holy crap - our company needs basically exactly this for a crazy feature our PM ...

Lord_Zero · 2025-05-31T16:33:16 1748709196

Browserless can do this for free:

docker run -p 3000:3000 browserless/chrome:latest

nkrisc · 2025-05-31T16:46:37 1748709997

Sounds like this does a lot more than simply take a screenshot. It mentions removing cookie banners, ads, etc. which is an always moving target.

If you have one, very narrow specific use case, then maybe that’s not so bad. But sounds like a huge pain if you need that for any arbitrary site.

tredre3 · 2025-06-01T02:41:09 1748745669

> Sounds like this does a lot more than simply take a screenshot. It mentions removing cookie banners, ads, etc. which is an always moving target.

Oh okay so it does:

chrome --load-extension=path/to/ublock --headless --screenshot https://website.com

la_fayette · 2025-06-01T08:36:11 1748766971

Couldn't this be done with a headless Firefox and adblocker extensions?

nkrisc · 2025-06-01T23:38:16 1748821096

I’m sure it could be. Just like I could bake an apple pie by first sowing wheat and planting apple trees.

ozim · 2025-06-01T20:20:38 1748809238

Feels like Dropbox comment.

fastball · 2025-05-31T16:39:11 1748709551

Browserless is not free for commercial use.

sjducb · 2025-05-31T16:47:13 1748710033

> instead of managing browser clusters, and handling all the corner cases

The cost with running a docker container is you have to manage that container. You’re paying with dev time not money.

throwaway7783 · 2025-05-31T19:22:44 1748719364

Exactly this. We keep forgetting time and money that needs to be paid to a developer to setup and manage stuff.

Lord_Zero · 2025-05-31T16:37:24 1748709444

I cant edit the above post but follow that command with a request for a screenshot like so:

    curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/screenshot \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}' \
  --output screenshot.png

mike-cardwell · 2025-06-01T08:26:36 1748766396

And what commands do I run if I want to do 100 screenshots per second?

porridgeraisin · 2025-06-01T14:10:07 1748787007

Not arguing as a part of this thread but as an aside.

Can chrome even take 100 screenshots a second? What would be the max? I think it's interesting.

Lord_Zero · 2025-06-01T22:12:34 1748815954

Yeah that's basically just a 100 FPS video at that point lol

yencabulator · 2025-06-01T20:56:01 1748811361

Well, for some users and uses, it's free. It seems they consider their small amount glue between docker and chrome a to be of commercial value. Still better than the original.

https://github.com/browserless/browserless/blob/main/LICENSE