Screenshot APIs and headless browser APIs compared
For page screenshots or PDFs you can call a dedicated screenshot API (one request, one image) or drive a hosted headless browser and capture it yourself. The first is simpler; the second handles logins and multi-step flows. Only verified limits and prices are shown.
Prices verified on vendor pages for 7 of 7 providers below; the rest are marked unknown. Always confirm at checkout. Order: vendor discounts, then free tiers, then standard signups, A–Z. Affiliate status does not affect order.
Comparison table
| Provider | Offer | Published pricing (verified) | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browserbase | Free tier | Free: 3 concurrent browsers, 1 browser hour, 1k Search+Fetch | Yes |
| Browserless | Free tier | Free $0/mo: 1k units/month, 2 max concurrent browsers; no card required | Yes |
| Hyperbrowser | Free tier | 5,000 free credits | Yes |
| Kernel | Free tier | $5 free usage/mo refreshed; stealth available on free | Yes |
| Steel | Free tier | $30 one-time free usage (~300 browser hrs); 90-day validity; captcha/proxies need $10 deposit | Yes |
| PDFCrowd | Standard signup | API plans per pdfcrowd.com/pricing (monthly): Nano $1 (10 credits), Micro $11 (200), Small $23 (1,000), Medium $35 (5,000), Large $61 (10,000), Ultimate $106 (20,000), Enterprise 50 $221 (50,000), Enterprise 100 $331 (100,000). 1 credit = 0.5 MB of output; credits refresh each billing period. Free trial includes 100 … | Yes |
| ScreenshotOne | Standard signup | Screenshot/rendering API (pages to images, PDFs, scrolling screenshots, videos) with webhooks, signed links, stealth mode and IP location options. 100 free screenshots; Basic $17/mo (2,000 screenshots), Growth $79/mo (10,000), Scale $259/mo (50,000); annual billing = 2 months free (per screenshotone.com/pricing). | Not verified |
Pros and cons
Derived only from facts on the vendor pages we checked.
Browserbase
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
Browserless
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- No card required to start (per vendor page)
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Some plans or trials require a card
Hyperbrowser
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
Kernel
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
Steel
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Part of the offer is one-time or intro-only; check the ongoing price
PDFCrowd
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
ScreenshotOne
Pros:
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
How to choose
- Single public URL to image or PDF: a screenshot API is fewer moving parts.
- Logged-in or multi-step pages: a hosted browser session you control.
- Check concurrency and session-hour limits on free tiers.
- Confirm ad/cookie-banner blocking and full-page capture if you need clean images.
FAQ
Is a screenshot API cheaper than a headless browser?
For simple captures usually yes in engineering time; per-capture cost depends on volume, so compare the verified plans in the table.
Can these render JavaScript-heavy pages?
Yes; all listed options use real browsers, but timeouts and wait conditions differ.
Related
Categories: Scraping & unblock deals · Compute category hub
Other comparisons: Cheapest residential proxies compared · Rotating proxies for web scraping compared · Cheap GPU rental and GPU cloud deals · H100 rental price comparison · Cheapest cloud VPS and hosting for AI agents · Email verification APIs compared · Cold email deliverability and inbox warmup tools · Transactional email API pricing · SERP and search APIs compared · AI SEO writing and optimization tools compared · Web scraping API deals