Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by nkrisc on Saturday May 31, 2025 @12:46PM
(#44145455)
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.
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by tredre3 on Saturday May 31, 2025 @10:41PM
(#44148327)
> 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
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by la_fayette on Sunday June 01, 2025 @04:36AM
(#44149465)
Couldn't this be done with a headless Firefox and adblocker extensions?
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by ozim on Sunday June 01, 2025 @04:20PM
(#44153512)
Feels like Dropbox comment.
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by nkrisc on Sunday June 01, 2025 @07:38PM
(#44154595)
I’m sure it could be. Just like I could bake an apple pie by first sowing wheat and planting apple trees.
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by fastball on Saturday May 31, 2025 @12:39PM
(#44145402)
Browserless is not free for commercial use.
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by sjducb on Saturday May 31, 2025 @12:47PM
(#44145457)
> 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.
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by throwaway7783 on Saturday May 31, 2025 @03:22PM
(#44146418)
Exactly this. We keep forgetting time and money that needs to be paid to a developer to setup and manage stuff.
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by Lord_Zero on Saturday May 31, 2025 @12:37PM
(#44145394)
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
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by mike-cardwell on Sunday June 01, 2025 @04:26AM
(#44149432)
And what commands do I run if I want to do 100 screenshots per second?
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by porridgeraisin on Sunday June 01, 2025 @10:10AM
(#44151015)
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.
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by Lord_Zero on Sunday June 01, 2025 @06:12PM
(#44154123)
Yeah that's basically just a 100 FPS video at that point lol
Re:Ask HN: Anyone making a living from a paid API?
by yencabulator on Sunday June 01, 2025 @04:56PM
(#44153703)
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
docker run -p 3000:3000 browserless/chrome:latest