Comparison & Deployment Guide

Not sure which packages you need? Use the interactive wizard below, or browse the deployment scenarios and decision matrix to find your ideal setup.

Find Your Perfect Setup

1

Project Type

2

PHP Version

3

Framework

4

HTML-to-PDF

5

Pro Features

Project Type

Generate Your Setup

Setup Generator

Select your packages and options to generate ready-to-use configuration files.

Packages

CoreArtisanProLaravelSymfonyCodeIgniterAdaptation

Core is always included

Docker Options

Base Image

CJK FontsInstall Noto Sans CJK for Chinese, Japanese, Korean supportRoadRunnerAdd RoadRunner for persistent worker HTTP serving

Generated Code

composer require yeeefang/tcpdf-next

Deployment Scenarios

Different hosting environments have different capabilities. Here's what works best for each:

🏠

Shared Hosting

Performance

Recommended Packages

Core

Limited PHP access, no shell. Core-only with basic fonts. No Chrome/RoadRunner.

🖥

VPS (PHP-FPM)

Performance

Recommended Packages

Core Artisan Laravel

Full server control. Install Chrome for HTML→PDF. Good for most apps.

🖥

VPS + RoadRunner

RoadRunner

Performance

Recommended Packages

Core Artisan Laravel

Persistent worker eliminates cold starts. 3-7x throughput boost.

⚙

Dedicated Server

Performance

Recommended Packages

Core Artisan Pro Laravel

Full resources. Ideal for Pro features (PAdES, PDF/A-4, HSM).

⚙

Dedicated + RoadRunner

RoadRunner

Performance

Recommended Packages

Core Artisan Pro Laravel

Maximum throughput. 9,000+ docs/s with 4 workers.

☸

Kubernetes / Docker

RoadRunner

Performance

Recommended Packages

Core Artisan Pro Symfony

Horizontal scaling. RoadRunner as worker process. Production-grade.

Performance: Standard PHP-FPM vs RoadRunner

RoadRunner keeps your PHP application in memory as a persistent worker, eliminating cold starts and dramatically increasing throughput.

Standard PHP-FPM vs RoadRunner

▲ Higher is better

PHP-FPM RoadRunner

Simple Document

390 docs/s

2,605 docs/s

6.7x faster

Invoice

294 docs/s

1,960 docs/s

6.7x faster

100-Page Report

14 docs/s

98 docs/s

7.0x faster

4 Workers

1,500 docs/s

9,221 docs/s

6.1x faster

PHP 8.5.3 + OPcache + JIT · Docker 4 CPUs / 16 GB · i9-13900K · Median of 20 runs

When to use RoadRunner

RoadRunner is recommended when you need high throughput (hundreds of PDFs per minute) or low latency (sub-millisecond response times). For typical web applications generating a few PDFs per request, standard PHP-FPM is perfectly fine.

Use Case Decision Matrix

Which packages should you install for your specific use case?

\u{2705} Recommended\u{26AA} Optional— N/A

Use Case	Core	Artisan	Pro	Laravel	Symfony	CI4	Adaptation
Invoice & Report Generation	✅	⚪	⚪	⚪	⚪	⚪	—
E-commerce (HTML→PDF)	✅	✅	⚪	⚪	⚪	⚪	—
Accessible Documents (PDF/UA)	✅	—	✅	⚪	⚪	⚪	—
Digital Signatures (PAdES)	✅	—	✅	⚪	⚪	⚪	—
Legacy TCPDF Migration	✅	⚪	—	⚪	⚪	⚪	✅
High-Throughput API	✅	⚪	⚪	✅	✅	⚪	—
Archival Compliance (PDF/A-4)	✅	—	✅	⚪	⚪	⚪	—
Barcode-Heavy Documents	✅	—	⚪	⚪	⚪	⚪	—

Package Compatibility

Most packages work together seamlessly, with one exception:

Combination	Compatible	Notes
Core + Any package	Yes	Core is always required
Artisan + Any framework	Yes	Chrome CDP works with all frameworks
Pro + Laravel/Symfony/CI	Yes	Full enterprise features in any framework
Pro + Adaptation	No	Adaptation wraps the legacy TCPDF API; Pro extends the modern TCPDF-Next API. Choose one approach.
Adaptation + Framework	Yes	Use Adaptation to migrate legacy code within your framework

CJK & Font Considerations

The built-in Basic 14 fonts (Helvetica, Times, Courier, etc.) only support Latin characters. If your documents need Chinese, Japanese, or Korean text, you must:

1. Embed TrueType fonts — Use setFont() with a TTF font that supports your character set
2. Configure font paths — Set the TCPDF_FONTS_DIR environment variable or use the configuration API
3. Consider file size — CJK fonts are typically 5-15 MB each; use font subsetting to reduce PDF size

// Example: Using a CJK font
$pdf = Document::createStandalone()
    ->addPage()
    ->setFont('/path/to/NotoSansCJK-Regular.ttf', '', 12)
    ->cell(0, 10, '你好世界 こんにちは 안녕하세요');

Recommended CJK Fonts

• Noto Sans CJK — Google's open-source CJK font family (free)
• Source Han Sans — Adobe's equivalent (free)
• Both support Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean in a single font file.

Shared Hosting Limitations

On shared hosting, you typically cannot:

• Install Chrome/Chromium (no Artisan package)
• Run long-lived processes (no RoadRunner)
• Install PHP extensions (limited to what's provided)

Recommended setup for shared hosting:

composer require yeeefang/tcpdf-next

Use Core only with the built-in HTML parser for basic HTML-to-PDF needs. For pixel-perfect HTML rendering, consider upgrading to a VPS.

Next Steps

• Getting Started — Install and create your first PDF
• Installation Guide — Detailed installation for all packages
• Benchmarks — Full performance comparison data
• Migration from TCPDF — Step-by-step migration guide