A mature platform with a visual editor, no-code integrations, video and PDFs.
If non-technical people are meant to build the images, Bannerbear wins outright: a drag-and-drop editor, around 60 ready integrations, hundreds of ready-made templates, and video and PDF output. It also has six years of track record. We assume the template will be written by somebody who knows CSS, and we only make images.
| What | Bannerbear | Image API |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1,000 images | $49 (Automate plan) | $4.50 — $9 buys 2,000 |
| Free tier | A one-off trial of 30 credits | 100 images every month |
| 10,000 images a month | $149 (Scale plan) | $29 |
| Visual editor | Yes, extensive | No — templates are HTML and CSS |
| Your own HTML as a template | No — designs are rebuilt in their editor | Yes, with a preview that costs no quota |
| WordPress plugin | Last updated four years ago, needs the $149 plan | Maintained, works on the free tier |
| No-code integrations | About 60, including Zapier, Make, Airtable | WordPress plugin and n8n node |
| Video, GIFs and PDFs | Yes | No — images only |
Bannerbear pricing ($49 / mo, 1,000 images, no free plan) comes from their own public page, checked 2026-10. If something has changed — tell us and we will fix it.
Your marketing team needs to assemble templates themselves, or you need video, PDFs or Zapier and Airtable integrations from day one.
You want OG images from your own HTML and CSS, and a free tier that does not run out after a trial — at $4.50 per 1,000 images instead of $49.
You rewrite the template once, as HTML and CSS. Preview costs no quota, so getting the layout right is free. Then you swap a single call on your side.
curl -X POST "https://imageapi.dev/v1/images?wait=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"template":"blog-og","modifications":{"title":"...","author":"..."}}'Placid · HTMLCSStoImage · Orshot · @vercel/og · Cloudinary