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Short answer: ScreenshotNeo is the better first choice when you need clean, automation-friendly captures and predictable failure billing. It removes consent banners, popups and chat widgets before capture, bills only successful clean shots, offers an MCP server for AI agents, and starts with 1,000 free screenshots per month. ScreenshotMachine is the more economical option at certain volumes if its published European pricing, 99.99% uptime SLA and straightforward device/full-page controls fit your workload.
This comparison uses ScreenshotMachine’s public pricing and API documentation and ScreenshotNeo’s published product details. Prices and quotas can change, so confirm the linked vendor pages before committing budget.
ScreenshotNeo vs ScreenshotMachine at a glance
| Area | ScreenshotNeo | ScreenshotMachine |
|---|---|---|
| Best starting point | Clean production captures, AI-agent workflows and teams that want failed pages excluded from billing | Simple GET-based capture with published European monthly plans |
| Free allowance | 1,000 shots/month, no card | 100 fresh screenshots/month |
| Lowest paid plan | $5 for 3,000 shots (Starter) | €9/month for 2,500 fresh screenshots (Basic) |
| Full-page capture | Yes; lazy images can be loaded | Yes; use full as the height |
| Device controls | 12 presets plus any viewport | Desktop, phone and tablet modes |
| Formats | PNG, JPEG, WebP and PDF | JPG, PNG and GIF |
| Selectors and interaction | Capture one CSS-selected element, click an element, hide selectors, custom JavaScript and CSS | CSS-selector clicks, delay and zoom |
| Freshness and caching | Choose a cache TTL; cache hits are not billed | cacheLimit from 0 to 14 days |
| AI-agent integration | MCP server with take_screenshot, get_page_info and capture_pdf |
No MCP server is documented in the cited public material |
| Paper size, margins, landscape and page ranges | Vendor describes webpage-to-PDF conversion; public API details are less complete | |
| Async and bulk | Async jobs with signed webhooks; up to 100 URLs per call | Not stated in the cited documentation |
| Published reliability | Not stated as an uptime figure | 99.99% uptime SLA stated on the pricing page |
Recommendation: Try ScreenshotNeo first for clean shots, only clean shots billed, and a $5 paid entry plan. Choose ScreenshotMachine when its €9 Basic plan, documented GET parameters and SLA are a closer match for your requirements.
Pricing and quota comparison
ScreenshotNeo plans
ScreenshotNeo includes every feature on every plan. The free tier provides 1,000 screenshots each month without a credit card. Paid tiers are:
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| Plan | Monthly price | Included shots |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 |
| Starter | $5 | 3,000 |
| Growth | $15 | 15,000 |
| Pro | $39 | 60,000 |
| Scale | $99 | 250,000 |
| Business | $249 | 1,000,000 |
Yearly billing gives two months free. ScreenshotNeo says unsuccessful bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits cost nothing; each response reports the result through X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers. That distinction matters more than a nominal per-shot price when your URL list contains unstable or protected sites.
#1 Best Overall
ScreenshotMachine plans
| Plan | Monthly price | Fresh screenshots included | Additional screenshot rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | 100 | Not stated |
| Basic | €9/month | 2,500 | €0.004 each |
| Pro | €59/month | 20,000 | €0.003 each |
| Enterprise | €99/month | 50,000 | €0.002 each |
ScreenshotMachine calls these quotas “fresh screenshots.” Its pricing page also states cached-impression handling, priority support on paid tiers and a 99.99% uptime SLA. The published prices are in euros; your card issuer may apply conversion or tax, and no currency conversion is assumed here.
Which service is cheaper?
There is no universal winner because the plans use different currencies and definitions. At the entry level, ScreenshotNeo offers 3,000 shots for $5, while ScreenshotMachine offers 2,500 fresh shots for €9. At higher listed quotas, ScreenshotNeo’s $15 Growth plan includes 15,000, compared with ScreenshotMachine’s €59 Pro for 20,000. ScreenshotMachine’s overage rates are explicit; ScreenshotNeo’s supplied plan details do not state an overage price, so do not assume one.
Capture capabilities
Full-page and viewport screenshots
Both services support full-page output. ScreenshotMachine documents this as a height of full. ScreenshotNeo can load lazy images before taking the shot, which is useful on long pages whose images appear only after scrolling. For fixed-size cards, dashboards or hero sections, ScreenshotNeo can capture one element by CSS selector; ScreenshotMachine’s cited documentation focuses on page dimensions and selector clicks rather than element-only output.
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ScreenshotMachine exposes three device modes: desktop, phone and tablet. You can also configure dimensions. ScreenshotNeo provides 12 device presets and accepts an arbitrary viewport, with retina scale control. Use a named preset for repeatable device tests; use a custom viewport when validating a breakpoint that is not represented by a standard handset.
Rank #2
Formats, resizing and transparency
ScreenshotMachine documents JPG, PNG and GIF. ScreenshotNeo returns PNG, JPEG or WebP and can produce PDFs, resize images and preserve a transparent background when the page and capture settings allow it. Pick PNG for text-heavy UI, JPEG for photographic pages, and WebP when smaller delivery files matter and your consumer supports it.
Freshness, timing and interaction controls
Waiting for a usable page
ScreenshotNeo can wait for a selector, a fixed delay or network idle. It also supports custom JavaScript, clicking an element before capture, hiding selectors, blocking ads, trackers, requests or resource types, and setting cookies, headers, user agents, authorization, timezone and geolocation. These options cover common cases such as dismissing a modal, selecting a tab, waiting for a chart, or rendering a page as a logged-in user.
ScreenshotMachine documents a delay from 0 through 10,000 milliseconds, zoom from 10% through 400%, and CSS-selector clicks. Its cacheLimit can be set from 0 to 14 days. A zero cache limit is appropriate for volatile pages; a longer value reduces repeated origin loads when historical freshness is acceptable.
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Consent banners and overlays
ScreenshotNeo is designed for a clean result: before capture it accepts the cookie or consent banner like a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups and chat widgets. Each cleanup step can be turned off. ScreenshotMachine’s cited documentation confirms selector clicks but does not establish an equivalent managed consent-cleanup system, so you would need to handle overlays yourself where its API permits.
Automation, delivery and developer workflow
ScreenshotNeo API call
The API is a GET endpoint. Replace the URL with the page you own or are authorized to capture. See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for the complete option list.
cURL
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpPython
import requests
r = requests.get("https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot", params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://stripe.com"}, timeout=90)
r.raise_for_status()
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)Node.js
const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${res.statusText}`);
const buffer = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer());
await import('node:fs/promises').then(fs => fs.writeFile('shot.webp', buffer));ScreenshotNeo also supports signed links for public <img> tags, usage reporting, an OpenAPI specification, bulk capture of up to 100 URLs per call and async jobs with signed webhooks. Its parameter names are compatible with those used by other screenshot APIs, which can reduce migration work.
ScreenshotMachine request model
ScreenshotMachine uses HTTP GET requests with parameters for the target URL, dimensions, device mode, format, cache age, delay, zoom, CSS-selector click and a hash option for request protection. The public documentation supplied for this comparison does not establish a complete webhook, bulk-job or signed-link workflow, so verify those items directly if your pipeline depends on them.
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How failed pages affect cost
ScreenshotNeo explicitly distinguishes clean, billable captures from bot checks, CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits, which are not billed. Inspect X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed rather than treating every HTTP response as a successful screenshot.
ScreenshotMachine publishes a 99.99% uptime SLA and cached-impression handling, but the cited material does not define a comparable no-charge policy for every failed load. Budget with its documented fresh-shot quota and overage rates, then ask the vendor how retries and failed captures are counted for your account.
Security and access
- Keep API keys server-side; do not embed them in browser JavaScript.
- Use custom headers, cookies and authorization only for pages you are permitted to access.
- Prefer signed links when a public image tag must fetch a screenshot without exposing your key.
- Apply request hashing or equivalent protection where ScreenshotMachine requires it, and rotate credentials if they appear in logs.
Which API should you choose?
Choose ScreenshotNeo when
- Cookie dialogs, newsletter forms or chat bubbles would make screenshots unusable.
- You need transparent billing for failed loads and cache hits.
- An AI agent should call screenshot, page-info and PDF tools through MCP.
- You need selectors, custom scripts, geolocation, blocking rules, signed webhooks or bulk capture in one service.
- You want 1,000 free shots, then a $5 plan for 3,000 shots.
Choose ScreenshotMachine when
- Your integration needs a simple documented GET request with desktop, phone or tablet modes.
- JPG, PNG or GIF is sufficient and you need its documented delay, zoom and cache controls.
- Your procurement process prefers a published 99.99% uptime SLA.
- The euro-denominated Basic, Pro or Enterprise quota and overage schedule fit your monthly volume.
Migration checklist
- List your required output formats, viewport sizes and full-page behavior.
- Record whether overlays must be removed automatically or can be handled with selectors.
- Decide how many failures, retries and cache hits you expect each month.
- Map existing parameters: URL, dimensions, format, delay, cache age, zoom and selector clicks.
- Run representative pages, including lazy-loaded content, authenticated routes and bot-protected pages.
- Compare the resulting files, verdict headers, latency and monthly bill before switching production traffic.
Common problems and fixes
The image is blank or incomplete
Wait for a meaningful selector or network idle, increase the delay, and ensure lazy images are loaded. For ScreenshotMachine, check the requested dimensions, cache age and delay; for ScreenshotNeo, inspect the page verdict header.
A cookie banner covers the page
ScreenshotNeo can accept and remove supported consent platforms and lets you disable individual cleanup steps. With ScreenshotMachine, identify the banner’s CSS selector and use the documented click behavior if the consent control is stable; otherwise add page-side logic or choose a service with managed cleanup.
The output is unexpectedly stale
Lower ScreenshotMachine’s cacheLimit or ScreenshotNeo’s cache TTL. Remember that bypassing cache increases origin requests and may increase latency.
A protected page returns a challenge
Do not attempt to defeat a CAPTCHA or bot check without authorization. Treat the response as a blocked capture, verify the verdict or billing headers where available, and obtain an approved access path.
Costs exceed the estimate
Separate fresh captures from cached results, measure retries, and set a monthly ceiling in your own job queue. ScreenshotMachine’s published overage rates are €0.004, €0.003 and €0.002 by paid tier; ScreenshotNeo’s supplied plan details do not state an overage rate, so confirm billing terms before exceeding a plan.
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo turns the capture into one request:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpCookie banners, popups and chat widgets are removed before the shot. Bot checks, blank pages and failed loads are never billed. An MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots, inspect page information and capture PDFs. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card, and paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots. Create a free ScreenshotNeo account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ScreenshotMachine support mobile screenshots?
Yes. Its documented device modes are desktop, phone and tablet, with configurable dimensions.
Can ScreenshotMachine capture a full webpage?
Yes. Set the documented height value to full for a full-length capture.
Does ScreenshotNeo charge for a timeout or CAPTCHA?
No. ScreenshotNeo states that bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits are not billed, and the response identifies the result in X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers.
Are the prices directly comparable across the two services?
Not exactly. ScreenshotNeo lists prices in US dollars, ScreenshotMachine in euros, and their quota terminology differs. Compare your converted total cost, included captures, retries and expected cache hits.
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