Most screenshot APIs have some free option, but they differ a lot: a free allowance every month, a one-time pack of credits, a 7-day trial, or a free plan you can't use commercially. Here are 19 of them, from their public pricing pages (checked 17 to 24 October 2026). We run one of them (Shotmint: 25 renders a month with no account); where another free tier is bigger, the list says so.
POST /v1/keys/free returns a key with 25 renders that refills to 25 on the 1st of every month.| API and free tier | After that |
|---|---|
| Doppio 400 documents a month (PDFs or screenshots), 1 template (checked 21 October) | Premium $16/mo for 4,000 |
| Browserless 1,000 units a month, 2 concurrent browsers, 2-minute sessions (you drive the browser yourself) (checked 21 October) | Prototyping $35/mo for 20,000 units |
| ScreenshotOne 100 screenshots a month, no card (checked 17 October) | Basic $17/mo for 2,000 |
| ApiFlash 100 screenshots a month, no card (checked 17 October) | Lite $7/mo for 1,000 |
| Screenshot Machine 100 fresh screenshots a month (checked 18 October) | Basic €9/mo for 2,500 |
| Microlink 100 requests a month, no card (checked 18 October) | Pro €39/mo for 46,000 |
| Browshot 100 screenshots a month on shared free browsers (fewer devices and resolutions) (checked 19 October) | $10 for 1,000, prepaid |
| HTML/CSS to Image 50 images a month from HTML, no card (checked 18 October) | Basic $14/mo for 1,000 |
| PagePixels 25 screenshots a month, no card (checked 17 October) | $16.99/mo for 3,000 |
| Shotmint 25 renders a month, no signup, no card, no watermark | €5 once for 2,000 (credits never expire) |
| API and free tier | After that |
|---|---|
| ScrapingBee 1,000 API credits once (about 200 screenshots), no card (checked 19 October) | Hobby $19/mo |
| CaptureKit 100 credits, no card (checked 21 October) | Starter $7/mo for 1,000 |
| API and free tier | After that |
|---|---|
| Screenshotlayer 100 snapshots a month, non-commercial use only (checked 18 October) | Basic $19.99/mo for 10,000 |
| ScreenshotAPI.net 7-day trial with 100 screenshots (checked 18 October) | Essential $9/mo for 1,000 |
| Urlbox 7-day trial on Hi-Fi and Ultra, no card (checked 17 October) | Lo-Fi $19/mo for 2,000 |
| Restpack 7-day trial (checked 19 October) | Developer $9.95/mo for 1,000 |
| Bannerbear Trial with 30 API credits, no card (checked 18 October) | Automate $49/mo |
| url2png No free plan; 10-day money-back guarantee (checked 22 October) | Bootstrapped $29/mo for 5,000 |
| CloudConvert 10 captures a day with an account, for personal use, testing and hobby projects (checked 24 October) | $17 once for 1,000, or $9/mo |
Competitor prices are in USD except Microlink and Screenshot Machine (EUR); Shotmint is in EUR. Free tiers change, so follow each link to the full comparison and its source pricing page. "After that" is the cheapest paid plan, billed monthly unless noted.
No signup form, no email, no card. One POST returns a key with 25 credits as JSON (one free key per IP address per day), so a script, an AI agent or a Make or Zapier step can get one by itself:
curl -X POST https://shotmint.creasework.com/v1/keys/freeThen use it:
curl "https://shotmint.creasework.com/v1/screenshot?url=https://example.com&full_page=true" \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" -o shot.pngEvery free render is a normal render: no watermark, full page, element selector, dark mode, ad and cookie-banner blocking and retina all work. A failed render doesn't use a credit, and GET /v1/account shows the balance.
Or click Generate free key on the pricing page. Reference: API docs, openapi.json.
For a one-off capture you don't need an API at all: the website screenshot tool, full-page screenshot and mobile screenshot run in the browser, 5 renders a day with no key. To compare paid costs at 200, 1,000 and 10,000 shots a month, see screenshot API pricing compared; for PDFs, the free HTML to PDF API list.
No signup, no card; the free key refills on the 1st of every month. If you need more, buy credits once: €5 for 2,000, €19 for 10,000, €59 for 50,000. They never expire, and they stack on top of the 25 free renders a month, which every key keeps. From a script, an AI agent, Make or Zapier, POST /v1/keys/free (no body) returns a key as JSON (openapi.json, no-code recipes).