# Website Screenshot API & Visual Change Monitor (`datacolada/website-screenshot-monitor`) Actor

Bulk full-page website screenshots on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile, from URL lists or sitemaps. Optional PDF export and pixel-diff change detection between runs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/datacolada/website-screenshot-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Cyd Dunscombe](https://apify.com/datacolada) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 screenshots

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Website Screenshot & Visual Change Monitor

A bulk **website screenshot API** and **visual change monitor** on Apify. Take full-page screenshots of many URLs on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile in one run. Optionally save each page as a PDF, and turn on change detection to see which pages look different since the last run, with a highlighted diff image.

Built for people who need clean captures without fiddling: cookie banners and chat bubbles are hidden, lazy-loaded images are scrolled into view, and ad/analytics requests are blocked so pages render faster and cleaner.

### How to take website screenshots in 3 steps

1. Paste one or more URLs into **URLs to capture** (or a `sitemap.xml` link to capture a whole site).
2. Pick the devices (desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile) and turn on **Also save a PDF** or **Detect visual changes** if you need them.
3. Click **Start**. Screenshots appear in the **Output** tab with a preview; download them, or get the links from the API.

### What you can use it for

- Archive how your site, or a client's, looked on a given day (desktop and mobile).
- QA after a deploy: capture every page from your sitemap on every device size.
- Watch competitor pricing or landing pages: schedule a daily run with change detection and only look at pages that changed.
- Thumbnails and previews for directories, link lists and reports.
- PDF snapshots of public pages for records.

### Features

- Many URLs at once, or point it at a `sitemap.xml` (sitemap index files are followed).
- Devices: desktop 1440x900, laptop 1280x800, tablet 820x1180 (2x), mobile 390x844 (2x, mobile user agent). Pick several and each URL is captured once per device.
- Full page or first screen only. PNG or JPEG.
- Cookie banners and consent walls hidden with CSS (OneTrust, Cookiebot, Usercentrics, Didomi, Sourcepoint, Quantcast and others, plus a generic fallback). The Actor never clicks "Accept" for you.
- Chat widgets (Intercom, Drift, HubSpot, Crisp, Tidio and others) hidden.
- Ad and tracker requests blocked (optional).
- Dark mode emulation.
- Wait for a CSS selector, add an extra delay, hide your own selectors (useful for rotating banners that would otherwise trigger false "changes").
- Visual change detection: compares each capture with the previous run of the same monitor, reports the percentage of changed pixels, flags pages above your threshold, and saves a red-highlighted diff image.
- Safe by default: only public http(s) addresses are loaded. Private, loopback and cloud-metadata addresses are refused.

### Input example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://example.com" }, { "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news" }],
  "devices": ["desktop", "mobile"],
  "fullPage": true,
  "savePdf": true,
  "compareWithPrevious": true,
  "monitorName": "competitors",
  "changeThresholdPercent": "0.5"
}
```

To monitor, save this input as a Task and add a Schedule (for example daily). The first run stores a baseline; every later run compares against the run before it.

### Output

Each capture is one dataset row. Images and PDFs are stored in the run's key-value store and linked by URL.

```json
{
  "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping",
  "device": "mobile",
  "statusCode": 200,
  "title": "Web scraping - Wikipedia",
  "screenshotUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/<storeId>/records/0dbff88b785a47de-mobile",
  "width": 780,
  "height": 6552,
  "bytes": 272857,
  "loadTimeMs": 4109,
  "changePercent": 11.19,
  "changed": true,
  "sizeChanged": true,
  "diffImageUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/<storeId>/records/0dbff88b785a47de-mobile-diff",
  "previousCapturedAt": "2026-10-28T00:49:24.775Z",
  "pdfUrl": null,
  "error": null
}
```

Failed pages get a row with `error` filled in, so you can see what went wrong. A `RUN_SUMMARY` record in the key-value store has totals.

`width` and `height` are image pixels; tablet and mobile render at 2x, so a 390 px wide phone screen gives a 780 px wide image.

### Pricing

Pay per event. You only pay for what succeeds.

| Event | Price |
| --- | --- |
| Screenshot (one URL on one device) | $0.002 |
| PDF | $0.003 |
| Change comparison | $0.001 |

Failed or refused pages are free. The first run of a monitor has nothing to compare against, so it is not charged for comparisons. You can cap the cost of any run with the "Max total charge" setting; the Actor stops cleanly when the cap is reached.

Example: 100 pages on desktop and mobile with change detection = 200 screenshots + 200 comparisons = $0.60.

### Integrations and API

- **Schedule it:** save your input as a Task, then add a Schedule (hourly, daily, weekly) to build a website change monitor.
- **Get notified:** use Apify integrations (Slack, email, webhooks) on run finish and filter dataset rows where `changed` is `true`.
- **Google Sheets, Make, Zapier, n8n:** all have Apify connectors that can start this Actor and read the dataset (screenshot links, change %, status codes).
- **API / code:** call it synchronously and get the rows back in one request:

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/datacolada~website-screenshot-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"startUrls":[{"url":"https://example.com"}],"devices":["desktop","mobile"]}'
```

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("datacolada/website-screenshot-monitor").call(run_input={
    "startUrls": [{"url": "https://example.com"}],
    "devices": ["desktop", "mobile"],
})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row["url"], row["device"], row["screenshotUrl"])
```

### Tips

- Pages that change on every load (carousels, live tickers, ads) will always show some change. Add their selectors to "Extra selectors to hide", or raise the threshold.
- For very long pages, JPEG is much smaller than PNG. Change detection always uses PNG.
- If a site shows a blank page, try "Wait until: networkidle" or set "Wait for selector".
- Sites that block automated browsers may return an error page; the screenshot will show what was served.

### FAQ

**How much does a screenshot cost?** $0.002 per successful screenshot (one URL on one device). 1,000 desktop screenshots cost $2. Failed pages are free.

**Can I screenshot a whole website?** Yes. Paste the site's `sitemap.xml` into **Sitemap URL** and set **Max URLs** (up to 5,000 per run).

**How does change detection work?** Each capture is compared pixel by pixel with the capture of the same URL and device from the previous run of the same **Monitor name**. You get `changePercent`, a `changed` flag based on your threshold, and a diff image with changes highlighted in red.

**Does it click "Accept cookies"?** No. Common consent banners and chat widgets are hidden with CSS, so nothing is accepted on your behalf.

**Can it capture pages behind a login?** Not at the moment. It captures public pages only.

**How long are screenshots kept?** Files are stored in the run's key-value store and kept according to your Apify plan's data retention. Download them or copy them to your own storage if you need them longer.

**Mobile screenshots look twice as wide as the device. Why?** Tablet and mobile render at 2x pixel density (like a real phone), so a 390 px phone screen gives a 780 px wide image.

### Limits and fair use

Only capture pages you are allowed to access. The Actor does not log in, solve captchas or bypass paywalls. Respect each site's terms of use.

### Changelog

- 0.1.3 Better README (FAQ, API and integration examples) and a prefilled example input that works on the first run.
- 0.1 First release.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Pages to screenshot. Only public http(s) pages; private and internal network addresses are refused.

## `sitemapUrl` (type: `string`):

Add every page listed in this sitemap.xml (sitemap index files are followed one level).

## `maxUrls` (type: `integer`):

Upper limit on pages per run (after adding sitemap pages).

## `devices` (type: `array`):

Capture each URL once per device. Options: desktop (1440x900), laptop (1280x800), tablet (820x1180), mobile (390x844).

## `fullPage` (type: `boolean`):

Capture the whole scrollable page instead of just the first screen.

## `format` (type: `string`):

PNG is lossless; JPEG is smaller.

## `jpegQuality` (type: `integer`):

Only used for JPEG.

## `savePdf` (type: `boolean`):

Print each page to an A4 PDF as well (desktop rendering).

## `hideCookieBanners` (type: `boolean`):

Hides common consent pop-ups and chat bubbles with CSS. Nothing is clicked or accepted.

## `blockTrackers` (type: `boolean`):

Skips requests to common ad and analytics hosts: faster, cleaner shots.

## `darkMode` (type: `boolean`):

Emulates prefers-color-scheme: dark.

## `scrollToBottom` (type: `boolean`):

Scrolls through the page first so lazy images load.

## `waitUntil` (type: `string`):

Navigation event to wait for.

## `delayMs` (type: `integer`):

Wait this long before capturing, for animations.

## `waitForSelector` (type: `string`):

Optional CSS selector that must appear before capture.

## `hideSelectors` (type: `array`):

CSS selectors to hide, e.g. a sticky header or a rotating banner that would cause false changes.

## `compareWithPrevious` (type: `boolean`):

Compare each capture with the one from the previous run of the same monitor and save a diff image. Schedule the Actor to turn this into a monitor.

## `monitorName` (type: `string`):

Baselines are kept per monitor name, so separate projects do not overwrite each other.

## `changeThresholdPercent` (type: `string`):

A page counts as changed when more than this share of pixels differs.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many pages to load at once.

## `pageTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Give up on a page after this long. Failed pages are not charged.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://apify.com"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"
    }
  ],
  "maxUrls": 50,
  "devices": [
    "desktop",
    "mobile"
  ],
  "fullPage": true,
  "format": "png",
  "jpegQuality": 80,
  "savePdf": false,
  "hideCookieBanners": true,
  "blockTrackers": true,
  "darkMode": false,
  "scrollToBottom": true,
  "waitUntil": "load",
  "delayMs": 800,
  "compareWithPrevious": false,
  "monitorName": "default",
  "changeThresholdPercent": "0.5",
  "maxConcurrency": 3,
  "pageTimeoutSecs": 45
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Dataset rows: url, device, status code, title, screenshotUrl, pdfUrl, changePercent, changed, diffImageUrl, error.

## `files` (type: `string`):

All screenshots (PNG/JPEG), PDFs and the RUN_SUMMARY record in the default key-value store.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

JSON with counts of successful, failed and changed captures.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://apify.com"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"
        }
    ],
    "devices": [
        "desktop",
        "mobile"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("datacolada/website-screenshot-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "startUrls": [
        { "url": "https://apify.com" },
        { "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping" },
    ],
    "devices": [
        "desktop",
        "mobile",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("datacolada/website-screenshot-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://apify.com"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"
    }
  ],
  "devices": [
    "desktop",
    "mobile"
  ]
}' |
apify call datacolada/website-screenshot-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,datacolada/website-screenshot-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/LtkqrpjYErIzougGb/builds/wxjU3F6Sn1THYm1t6/openapi.json