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PDFgen Zapier integrationAutomate PDFgen with Zapier.

The PDFgen Zapier integration gives you 0 triggers, 2 actions and 0 searches. Small, but it covers the job: save an HTML template once, then turn each new record from another app into a hosted PDF link you can send, store or file.

Beta app Zapier still marks this integration as beta.

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Overview

What the PDFgen Zapier integration is for

It plugs PDFgen, a service that turns HTML, Markdown or saved templates into PDFs hosted online, into your other tools through Zapier. A Zap (an automation built on Zapier: one starting event, then the steps that follow it) can produce a document for you each time something happens elsewhere.

Two moves cover nearly every use. A layout you write once: Create Template stores a piece of HTML in PDFgen, with optional {{handlebars}} placeholders, and hands back a template ID. A finished document per event: Generate PDF takes that saved template, or raw HTML, or Markdown, and returns a hosted link to the PDF. Put together, they give you a third result: a link ready to share that the next step can paste into an email, a CRM record or a chat message.

What the integration does not do matters just as much. PDFgen has no trigger on Zapier, so it never starts a Zap: something in another app must happen first. There is no search either, so a Zap cannot look up an existing template or PDF; you keep the template ID yourself. And with only two actions, anything beyond creating templates and generating PDFs (editing, deleting, protecting) stays outside the integration. Zapier also tags PDFgen as a beta app, a sign the catalog may still change.

If you are new to the tool itself, start with the Zapier review, or go hands-on with Zapier training.

Vocabulary

Zapier words you will meet

Seven terms come back throughout this page. Each one, in plain words, as it applies to PDFgen.

Trigger
The event in an app that starts a Zap. PDFgen has none, so your trigger always comes from another tool, like a form or a sheet.
Action
What the Zap does once started. Here, saving an HTML template or producing a PDF from it on your behalf.
Task
The unit Zapier bills: one action that succeeds. Each generated PDF counts as one task on your plan.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks at a fixed interval, asking the app what is new. Most triggers you could pair with PDFgen work this way.
Instant trigger
A trigger the app reports itself, calling Zapier the moment the event happens. Nothing waits for the next check.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap carry on only when the data meets your condition, for example a signed status, and stops it otherwise.
Connection
Your PDFgen account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every PDFgen step in all of your Zaps.
Cost

What a PDFgen Zap costs in tasks

The trigger, whichever app it comes from, never costs a task. Only completed actions are billed.

  • Free plan100 tasks per month, unlimited Zaps
  • Steps on the free plan2 (one trigger, one action)
  • Premium appNo, PDFgen works on every plan
  • PDFgen triggersNone: the speed comes from the other app

Each successful Generate PDF or Create Template run is one task; a failed one is not counted. PDFgen is not a premium app, so the free plan accepts it: 100 tasks a month, but Zaps limited to two steps, one trigger and one action. Adding a filter or a second action makes the Zap multi-step, which needs a paid plan. Since PDFgen never triggers, how fast a Zap starts depends on the other app's trigger and, if it polls, on the grid below.

Connect

Connect your PDFgen account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open the Apps page

    In Zapier, go to Apps and click + Add connection. You need a PDFgen account before you begin; Zapier will not set one up for you, and the connection cannot be finished without it.

  2. 02

    Find PDFgen

    Type PDFgen in the dialog's search box, select it and click Add connection. A new tab then opens on the PDFgen side, and that is where both accounts actually get linked.

  3. 03

    Sign in and allow access

    Sign in to PDFgen in that tab and grant Zapier access. If the templates you plan to use belong to a colleague, check first that your account can read them.

First Zap

Your first PDFgen Zap, step by step

GoalEach time a new row is added to a sheet, produce a PDF from a saved template, but only for rows that are ready.

  1. 01

    Build: pick the trigger

    Create a Zap and choose the app whose event should start it, here a spreadsheet. PDFgen cannot start a Zap, so this first step always belongs to another tool.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent items from that account, so you map PDFgen on a real record instead of an empty one.

  3. 03

    Add the filter

    Add a Filter step, pick the column to check, the rule and the value. The filter makes this a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Add Generate PDF

    Add PDFgen with Generate PDF, paste the template ID that Create Template gave you, and map the row's values into it. Test the step and open the link it returns.

  5. 05

    Publish

    When the PDF looks right, click Publish to switch the Zap on. Rows added before this moment are not processed, so plan a separate run for them.

Actions

PDFgen actions

PDFgen gives you 2 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Create Template

Action

In Zapier“Create a reusable PDFgen template from HTML. Returns the template ID you can pass to Generate PDF.”

Saves a reusable layout in PDFgen from your HTML and returns the template ID that Generate PDF expects. Placeholders written as {{handlebars}} tokens get filled later.

When to use it
a design team that keeps its invoice layout in a shared doc and wants each new version stored in PDFgen.
Watch out
Name and HTML content are both required; an empty HTML field stops the step.
2

Generate PDF

Action

In Zapier“Generate a PDF from a saved template, raw HTML, or Markdown, and return a hosted link to it.”

Produces the actual document, from a saved template, raw HTML or Markdown, and hands the next step a hosted link to it. That link is what you share or store.

When to use it
sending each new customer a welcome pack whenever a record is created in your CRM.
Watch out
each run is a task, so a Zap fed by a busy trigger burns through the free plan's 100 quickly.
When it breaks

When a PDFgen Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to PDFgen and lists no limit of its own for it.

So the trouble you meet comes from Zapier's general behavior and from the two required fields. Four cases are worth knowing before you publish. If a Zap still misbehaves, see Zapier troubleshooting.

  • No PDF for older records

    A Zap reacts only to what happens after it is published. Rows, entries or deals that already existed never get their PDF; handling that backlog is a separate job.

  • A loop that eats your tasks

    If the Zap writes the PDF link back into the very sheet its trigger watches, it can set itself off again and again and drain your task count.

  • A bulk import gets held back

    When the trigger app suddenly returns a huge batch, after an import or a migration, Zapier's flood protection can hold it back instead of generating every PDF.

  • Missing name or HTML

    Create Template needs both a Name and HTML content. If a mapped value arrives empty, the step fails and no template ID reaches Generate PDF.
Need help

Need help automating PDFgen with Zapier?

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FAQ

PDFgen Zapier integration: your questions

01Is the PDFgen Zapier integration free?
Yes on the Zapier side, because PDFgen is not a premium app. The free plan gives you 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, each limited to two steps: one trigger from another app and one PDFgen action. A Zap that starts on a new form entry and runs Generate PDF fits that limit. Add a filter or a second action and it becomes multi-step, which needs a paid plan. Your PDFgen account itself follows PDFgen's own terms.
02How many tasks does PDFgen use on Zapier?
One task per successful action, nothing for the trigger. A Zap that only runs Generate PDF spends one task per document; one that runs Create Template then Generate PDF spends two. A step that fails is not counted against your plan. Checking the other app for new items costs nothing either, however often Zapier looks. The number to watch is therefore the volume of events your trigger produces, since each one becomes at least one billed PDF.
03Can a PDFgen Zap run in real time?
It depends on the trigger app, not on PDFgen. PDFgen has no trigger, so it never starts a Zap; another app does. If that app offers an instant trigger, it calls Zapier the moment the event happens and the PDF follows right away. If it is a polling trigger, Zapier checks on a timer: every 15 minutes on Free, 2 on Professional, 1 on Team and Enterprise. In the editor, an instant trigger shows a lightning bolt.
04What do you need to connect PDFgen to Zapier?
An existing PDFgen account. On the Apps page of Zapier, click + Add connection, search for PDFgen, click Add connection, then sign in to PDFgen in the tab that opens and grant access. If you plan to use templates that a colleague owns, your account needs access to them. The connection is set up once and reused by every PDFgen step in every Zap you build afterwards, so you never sign in again per Zap.
05Why does Create Template fail in a Zap?
Most often because a required field arrived empty. Create Template needs a Name and HTML content on every run. If you map those values from an earlier step and that step sometimes leaves them blank, the action stops and no template ID is returned. A filter placed before the step, checking that the HTML is not empty, prevents the failed runs, though it makes the Zap multi-step and needs a paid plan.
06What if the PDFgen operation you need is missing?
Then the integration does not offer it, and no setting will add it. Zapier lists 2 visible PDFgen operations, both actions: Create Template and Generate PDF. There is no trigger, no search and no step to edit or delete a template. The practical route is to build the result from what exists, for instance by keeping your template IDs in a sheet, or to check whether another app in the Zap can cover the missing part.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for PDFgen?
Decide on criteria rather than on a ranking. On Zapier, PDFgen is not premium and a simple two-step Zap, another app's trigger plus Generate PDF, runs on the free plan. The limits show up when you need a filter or several actions, because each makes the Zap multi-step, and when your trigger app only polls, which adds the plan's interval. Weigh those two points against what the other tools offer for PDFgen.
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