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ComparisonBy 9 min read

Screenshot APIs compared: prices, free plans and features

Five screenshot APIs and ours, side by side, from each vendor’s own pricing page on 13 October 2026. Where each one is strong, what to check first, and which one fits what you need.

See the price table

Screenshot API prices and free plans

The entry plan, the smallest listed plan that covers 10,000 screenshots a month, and what 1,000 screenshots cost on that plan. Prices change, so each row links to the page it was read from.

APIFreeEntry planFor 10,000 a monthPer 1,000
Urlbox[1]No lasting free plan. A 7-day trial on the Hi-Fi and Ultra plans.$49 for 5,000 (Hi-Fi)$99 for 15,000 (Ultra)$6.60
ScreenshotOne[3]100 screenshots a month, no card needed. HTML and PDF renders included.$17 for 2,000 (Basic)$79 for 10,000 (Growth)$7.90
ApiFlash[4]100 screenshots a month.$7 for 1,000 (Lite)$35 for 10,000 (Medium)$3.50
ScreenshotAPI.net[5]A 7-day trial with 100 screenshots. No lasting free plan.$9 for 1,000 (Essential)$29 for 10,000 (Startup)$2.90
ScreenshotMachine[6]100 screenshots a month.€9 for 2,500 (Basic)€59 for 20,000 (Pro)€2.95
CurlShot100 screenshots a month, no card needed.$19 for 3,000 (Starter)$79 for 15,000 (Growth)$5.27

Compare on your own volume

Take the plan that covers your busiest month, divide its price by its screenshots, and check what counts against the quota. A failed render or a cache hit that is counted makes a cheap plan more expensive. On CurlShot, as on ScreenshotOne, neither is counted: how usage is counted.

Formats, storage, MCP and integrations

They all capture full pages in a real browser. The differences are in what comes out, where it goes, and what plugs into it.

Show formats, storage and MCP for each API

Urlbox

Formats
PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF, MP4 and WebM video, plus HTML, Markdown and page metadata
Upload to your storage
Yes, from the Hi-Fi plan
MCP for AI agents
Yes, an official MCP server on GitHub
No-code
Zapier, n8n

ScreenshotOne

Formats
PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF; video and scrolling screenshots from the Growth plan
Upload to your storage
Yes, on all plans
MCP for AI agents
Yes, on all plans
No-code
Zapier, Make, n8n, Clay

ApiFlash

Formats
PNG, JPEG, WebP
Upload to your storage
Yes, export to S3
MCP for AI agents
Not mentioned
No-code
None listed

ScreenshotAPI.net

Formats
PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF; MP4, WebM and GIF from the Startup plan
Upload to your storage
Yes: S3, Google Cloud, Azure
MCP for AI agents
Not mentioned
No-code
Zapier, Make, n8n, Google Sheets

ScreenshotMachine

Formats
JPG, PNG, GIF; PDF through a separate Website to PDF API
Upload to your storage
Not mentioned
MCP for AI agents
Not mentioned
No-code
None listed

CurlShot

Formats
PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF; MP4, WebM and GIF video
Upload to your storage
Not yet
MCP for AI agents
Yes, an MCP server, plus OpenAPI and llms.txt
No-code
n8n community node

Where each one is strong, and what to check

Each of them is the right answer for someone. These are their real strengths, and the questions to ask before you buy.

Urlbox[1]

Strengths and what to check
  • The widest range of outputs of the APIs here, from video to Markdown and metadata.
  • Official SDKs for JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, C#, Elixir, Go and Rust, and a WordPress plugin.
  • Sync and async rendering with webhooks, and upload to your own S3-compatible storage on the higher plans.
  • Moves you to the next tier instead of cutting you off when you pass your quota.

Check first. There is no lasting free plan: you test on a trial. The cheaper Lo-Fi plan ($19 for 2,000) is for sites you own: other sites come out as thumbnails only, so Hi-Fi is the real entry plan. The smallest plan that covers 10,000 screenshots a month is the 15,000 one, the most expensive at that volume here.

ScreenshotOne[3]

Strengths and what to check
  • Most features are on every plan: blocking of ads and cookie banners, signed links, webhooks, upload to S3 and an MCP server.
  • SDKs for C#, Go, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python and Ruby.
  • No-code integrations with Zapier, Make, n8n and Clay.
  • Overage is opt-in, with a hard cap you set, so a bill cannot run away.

Check first. Video output starts on the Growth plan. At about 10,000 screenshots a month it is among the higher listed prices here.

ApiFlash[4]

Strengths and what to check
  • The lowest entry price here, and a low price per screenshot at 10,000 a month.
  • Blocks ads and cookie banners, and exports to S3.
  • A short, simple API with code examples in seven languages.

Check first. Its pricing does not list PDF output, HTML input or webhooks. No MCP server or no-code integrations are mentioned.

ScreenshotAPI.net[5]

Strengths and what to check
  • The lowest price at 10,000 screenshots a month of the APIs here, if the $29 in its plan table is the one you pay.
  • Saves to S3, Google Cloud Storage or Azure.
  • Zapier, Make, n8n, Google Sheets and viaSocket integrations.

Check first. There is no lasting free plan after the trial. Its plan cards show two unlabelled prices for each plan ($9 and $20 for 1,000; $29 and $35 for 10,000), and its plan table lists the lower ones. Confirm the price at checkout. Its site lists no webhooks and no MCP server.

ScreenshotMachine[6]

Strengths and what to check
  • The lowest price per screenshot on an entry plan here: 2,500 for €9 a month.
  • A plain URL API with code examples on GitHub.

Check first. Prices are in euros. Nothing between 2,500 and 20,000 screenshots a month. Its pages do not mention blocking, HTML input, signed links, webhooks or MCP.

CurlShot

  • A failed render is not counted, and neither is a cache hit when caching is on. How usage is counted
  • URL, HTML or Markdown in; image, PDF or scrolling video out, on every plan. HTML and Markdown
  • Blocking of ads, cookie banners, trackers and chat widgets. Blocking
  • Signed links, async renders with webhooks, and up to 100 screenshots in one bulk call. Async and webhooks
  • An MCP server with a take_screenshot tool, so AI agents can look at a page. For AI agents

Check first. No upload to your own storage bucket yet. ScreenshotOne, ApiFlash, ScreenshotAPI.net and Urlbox have it. No packaged SDKs: there are complete samples for cURL, Node.js, Python, PHP, Go and Ruby instead. Urlbox and ScreenshotOne ship SDKs. No Zapier or Make app yet (there is an n8n community node). ScreenshotOne and ScreenshotAPI.net have both, Urlbox has Zapier.

Which screenshot API should you choose?

Start from the one thing you cannot do without.

The lowest bill at about 10,000 screenshots a month
ScreenshotAPI.net ($29 in its plan table, $35 on its plan card) or ApiFlash ($35).
The widest set of outputs and official SDKs
Urlbox, if a trial instead of a free plan and a higher price are fine.
Every feature on every plan, plus no-code tools
ScreenshotOne.
Files saved straight into your S3 bucket
ScreenshotOne, ApiFlash, ScreenshotAPI.net, or Urlbox from Hi-Fi.
Screenshots for an AI agent through MCP
CurlShot, ScreenshotOne or Urlbox.
HTML or Markdown in, PDF or video out, and an MCP server, on every plan
CurlShot.
Create a free accountSee the screenshot APIPlans and prices

Questions people ask

What is the cheapest screenshot API?

It depends on volume. On the vendors’ own pricing pages on 13 October 2026, ApiFlash had the lowest entry plan ($7 for 1,000 a month). At 10,000 a month, ScreenshotAPI.net listed $29 in its plan table but also showed $35 on its plan card; ApiFlash is $35. ScreenshotMachine had the lowest price per screenshot on an entry plan: 2,500 for €9.

Which screenshot APIs have a free plan?

ScreenshotOne, ApiFlash and ScreenshotMachine have 100 free screenshots a month (ScreenshotOne says no card is needed). CurlShot has a free plan too. Urlbox and ScreenshotAPI.net offer 7-day trials rather than a lasting free plan.

What is a good Urlbox alternative?

ScreenshotOne if you want a similar feature set with a free plan, ScreenshotAPI.net or ApiFlash if price at volume matters most, and CurlShot if you need HTML or Markdown input, PDF and video output and an MCP server with failed renders not counted.

Which screenshot APIs work with AI agents through MCP?

ScreenshotOne lists an MCP server on every plan, Urlbox publishes an official MCP server on GitHub, and CurlShot has an MCP server with a take_screenshot tool. The other APIs here did not mention MCP on their sites.

Do screenshot APIs charge for failed screenshots?

Several do not. Urlbox, ScreenshotOne and CurlShot say failed requests are not charged, and ScreenshotOne and CurlShot do not count cache hits either. Check the usage rules of any API before you compare prices per screenshot.

Sources

  1. [1]Urlbox, Pricing. Checked .
  2. [2]Urlbox on GitHub, screenshot-mcp-server. Checked .
  3. [3]ScreenshotOne, Pricing. Checked .
  4. [4]ApiFlash, Pricing. Checked .
  5. [5]ScreenshotAPI.net, Pricing. Checked .
  6. [6]ScreenshotMachine, Pricing. Checked .

Go deeper

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Screenshot any page in one step

Paste an address into CurlShot and download the screenshot. A free account gives you 100 screenshots every month. No card needed.

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