Top 10 Best Screenshot Generation APIs: Website Screenshots API, Rasterwise API, and Many Others

Taking a screenshot that showcases the contents of a computer display can be very helpful. It can assist you to prove a point, demonstrate how to complete a task, capture exactly what is taking place, and more.

Because of the usefulness of screenshots, several software tools have been created to enable users to capture images and videos of the data displayed on the screens of mobile devices or computers. What’s more, some of these tools have exposed their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow developers to fetch their features and build awesome applications, without starting from scratch.

Therefore, to ensure you get the right screenshot generation API, we reviewed several APIs listed on the Rakuten RapidAPI platform, which is the biggest online API marketplace, based on the following factors:

• API features: We evaluated the outstanding features of each of the screenshot generation APIs.
• Price: We scrutinized the cost of entrenching each of the APIs into applications.
• Ease of use: We assessed the ease of fetching the APIs’ features and adding them to applications.

Ultimately, we formed the following list of the top 10 best screenshot generation APIs:

• Website Screenshots API by Thumbnail
• Rasterwise API
• URL To Screenshot API
• Full Page Website Screenshot API
• Website Screenshot API by Ariesbrow
• Pagepeeker API
• Screenshotlayer API
• JSON Whois – Screenshots API
• Getscreenshots API
• Urlbox API

Top 10 Best Screenshot Generation APIs

TL;DR: Here’s a table summarizing our key findings.

1. Website Screenshots API by Thumbnail

The Website Screenshots API helps you to generate screenshots of websites easily.

API features: To create a screenshot using the Website Screenshots API by Thumbnail, you need to specify the URL of the website you want to capture and the width of the screenshot to be generated.  Optionally, you can specify if you want a desktop version, a mobile version, or a full page version of the website. It supports PNG and JPEG image output formats.

Price: If you make less than 5,000 requests per month, you can use the API for free. Otherwise, you can pay $19.95 per month and get 500,000 requests or $49.95 per month and get unlimited requests.

Ease of use: There is sufficient documentation to ensure you integrate the API with ease.

2. Rasterwise API

The Rasterwise API offers an accurate way of capturing screenshots, alongside options for customizing image rendering, graphics display resolution presets, and workflows like webhooks and email.

API features: The Rasterwise API requires you to specify a URL to the website or web page you want to screenshot. Optionally, you can provide a custom CSS style to inject before the screen capture operation, a custom JavaScript evaluation script to inject before the screen capture operation, and dimensions of the viewport when taking the screenshot. Furthermore, you can set a webhook, provide a custom word or phrase to be highlighted, specify an email address to receive the captured image and the details of the capture, hide cookie disclaimers from the captured screenshot, and more. The API supports either PNG or JPEG image output formats.

Price: The free tier is limited to 50 requests per month. Beyond which, you can opt for any of its paid plans, ranging from $5 per month to $20 per month.

Ease of use: There are integration examples, SDKs, and other useful resources to eliminate any implementation hurdles.

3. URL To Screenshot API

The URL To Screenshot API is a simple API that lets you get a screenshot from a webpage.

API features: With the URL To Screenshot API, you simply need to indicate the webpage’s URL and it’ll capture a screenshot. Optionally, you can specify the width and height of the screenshot to be generated, its mobile view settings, lazy loading, and other parameters. It returns a PNG image, which can be encoded in the base64 format.

Price: As long as you make less than 1,000 requests per month, you can use the API for free. Otherwise, you can choose any of its paid plans, which starts from $9.99 per month to $99.99 per month.

Ease of use: There is well-explained documentation to ensure you make the most of the API.

4. Full Page Website Screenshot API

The Full Page Website Screenshot API by freeconvertonline.co enables you to generate a full page screenshot of any provided website.

API features: To use the Full Page Website Screenshot API, you need to provide the URL to the target website in the body parameter, and it’ll generate a screenshot of its entire page.

Price: There is no free plan for using the API. Its lowest plan is priced at $1.00 per month and allows you to make 5 requests per day. If you pay $9.99 per month, you’ll get 150 requests per day. To get unlimited requests, you’ll need to pay $99.99 per month.

Ease of use: There are code snippets in various popular programming languages, SDKs, and other resources to eliminate any obstacles in implementing the API.

5. Website Screenshot API by Ariesbrow

The Website Screenshot API is a simple API for generating screenshots of websites.

API features: The Website Screenshot API by Ariesbrow lets you create a screenshot from a URL and upload it to Imgur, which is a popular community-driven image sharing platform. To generate the screenshot, you’ll provide the URL to the website you need to capture its contents, the Imgur client ID, and the resolution of the image. It returns a URL for downloading the captured screenshot.

Price: It is offered for free.

Ease of use: There is easy to follow documentation to make the process of consuming the API fast and flawless.

6. Pagepeeker API

The Pagepeeker API lets you create website screenshots in a matter of seconds.

API features: With the Pagepeeker API, you simply need to provide the URL to the website you need to generate its screenshot, and the operation will be completed automatically. You also need to specify the size of the screenshot to be generated—such as tiny, small, large, or extra-large. Optionally, you can include a refresh parameter that forces the currently generated screenshot to be regenerated.

Price: It is available for free.

Ease of use: There is detailed documentation that enables you to integrate the API with a few lines of code.

7. Screenshotlayer API

The Screenshotlayer API provides you with a quick and powerful way to create screenshots of websites.

API features: With the Screenshotlayer API, you simply need to specify the URL to the website you intend to grab its screenshot. Optionally, you can also set the viewport size of the generated screenshot, capture the full height of the web page, define the width of the screenshot in pixels, and append a CSS stylesheet URL to inject into the target website. You can also set a default placeholder image to use, specify a HTTP user-agent header, and more. It supports PNG, JPEG, and GIF output formats.

Price: It is offered for free.

Ease of use: There are reference samples, endpoints descriptions, and other materials to let you integrate the API without any hurdles.

8. JSON Whois – Screenshots API

The JSON Whois – Screenshots API allows you to generate a screenshot of a domain easily and fast.

API features: With the JSON Whois – Screenshots API, you just need provide a domain name and it’ll generate a screenshot automatically. It returns a JSON object that contains the URL to the image to be downloaded. Furthermore, you can use the API to get social media data of a domain name, such as number of Twitter followers. It also allows you to get domain information, such as Whois data, registration details, Alexa data, and more.

Price: It is available for free.

Ease of use: There is expansive documentation to ensure you incorporate the API within a few minutes.

9. Getscreenshots API

The Getscreenshots API lets you generate screenshots of websites flawlessly.

API features: With the Getscreenshots API, you simply need to provide a URL and it’ll generate a screenshot showing the current state of the website. It returns a JSON object, which contains the URL to the created screenshot.

Price: It is provided for free.

Ease of use: There is easy to follow documentation to ensure you get up and running with the API within the shortest time possible.

10. Urlbox API

The Urlbox API provides an easy way of automatically capturing the screenshots of websites.

API features: The Urlbox API lets you generate an accurate screenshot from the given URL. Optionally, you can set the viewport height of the browser in pixels, width of the generated screenshot, and a word to highlight on the page before capturing the screenshot. You can also specify to save the generated screenshot directly on the S3 bucket configured on your account, include a user agent string to emulate a particular client, turnoff JavaScript on the target website to prevent popups, and more. It supports PNG and JPEG output formats.

Price: It is offered for free.

Ease of use: There is comprehensive documentation to make consuming the API fast and effortless.

Conclusion

That’s Rakuten RapidAPI’s list of the Top 10 Best Screenshot Generation APIs. We hope you’ll find the right API to produce accurate website screenshots and take the capabilities of your application to the next level.

If the API you want is not in the above list, you can click here and search for other powerful screenshot generation APIs on the extensive Rakuten RapidAPI marketplace.

Happy coding!

About Rakuten RapidAPI:

Rakuten RapidAPI is the world’s largest API marketplace with 8,000+ third-party APIs and used by over 500,000 active developers. We enable developers to build transformative apps through the power of APIs. Find, test and connect to all the APIs you need in one place!

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