codetoimage vs htmlcsstoimage
An honest side-by-side from the team building codetoimage. We acknowledge what they do better, show where we win, and tell you when to pick which.
TL;DR
- ✅ Pick codetoimageif you ship to AI agents (Claude, Cursor), want a one-line npm CLI, want a clean no-watermark free tier, or want their entry plan's exact 1,000 renders for 36% less ($9 vs $14).
- ✅ Pick htmlcsstoimageif you need PDF output or webhooks (we don't ship those today), or you've been running on them happily since 2018.
- ⚖️ Core API shape is similar – migration is one URL + one header change for most users.
Side-by-side
| Feature | codetoimage | htmlcsstoimage |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2026 | ✓ 2018 |
| REST API | POST /v1/render – single endpoint | POST /v1/image – single endpoint |
| Free tier | ✓ 50 renders/mo – no watermark, full features | 50 renders/mo (watermarked) |
| Starting paid price | ✓ Starter $9/mo – same 1,000 renders, 36% less; prepaid packs from $5 | $14/mo (1k renders) |
| Output formats | PNG, JPEG, WebP | ✓ PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF |
| URL output (hosted image) | Yes – CDN-served, 24h TTL | Yes – S3-backed |
| Max resolution (all tiers) | 2048×2048 | ✓ Unstated, ~3500×3500 in practice |
| Official CLI on npm | ✓ Yes – @codetoimage/cli | No |
| Official MCP server | Yes – stdio via npx | Yes – hosted (mcp.hcti.io) |
| Listed in Anthropic MCP Registry | ✓ Yes – io.github.beznazwiska/codetoimage-mcp-server | No |
| Template system | Yes – code-first, {{variables}} | Yes – Mustache-based |
| Webhooks (async) | Not available today | ✓ Yes |
| Render engine | Headless Chromium (Puppeteer) | Headless Chromium (proprietary) |
| Median response (1200×630 PNG) | ✓ ~600ms (always-hot) | ~700-900ms (advertised) |
Where we win
We're the only HTML-to-image MCP in Anthropic's registry. Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Zed – they all index registry.modelcontextprotocol.io. htmlcsstoimage runs a hosted MCP at mcp.hcti.io, but you have to configure it manually. Ours installs by name.
Official CLI on npm. npm i -g @codetoimage/cliand you're rendering from your terminal or CI in 30 seconds. htmlcsstoimage has no official CLI – community Python/Ruby wrappers exist, but nothing first-party.
More renders per dollar. Starter is $9/mo for the same 1,000 renders their $14 entry plan includes – an identical quota, 36% cheaper. Hobby is $19/mo for 3,000 renders (~$6.33 per 1,000) when you need volume. And if a subscription is overkill, prepaid credit packs start at $5 for 250 renders, valid 12 months (the $5 pack is a one-time offer per account).
Free tier with no watermark. 50 clean renders/month with the full feature set – 2048×2048, PNG/JPEG/WebP, transparency. Their free renders carry a watermark.
Agent-first design. The MCP server exposes two well-named tools (render_html_to_image for inline, render_html_to_url for embed-elsewhere) so an LLM picks the right one without prompting. htmlcsstoimage exposes nine tools – more surface area, more confusion for the model.
Where they win
Eight years of production scale. htmlcsstoimage has been serving image renders since 2018. If uptime track record is your top criterion and you can pay for it, they have receipts we don't yet.
PDF output + webhooks. We don't ship either today. If you need them, they're the safer bet.
Migrating from htmlcsstoimage
For most setups it's a three-line change. Their request shape and ours map almost 1:1.
# before (htmlcsstoimage)
curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image \
-u "USER_ID:API_KEY" \
-d 'html=<h1>Hi</h1>'
# after (codetoimage)
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>"}' \
-o out.pngTry the difference in 30 seconds
The free tier gives you 50 clean renders/month – no watermark, no credit card. Drop us in wherever you have htmlcsstoimage today and compare side by side.
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