
  6. static void Main(string[] args)
  7. {
  8. var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
  9. var pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://www.example.com");
  10. pdf.SaveAs("webpage.pdf");
  11. }
  12. }

IronPDF’s RenderUrlAsPdf method handles navigation and rendering in a single call with intelligent built-in waiting for page content.

Custom Rendering Settings

Production PDF generation typically requires control over page dimensions, margins, and orientation.

PuppeteerSharp Custom Settings

  1. // NuGet: Install-Package PuppeteerSharp
  2. using PuppeteerSharp;
  3. using PuppeteerSharp.Media;
  4. using System.Threading.Tasks;
  6. class Program
  7. {
  8. static async Task Main(string[] args)
  9. {
  10. var browserFetcher = new BrowserFetcher();
  11. await browserFetcher.DownloadAsync();
  13. await using var browser = await Puppeteer.LaunchAsync(new LaunchOptions
  14. {
  15. Headless = true
  16. });
  18. await using var page = await browser.NewPageAsync();
  19. await page.SetContentAsync("<h1>Custom PDF</h1><p>With landscape orientation and margins.</p>");
  21. await page.PdfAsync("custom.pdf", new PdfOptions
  22. {
  23. Format = PaperFormat.A4,
  24. Landscape = true,
  25. MarginOptions = new MarginOptions
  26. {
  27. Top = "20mm",
  28. Bottom = "20mm",
  29. Left = "20mm",
  30. Right = "20mm"
  31. }
  32. });
  33. }
  34. }

PuppeteerSharp uses string-based margin values and a PdfOptions object passed to the PdfAsync method.

IronPDF Custom Settings

  1. // NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
  2. using IronPdf;
  3. using IronPdf.Rendering;
  5. class Program
  6. {
  7. static void Main(string[] args)
  8. {
  9. var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
  10. renderer.RenderingOptions.PaperSize = PdfPaperSize.A4;
  11. renderer.RenderingOptions.PaperOrientation = PdfPaperOrientation.Landscape;
  12. renderer.RenderingOptions.MarginTop = 20;
  13. renderer.RenderingOptions.MarginBottom = 20;
  14. renderer.RenderingOptions.MarginLeft = 20;
  15. renderer.RenderingOptions.MarginRight = 20;
  17. var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Custom PDF</h1><p>With landscape orientation and margins.</p>");
  18. pdf.SaveAs("custom.pdf");
  19. }
  20. }

IronPDF uses numeric margin values in millimeters through the RenderingOptions property, providing clear unit semantics. The renderer can be configured once and reused for multiple conversions.

API Mapping Reference

Teams evaluating PuppeteerSharp migration to IronPDF can reference this mapping of equivalent operations:

PuppeteerSharp API IronPDF API
new BrowserFetcher().DownloadAsync() Not needed
Puppeteer.LaunchAsync(options) Not needed
browser.NewPageAsync() Not needed
page.GoToAsync(url) renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf(url)
page.SetContentAsync(html) renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html)
page.PdfAsync(path) pdf.SaveAs(path)
await page.CloseAsync() Not needed
await browser.CloseAsync() Not needed
PdfOptions.Format RenderingOptions.PaperSize
PdfOptions.Landscape RenderingOptions.PaperOrientation
PdfOptions.MarginOptions RenderingOptions.MarginTop/Bottom/Left/Right
PdfOptions.PrintBackground RenderingOptions.PrintHtmlBackgrounds
PdfOptions.HeaderTemplate RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader
PdfOptions.FooterTemplate RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter
page.WaitForSelectorAsync() RenderingOptions.WaitFor.HtmlElementId
page.WaitForNetworkIdleAsync() Automatic
N/A PdfDocument.Merge()
N/A pdf.ApplyStamp()
N/A pdf.SecuritySettings
N/A pdf.Sign()

Feature Comparison

Beyond basic conversion, the libraries differ substantially in PDF manipulation capabilities:

Feature PuppeteerSharp IronPDF
HTML to PDF Yes (print-to-PDF) Yes (Chromium render)
URL to PDF Yes Yes
CSS Grid/Flexbox Yes Yes
JavaScript Execution Yes Yes
PDF/A Archival No Yes
PDF/UA Accessibility No Yes
Digital Signatures No Yes
Password Protection No Yes
Merge PDFs No Yes
Split PDFs No Yes
Watermarks No Yes
Text Extraction No Yes
Form Filling No Yes
Sync API No Yes
Async API Yes Yes

When Teams Consider PuppeteerSharp Migration

Several factors prompt development teams to evaluate alternatives to PuppeteerSharp for PDF generation:

Deployment size concerns arise when the 300MB+ Chromium download bloats Docker images and causes cold start issues in serverless environments. IronPDF eliminates this separate download, reducing deployment size significantly.

Memory leak challenges under sustained load require manual browser recycling with PuppeteerSharp. Teams building high-volume PDF generation services find that memory accumulation by browser instances necessitates complex operational patterns.

Missing PDF manipulation features become blockers when requirements include merging documents, adding watermarks, applying digital signatures, or extracting text. PuppeteerSharp focuses on generation only.

Compliance requirements for accessibility (Section 508, PDF/UA) or archival (PDF/A) cannot be met with PuppeteerSharp’s current capabilities.

Thread safety limitations affect applications handling concurrent PDF requests, where IronPDF’s full thread safety provides more reliable behavior.

Performance Comparison Summary

Metric PuppeteerSharp IronPDF Improvement
First PDF (Cold Start) 45s+ ~20s 55%+ faster
Subsequent PDFs Variable Consistent Predictable
Memory Usage 500MB+ (grows) ~50MB (stable) 90% less memory
Disk Space (Chromium) 300MB+ 0 Eliminate downloads
Browser Download Required Not needed Zero setup
Thread Safety Limited Full Reliable concurrency

Strengths and Trade-offs

PuppeteerSharp Strengths

  • Modern CSS3 support through Chromium engine
  • Rich browser interaction for scraping and testing
  • Direct port of Google’s Puppeteer API
  • Free and open source

PuppeteerSharp Limitations for PDF Generation

  • 300MB+ Chromium dependency
  • Memory leaks under sustained load
  • Browser automation overhead for document generation
  • No PDF/A or PDF/UA compliance
  • No PDF manipulation capabilities
  • Complex async patterns required

IronPDF Strengths

  • Purpose-built for PDF generation and manipulation
  • No external browser downloads required
  • Automatic memory management
  • Comprehensive feature set (signatures, security, forms)
  • PDF/A and PDF/UA compliance support
  • Both sync and async API patterns
  • Professional support with documentation

IronPDF Considerations

  • Commercial licensing model
  • Focused specifically on PDF operations (not browser automation)

Conclusion

PuppeteerSharp serves as an excellent browser automation tool that includes PDF generation capabilities. For teams already using Puppeteer patterns who occasionally need PDF output and can manage the Chromium dependency, memory recycling, and async complexity, the library provides functional results.

For applications where PDF generation represents a core requirement—especially those needing manipulation capabilities, compliance standards, stable memory behavior, or high-volume processing—IronPDF offers a purpose-built solution. The elimination of 300MB+ Chromium downloads, automatic memory management, and comprehensive PDF features address the primary production challenges teams face with browser-based PDF generation.

When evaluating PuppeteerSharp migration to IronPDF, teams should consider their specific requirements around deployment size, memory stability under load, compliance needs, and PDF manipulation requirements. For PDF-centric workflows targeting .NET 10 and C# 14 in 2026, IronPDF’s dedicated architecture provides a more appropriate foundation than repurposing a browser automation tool.

 

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