Comparison · checked October 12, 2026
Screenshotlayer alternative: shotkit vs Screenshotlayer
Screenshotlayer is a long-running screenshot API from APILayer with a simple GET interface, CDN-hosted snapshots and overage billing. shotkit is a screenshot API for developers and AI agents with a free tier, paid plans from $9/mo (Starter) and every feature on every plan. Here's how they compare on price and features, and where Screenshotlayer is the better choice.
Pricing
Monthly prices in USD for the cheapest plan that covers each volume.
| Pricing | shotkit | Screenshotlayer |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 100 screenshots/month, every feature, no card | 100 snapshots/month, non-commercial use only |
| 2,000 screenshots/month | $9/mo (Starter) | $19.99/mo (Basic) |
| 10,000 screenshots/month | $29/mo (Pro) | $19.99/mo (Basic) |
| Largest listed plan | 10,000 for $29/mo, then the Ultimate plan with custom volume, on request | 75,000 for $149.99/mo |
Screenshotlayer: Annual billing saves 10–15%. Overage is about $0.008 per extra snapshot. Retina, WebP and commercial use need a paid plan; S3 or FTP export needs Professional or higher.
Features
“Not documented” means we couldn't find it in Screenshotlayer's public docs, not that it's missing.
| Feature | shotkit | Screenshotlayer |
|---|---|---|
| Output formats | PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, TIFF, PDF, MP4, WebM, HTML, Markdown | PNG, JPG, GIF; WebP on paid plans |
| Full-page screenshots | Yes | Yes |
| Element (CSS selector) capture | Yes | Not documented |
| Render raw HTML | Yes, plus Markdown input | Not documented |
| Block cookie banners | Yes | Not documented |
| Block ads | Yes | Not documented |
| Hide chat widgets | Yes | Not documented |
| Device presets | 150+ | Custom viewport and user agent |
| Retina (device scale factor) | Up to 5× | 2× on paid plans |
| Dark mode | Yes | Not documented |
| Inject CSS & JavaScript | Yes | CSS stylesheet URL |
| Click & hover before capture | Yes | Not documented |
| Wait for selector | Yes | Not documented |
| Custom headers & cookies | Yes | User agent and Accept-Language only |
| Proxies & geolocation | Your own proxy, geolocation, time zone | Not documented |
| Video / animated GIF | MP4, WebM, GIF, animated WebP | Not documented |
| Markdown output for LLMs | Yes | Not documented |
| Hosted output & caching | CDN URL; cache hits are free | CDN, cache up to 30 days |
| Upload to your S3 bucket | No | S3 or FTP (Professional and up) |
| Async renders & webhooks | Yes | Not documented |
| Signed URLs | Yes | URL encryption |
| Page metadata | Title, Open Graph, favicon, fonts, HTTP status | Not documented |
| Official SDKs | None needed: generated snippets for 11 languages and cURL | Not documented |
| No-code integrations | No | Not documented |
Where Screenshotlayer is ahead
- Cheap at volume: $19.99 for 10,000 snapshots, about $0.002 each.
- Overage billing at a flat ~$0.008 per snapshot instead of a hard cut-off.
- Published concurrency per plan (10, 20 or 40 workers) and plans up to 75,000 snapshots.
- An established vendor with S3 and FTP export on higher plans.
Why switch to shotkit
- Cookie banner, ad and chat widget blocking.
- PDF, AVIF, video and Markdown output.
- Element capture, dark mode, JavaScript injection, click or hover, and wait for selector.
- A free plan you can use commercially, and $9 instead of $19.99 for up to 2,000 screenshots.
- Async renders with signed webhooks.
Switching from Screenshotlayer
Replace the endpoint and key, then rename these options. Everything else is in the option reference.
| Screenshotlayer | shotkit |
|---|---|
| api.screenshotlayer.com/api/capture | shotkit.net/api/take |
| access_key, url, format, delay, user_agent | Same |
| fullpage=1 | full_page=true |
| viewport=1440x900 | viewport_width=1440&viewport_height=900 |
| width (thumbnail) | image_width |
| ttl | cache=true with cache_ttl |
| accept_lang | headers=Accept-Language: … |
| css (stylesheet URL) | styles (inline CSS) |
Screenshotlayer
https://api.screenshotlayer.com/api/capture?access_key=KEY&url=https://example.com&fullpage=1&viewport=1440x900shotkit
https://shotkit.net/api/take?access_key=KEY&url=https://example.com&full_page=true&viewport_width=1440&viewport_height=900Frequently asked questions
Is shotkit cheaper than Screenshotlayer?
For 2,000 screenshots a month shotkit costs $9/mo (Starter) and Screenshotlayer $19.99/mo (Basic). For 10,000 it's $29/mo (Pro) against $19.99/mo (Basic). Screenshotlayer's largest plan covers 75,000 screenshots a month; shotkit's largest listed plan covers 10,000, and its Ultimate plan has custom volume and rate limits on request.
Can I switch from Screenshotlayer without rewriting my code?
Mostly. Both are HTTP APIs that take the options in the query string or a JSON body, so switching means changing the endpoint, the key parameter and a few option names. The migration table on this page lists each one.
Does shotkit have a free plan?
Yes. The Hobby plan includes 100 screenshots a month with every feature and no credit card. Screenshotlayer's free offer: 100 snapshots/month, non-commercial use only.
What does Screenshotlayer do that shotkit doesn't?
Cheap at volume: $19.99 for 10,000 snapshots, about $0.002 each. Overage billing at a flat ~$0.008 per snapshot instead of a hard cut-off.
More comparisons
Sources
Screenshotlayer prices and features were checked on October 12, 2026 on their own pages and may have changed since. Screenshotlayer is a trademark of its owner; shotkit isn't affiliated with it.