Comparison
TailPDF vs Dompdf
Dompdf renders CSS 2.1 in PHP. TailPDF renders full modern CSS in Chromium — without blocking your Laravel app.
| Feature | Dompdf | TailPDF |
|---|---|---|
| CSS support | CSS 2.1 (partial CSS 3) | Full modern CSS |
| Flexbox | ||
| CSS Grid | ||
| Tailwind CSS | Very limited | Full support |
| Google Fonts | Complex setup | Automatic |
| Images | Sometimes broken | Reliable |
| Architecture | In-process PHP | External API |
| Blocks your app | Yes (synchronous) | No |
When to use Dompdf
- You need fully offline generation with no external API calls
- Your layouts are very simple and don't use modern CSS
- You need everything to run in-process in PHP
When to use TailPDF
- You need modern CSS layouts — Flexbox, Grid, Tailwind
- You want reliable font and image handling
- You don't want PDF rendering blocking your Laravel app
Code Comparison
Dompdf (Laravel)
use Barryvdh\DomPDF\Facade\Pdf;
// Limited CSS — no flex, no grid, no tailwind
$pdf = Pdf::loadHTML(
'<div style="display:flex">Broken</div>'
);
return $pdf->download('invoice.pdf');TailPDF (Laravel)
$response = Http::withToken(
config('services.tailpdf.key')
)->post('https://api.tailpdf.com/pdf', [
'content' => '<div class="flex gap-4 p-8">Works</div>',
]);
return response($response->body())
->header('Content-Type', 'application/pdf');