Comparison · Repeat PDFs and images from saved templates
thirds.ai vs APITemplate.io
Both tools make PDFs and images from a saved design and your new details. APITemplate.io has an HTML editor and a visual editor for PDFs, and a drag-and-drop editor for images. thirds.ai keeps one design that you can edit by hand, with AI, or as HTML.
We aren't connected to APITemplate.io. APITemplate.io is a trademark of its owner. We checked APITemplate.io's features and prices on 12 September 2026. Numbers marked (vendor claim) come from APITemplate.io. Where we say which tool fits, or that we didn't find a feature, that's our opinion.
- 1 credit
- makes 1 PDF or image
- 50 credits
- free every month, no card
- $29
- a month for Starter, with 2,500 credits
- 4 formats
- PDF, PNG, JPEG, and WebP
Try it yourself
Test the same job in both tools
Make one monthly report and one campaign image in each tool, with details that look real. Check long text, page breaks, photo crops, and the next file after you change the design. Both tools charge once for a whole PDF, however many pages it has. So the editor and the app links can matter more than the price per file.
Feature by feature
Side by side
| What you need | thirds.ai | APITemplate.io |
|---|---|---|
| Inputs | Describe it to the AI, paste your own HTML, or upload a picture that becomes a design you can edit. Your code can also send plain HTML without saving a design. | PDF templates made in an HTML or visual editor, raw HTML, a reachable URL, or Markdown; image templates made in a drag-and-drop editor (vendor claim). |
| Outputs | PDF, PNG, JPEG, and WebP. | PDF, PNG, and JPEG on the product and API pages we read (vendor claim). |
| Template editing | A visual editor and an AI chat work on the same HTML design. Saved versions never change. | Separate HTML and visual editors for PDFs, plus a canvas editor for images with text, images, shapes, QR codes, and barcodes (vendor claim). |
| Brand kits | Save your logo, colours, and fonts once, and your designs can use them. | Custom fonts, colours, and logo elements are available in its editors (vendor claim). We did not find a saved brand kit that applies them across templates (our reading). |
| API and MCP | A REST API at /v1/pdf, /v1/image, and /v1/templates, plus an MCP server for AI agents. | A v2 REST API with regional endpoints, sync and async generation, webhooks, direct image URLs, and official SDKs for several languages (vendor claim). We found no product MCP server in the docs we read (our reading). |
| Integrations | The web app, the API, and MCP. | Zapier, Make, n8n, Airtable, Bubble, Integrately, and other ready links (vendor claim). |
| Pricing model | One credit makes one PDF or image. Starter is $29 a month for 2,500 credits. Extra credits cost $0.015 each on a paid plan, and packs start at $10 for 500 credits. | One successful PDF or image costs one generation, and a multi-page PDF still costs one (vendor claim). Monthly PDF Basic is $24 for 3,000 PDFs; the image-and-PDF Starter plan is $35 for 1,500 files and 15 templates (vendor claim). |
| Free tier | 50 free credits a month for a verified account, no card. Making a design with AI or from a picture costs 50 credits, and free credits don't pay for it. | 50 PDF or image generations each month, three templates, API access, and selected integrations, with no card (vendor claim). |
| Where it fits | Teams that want their brand saved once, pictures turned into designs, and HTML they can edit by hand, from code, or with AI tools. | Teams that want a ready no-code connection or several PDF input methods, with separate editors for PDF and image work (our judgment). |
Read before you decide
Limits on both sides
thirds.ai limits
- It doesn't turn a reachable page URL or Markdown into a PDF.
- It doesn't offer ready Zapier, Make, n8n, Airtable, or Bubble links.
- It doesn't offer regional API endpoints or official language SDKs.
- It doesn't make an image from a direct URL with query-string values.
APITemplate.io limits we found
- It does not list WebP as an image output on the current product and API pages we read (our reading).
- It does not show a source-image import that rebuilds a picture as an editable template (our reading).
- It does not show one saved brand kit for logos, colours, and fonts across templates (our reading).
- It does not show a product MCP server in the docs we read (our reading).
- Standard plans stop when their monthly generations run out. Pay-as-you-go is available only for Enterprise and is off by default (vendor claim).
Pricing
How we compared prices
- We checked both pricing pages on 12 September 2026. Prices can change, so check the APITemplate.io pricing page and our pricing page before you decide.
- One thirds.ai credit makes one PDF of up to 100 pages, or one image. The AI uses credits too. It costs 50 to build a new design or rebuild one from a picture, and 25 for a later AI edit. A file that fails costs nothing. See credits and billing.
- APITemplate.io says one successful PDF or image uses one generation, and a multi-page PDF still uses one. Unused generations do not roll over (vendor claim).
- For both PDFs and images, compare APITemplate.io Starter at $35 a month for 1,500 files with thirds.ai Starter at $29 a month for 2,500 credits. APITemplate.io also has a PDF-only plan at $24 a month for 3,000 PDFs. It costs less per file when you only make PDFs.
- APITemplate.io gives 50 generations each month. thirds.ai gives 50 credits each month. Free credits don't pay for AI, so an AI build needs trial credits, a credit pack, or a paid plan.
Switching
Moving from APITemplate.io
Move one template and one real data row first. An APITemplate.io PDF call puts template_id in the query and sends template values in the JSON body. Its image call sends an overrides list keyed by element name. thirds.ai sends template_id, an exact version, and a data object to either /v1/pdf or /v1/image. Save the returned job ID, then poll it or use a signed webhook until the file is ready.
For an HTML PDF template, copy the HTML and CSS into the template editor. Jinja2 and MiniJinja use similar variable, loop, and condition syntax, but their filters can differ. Check every field and page break. For a canvas image, export a PNG and use Image to template, then correct the rebuilt layout before you save it. Follow Use templates with your data to add the schema and fixed version.
Checked and dated
Sources
- https://apitemplate.io/pricing/, checked 12 September 2026
- https://apitemplate.io/docs/faq/subscription-and-credits/, checked 12 September 2026
- https://apitemplate.io/docs/getting-started/create-first-template/, checked 12 September 2026
- https://apitemplate.io/docs/pdf-generation/ways-to-generate-pdf/, checked 12 September 2026
- https://apitemplate.io/docs/image-generation/overview/, checked 12 September 2026
- https://apitemplate.io/docs/integrations/overview/, checked 12 September 2026
- https://apitemplate.io/docs/integrations/rest-api/, checked 12 September 2026
- https://apitemplate.io/use-cases/digital-marketing-or-social-media-content-generation/, checked 12 September 2026
- thirds.ai facts come from our pricing page, API reference, and billing guide.
Try the same job here
Open the Campaign results report design and type in two reporting periods. A developer can then use the template data guide to make the next PDF from code.
Change the details and make a real file for free. It has a watermark. Sign in to keep working on the same design with the same details.