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Mack
Mack

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The 5 Best Screenshot APIs in 2026 (With Free Tiers)

#webdev #api #productivity #saas

Screenshot APIs save you from running headless browsers yourself. But which one should you use?

I tested the most popular options for speed, ease of use, and pricing. Here's what I found.

What I Tested

For each API, I captured the same page (https://github.com) with default settings and measured:

  • Time to first screenshot (signup → working curl command)
  • Response time (API call → image returned)
  • Free tier limits
  • Pricing at scale

1. Rendly

Best for: Developers who want simplicity and HTML-to-image support

curl 'https://rendly-api.fly.dev/api/v1/screenshots' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url": "https://github.com"}'
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • ✅ Screenshot API + HTML-to-image in one service
  • ✅ 10 built-in OG image templates
  • ✅ Async rendering with webhooks
  • ✅ Generous free tier (100 screenshots/month)
  • Pricing: Free → $9/mo (1K) → $29/mo (5K) → $79/mo (20K)
  • Time to first screenshot: ~2 minutes (signup + API key auto-generated)

Try Rendly free →

2. ScreenshotOne

Best for: High-volume production use

  • Solid API with lots of options (block ads, dark mode, geolocation)
  • Good documentation
  • Free tier: 100 screenshots/month
  • Pricing starts at $9/mo
  • Downside: HTML-to-image is a separate feature, and advanced options can be overwhelming for simple use cases

3. APIFlash

Best for: Simple screenshot needs

  • Very straightforward REST API
  • Free tier: 100 screenshots/month
  • Pricing: $7/mo for 1,000
  • Downside: No HTML-to-image rendering, no template system

4. Screenshotlayer

Best for: Legacy projects already using it

  • One of the oldest screenshot APIs
  • Free tier: 100 screenshots/month
  • Simple query-string API
  • Downside: Slower response times, no modern features like webhooks or async rendering. API feels dated.

5. ScreenshotAPI.net

Best for: Teams needing detailed rendering control

  • Lots of customization options
  • Free tier: 100 screenshots/month
  • $9/mo for 2,500
  • Downside: More complex setup, no built-in HTML rendering

Quick Comparison

Feature Rendly ScreenshotOne APIFlash Screenshotlayer ScreenshotAPI.net
Free tier 100/mo 100/mo 100/mo 100/mo 100/mo
HTML-to-image ✅ Partial ❌ ❌ ❌
OG templates ✅ (10) ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Webhooks ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Async rendering ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Starting price $9/mo $9/mo $7/mo $10/mo $9/mo

My Pick

If you just need screenshots, any of these work. They all have similar free tiers.

But if you also need HTML-to-image rendering (OG images, certificates, invoices, social cards), Rendly is the only one that does both in a single API. The built-in templates save hours of design work.

Full disclosure: I built Rendly. But I built it because the other options were missing exactly these features.

Get started with Rendly →

Have a screenshot API I missed? Drop it in the comments.

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