How to generate website screenshots with an API
If you are looking for a practical way to generate website screenshots programmatically, this guide is for you. It explains why an external API is often a better fit than self-hosted libraries, and compares four APIs focused on screenshot generation.
Urlbox
Urlbox is a REST API that offers both full-page and mobile website screenshots.
It includes features such as custom screenshot sizes and watermarks. Urlbox offers a short free trial, but no free plan. Pricing is higher than some of the alternatives in this comparison.
Pricing
$52 / month up to 10 000 screenshots (lowest plan), $82 / month up to 10 000 screenshots (biggest plan)
'%3e%3ccircle%20cx='15.5146'%20cy='16.1352'%20r='15.5146'%20fill='%235935DD'/%3e%3cpath%20d='M8.29395%2015.1972L13.9665%2020.8699L23.7065%2011.1299'%20stroke='white'%20stroke-width='2'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cdefs%3e%3cclipPath%20id='clip0_3204_11349'%3e%3crect%20width='32'%20height='32'%20fill='white'/%3e%3c/clipPath%3e%3c/defs%3e%3c/svg%3e)
URL or HTML input
Popup and ads blocking
Sync or async
Upload to Amazon S3
Images and PDF
'%3e%3ccircle%20cx='15.5146'%20cy='15.5146'%20r='15.5146'%20fill='%233D3758'/%3e%3cpath%20d='M20.3335%2021L10.3335%2011M20.3335%2011L10.3335%2021'%20stroke='%23AAA0D4'%20stroke-width='2'%20stroke-linecap='square'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cdefs%3e%3cclipPath%20id='clip0_3204_11347'%3e%3crect%20width='32'%20height='32'%20fill='white'/%3e%3c/clipPath%3e%3c/defs%3e%3c/svg%3e)
No free plan (only a free trial)
Many limits depending on your plan (requests per minute, file size, render timeouts)
The most complete plan is expensive
Apiflash
Apiflash is an AWS Lambda-based API that offers full-page and mobile screenshots.
The free plan allows up to 100 screenshots per month, which is limited compared with Doppio. The Lite plan is inexpensive ($7 / month) but only includes 1,000 renders per month. Overall, the feature set is more limited than some alternatives in this comparison.
Pricing
$7 / month up to 1000 screenshots, $35 / month up to 10 000 screenshots
Free plan (100 screenshots / month)
Popup and ads blocking
No PDF
No async
Can’t render HTML source, URL input only
Upload to Amazon S3 is possible in a poorly secured way
Screenshot API
Screenshot API allows you to take programmatic screenshots of any website with ease.
Screenshot API offers a 7-day free trial that lets you capture up to 100 screenshots, but it does not include a free plan. Each paid plan includes a screenshot quota, with an extra cost per screenshot if you exceed it.
Pricing
$9/month up to 1000 screenshots (+$0,009 per extra), $29/month up to 10 000 screenshots (+$0,008 per extra)
Images and PDF
Popup and ads blocking
No free plan (7-day free trial)
No upload to Amazon S3
No async
Doppio
Doppio is our in-house API, which we created because nothing else sufficiently met our needs for screenshot and PDF generation.
Doppio supports both full-page and mobile screenshots, along with customization options such as device type and image format. It also supports asynchronous rendering and direct upload to your S3 bucket. In addition to image screenshots, Doppio can generate PDF files from either a URL or raw HTML input. Doppio includes a free tier with up to 400 screenshots per month. If you need more, paid plans remain accessible, and custom plans are available for specific needs.
Pricing
€14,90 / month (~$16,50) up to 4000 screenshots, €44,50 / month (~$50) up to 12 000 screenshots
Images and PDF
Upload to Amazon S3
Sync or async
URL or HTML input
Free plan (400 screenshots / month)
Responsive support
No popup and ads blocking (yet)
Conclusion
There are several good APIs for website screenshots, and each one comes with trade-offs. Doppio is a strong fit if you need both screenshots and PDFs, async workflows, S3 upload delegation, and a free plan to get started.
Comparison table
| Urlbox | Apiflash | ScreenshotAPI | Doppio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $10 / month up to 1000 screenshots | $7 / month up to 1000 screenshots | $9/month up to 1000 screenshots | €14,90 / month (~$16,50) up to 4000 screenshots |
| Free plan | (7 day free trial) | 100 screenshots / month | (7 day free trial) | 400 screenshots / month |
| Input accepted | URL or HTML input | URL only | URL only | URL or HTML input |
| Async render | | | | |
| Delegate upload (Amazon S3) | | | | |
| Type of output file | Image and PDF | Image only | Image and PDF | Image and PDF |
| Popup and ads blocking | | | | |
| Request limits | from 30 to 250 RPM | not clear | not clear | from 20 to 360 RPM |
Try Doppio with our quick start guide or see render screenshot direct for the API details.
