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The modern URL2PNG alternative

URL2PNG still covers simple screenshot delivery. If you need a more modern browser API with PDFs, metadata, previews, harder-page tooling, and far lower cost at higher volume, Microlink gives you 46,000 requests for $45 versus URL2PNG's 50,000 screenshots for $199.

Get Started Free
URL2PNG requires sending them an email to create an account and does not offer a free trial. Microlink lets you test the screenshot API immediately, even without an API key, with 50 free requests per day.
Quick test on the unavatar.io homepage: click the URL below to generate the screenshot.
https://api.microlink.io?screenshot&embed=screenshot.url&url=https://unavatar.io

Why Developers Switch

The usual reasons teams outgrow URL2PNG's screenshot-only surface.

A modern API, not a screenshot-only endpoint
URL2PNG's public docs revolve around screenshot controls like viewport, fullpage, TTL, custom CSS, delay, language, and user agent. Microlink adds PDF, metadata, previews, remote JS, and richer browser control from the same integration.
Near-50k monthly volume without a $199 bill
URL2PNG prices 50,000 screenshots at $199/month. Microlink gives you 46,000 requests for $45/month. That is almost the same volume for roughly 77% less spend.
Free evaluation instead of a gated paid entry point
URL2PNG's plans page says there are no free accounts. Microlink gives you 50 requests/day free with no credit card and no expiry, so you can test real traffic patterns before paying.
More browser control when pages stop being simple
Microlink supports custom cookies, arbitrary headers, click/scroll interactions, selector waits, and ad blocking. URL2PNG's public docs document a much narrower control surface centered on the screenshot itself.
Built for harder targets
Microlink includes built-in residential proxying and antibot detection for 30+ providers. URL2PNG's public material does not document built-in proxying or blocked-page tooling on the same level.
One platform for product, embeds, and previews
Microlink can power screenshots, metadata, link previews, and presentation-ready browser overlays from one API. That is a better fit when screenshot capture is only one part of a bigger workflow.

Almost same volume.
Much lower spend.

46,000 requests at $45 with URL2PNG's 50,000 screenshots at $199.

Microlink
$45/mo
46,000 requests/month
  • Screenshots, PDF, metadata, previews, and remote JS
  • Free: 50 requests/day, no credit card, no expiry
  • No per-minute cap on paid plans
  • 240+ edge nodes, 99.9% SLA
  • Open-source core (MIT licensed)
  • $0.98 per 1,000 requests
Start for free
URL2PNG
$199/mo
50,000 fresh screenshots/month
  • Killinit plan with 35 dedicated workers
  • $0.004 per extra screenshot
  • No free accounts on the public pricing page
  • Fastly CDN and SSL endpoint
  • Full-page screenshots and custom CSS injection
  • $3.98 per 1,000 screenshots
URL2PNG also has a $29 Bootstrapped plan for 5,000 screenshots, which is a fair lower-cost paid entry point for simple screenshot-only usage. This page focuses on the higher-volume comparison because that is where the price gap becomes hardest to ignore.

Replace legacy screenshot plumbing

Start with 50 requests/day free and keep the same browser API when your workload gets more demanding.

Start Building Free

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Based on URL2PNG's public docs, homepage, plans, and signup flow.

FeatureMicrolinkURL2PNG
Screenshot capture✓✓
Full-page screenshots✓✓
Element-level capture (CSS selector)
Official docs snippets surface css_selector support alongside the standard screenshot parameters.
✓✓
Viewport size control✓✓
Custom CSS injection✓✓
User-Agent override✓✓
Accept-Language override✓✓
Built-in response cache
URL2PNG documents a 30-day default TTL for cached screenshots and a unique parameter for fresh captures.
✓✓
Signed request URLs✓✓
Direct embed (no backend needed)
URL2PNG says hotlinking is encouraged, so both services can power direct image embeds.
✓✓
PDF generation✓✕
Metadata extraction✓✕
Link previews SDK✓✕
Custom cookies✓not documented
Arbitrary custom HTTP headers
Public docs mention user_agent and accept_languages overrides, not arbitrary request headers.
✓Partial
Click/scroll interactions✓not documented
Wait for selector✓not documented
Ad blocking✓not documented
Built-in proxy (auto-rotating residential)✓not documented
Antibot detection (30+ providers)✓not documented
Remote JS execution (return values)✓✕
Browser chrome overlay✓✕
Open-source core✓✕
MCP server✓✕
Last verified: April 2026. Cells marked "not documented" mean we did not find public documentation for that capability on URL2PNG's official pages.

Where URL2PNG
Might Still Be the Right Choice

Simple signed image URLs
URL2PNG keeps the integration model very straightforward: one signed URL, one image response, one job done. If your needs are truly screenshot-first, that simplicity is attractive.
Cache TTL and freshness controls
URL2PNG documents a 30-day default TTL plus a unique parameter to force fresh captures. That is useful when you want deterministic screenshot caching without building your own image cache layer.
Screenshot-first rendering focus
The homepage explicitly calls out graphs, canvas, webfonts, CSS3, SVG, and video rendering. If your workload is mostly about turning pages into images, that focused rendering pitch makes sense.
Fastly CDN, hotlinking, and no queued images
URL2PNG highlights Fastly CDN delivery, says hotlinking is encouraged, and says there are no queued images. That is a nice fit for direct image delivery inside apps or CMS flows.
Dedicated worker plans
The paid plans advertise 10 dedicated workers on Bootstrapped and 35 on Killinit, plus customization services on higher tiers. Teams with stable screenshot-only demand may like that clarity.
Lower paid entry point for basic usage
If you only need 5,000 freshly generated screenshots per month and do not care about richer browser workflows, URL2PNG starts at $29. That is a valid screenshot-only buying profile.

Ship more than screenshots

Start with screenshots, then add metadata, previews, PDF output, or remote browser logic only when your workflow actually needs them.

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://www.apple.com' URL with 'screenshot' API parameter:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://www.apple.com&screenshot

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://www.apple.com" \
  -d "screenshot=true"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://www.apple.com', {
  screenshot: true
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://www.apple.com",
    "screenshot": "true"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://www.apple.com",
  screenshot: "true"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://www.apple.com",
    "screenshot" => "true"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://www.apple.com")
    q.Set("screenshot", "true")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}
Start now for free

Why is there no live URL2PNG benchmark on this page?

We did not publish a benchmark because URL2PNG's public
signup page
 resolved back to the plans view during review, and the public site did not expose a normal self-serve evaluation flow for provisioning a new test account.
Since the
docs
 say the API key is assigned during signup, we limited this page to verified docs and pricing instead of inventing a benchmark story. If their public signup flow reopens, this page can be benchmarked later.

What does Microlink cover that URL2PNG's public docs do not mention?

Microlink goes well beyond screenshot capture. One integration also gives you PDF generation, metadata extraction, link previews, remote JavaScript execution, browser chrome overlays, and built-in tooling for blocked pages.
URL2PNG's public docs focus on screenshot parameters like viewport, fullpage, custom CSS, delay, user agent, language override, TTL, and cache-busting. That is fine for screenshot-only workloads, but it is a much narrower API surface.

How different is the pricing once you get close to 50,000 screenshots?

URL2PNG's Killinit plan is $199/month for 50,000 freshly generated screenshots. Microlink's comparison tier is $45/month for 46,000 requests.
That means Microlink gets you almost the same monthly volume for about 77% less spend. Per 1,000 requests, Microlink lands around $0.98 versus $3.98 on the URL2PNG plan.

Can I evaluate Microlink without paying first?

Yes. Microlink gives you 50 requests/day free with no credit card and no time limit. You can test the same screenshot API surface before moving to a paid plan.
URL2PNG's
plans page
 says it does not offer free accounts, so Microlink is much easier to evaluate gradually.

How hard is it to move from URL2PNG signed URLs to Microlink?

Usually not very hard. URL2PNG already uses a signed request model with a URL target plus query params like viewport, fullpage, delay, and custom_css_url. Microlink supports the same high-level capture concepts, even if the parameter names differ.
In practice, migrations are mostly endpoint-and-parameter mapping work. Start from the screenshot guide and adapt your existing request builder around the new query shape.

Does URL2PNG document cookies or arbitrary request headers?

Not in the public material we reviewed. The docs explicitly mention user_agent and accept_languages, which gives you some header control, but we did not find documented cookie injection or arbitrary custom header support on the public docs pages.
Microlink supports custom cookies and arbitrary request headers, which matters once you need authenticated captures, localization tests, or more realistic browser state.

When is URL2PNG still a reasonable choice?

URL2PNG still looks reasonable when your workload is strictly screenshot-first and you value a very simple signed image URL model, long cache TTLs, hotlink-friendly delivery, and dedicated worker plans.
Its public site also emphasizes no queued images, Fastly CDN delivery, and high-fidelity rendering for canvas, webfonts, CSS3, SVG, and video pages. If those basics are enough, a broader browser platform may be unnecessary.

Can Microlink replace screenshot plus metadata and preview tooling with one API?

Yes. That is one of the clearest reasons teams move over. Microlink can return screenshots, generate PDFs, extract metadata, power link previews through SDKs, and execute browser-side JavaScript from the same platform.
URL2PNG is centered on screenshot delivery. If your screenshot pipeline keeps expanding into product previews, metadata, or browser automation, Microlink removes extra glue code and extra vendors.