There are a lot of screenshot and PDF APIs out there — and the pricing and feature differences are significant. This guide compares the major players so you can make the right call for your project.
APIs compared: URLSnap, URLBox, ScreenshotAPI.net, HTMLCSStoImage, Screenshotlayer, Browserless
URLSnap Starter gives you 500 requests per day (≈15,000/month) for $9/mo. That's the best req/dollar ratio in its price tier by a wide margin.
| Feature | URLSnap Best Value | URLBox | ScreenshotAPI | HTMLCSStoImage | Screenshotlayer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter price | $9/mo | $49/mo | $19/mo | $20/mo | $9.99/mo |
| Requests (starter) | 500/day | 2,000/mo | ~1,000/mo | 500/mo | 500/mo |
| Free tier | ✓ 20 req/day | ✗ Trial only | ✓ 100 req/mo | ✓ 50 req/mo | ✓ 100 req/mo |
| Credit card for free tier | Not required | Required | Required | Required | Not required |
| Screenshots (PNG/JPEG) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Images only | ✓ |
| PDF generation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Full-page screenshots | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | N/A | ✓ |
| Custom viewport size | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| JavaScript / SPA rendering | ✓ (headless Chromium) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Limited |
| Delay / wait param | ✓ (?delay=ms) | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Simple GET request API | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | POST only | ✓ |
| Works in serverless | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Code examples (multi-language) | ✓ 8 languages | ✓ | Limited | Limited | ✗ |
| Pro plan price | $29/mo | $99/mo | ~$49/mo | $40/mo | $29.99/mo |
URLBox is the most feature-rich screenshot API on the market. It offers things like cookie injection, custom JavaScript execution, element selectors, and an image caching CDN. If you need those advanced features, URLBox is excellent.
But for the most common use cases — take a screenshot or generate a PDF from a URL — URLSnap does everything URLBox does at its core, for $9/mo vs $49/mo. For most developers and startups, the 5× price difference isn't justified.
ScreenshotAPI.net is a solid service at $19/mo. It gives you approximately 1,000 credits per month at the base tier. URLSnap gives you 500 requests per day (≈15,000/month) for $9/mo. If you need consistent daily volume, URLSnap is a dramatically better deal.
HTMLCSStoImage is designed for a specific use case: rendering HTML/CSS templates as images for email headers, social cards, and personalized images. It doesn't do PDF generation, and its free tier is tiny (50 renders/month). If you're rendering URLs (not custom HTML templates), URLSnap is more suitable and cheaper.
Screenshotlayer is one of the oldest screenshot APIs. At $9.99/mo you get 500 requests per month. URLSnap at $9/mo gives you 500 requests per day — 30× more volume for essentially the same price. Screenshotlayer also doesn't support PDF generation.
Browserless is more of a headless Chrome infrastructure service than a simple screenshot API. It's powerful for complex browser automation, but for taking screenshots and generating PDFs via a REST API, it's overkill and more expensive to configure. URLSnap is the right choice if you want a simple GET /api/screenshot workflow.
Get a free API key in 10 seconds (no credit card):
# Screenshot
curl "https://urlsnap.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&apiKey=YOUR_KEY" --output shot.png
# PDF
curl "https://urlsnap.dev/api/pdf?url=https://example.com&apiKey=YOUR_KEY" --output page.pdf20 requests/day on the free tier. Upgrade to Starter ($9/mo) for 500 req/day whenever you're ready.
Get Free API Key See PricingURLSnap offers 20 requests/day free with no credit card required. While some services offer a one-time credit allowance, URLSnap's daily-reset free tier is better for ongoing small-scale use.
URLSnap at $9/mo for 500 req/day gives you the best requests-per-dollar at the starter tier. At $29/mo you get 5,000 requests/day on the Pro plan — that's ~150,000 requests/month for less than most competitors charge for 5,000/month.
Yes. URLSnap supports both screenshot (/api/screenshot) and PDF (/api/pdf) endpoints with the same simple API key. Formats include A4, Letter, Legal, A3, A5, and Tabloid with optional landscape mode.
Yes — URLSnap is just an HTTP API, so it works from any runtime including Lambda, Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Workers, or any language. Unlike self-hosted Puppeteer, there are no binaries or memory concerns.