rasterly vs Placid — a cheaper URL & HTML to image/PDF API

Q: Is rasterly a replacement for Placid?

For the render job, yes: turning a URL or raw HTML into a PNG, JPEG or PDF. Placid's core is a visual template editor where you design a layout and merge data into it. If you need that drag-and-drop designer, keep Placid. If you mostly render live pages or your own HTML into images and PDFs, rasterly does that from $0.58 per 1,000.

Q: Can rasterly generate dynamic OG and social images?

Yes. Point rasterly at a URL (a live page or your own HTML route styled for the card) and it returns the PNG or JPEG. You keep your layout in your own HTML/CSS rather than a vendor's template builder, and it renders from the same key as PDF, read and extract.

Q: Does rasterly render raw HTML, not just URLs?

Yes. Send HTML to the render endpoint and it draws it with a real headless Chromium, so a template you host as an HTML page becomes an image or PDF over one call.

Placid shines when you want a visual template editor and merge data into a designed layout. But a lot of Placid usage is simpler than that: turn a page or a block of HTML into an image or a PDF. For that job rasterly renders the same output from $0.58 per 1,000 on Growth, with your layout living in your own HTML/CSS instead of a vendor's template builder. Keep Placid for the designer; reach for rasterly for the renders.

If you use Placid to render pages and HTML

When the task is “this URL (or this HTML) becomes a PNG/JPEG/PDF,” rasterly covers it on one key and adds the content side that products usually need next:

Same render. PNG/JPEG/PDF, full-page, retina scale up to 3× — a real headless Chromium, from $0.58/1,000 at the Growth tier.
Your template, your HTML. Host the card or document as an HTML route and render it. No layout lock-in to a vendor's editor, and design changes ship with your own deploy.
Read and extract return a page's Markdown and structured JSON on the same key, for the metadata jobs around the image.
MCP-native + x402. The primitives are exposed as agent tools via npx rasterly-mcp, and a pay-per-call x402 endpoint on Base gives agents a billed on-ramp with no signup.

Price, side by side

rasterly sells by monthly render tiers with the same all-formats feature set on every plan. Representative points:

Renders / month	rasterly	Placid
10,000	$9 (Starter)	several times higher
50,000	$29 (Growth)	several times higher
250,000	$99 (Scale)	several times higher
Per 1,000 (at 50k)	$0.58	higher at volume
Free tier	100 / mo	limited trial

We keep the Placid column qualitative on purpose — check placid.app for current numbers. Placid bundles a design tool; if you only need renders, you're paying for a designer you don't use.

Feature parity for the render job

	rasterly	Placid
URL → image	Yes	Yes
HTML → image	Yes	Yes
PDF	Yes	Yes
Full-page capture	Yes	n/a
Visual template editor	no — use your HTML	Yes
Page metadata (read / extract)	Yes	no
Crawl & change-monitoring	Yes	no
SSRF protection	Enforced	Yes

Placid genuinely wins the template-editor row. This page is for teams whose Placid use is really “render this page/HTML,” where that editor is overhead.

Rendering a page with rasterly

If your image is a live page or an HTML route you already style, the call is a single request:

rasterly — URL or your HTML route to an image

curl "https://api.rasterly.dev/v1/screenshot?url=https://yoursite.com/cards/launch&width=1200&height=630&scale=2" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: sk_live_..." -o og.png

Same key renders a PDF (/v1/pdf) or returns the page's data (read, extract). See a render before you sign up on the live proof page.

FAQ

Is rasterly a replacement for Placid?

For the render job — a URL or HTML to a PNG/JPEG/PDF — yes. Placid's core is a visual template editor; if you need that designer, keep it. If you mostly render live pages or your own HTML, rasterly does that from $0.58 per 1,000.

Can rasterly generate dynamic OG and social images?

Yes — point it at a URL or an HTML route styled as the card and it returns the PNG/JPEG. Your layout stays in your own HTML/CSS, on the same key as PDF, read and extract.

Does rasterly render raw HTML, not just URLs?

Yes — send HTML to the render endpoint and a real headless Chromium draws it into an image or PDF over one call.

Why is rasterly cheaper at volume?

A render is a headless Chromium drawing a page. rasterly reuses one browser across requests, so a warm render is about a second of CPU. We price on that cost, from $0.58 per 1,000 on Growth.

Start free — 100 renders See the full API

Placid pricing and features are public information and shown for comparison only; the competitor column is kept qualitative and not a quoted figure — check placid.app for current details. rasterly is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Placid.