HTML to Image answers Rendex with 25 pre-built named templates, a hosted-URL workflow and a lower entry price for image-only work.
Disclosure: we built HTML to Image. We've kept this comparison honest because the alternative is search results full of low-effort listicles.
| Feature | Rendex | HTML to Image |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan price | $19 / 10,000 calls | $9 / 1,000 credits |
| Free tier | 500 calls per month, no card | 25 images per month, no card |
| Named templates | No pre-built (bring your own HTML) | 25 |
| Raw HTML support | Yes | Yes |
| URL screenshots | Yes | Yes |
| JavaScript execution | Yes | Yes |
| Webhook delivery | Yes (HMAC-signed) | Yes |
| Custom fonts | Yes | Yes |
| Per-seat charges | No | No |
| Best for | volume rendering and AI-agent workflows at the edge | developers who want pre-built templates and a hosted-URL workflow |
Stay with Rendex when volume, latency or output breadth is the deciding factor. It renders from Cloudflare's edge network with no cold starts, its $19 Starter carries 10,000 calls a month, and the same endpoint produces PNG, JPEG, WebP and PDF. Add batch capture, geo-targeted rendering, URL-to-Markdown extraction and visual-diff monitoring and you have a rendering platform, not just an image API. If you are already writing your own HTML for every render, Rendex gives you more machine for the money at scale.
Switch to HTML to Image when you want the designs done for you. A specific scenario: your app needs invoice images on payment, OG images on publish and a certificate at course completion. On Rendex each of those is HTML you author, template with Mustache and maintain. On HTML to Image they are three named templates called with a JSON payload, each response a CDN-hosted URL ready to store or embed, with a raw HTML endpoint in reserve for anything custom.
Twenty-five pre-built templates. Rendex's Mustache templating is a reuse mechanism for markup you write; the designing is still on you. HTML to Image ships finished invoice, OG image, social card and certificate designs that render from JSON with no HTML on your side. For standard image shapes that is the whole build step removed.
Hosted URLs by default. Every render returns a JSON envelope with a URL to the PNG on our CDN, ready to write to a database column or drop into a meta tag. Rendex returns image bytes by default, with hosted links as an opt-in flag, so the storage question is answered before you ask it.
Lower entry price for small paid workloads. Our pricing starts at $9 for 1,000 renders against Rendex's $19 floor. Below roughly 1,000 paid renders a month you pay less here; we are upfront that above that the price argument belongs to Rendex.
Volume pricing and the free tier. 500 free calls a month against our 25, then $19 for 10,000 calls where our 10,000 plan is $60. If your renders run into the tens of thousands and you are happy authoring your own HTML, Rendex is the cheaper machine by a wide margin.
Output breadth and platform features. PNG, JPEG, WebP and PDF from one endpoint, batch capture of up to 500 URLs, geo-targeted rendering from 50+ countries on Pro, URL-to-Markdown extraction for LLM pipelines and visual-diff monitoring. HTML to Image is PNG-only and has no equivalent to the extraction or monitoring tools.
Edge infrastructure and typed SDKs. Rendering runs across 300+ Cloudflare edge locations with no cold starts, and official TypeScript and Python SDKs ship with zero dependencies. HTML to Image serves output through a CDN but renders from a single region, and our official SDKs today are PHP and Laravel.
# Rendex (URL screenshot)
curl -X POST https://api.rendex.dev/v1/screenshot \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer your-token' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"url":"https://example.com","width":1280,"height":720}'# HTML to Image (URL screenshot)
curl -X POST https://app.html2img.com/api/screenshot \
-H 'X-API-Key: your-key-here' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"url":"https://example.com","width":1280,"height":720}'
Three concrete differences. Auth uses an X-API-Key header instead of a Bearer token. The response is always a JSON envelope with a url field pointing to the PNG on our CDN, where Rendex returns the image bytes unless you request a hosted link. And output is PNG only, so any Rendex calls producing PDF or WebP need a different plan before they port. The request body itself — url, width, height and friends — translates almost one to one.
See the URL parameter reference for the full request and response shape.
The crossover sits at about 1,000 renders a month. Below it, HTML to Image is cheaper: $9 against Rendex's $19 floor, though Rendex's 500 free monthly calls may cover small workloads entirely. Above it, Rendex pulls away quickly: its $19 Starter carries 10,000 calls where our 10,000 plan is $60, and its $49 Pro carries 100,000. We are not going to win a per-render price war with an edge-rendering platform; the reason to be here at volume is the template library and the hosted-URL workflow, not the unit price.
At volume, yes, and we would rather say so than have you find out later. Rendex's $19 Starter includes 10,000 calls a month where our 10,000 plan is $60, and its free tier is 500 calls a month against our 25. HTML to Image is only cheaper if your paid volume sits at or below about 1,000 renders a month ($9 versus $19). The case for us is not price at scale; it is the template layer and the hosted-URL workflow.
Yes. Both services ship an MCP server, so Claude, Cursor and other AI agents can render images as native tools on either platform. Ours covers HTML rendering, URL screenshots and the named templates; see the MCP server docs at /docs/mcp/ for installation. Rendex's server also exposes its PDF, extraction and monitoring tools, which we do not have equivalents for.
No. HTML to Image renders PNG images. Rendex outputs PNG, JPEG, WebP and PDF from the same endpoint, and adds URL-to-Markdown extraction and visual-diff monitoring on top. If you need PDF invoices or WebP delivery for bandwidth reasons, Rendex covers that and we do not.
Pre-built templates and hosted output. Rendex gives you Mustache templating but you still author and maintain every design as HTML. HTML to Image ships 25 finished designs — invoices, OG images, social cards, certificates — that render from a JSON payload with no markup on your side, and every response is a CDN URL ready to reference. If you would be writing the HTML for standard image shapes anyway, the templates are the difference.
The free tier covers 25 renders a month with no credit card. Try the API against your real data before deciding.
The designs Rendex leaves to you. Twenty-five pre-built templates for invoices, social cards, OG images and more. JSON in, PNG out, single API call.