CardScopeComparison
Other link preview APIs
Prices below are from each company’s public pricing page, checked November 2026. They change. CardScope reads the HTML the server returns. It does not run JavaScript, and it does not take a screenshot of the rendered page.
| Service | Published price | Where they are ahead |
|---|---|---|
| OpenGraph.io | $25 / month for 50,000 credits. A screenshot costs more credits than a metadata read. | Screenshots, a JavaScript render, and a lower price per metadata call at that tier than CardScope Starter. |
| Microlink | $49 / month for 46,000 requests on the Pro plan. | Screenshots from a real browser, device emulation, and higher volume on that one plan than CardScope Starter. |
| LinkPreview.net | $8 / month (200 requests an hour) and $25 / month (1,000 an hour). Those are rate caps, not a monthly meter. | A generated image, and more calls in a month than a 100,000 cap if you use the hourly allowance the whole month. |
| URLpipe | $19 / month for 20,000 credits. Metadata and screenshots are both billed in credits. | Rendered HTML, markdown, screenshots, and a larger metadata allowance than CardScope Starter at a similar price. |
| CardScope | Free 300 / month. Starter $9 for 10,000. Pro $29 for 100,000. Billed monthly. | A separate answer per app (layout, truncation, the fallback that was used, and a fix), from the same rules as the checker. No screenshot and no JavaScript rendering. |
Checked Nov 2026. If a price on those pages has moved, their page is the one to trust.