Whether for web scraping or monitoring user behavior, you’ll need to take screenshots at some stage. Most PCs or laptops nowadays come with built-in screenshot tiles, so you just use that, right?
Sure, you can, but you’ll soon realize that these tools have significant drawbacks and lack critical features.
This means you’ll need to consider an alternative. But, with so many of these tools, which one should you use? In this post, we’ll answer this question by looking at the top 5 high-quality screenshot apps and tools on the market.
Snagit
Snagit is a powerful screenshot tool that allows you to take screenshots of still images and frames from videos. It’s arguably one of the most popular screenshot tools available today. And it’s easy to see why when you consider some of the features it offers.
For example, It gives you the choice of taking screenshots of your entire screen, only a part of your screen, a specific window, or even a scrolling screen. Apart from screenshots, the tool also includes a screen recorder that enables you to record your screen while working through a series of steps.
This makes it ideal if you want to give demonstrations online. You can also change the text in your screenshots quickly and easily or convert your screenshots to simplified graphics.
The tool is priced at $72,44 for a lifetime license and a year of maintenance. There’s also a free trial available.
ScreenshotAPI
ScreenshotAPI lets you take programmatic screenshots of any website in seconds. Depending on your requirements, you can also save these screenshots in a variety of formats, including JPG, PNG, PDF, and more.
Beyond these basic features, the platform also offers a ton of more advanced features, including:
- Taking screenshots of parallax and lazy loading websites
- Text extraction
- Custom HTML and CSS injection
- Timed screenshots
- Ad removal
Basically, ScreenshotAPI has all the features you need to take fantastic, customized, and programmatic screenshots.
The platform offers three pricing plans, starting with the Essentials plan, which is priced at $9 per month. From here, pricing goes up to $29 for the Startup and $175 for the Business plan. These plans give you 1,000, 10,000, and 100,000, respectively.
There’s also a free plan available, where you can take 100 screenshots per month.
URL2PNG
URL2PNG provides a screenshot-as-a-service tool that allows you to take screenshots of any website in your own application quickly and easily. While the tool emphasizes simplicity, it's also extremely powerful.
For example, you only need to enter the URL of the page you’d like a screenshot of, and the tool will provide you with code samples that you can then use in your own application. You can also inject your own CSS code into the page to change its styling.
Keep in mind, though, that tool doesn’t provide any features that allow you to annotate screenshots.
URL2PNG offers three pricing plans. The Bootstrapped plan, which gives you 5,000 screenshots, is priced at $29 per month. This goes up to $99 per month for the Traction plan and $199 per month for the Killinit plans, which give you 20,000 and 50,000 screenshots, respectively.
There’s also an enterprise plan available.
Fireshot
Unlike URL2PNG and ScreenshotAPI, which allow you to take screenshots programmatically, Fireshot comes in the form of a browser extension available for browsers like Firefox and Chrome.
To use the tool, you only need to click the extension button and choose if you would like to take a screenshot of the entire page, only the part of the page, or a specific part of the page.
Once done, the tool will let you choose if you want to save or share the screenshot. While this allows you to get started quicker and easier, it does have a significant disadvantage. This is, unlike the other tools mentioned, there's no API that you can use to incorporate screenshot functionality into your own app.
For even more features, like annotations or uploads, you can also opt for Fireshot Pro. Another bonus is that, despite the features it offers, the Fireshot browser extension is completely free. And if you opt for Fireshot Pro, you'll only pay $45 for a lifetime license.
Screenshots.cloud
Screenshots.cloud also provides screenshots as a service, using an API that allows you to take screenshots quickly and easily.
Because the tool uses an API that runs on Google's global CDN that provides fast performance, it simplifies the process of taking screenshots in bulk.
Obviously, while the API approach does offer several benefits, it does come with a significant drawback. Like most other screenshot tools that use APIs, the tool isn't as accessible for typical users, lacks certain features, and is more suited to developers who need bulk screenshots for their own applications.
Screenshots.cloud offers three different pricing plans that start at $29 per month for the Indie plan, that gives you 8,500 screenshots per month. The Pro plan, which gives you 50,000 screenshots per month, is priced at $99 per month. The Business plan, which gives you 150,000 screenshots per month, is priced at $199 per month.
There is also an Enterprise plan available, and unlike many other tools, Screenshot.cloud doesn't offer a free plan.
Get Started with the Right Screenshot Tool Now!
Now that you’re familiar with the top 5 screenshot apps & tools in 2022 (and beyond), the only thing left to do now is to get started. And when you do, check out ScreenshotAPI!
ScreenshotAPI offers all the robust features you need to take all the screenshots you need quickly and efficiently, whether you need them to monitor competitors or take bulk, programmatic screenshots.
Take screenshots off your to-do list. Get your API key today!