Comparison

codetoimage vs Urlbox

Urlbox has been screenshotting URLs since 2012 — they own the "trusted incumbent" slot. We're the newer agent-native HTML-to-image stack with MCP + CLI + a free recurring tier. Honest comparison below.

TL;DR

  • ✅ Pick codetoimage if you render HTML/CSS you already have, want a free recurring tier (no trial), need MCP + CLI, or want to pay $7/mo at entry instead of $19/mo.
  • ✅ Pick Urlboxif you screenshot third-party URLs at 4K/5K Retina, need MP4/WEBM/SVG/AVIF outputs, want their AI-LLM screenshot-analysis features, or you're happy paying for "14 years of production scale".
  • ⚖️ Different primary jobs — they screenshot, we render.

Side-by-side

FeaturecodetoimageUrlbox
Founded2026✓ 2012
Primary use caseRender arbitrary HTML/CSS to imageScreenshot live URLs (Mac-grade rendering)
Free tier✓ Sandbox — 50/mo, recurring7-day trial (no recurring free)
Starting paid✓ $7/mo (Hobby)$19/mo (Lo-Fi) — 2,000 renders
Highest published tierScale plan✓ $498/mo (Business) + Enterprise from $3,000/mo
Output formatsPNG, JPEG, WebP✓ PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, SVG, MP4, WEBM, PDF, MD, JSON, HTML
Hosted URL outputYes — CDN-served, 24h TTLYes (storage option)
Max resolution2048×2048✓ 4K / 5K Retina on Hi-Fi+
Official CLI on npm✓ Yes — @codetoimage/cliNo
Official MCP server✓ Yes — stdio via npxNo
Listed in Anthropic MCP Registry✓ YesNo
WebhooksNot available today✓ Yes
AI-powered analysis (BYO LLM key)No✓ Yes
Auth method✓ X-API-Key headerBearer token / HMAC-SHA256 signed URLs

Where we win

Free recurring tier. Urlbox has no permanent free plan — only a 7-day trial. We give you 50 renders/month indefinitely on Sandbox, no card required. Useful for long-running side projects, ad-hoc experimentation, or warm fallback integrations.

$12/mo cheaper at entry. Hobby is $7/mo (3,000 renders) vs their Lo-Fi $19/mo (2,000 renders) — better unit economics for under-mid volume.

MCP + CLI as native surfaces. Urlbox ships neither. If your stack runs in Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or any other MCP-aware client, we install by name from Anthropic's registry. If you're piping through n8n / GitHub Actions / shell scripts, our CLI is one npm install away.

Simpler auth. One header (X-API-Key). Urlbox offers Bearer tokens plus HMAC-SHA256 signed URLs — more options, more things to get wrong on first integration.

Where they win

Broadest output range of any competitor. PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, SVG, MP4, WEBM, PDF, Markdown, JSON, HTML. If you need video or vector output from a URL today, Urlbox is the clear winner.

14 years of production scale. Operating since 2012. If uptime track record is your top criterion and you have the budget, they have receipts we don't yet.

4K / 5K Retina output. Their Hi-Fi+ plans render at desktop-Retina resolutions. We cap at 2048×2048 today.

AI screenshot analysis. Bring your own LLM key and Urlbox extracts structured data from screenshots. Different category from rendering images — we don't compete here.

Migration snippet (when you own the HTML)

# before (Urlbox — screenshot a URL you control)
curl "https://api.urlbox.com/v1/render/sync?\
url=https://example.com/og&format=png" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer URLBOX_API_KEY" \
  -o out.png

# after (codetoimage — skip the URL hop, render HTML directly)
curl -X POST https://api.codetoimage.app/v1/render \
  -H "X-API-Key: cti_live_…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"html":"<h1>Hi</h1>","width":1200,"height":630}' \
  -o out.png

Try without a 7-day clock

Sandbox is free, recurring, no card. Test the integration on your own schedule.

Get an API key →