Product

Resources

Integrations

Pricing

Try for free

← blog posts

How to Convert HTML to PDF Using Ruby on Rails Best Gems in 2025

Written by

Marcelo | Founder of pdf noodle

Last Updated

Sep 17, 2025

Tags

Language Guide

C#

Convert HTML to PDF using Ruby on Rails has become an essential requirement for SaaS startups and enterprise applications alike. In 2025, developers are seeking Rails-compatible libraries that integrate seamlessly into their applications and deliver consistent PDF output from HTML templates. Whether building invoices, reports, or dashboards, Rails developers want solutions that are reliable, scalable, and easy to maintain.

Best html to pdf gems Ruby on rails 2025

Overview of top HTML to PDF Conversion Libraries for Ruby on Rails

Rails developers can choose between libraries that render HTML into PDF using browsers or underlying engines. This is different from older Ruby PDF libraries such as Prawn or HexaPDF, which require low-level PDF building or limited styling. With HTML-based rendering, teams can rely on CSS, JavaScript, and existing ERB or HAML templates to produce professional-looking documents.

We’ll explore the top Ruby on Rails libraries for HTML to PDF conversion in 2025:

WickedPDF
Grover
Puppeteer-Ruby

WickedPDF

WickedPDF has been a staple in the Rails community for years. It is a Ruby gem that integrates wkhtmltopdf with Rails, allowing developers to render ERB templates directly into PDFs. It supports standard CSS and JavaScript, though some modern web features may require workarounds. Its strength lies in stability and deep Rails integration, making it a common choice for applications needing invoices or reports.

Example:

# Gemfile
gem 'wicked_pdf'
gem 'wkhtmltopdf-binary'

# Controller
class InvoicesController < ApplicationController
  def show
    @invoice = Invoice.find(params[:id])
    respond_to do |format|
      format.html
      format.pdf do
        render pdf: "invoice",
               template: "invoices/show.html.erb",
               margin: { top: 20, bottom: 20, left: 10, right: 10 },
               header: { content: render_to_string(partial: 'shared/pdf_header') },
               footer: { content: render_to_string(partial: 'shared/pdf_footer') }
      end
    end
  end
end

WickedPDF is a proven solution when you want tight Rails integration and easy use of existing views.

For an in-depth tutorial on WickedPDF configuration and scaling in Rails apps, visit our complete guide.

Grover

Grover is a modern Ruby gem that leverages Puppeteer under the hood, using headless Chrome to render HTML into PDFs. This allows Rails developers to access the latest CSS3, Flexbox, and JavaScript capabilities directly in their PDF output. Grover integrates easily with controllers, Rack middleware, or background jobs.

Example:

# Gemfile
gem 'grover'

# Controller
class ReportsController < ApplicationController
  def show
    html = render_to_string(template: "reports/show", layout: "pdf")
    pdf = Grover.new(html, 
      display_header_footer: true,
      margin: { top: '50px', bottom: '50px', left: '30px', right: '30px' },
      header_template: "<div style='font-size:10px; text-align:center;'>Header Example</div>",
      footer_template: "<div style='font-size:10px; text-align:center;'>Page <span class='pageNumber'></span> of <span class='totalPages'></span></div>"
    ).to_pdf

    send_data pdf, filename: "report.pdf", type: "application/pdf"
  end
end

Grover is ideal for Rails teams that need modern styling capabilities and pixel-perfect output.

For a comprehensive Grover setup with Rails, check our extended usage guide.

Puppeteer-Ruby

Puppeteer-Ruby is a direct Ruby port of Google’s Puppeteer library, giving Rails developers fine-grained control of headless Chromium. Unlike Grover, which provides a higher-level wrapper, Puppeteer-Ruby allows developers to script browser actions directly. This is particularly useful for dynamic pages or when simulating user interactions before capturing a PDF.

Example:

# Gemfile
gem 'puppeteer-ruby'

# Script example
require 'puppeteer'

Puppeteer.launch(headless: true) do |browser|
  page = browser.new_page
  page.set_content("<html><body><h1>Invoice</h1><p>Customer details here</p></body></html>")

  page.pdf(path: 'output.pdf', 
           display_header_footer: true,
           margin: { top: '50px', bottom: '50px', left: '30px', right: '30px' },
           header_template: "<div style='font-size:10px; text-align:center;'>Header Example</div>",
           footer_template: "<div style='font-size:10px; text-align:center;'>Page <span class='pageNumber'></span> of <span class='totalPages'></span></div>")
end

Puppeteer-Ruby provides maximum flexibility when developers want raw control over Chromium’s PDF output.

For advanced scenarios with Puppeteer-Ruby in Rails projects, see our detailed implementation article.

Comparison between HTML to PDF libraries in Ruby on Rails

Characteristics	WickedPDF	Grover	Puppeteer-Ruby
Rendering Engine	wkhtmltopdf	Chromium (Headless)	Chromium (Headless)
Output Quality	Moderate	Full (Pixel-perfect)	Full (Pixel-perfect)
Ease of Use	Easy (Rails-focused)	Easy	Moderate
CSS Support	Good (CSS2, partial CSS3)	Full (CSS3, Flexbox)	Full (CSS3, Flexbox)
Community Support	Excellent	Growing	Moderate
Recommended Use	Invoices, simple reports	Modern styled reports, dashboards	Advanced scripting, dynamic content PDFs

Alternative: Convert HTML to PDFs using pdf noodle

Managing HTML-to-PDF conversion at scale can quickly become a nightmare!

Especially in serverless environments where cold starts, memory limits, and headless browser quirks love to break at the worst possible time (we even wrote a full article about it). Add constant template iterations, version control headaches, and the need to support non-technical contributors, and suddenly your “simple PDF library” turns into an ongoing engineering project.

pdf noodle eliminates all of that.

Instead of maintaining brittle infrastructure or wrestling with outdated pdf libraries, pdf noodle gives you a battle-tested PDF generation API that just works!

Fast, scalable, and designed for both developers and non-developers. You send raw HTML or use our AI-powered template builder, and pdf noodle handles the rendering, scaling, optimization, and delivery so your team doesn’t have to.

Here's an example of a simple API request to generate your pixel-perfect PDF with just a few lines of code:

# Controller
class PdfsController < ApplicationController
  def create
    response = HTTParty.post(
      "https://api.pdfnoodle.com/v1/html-to-pdf/sync",
      headers: {
        "Content-Type" => "application/json",
        "Authorization" => "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      },
      body: { html: "<h1>Invoice</h1><p>Customer details here</p>" }.to_json
    )

    if response.code == 200
      send_data response.body,
        filename: "output.pdf",
        type: "application/pdf",
        disposition: "attachment"
    else
      render json: { error: response.body }, status: response.code
    end
  end
end

pdf noodle also includes a powerful AI Agent that can generate PDF templates instantly, along with a modern editor for refining the design, also using AI, to match your brand. You don't need developing or design experience to quickly update layouts, adjust styling, and manage template versions.

Here’s a quick demo showing how it works:

You can create your account and design your first template without any upfront payment.

Conclusion

If you prefer an in-house solution, WickedPDF remains the easiest to integrate for classic Rails applications, but Grover and Puppeteer-Ruby provide modern rendering with Chromium for more complex layouts. Among these, Grover strikes the best balance of ease of use and advanced features.

If you don't want to waste time maintaining pdfs layouts and their infrastructure or if you don't want to keep track of best practices to generate PDFs at scale, third-party PDF APIs like pdf noodle will save you hours of work and deliver a high quality pdf layout.

Generating pdfs can be annoying!

Let us help you make it easier while you focus on what truly matters for your company.

Generate my first PDF

Generating pdfs can be annoying!

Let us help you make it easier while you focus on what truly matters for your company.

Generate my first PDF

Generating pdfs can be annoying!

Let us help you make it easier while you focus on what truly matters for your company.

Generate my first PDF

Title

Automate PDF Generation in minutes

No code or design experience needed

AI creates your template in seconds

Fine tune the design in our friendly builder

Generate PDFs with our API or integrations

Try for free

7-DAY FREE TRIAL

← blog posts

← blog posts

How to Convert HTML to PDF Using Ruby on Rails Best Gems in 2025

Written by

Written by

Last Updated

Last Updated

Tags

Tags

Language Guide

Language Guide

C#

C#

Overview of top HTML to PDF Conversion Libraries for Ruby on Rails

WickedPDF

Grover

Puppeteer-Ruby

Comparison between HTML to PDF libraries in Ruby on Rails

Alternative: Convert HTML to PDFs using pdf noodle

Conclusion

Generating pdfs can be annoying!

Generating pdfs can be annoying!

Generating pdfs can be annoying!

Table of contents

Product

Resources

Compare

Integrations

Product

Resources

Compare

Integrations

Product

Resources

Compare

Integrations