rasterly vs Browserless — screenshot API vs headless-browser platform

Q: Can rasterly do PDF like Browserless?

Yes — format=pdf returns a print-ready A4 with backgrounds, at the same price as an image. Browserless also produces PDFs, alongside its scraping and automation APIs.

Browserless is more powerful, and it's not really the same category. It's a headless-browser infrastructure platform: you drive Puppeteer or Playwright against their hosted Chrome (or self-host the container), scrape, automate multi-step flows, solve CAPTCHAs, route through proxies. rasterly does none of that. rasterly does one thing — turn a URL into a PNG, JPEG or PDF over a single HTTP call — from $0.90 per 1,000. If you need a programmable browser or self-hosting, use Browserless. If you only need "URL in, image or PDF out" without running and scaling browser infra yourself, rasterly is simpler and cheaper.

The real difference

	rasterly	Browserless
URL → screenshot / PDF in one call	Yes, one GET	Yes, via its REST API
Full programmable browser (Puppeteer / Playwright)	No	Yes — its core
Scraping & multi-step automation	No	Yes
Self-hostable (run in your own infra)	No, hosted only	Yes, Docker image
CAPTCHA solving, proxies, stealth	No	Yes
Full-page capture, retina up to 3×	Yes	Yes
SSRF protection out of the box	Enforced	Your responsibility when you script it
Pricing model	Per render, flat	Metered browser "units"

Honest line: Browserless is a broader, deeper tool. If your job involves logging in, clicking through steps, scraping, or keeping a browser session alive, rasterly cannot do that and Browserless is built exactly for it. rasterly wins only on the narrow, common case: a clean screenshot or PDF of a URL, fast and cheap.

Price, side by side

These aren't apples-to-apples: a Browserless "unit" buys metered browser time for its whole platform, not a single screenshot, so their plans include far more than rendering. Shown for rough orientation, not a per-image equivalence.

Tier	rasterly	Browserless
Free	100 renders / mo	1,000 units / mo, 2 concurrent
Entry paid	$9 (Starter, 10k renders)	$25 (Prototyping, 20k units)
Mid	$29 (Growth, 50k)	$140 (Starter, 180k units)
Scale	$99 (250k)	$350 (Scale, 500k units)
Per 1,000 renders (at 50k)	$0.58	n/a — sold as browser time

Browserless annual billing discounts the paid tiers (about 30%). Their units meter full browser sessions across the whole platform, so comparing them straight to a rasterly render understates what a unit can do — and overstates it if all you ever wanted was a screenshot.

The simple case, in code

If your only need is a screenshot of a URL, the difference is a JSON POST against a browser platform versus a single GET.

Browserless — REST screenshot

curl -X POST "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url":"https://stripe.com","options":{"fullPage":true,"type":"png"}}'

rasterly — one GET

curl "https://api.rasterly.dev/v1/screenshot?url=https://stripe.com&full_page=true" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: sk_live_..." -o shot.png

PDF is format=pdf; JPEG quality is quality=1..100; retina is scale=2. For anything beyond capture — scripting the page, scraping, sessions — that's Browserless territory, not rasterly's.

FAQ

Is rasterly a replacement for Browserless?

Not a full one. Browserless is a headless-browser platform — you run Puppeteer or Playwright against it, scrape, automate flows, and can self-host the container. rasterly only turns a URL into a screenshot or PDF over one call. If that one job is all you need, rasterly is simpler and cheaper; if you need programmable browser sessions, use Browserless.

Why is rasterly cheaper for plain screenshots?

rasterly does one narrow thing and reuses a single warm Chromium across requests, so a warm render is about a second of CPU. Browserless prices metered units of full browser time because it gives you a full programmable browser — more capability, and a bill to match.

Can rasterly do PDF like Browserless?

Yes — format=pdf returns a print-ready A4 with backgrounds, at the same price as an image. Browserless also produces PDFs, alongside its scraping and automation APIs.

Can I self-host rasterly the way I can self-host Browserless?

No. Browserless ships a Docker image you can run in your own infrastructure. rasterly is a hosted API only. If self-hosting is a requirement, Browserless is the right tool.

Start free — 100 renders See the full API

Browserless pricing and features observed August 2026, shown for comparison only; check browserless.io for current details. Browserless meters usage in "units" of browser time rather than per screenshot, so the tables above are for rough orientation, not a per-image equivalence. rasterly is an independent product, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Browserless.