tl;dr - Switchboard Canvas vs Bannerbear 👇🏼

When it comes to finding the right software for you, only you will know the answer. While both Switchboard Canvas and Bannerbear cater to image automation, Bannerbear is better suited for organizations that are focused on adding video elements into the mix.

However, from a price point and volume perspective, Switchboard Canvas offers more value. Not only is it more affordable for individuals and small agencies, but in the Tier 3 price range, Switchboard Canvas offers double the number of requests that Bannerbear does.

What is Bannerbear?

Bannerbear is a widely used AI image generation tool with an extensive list of integrations and features. It can help its users create social media visuals, e-commerce banners, email images, and more. With near-instantaneous results, Bannerbear does a lot of the heavy lifting for you, cutting down on the time you spend designing and creating visual images of all types.

Though Bannerbear has many similar features to Switchboard Canvas, it’s important to highlight the major differences, too. When it comes to pricing and volume, Switchboard Canvas is a bit more dynamic, but Bannerbear’s video capabilities add another layer of services offered by the platform. Let’s get into all of it.

Software Strengths

From a static image standpoint, Bannerbear will autogenerate images, create Instagram posts and stories, build graph images, and even post to your social media accounts. It does this by using an API, which is the same methodology used by Switchboard Canvas. APIs allow these tools to connect to the back end of data sources such as Twitter or online content, process the information that exists, and create an image based on what it finds.

When it comes to video content, Bannerbear is a few steps ahead of Switchboard Canvas. Not only can Bannerbear seamlessly add watermarks to videos, but it can also include automated subtitles on videos, merge video clips, and generate animated GIFs. With a plethora of integrations, Bannerbear connects with popular platforms used in the marketing space including Zapier, Airtable, Make.com, and Forms.

Software Limits

Reviewers have noted complications when trying to connect with WordPress, a popular website platform that many individuals and businesses use to build their websites. This could cause challenges when trying to pull information from blog posts or website content to create images or videos. Fortunately, Bannerbear is likely working to make this connection more seamless, removing the obstacles that those reviewers faced.

From a volume perspective, Bannerbear does not offer as many requests as Switchboard Canvas. A request is when the user inputs source information to generate an image through an API connection. While Bannerbear can support a decent request load, it may not scale as well with growing businesses.

Feature Comparison

Switchboard CanvasBannerbear
Responsive Templates
Multiple sizes per call
Twitter Integration
Canva Import
No-Code
AWS Integration
PDF Generation
Video Generationlimited
Request Maximum100,00050,000
Additional Requests$0.10/requestNot available

Pricing Comparison

Switchboard CanvasBannerbear
Tier 1$19/month$49/month
Tier 2$79/month$149/month
Tier 3$299/month$299/month

Other Alternatives

Why choose Switchboard Canvas?

Multiple images with a single API call.

Once your responsive templates are ready, you can begin creating images using the API, or integrating with automation services.

You can create multiple assets in a single API call by specifying dimensions in the sizes array.

Specify modifications per size.

For fine-tuned control when creating assets, overwrite template values on a size-by-size basis.

Translate text on the fly.

Translate any of your text elements into over 70 languages.

With Switchboard Canvas you're able to create, resize and translate in a single API call.

Integrate with Zapier and 3000 other tools.

Zapier logo

Connect Switchboard Canvas to over 3,000 tools and services using Zapier.

You can create multiple images at differente sizes in a single request, and easily send them on to other tools you use in your Zap.

Conference pass example

Directly connect to Airtable.

Airtable logo
Airtable Table example

Choose how best to connect.

Run our script directly from your Table

The Switchboard Canvas Airtable script lets you generate images based on data in your table's rows.
Airtable Create button

The script can be triggered from a button field in your view, and generated images can be saved back to an attachments field.

Learn more about creating images directly in your view with our Airtable One-Click tutorial.

Use your Airtable API key

Bulk generate images at scale using your table's data and your Airtable API key.

Simply supply the Airtable REST API endpoint in your payload, and Switchboard Canvas will do the rest, informing a webhook when all the images have been created.

Example of a batch request using a Airtable

Batch processing for images at scale.

Easily create batches of images at a time by supplying an input file of requests.

Switchboard Canvas will create all the images and notify your webhook when everything is complete.

Start your 14-day free trial today.

Try Switchboard Canvas and get a 14-day free trial. No credit card is required and all functionality is enabled.

Questions? Feel free to reach out to us anytime using the Messenger icon in the bottom-right corner.

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