I need to create a pdf from the data I am getting from my saved search. I want to show it in a tabular format. using advance pdf template will be easier approach or creating rows, columns in xml will be easier? want it to look somewhat like the below image with data in each column

Using advanced pdf templates or creating rows/columns in the script itself would be very similar. One main difference though is that you could easily format the advanced pdf template later if you want, without tinkering with the script.