Transforming status pages for Instatus

Instatus is a provider of real-time status pages for companies like Sketch and Railway that care deeply about design. They faced a unique challenge in generating Open Graph images. They needed the og:image tag of their status pages to provide images reflecting the current status in a visually appealing manner. After experimenting with various solutions, Instatus found the perfect fit with Urlbox’s screenshot API.

The Challenge

Ali Salah, Founder and CEO of Instatus, shared, “We needed dynamic og:image for our status pages that reflect the current status. We wanted the images to look beautiful, just like they do on my Mac.” These images had to accurately reflect the current status of the page and look visually appealing when shared on social media or in direct messages. 

The Search for a Solution

Instatus tried numerous services to meet their needs, but none were up to the mark. Ali stated, “We tried every service out there, but most rendered it like Linux which doesn't have the best font display. Others were slow and/or unreliable.”

They experimented with several approaches, including:

• Chromda on Lambda: This approach was too slow and inconsistent for generating open graph images.

• Developing an In-House Solution: This solution was slow and failed to meet their requirements.

• Other Services like ScreenshotLayer: These did not produce the desired visual quality.

The Urlbox Advantage

Unprompted, Ali emailed to say:

“You guys are VERY FAR ahead. We literally tried every other service and there's a huge difference.”

Ali Salah

Founder and CEO of Instatus

Urlbox stood out to Instatus for several reasons:

• Retina Image Quality: This was essential as Instatus zooms in on the image before using it as an og:image.

• Mac-like Display and Font: Urlbox’s images and fonts looked flawless and consistent with what was seen on a Mac.

• Speed: The images were generated quickly, which was crucial for showing an updated version of the page as soon as the link was shared.

Implementation and Impact

Implementing Urlbox was seamless and had a significant positive impact on Instatus. Ali expressed his satisfaction, “We had zero complaints from designers (or anyone else!) since we implemented Urlbox. Our status pages look much better as links on social media and in direct messages.”

Urlbox's API was integrated into Instatus’s development stack, which includes generating screenshots on the fly in conjunction with '@vercel/og' for caching.

Quantifiable Benefits

• Improved User Experience: Instatus OG images lived up to the high design standards their customers expect after implementing Urlbox.

• Increased Engagement: The visually appealing images enhanced the sharing and engagement of status pages on social media and other platforms.

Conclusion

Urlbox’s screenshot API proved to be the perfect solution for Instatus’s needs, providing dynamic, high-quality images that accurately reflect the status of their pages. The reliability, speed, and visual appeal of Urlbox’s images significantly enhanced Instatus’s user experience and engagement.