🎴 Cardsmith
Design social-card templates visually, render them from a GET request. Your self-hosted Bannerbear.
Cardsmith at a glance
| Price | $99, once — no renewal |
| Replaces | Bannerbear at $49/mo — roughly $588 a year, every year |
| Type | Web app — self-hosted |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Category | Marketing & SEO |
Cardsmith features
🎨 Visual template editor
Canvas with drag positioning + snap guides, layers panel, and a live preview that matches server output pixel-for-pixel.
🧩 Layer types
Text (bundled fonts, weight, align, wrap, auto-shrink to fit), images (upload or URL, cover/contain/fill, radius, opacity), shapes and solid/gradient/image backgrounds.
📐 Sizes for every network
OG/blog 1200×630, X large card 1600×900, Instagram 1080×1080 and 1080×1920 story, LinkedIn 1200×627 — plus fully custom dimensions.
🔤 {{variables}}
Type {{title}} in any text layer (or image URL) and the template instantly becomes an API endpoint with that parameter.
⚙️ Render API
GET /api/render/:templateId?title=...&key=... returns a PNG — deterministic, server-side, bundled Chromium. Point your og:image meta tag straight at it.
📦 Bulk CSV → zip
Upload a CSV, get one PNG per row (up to 500). Batch your podcast back-catalog in one request.
🖼️ Gallery + starter templates
Every API render logged and browsable with its exact params; 5 polished starter templates included.
🔒 100% local
SQLite + filesystem, no telemetry. Your renders never touch a third party.
$99 once — that's the whole pricing page
Bannerbear charges $49/mo — roughly $588 a year, every year. Cardsmith is a single payment, and it keeps working whether or not we ever sell another copy.
Or get Cardsmith inside the full suite — every app in the catalog, currently $97 for the bundle. See the bundle →
Cardsmith guides & pages
Honest answers
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/og-image-studio-mvp. $99 buys the packaged installer with everything pre-wired, plus updates.
How are images rendered?
Server-side with bundled Chromium (Puppeteer), using the exact same HTML renderer as the editor preview — so WYSIWYG is literal. Fonts are bundled and base64-embedded, making output deterministic and fully offline.
Are renders really unlimited?
Yes — your CPU does the work, so there's no render meter and no rate limit. Bannerbear's Starter tier caps you at 1,000 renders and 10 templates a month.