Finding a reliable website screenshot tool is more complicated than it looks. When you need a high volume of screenshots, your garden-variety tools aren't going to cut it.
So, if you've graduated from PrtSc and Paint, you'll need better tools. Today, we're looking at the top 5 website screenshot tools for advanced use cases.
Let's dive in!
Before you select the right screenshot tool, consider why you need it in the first place. If you only need to take programmatic website screenshots, you won’t get much out of a standard screenshot-taking tool.
● Collaboration. With screenshots, you can collaborate better with others, whether they’re teammates or clients. You can quickly and easily share what you see on your screen with them without explanations over email.
● Demo. Screenshots can also be an invaluable tool when you need to demonstrate something. For example, you could use screenshots to demonstrate a specific process an employee needs to follow when using a website.
● Archiving. Screenshots make it easy to capture information and store it for later use. So, with them, there’s no need to make notes or enter data into a spreadsheet.
● Monitoring. Screenshots can also be an effective monitoring tool. You can use screenshots to ensure your website is functioning as intended or monitor user behavior to improve your site’s user experience.
Best for: Collaboration
Snagit is probably one of the most popular screenshot solutions on the market today. And it’s easy to see why when you consider that it features screenshot functionality, screen recording, animated GIFs, the ability to annotate screen captures, text extraction, and more.
The obvious drawback is that you’ll have to navigate to every site you want a screenshot of, making it unsuitable if you take a high volume of screenshots.
Snagit is available as a digital download and is available for both Mac and Windows. Pricing starts at $62.99 for a single license that allows you to install the software on up to two computers. The developer also has a fully-functional free trial available if you want to try it before buying.
Best for: Developers and programmatic screenshots
ScreenshotAPI allows you to take screenshots programmatically, quickly, and easily.
You’ll be able to take screenshots of any website, whether it’s parallax, lazy loading, or scroll to view. You can export your screenshots in various formats, including JPG, PNG, PDF, or WebP. In addition, you can also inject custom CSS into your screenshots.
And since it’s API-based, you can easily integrate it into your existing framework.
Apart from these features, ScreenshotAPI also offers competitive pricing. You’ll pay $9 per month for 1,000 screenshots, $29/ for 10,000 screenshots, and $175/month for 100,000 screenshots.
More importantly, ScreenshotAPI offers a free plan with 100 screenshots per month.
Best for: Collaboration on the go
Fireshot is a browser extension available for all the popular browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. This makes it easy for almost anyone to use. Unfortunately, it’s not available as an extension for Safari.
Using the tool is as easy as opening a website and choosing what you want to do. You can capture the entire page, only the visible part, or even a section. Once done, Fireshot also gives you different saving and sharing options like email or storing the image locally.
While Fireshot Lite is free, the Pro version will cost you $39.95 as a once-off, lifetime license purchase. For more advanced features, you’ll have to opt for Fireshot Pro, which includes annotations, editing, export to OneNote, and more.
Best for: Occasional screenshot-taker
Like Fireshot, 1Click Screenshot is available as a browser extension, but only on Google Chrome. So, this might not be the best option for you if you use any other browsers.
Once you’ve installed 1Click Screenshot, you’ll be able to take full website screenshots, and you can also annotate your screenshots with drawings, arrows, text, and more. You’ll be able to save your screenshots as images locally, as PDFs, or copy them to your clipboard.
Like the two tools mentioned earlier, you’ll have to navigate to every page you want a screenshot of, making it inefficient for bulk screenshots. But if you only want simple features, and given that it’s free, 1Click Screenshot is hard to beat.
Best for: Developers & agencies
URL2PNG is the first screenshot tool that makes it more efficient to take a large volume of screenshots. You can capture screenshots directly from its dashboard. It also provides several code samples in different languages, including Ruby, Python, C#, and more, that allow you to take screenshots programmatically from within an application.
You only need to add your API key.
One major drawback is that, while the tool allows you to capture screenshots quickly, it doesn’t provide tools to edit or annotate your screenshots.
Another significant drawback to URL2PNG is the price. The tool doesn’t offer a free plan, and pricing starts at $29 per month for 5,000 screenshots. It goes up to $199 per month for 50,000 screenshots, with enterprise plans for higher volumes available upon request.
If you only need to take a screenshot or two every once in a while, you can get by with free tools. But if you need to keep an eye on your website or store high-quality website screenshots, ScreenshotAPI offers the best value for your budget.
HD and programmatic screenshots. Full support for companies that need to take screenshots frequently. Used by companies worldwide, including Dentsu, you’ll be in good company with ScreenshotAPI.
Start your free plan and take smarter screenshots with ScreenshotAPI!
