TL;DR — Placid is a broader creative-automation product. ogsmith does exactly one thing: og:image from a GET request, with a 250-images/mo free tier and paid plans from $9/mo. If social cards are the whole job, the specialized tool is simpler and cheaper.
ogsmith vs Placid at a glance
| ogsmith | Placid | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | ✓ 250 images/mo, forever, no card | Trial only — no permanent free tier |
| Entry paid plan | $9/mo — 10,000 images | $19/mo — creative automation subscription |
| High volume | $29/mo — 100,000 images | Higher tiers / custom |
| Rendering | satori + resvg on Lambda (~5ms compute, synchronous) | Template studio + rendering service |
| Integration | One GET URL in a meta tag | API/SDK + template setup |
| CDN cache hits | ✓ Free, don't count against quota | Varies by plan |
| Signed public URLs | ✓ HMAC per-URL | Varies |
Competitor pricing and features checked against their official sites in July 2026 — check their pricing pages for current numbers.
The whole integration
<meta property="og:image"
content="https://api.ogsmith.dev/v1/og?title=Your+post+title&template=article&kid=…&sig=…">That URL renders this, live:
When Placid is the better choice
- You want a visual template studio your marketing team can own.
- You need PDF or video output, or no-code integrations (Airtable, Make, Zapier).
- You generate many different creative formats, not just social cards.
When ogsmith is the better choice
- One-line integration: an image URL in your
<meta>tag — no studio, no SDK. - A real free tier: 250 images/mo forever, no card. Placid offers a trial, then $19/mo.
- $9/mo covers 10,000 images (Hobby); $29/mo covers 100,000 (Pro).
- Signed URLs let you embed image URLs in public HTML without exposing a key — tampering with any parameter invalidates the signature.
Frequently asked questions
Does ogsmith have a template designer like Placid?
No — and that's the trade. ogsmith ships six professionally designed templates (basic, gradient, split, article, minimal, code) that you parameterize with your title, description, brand color, and logo. You lose pixel-level design control; you gain a zero-setup integration.
What does 'cache hits don't count' mean?
Rendered images are served through CloudFront with immutable caching. When social crawlers request the same og:image URL repeatedly — which is most real-world traffic — those requests are served from the CDN edge and never count against your monthly quota.
Is there really no card required for the free tier?
Correct. POST your email to /v1/keys (or use the form on the homepage) and you get a key with 250 images/month, forever. Upgrade only if you outgrow it.