List of Top 5 Free Places to Grab Old Browser Screenshots

Many of us internet marketers have to also be web developers. We don’t have time and probably don’t need or want to pay for a monthly subscription for a full cross-browser compatibility service. Sometimes we just need to quickly see if what we did breaks the website in an old version of IE, or see if a fix actually fixes something. Below is a list of the top 5 places we use that are free/free with limited access to view browser screenshots and more.

1 – BrowserStack

This is probably the one I use the most. They have 300+ different browsers you can test on and they are probably the fastest when it comes to the actual generation of the screenshot. Note, on the free version only above the fold area will be shown.

Visit BrowserStack

2 – Browsershots

Browsershots is great and completely free without any limitations. Their paid advertising is a little annoying, but you can start your screenshots and do other things while they generate. However, they don’t currently have IE9, 10, or 11.

Visit Browsershots

3 – IE NetRenderer

I also use IE Netrenderer a lot. Usually when I am testing something it is because of Internet Explorer breaking. IE Netrenderer is completely free and also they have a nifty feature where you can put it how many pixels you want to scroll down. In my example I scrolled it down 500px. With IE Netrenderer it is possible to view the entire page and they offer 9 different versions of Internet Explorer to test with!

Visit IE Netrenderer

4 – IETester

This is a great little free program. I have used it for years. Install it on your machine and launch your session in the version of IE that you want. It allows you to have the rendering and javascript engines of IE10, IE9, IE8, IE7 IE 6 and IE5.5 on Windows 8 desktop, Windows 7, Vista and XP. This program can actually be more useful if you are working with javascript or testing additional things that can be solved from a simple screenshot.

Visit IETester

5 – Browserling

Browserling is another great little service that provides quick screenshots to various browser versions. Under the free plan they offer IE9, which really is the one everyone is still testing with. The offer over 80 different browser versions and 85% of them are all free to test.

Visit Browserling

Looking for a Premium Solution?

If you are looking for a good program to use on a regular basis, I highly recommend Browserstack. Especially if you are needing to test scripts against a live system or rather a VM.