Screenshotly is a cloud-based screenshot API service that enables developers to capture high-quality webpage screenshots programmatically through a simple REST API. The service handles all browser infrastructure, rendering complexity, and image processing, so developers can focus on building their applications.

The Screenshotly API accepts an HTTP request with a target URL and configuration parameters such as viewport size, output format, and rendering options, then returns a fully rendered screenshot. Developers send a POST request to the capture endpoint with their API key and receive the screenshot as a direct download URL or binary response within 2-3 seconds.

Screenshotly supports three output formats: PNG for lossless quality, JPEG for smaller file sizes with configurable compression, and WebP for modern browsers with superior compression ratios. Each format supports configurable quality and resolution settings to optimize for specific use cases.

Screenshotly's rendering engine typically delivers screenshots within 2-3 seconds, including full JavaScript execution and dynamic content loading. The service uses a distributed infrastructure with automatic load balancing to maintain consistent performance regardless of capture volume.

Screenshotly supports full-page screenshot capture by scrolling through the entire document and stitching the result into a single image. This includes lazy-loaded content, infinite scroll elements, and below-the-fold sections that would not appear in a standard viewport capture.

Screenshotly uses a full Chromium-based rendering engine that executes JavaScript, processes AJAX requests, and waits for dynamic content to fully render before capturing. Developers can configure custom wait times and wait-for selectors to ensure single-page applications and complex web apps are captured correctly.

Screenshotly provides a REST API that works with any programming language capable of making HTTP requests, including JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go, Java, and C#. Official SDKs are available for JavaScript and Python, with code examples provided for cURL, PHP, and additional languages in the documentation.

Screenshotly offers a free plan that includes 100 screenshots per month with core capture features and PNG output format. The free plan requires no credit card to sign up and provides full REST API access, making it suitable for testing, prototyping, and low-volume personal projects.

Screenshotly allows developers to inject custom cookies and HTTP headers into screenshot requests, enabling captures of authenticated pages, content behind login walls, and session-specific views. This feature is available on Starter and Pro plans and supports both single cookies and full cookie jar configurations.

Screenshotly maintains a 99.9% uptime service level agreement backed by globally distributed infrastructure with automatic failover, health monitoring, and load balancing across multiple availability zones. Current uptime status and historical performance data are available on the status page.