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PhantomJS vs wkhtmltopdf: What are the differences?
Differences between PhantomJS and wkhtmltopdf
PhantomJS and wkhtmltopdf are both popular tools for web scraping and converting web pages to PDF. Below are the key differences between the two:
- Execution Environment: PhantomJS is a headless browser that uses WebKit rendering engine, while wkhtmltopdf is a command-line tool that utilizes the WebKit engine to convert HTML to PDF.
- JavaScript Support: PhantomJS fully supports JavaScript, allowing dynamic web pages to be rendered and interacted with. On the other hand, wkhtmltopdf has limited JavaScript support, leading to potential inaccuracies in the conversion process.
- Page Rendering: PhantomJS accurately renders web pages by executing all JavaScript interactively, resulting in a faithful representation of the original page. In comparison, wkhtmltopdf's rendering process is non-interactive and may not handle complex pages with dynamic content as well.
- Ease of Use: PhantomJS provides a simple API for automating tasks and interacting with web pages programmatically. In contrast, wkhtmltopdf lacks such an API, requiring users to rely on command-line options for customizing the conversion process.
- Speed: PhantomJS generally renders pages slower than wkhtmltopdf due to its support for interactive elements. However, this slower rendering can ensure the accuracy and completeness of the final PDF output.
- Platform Compatibility: PhantomJS is compatible with a wide range of operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. Meanwhile, wkhtmltopdf primarily targets Linux and macOS systems, although Windows support is available but may be less stable.
In summary, PhantomJS is a more flexible and powerful tool for web scraping and page rendering, with full JavaScript support and more extensive platform compatibility. On the other hand, wkhtmltopdf is a simpler command-line tool suitable for basic HTML to PDF conversions, but with limited JavaScript support and less flexibility in customization options.
I am using Node 12 for server scripting and have a function to generate PDF and send it to a browser. Currently, we are using PhantomJS to generate a PDF. Some web post shows that we can achieve PDF generation using Puppeteer. I was a bit confused. Should we move to puppeteerJS? Which one is better with NodeJS for generating PDF?
You better go with puppeteer. It is basically chrome automation tool, written in nodejs. So what you get is PDF, generated by chrome itself. I guess there is hardly better PDF generation tool for the web. Phantomjs is already more or less outdated as technology. It uses some old webkit port that's quite behind in terms of standards and features. It can be replaced with puppeteer for every single task.
I suggest puppeteer to go for. It is simple and easy to set up. Only limitaiton is it can be used only for chrome browser and currently they are looking into expanding into FF. The next thing is Playwright which is just a scale up of Puppeteer. It supports cross browsers.
Pros of PhantomJS
- Scriptable web browser13
- Depends on QT3
- No ECMAScript 62