PrintNode is a solid product. But if you want a cloud printing API with a bigger free tier — 100 jobs a month, no card required — plus a modern dashboard, organizations built in, and lower pricing at every paid tier, PrintBase was built for you.
Both services use the same proven architecture: a cloud API plus a lightweight client that drives your printers. Here is where they differ.
| Feature | PrintBase | PrintNode |
|---|---|---|
| REST API for print jobs | Yes | Yes |
| PDF printing | Yes | Yes |
| RAW printing (ZPL, ESC/POS) | Yes | Yes |
| Job status webhooks | Yes, with automatic retries | Yes |
| Desktop agent | Windows / macOS / Linux | Windows / macOS / Linux / Raspberry Pi |
| Free plan | 100 jobs/mo on 1 computer, no card required | 50 prints/mo |
| Entry paid plan | $8/mo — 5,000 jobs | $9/mo — 5,000 prints |
| Mid tier | $25/mo — 25,000 jobs | $29/mo — 25,000 prints |
| High volume | $89/mo — 200,000 jobs | $99/mo — 200,000 prints |
| Annual billing | $80 / $250 / $890 a year - 2 months free | $90 / $290 / $990 a year |
| Over the plan limit | Jobs pause until you upgrade - no overage bills | $1.80 / $1.16 / $0.49 per extra 1,000 |
| Multi-tenant organizations | Included | Integrator accounts from $60/mo |
| USB scales integration | No | Yes |
Comparison based on publicly listed information as of September 2026. Verify current details with each provider.
100 free jobs a month — double PrintNode's 50 — and the same paid volumes for roughly 10% less: $8 vs $9, $25 vs $29, $89 vs $99.
Jobs are pushed to the agent over WebSocket the moment they are created, and completed/failed status with a reason code comes back the same way.
Isolate customers or locations into organizations with scoped API keys — no separate integrator plan required.
Copy-paste curl examples, clear error codes, and webhooks that tell you what actually happened.
The architecture is familiar, so most teams migrate in an afternoon.
Sign up and issue an API key — no credit card needed.
Run it alongside the PrintNode client on the same computers; your printers register automatically.
Point your backend at POST /v1/print-jobs — the request shape maps closely to what you already send.
Route a slice of traffic to PrintBase, watch statuses come back, then turn off the old integration.
The architecture is the same — a cloud API plus a local client — so the integration effort is small, but the API is not wire-compatible. You swap endpoint URLs and field names; most teams finish in a day.
Yes. Set content_type to raw and the bytes pass straight through to label and receipt printers.
Yes — 100 jobs per month on one computer, free permanently, no credit card required. That is double PrintNode's free tier of 50 prints.
Yes. Subscribe to job status events and PrintBase calls your endpoint with completed or failed plus a reason code, with automatic retries.
Windows, macOS, and Linux. See the download page for packages.
100 free jobs a month, no credit card. Send your first print job in minutes.