Round-up · 6 options

The best website screenshot APIs

Every screenshot API takes a URL and returns an image. They differ in the options, in what a heavy page costs, and in what else you can get from the same render.

By Roger Campos · Last updated: September 2026

TL;DR

For screenshots as a product, ScreenshotOne has the deepest options and Urlbox the highest-fidelity renders with PDF and video. For a screenshot alongside the page's Markdown, metadata, Lighthouse and console errors, URLpipe. Microlink bundles screenshots with link previews; Browserless lets you drive the browser yourself; ScrapingBee brings proxies.

Start free See the API

Free plan, no credit card. 1,000 credits a month.

The shortlist

6 options, and what each is best for

1. URLpipeThat's us
Docs
Per-URL web data API
One API for everything about a URL: Markdown, rendered HTML, a full-page screenshot, metadata, a summary, keywords, a Lighthouse audit and console errors — over HTTP or a hosted MCP server.
Best for
A full-page screenshot plus the page's Markdown, metadata, Lighthouse and console errors — several from one visit.
Watch out for
Single URLs only: no crawling, URL discovery, schema extraction, PDFs or SDKs, and no self-hosting. Credits are weighted — Markdown is 1, metadata 5, a summary 17. The residential exit is one exit, not a rotating pool.
To start
$0 — 1,000 credits/mo, no card · Starter $19/mo — 20,000 credits
2. ScreenshotOne
screenshotone.com
Screenshot API
A screenshot API with one of the deepest option sets around — formats, blocking, video, GPU rendering — plus Markdown, HTML and metadata from the same render, and a hosted MCP server.
Best for
Products built on screenshots that want every render option, video and SDKs in seven languages.
Watch out for
Priced per render, Markdown and HTML included. No Lighthouse or console capture, IP location only from Growth up and from datacentre proxies; its privacy policy says it is not yet GDPR-compliant.
To start
$0 — 100 screenshots/mo, no card · Basic $17/mo — 2,000 screenshots
URLpipe vs ScreenshotOne
3. Urlbox
urlbox.com
Rendering API
A rendering API for screenshots, PDFs and video, where one render can also save its HTML, Markdown and metadata, sync or async with signed webhooks.
Best for
High-fidelity screenshots, PDFs and video, with Markdown off the same render.
Watch out for
No free plan (a 7-day trial). Markdown and metadata start at Hi-Fi, LLM extraction at Ultra, and going over the quota moves you up a tier. No proxies of its own.
To start
No free plan — 7-day trial, no card · Lo-Fi $19/mo — 2,000 renders
Urlbox alternatives
4. Microlink
microlink.io
Metadata and browser API
A browser API built around link previews: metadata, screenshots, PDF, Markdown and a Lighthouse report, as flags on one GET request, served from a CDN cache.
Best for
Screenshots bundled with link-preview metadata, served from a CDN.
Watch out for
Free is 25 requests a day, and paid plans pause at the quota until the next cycle. No AI summary, keyword extraction or webhook delivery; its MCP server runs locally, and the repository was archived in July 2026.
To start
$0 — 25 requests/day, no card · Pro $49/mo — 46,000 requests
URLpipe vs Microlink
5. Browserless
browserless.io
Hosted headless browsers
Hosted headless Chrome: connect Puppeteer or Playwright to it, or call REST endpoints for content, screenshots, PDFs, Lighthouse runs and crawls.
Best for
Driving the browser yourself with Puppeteer or Playwright, then screenshotting.
Watch out for
Billed in units of up to 30 seconds of browser time; most REST endpoints are synchronous; the self-hosted version is SSPL-1.0 or a commercial licence.
To start
$0 — 1,000 units/mo, 2 concurrent · Prototyping $25/mo annual — 20,000 units
6. ScrapingBee
scrapingbee.com
Scraping API
A scraping API built around getting the page at all: rotating, premium and stealth proxies, JavaScript rendering, extraction rules and dedicated search scrapers.
Best for
Screenshots of sites that need premium proxies or geotargeting.
Watch out for
A JavaScript-rendered request costs 5 credits, 25 with a premium proxy and 75 in stealth mode. Synchronous only, with a 140-second timeout, and no automatic overage.
To start
1,000 trial credits, no card · Hobby $19/mo — 75,000 credits
ScrapingBee alternatives

Criteria

What to look for in a screenshot API

1
Full page, really. A full-page capture has to scroll the page to wake lazy-loaded images before it renders. Check the maximum height.
2
The options you'll need in month two: one element by selector, dark mode, hidden elements, injected CSS, ad and cookie-banner removal, a device scale factor.
3
What a heavy page costs. Some APIs count long renders or large files as extra units; others cap the expensive dimensions and charge a flat price.
4
Async and storage. A webhook, a link that needs no key, somewhere to collect the image later.
5
What else comes off the same render — HTML, Markdown, metadata.

Live

Try one on your own page

Screenshot any website from its URL

Paste a link and get a full-page PNG of the rendered page — JavaScript executed, exactly as a real browser would draw it. Great for previews, monitoring and visual QA.

Try it free

Recommendations

Which one to pick

If you need…	Pick
Every render option, video, SDKs in seven languages	ScreenshotOne
High-fidelity renders, PDFs, video, on-premises	Urlbox
A screenshot plus Markdown, metadata, Lighthouse and console errors	URLpipe
Screenshots with link-preview metadata, via a GET	Microlink
Your own Puppeteer or Playwright code on a hosted browser	Browserless
Screenshots of heavily protected sites	ScrapingBee

Example

A screenshot with options on URLpipe

Full page by default up to 16,384 px, PNG, JPEG or WebP, viewport 320–1920 px, 1–3× scale — all for 1 credit whichever options you use, with an X-Result-Url link that needs no key for 30 days.

Full page, WebP, 2×, dark mode

curl -X POST https://urlpipe.dev/screenshot \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $URLPIPE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "sync": true,
    "page_options": { "block_ads": true, "block_cookie_banners": true },
    "screenshot_options": {
      "format": "webp",
      "viewport_width": 390,
      "device_scale_factor": 2,
      "dark_mode": true,
      "hide_selectors": ["#chat-widget"]
    }
  }'

Compared

Every option, side by side

Capability	URLpipe	ScreenshotOne	Urlbox	Microlink	Browserless	ScrapingBee
Screenshots	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Full-page screenshots	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Element, dark-mode and hidden-selector screenshots	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	—
Renders JavaScript (real browser)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Clean Markdown from a URL	Yes	Yes	Hi-Fi and up	Yes	Yes	Yes
Metadata / Open Graph	Yes	Yes	Hi-Fi and up	Yes	Partial	Partial
Lighthouse audits	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	—
JavaScript console capture	Yes	No	No	Partial	Your own code	—
Several outputs from one page visit	/scrape	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial
PDF input or output	No	Output	Output, Ultra and up	Output	Output	—
MCP server	Hosted	Hosted, or npx	npx	Local (npx), archived	Hosted	Hosted
Async + webhook for a single URL	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	Partial	No
Cached results cost nothing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—
Residential-IP fetching	One exit, +25 credits/visit	No	No	—	Yes	Yes
Official SDKs	No	7 languages	5 languages	JavaScript	TypeScript, Python	—
Free tier	1,000 credits/mo	100 renders/mo	7-day trial	25 requests/day	1,000 units/mo	1,000 trial credits
EU processing, AI included	Yes	—	—	—	—	—

ScreenshotOne: checked against screenshotone.com/pricing, screenshotone.com/docs/options, screenshotone.com/integrations/mcp, screenshotone.com/privacy-policy on September 24, 2026. Urlbox: checked against urlbox.com/pricing, urlbox.com/docs/options, urlbox.com/docs/guides/proxies, github.com/urlbox/urlbox-mcp-server on September 24, 2026. Microlink: checked against microlink.io/pricing, microlink.io/docs/api/parameters/meta, microlink.io/docs/api/parameters/insights, microlink.io/docs/guides/content-conversion/url-to-markdown, microlink.io/integrations/mcp on September 24, 2026. Browserless: checked against browserless.io/pricing, docs.browserless.io/rest-apis/performance.md, docs.browserless.io/rest-apis/smart-scrape.md, docs.browserless.io/mcp/overview.md, github.com/browserless/browserless on September 24, 2026. ScrapingBee: checked against scrapingbee.com/pricing, scrapingbee.com/documentation, help.scrapingbee.com/en/article/credit-system-explained-1h2ackp, scrapingbee.com/documentation/remote-mcp on September 24, 2026. Products change — confirm on each vendor's site before you decide.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is the best website screenshot API?

For screenshots as a product, ScreenshotOne or Urlbox. For a screenshot alongside the page's content and health — Markdown, metadata, Lighthouse, console errors — URLpipe. The right one depends on what else you need from the page.

Which screenshot APIs have a free tier?

URLpipe (1,000 credits a month, 1,000 screenshots), ScreenshotOne (100 a month), Microlink (25 requests a day) and Browserless (1,000 units a month). Urlbox has a 7-day trial; ScrapingBee gives 1,000 trial credits.

Do cached screenshots count against the quota?

Not on URLpipe, ScreenshotOne, Urlbox or Microlink — each counts only renders it actually performs.

Keep reading

Archiving pages as screenshots Screenshot a website programmatically Screenshot Extracting page metadata Link previews and unfurls Make All of compare

Try URLpipe on the free plan.

1,000 credits a month, no card. Confirm your email and your key is live — most people make their first request inside five minutes.

Start free Email the team

The best website screenshot APIs

6 options, and what each is best for

1. URLpipeThat's us

2. ScreenshotOne

3. Urlbox

4. Microlink

5. Browserless

6. ScrapingBee