Replace your self-hosted Puppeteer or Playwright infrastructure with a single HTTPS API. Screenshots, PDFs, scraping, extraction, video recording, and AI analysis — all powered by managed Chromium in the cloud.
Full-page and viewport screenshots in PNG, JPEG, or WebP. 30+ device presets for mobile emulation.
Convert any URL or HTML to a pixel-perfect PDF. Custom headers, footers, margins, and page numbers.
CSS selector schemas, AI-powered extraction, JavaScript execution, anti-bot bypass built-in.
Record browser sessions as MP4 or WebM. Auto-scroll, custom viewport, JS injection support.
Analyze page content with AI. Summarize, extract insights, or answer questions about any URL.
Generate Open Graph preview images from HTML templates. 1200x630 PNG in one API call.
SnapAPI runs a managed fleet of Chromium browsers. You send a JSON request describing what you want — a screenshot, a PDF, structured data, or a video — and the API handles browser launch, page load, JavaScript execution, rendering, and response delivery. There is no browser process to manage in your infrastructure.
// All browser tasks with one client
const snap = new SnapAPI({ apiKey: process.env.SNAP_API_KEY });
const png = await snap.screenshot({ url, full_page: true });
const pdf = await snap.pdf({ url, format: 'A4' });
const data = await snap.extract({ url, schema: { price: { selector: '.price' } } });
const video = await snap.video({ url, duration: 5, scroll: true });Many websites actively detect and block headless browser access. SnapAPI's stealth mode uses custom Chromium builds, fingerprint randomization, natural request timing, and residential proxy routing to bypass Cloudflare, DataDome, Akamai, and other bot protection systems. Enable stealth mode by setting the stealth parameter to true — no additional configuration required.
Geographic proxy routing is available on all paid plans. Specify a country code to route the browser request through a residential IP in that region — useful for accessing geo-restricted content or ensuring your scraping reflects local pricing and availability.
Sign up at snapapi.pics — 200 free captures per month with no credit card required. Starter at $19/month, Pro at $79/month, Business at $299/month.
Before capturing a screenshot, PDF, or extracting data, inject custom JavaScript that runs in the page context. Use this to log into a demo account, populate form fields with sample data, dismiss cookie banners, click through onboarding modals, or set localStorage values that trigger specific UI states. The js_code parameter accepts any JavaScript that would run in the browser console.
await fetch('https://api.snapapi.pics/v1/screenshot', {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'X-Api-Key': apiKey },
body: JSON.stringify({
url: 'https://dashboard.example.com',
js_code: `
localStorage.setItem('authToken', 'demo-token-123');
document.querySelector('.cookie-banner')?.remove();
document.querySelector('.trial-banner')?.remove();
`,
css_code: '* { animation: none !important; transition: none !important; }',
wait_for: '.dashboard-loaded',
full_page: true
})
});Capture screenshots in mobile viewports using 30+ built-in device presets. Specify device: "iPhone 15 Pro", "Samsung Galaxy S24", or "iPad Pro 13" — the API sets the correct screen dimensions, pixel ratio, user agent, and touch capabilities automatically. Custom viewports are also supported via the width and height parameters.
Device emulation is available on all plans including the free tier. Use it for responsive design testing, mobile-specific OG image generation, or verifying that your application looks correct on specific device form factors.
| Feature | SnapAPI | Self-Hosted Puppeteer |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Under 1 hour | 1-3 days |
| Maintenance | Zero | 3-5 hrs/month |
| Anti-bot bypass | Built-in | Manual configuration |
| Crash recovery | Managed | Custom watchdog needed |
| Auto-scaling | Automatic | Manual server provisioning |
| Cost (50K/mo) | $79/month | $40-120 + eng time |
SnapAPI is the right choice when you need screenshots, PDFs, scraping, extraction, video, or OG images without the overhead of operating a browser fleet. Sign up at snapapi.pics — 200 free captures per month, no credit card required.
SnapAPI provides official SDKs for every major language. All SDKs expose identical method signatures for each endpoint — screenshot, scrape, extract, pdf, video, and analyze. Language-specific features (async/await, typed responses, error types) are implemented idiomatically for each platform.
| Language | Package | Install |
|---|---|---|
| JavaScript / Node.js | snapapi-js | npm install snapapi-js |
| Python | snapapi-python | pip install snapapi-python |
| Go | snapapi-go | go get github.com/Sleywill/snapapi-go |
| PHP | snapapi-php | composer require sleywill/snapapi-php |
| Ruby | snapapi-ruby | gem install snapapi-ruby |
| Java | snapapi-java | Maven / Gradle |
| Rust | snapapi | cargo add snapapi |
| Swift | snapapi-swift | Swift Package Manager |
| Kotlin | snapapi-kotlin | Maven Central |
| .NET / C# | SnapAPI.Client | dotnet add package SnapAPI.Client |
All SDKs are open source on GitHub at github.com/Sleywill. The MCP server (snapapi-mcp on npm) integrates directly with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code for AI-assisted browser automation workflows.
SnapAPI provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that integrates browser automation directly into AI coding assistants. Install snapapi-mcp from npm and add it to your Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, or Windsurf configuration. The assistant can then call screenshot, scrape, extract, pdf, and analyze tools directly while helping you code.
// claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"snapapi": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "snapapi-mcp"],
"env": { "SNAP_API_KEY": "sk_live_YOUR_KEY" }
}
}
}Once configured, you can ask your AI assistant to take screenshots, scrape competitor pages, extract structured data, or generate PDFs directly from the chat interface — no code required for quick one-off tasks. For automated workflows, the assistant can generate the integration code in any language using the MCP tools as a reference implementation.
For video recordings (up to 60 seconds) and large full-page screenshots, use webhook delivery to receive the result asynchronously. Pass a webhook URL in the request and SnapAPI will POST the result to that endpoint when complete. Your server receives the same JSON response structure as the synchronous API, making processing logic identical.
Webhook URLs must be publicly accessible HTTPS endpoints. During local development, use a tunneling service like ngrok or Cloudflare Tunnel to expose a local endpoint for webhook testing.
SnapAPI is designed to be affordable at every scale. The free tier includes 200 captures per month — enough to build and validate your integration. Starter at $19/month covers 5,000 captures across all endpoints. Pro at $79/month provides 50,000 captures — sufficient for most production SaaS applications. Business at $299/month covers 500,000 captures for enterprise-grade workloads.
Annual plans save 20% compared to monthly billing. All plans include access to all endpoints, stealth mode, device emulation, ad blocking, custom JS and CSS injection, webhook delivery, and the MCP server.
Sign up at snapapi.pics to get your free API key. No credit card required for the free tier. The dashboard shows real-time usage, request history, and API key management. Documentation is available at snapapi.pics/docs.html with examples in all 10 supported languages.
Running Playwright in-house means provisioning servers, managing Chromium versions, writing retry logic, handling memory leaks, and paying for compute that sits idle between jobs. Teams consistently underestimate this operational surface: browser processes crash under load, anti-bot measures block requests that worked last week, and proxy rotation adds another layer of complexity. SnapAPI offloads every one of these concerns so you call an HTTP endpoint and receive structured output.
Compared to alternatives like Browserless or Apify, SnapAPI is purpose-built for output-oriented tasks: screenshots, scraping, extraction, PDF, video, and AI analysis. There is no session management, no CDP proxy, no custom scripting required. If your workflow is to visit a URL and get a result, SnapAPI is the fastest path from idea to production. Browserless and Apify are better suited for interactive workflows where you need to control a browser session step by step over many actions.
Teams use SnapAPI browser automation for: automated thumbnail generation for CMS platforms, competitor price monitoring pipelines, visual regression test suites integrated into CI/CD, compliance archiving for financial services, email newsletter preview rendering, social media open graph image generation, and dynamic PDF report delivery from web dashboards. Each of these use cases benefits from the same core properties: headless Chromium rendering, JavaScript execution, stealth mode for bypassing bot detection, and geographic IP routing.
Get started at snapapi.pics with 200 free captures per month and no credit card required. The API is live, documented, and used in production by engineering teams across e-commerce, SaaS, and media companies. Add your first automated browser capture in under five minutes using JavaScript, Python, Go, PHP, Swift, Kotlin, Ruby, or C#.
Creating a SnapAPI account takes under a minute. Register at snapapi.pics, verify your email address, and your API key appears immediately on the dashboard. The free tier includes 200 captures per month with access to all core features: screenshots, scraping, extraction, PDF generation, and video recording. No credit card is required to start, and you can upgrade to a paid plan at any time directly from the dashboard without interrupting running integrations.